The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1886-07-07

A00OV Au tu0 00kOb x%OuxS ooUV0-ASW0Or
crot Of March 5 shows the. alarming
prevalence Of crimes in that district,
most Of which are committed In the
Indian Territory. This article says:
There twenty two convicts awaiting trans
portation TO Detroit. all convicted since the
first Monday in February. The marshal
always holds them here until he gets . car
l0ad then charters . car and taxes them
straight through TO their destination. This
crowd will probably be taken of this weak
In order TO make room in the jail for fresh
arrivals. there nov being one hundred and
tan behind the bars, about - many o. can
b accommodated. Besides these . large
number have been convicted who received
short jail sentences.
The eight condemned murdereu, under
sentence 70 Be hanged on the 23d Of April,
appear TO b the jIlliest Of all, and, with
one exception, none Of them are making
theleast preparation to meet their fate.
In IN account Of . recent execution
at Fort Smith saw Il stated that bo-
tween sixty and seventy persons had
been executed on the Same gallows.
This il = human sacrifice made and .
blood Offering poured out to this mon
strous condition Of affairs in the Indian
country. Can this Congress, respousi.
bio 70 the American people. afford to
sit idly BY and allow such . horrible
condition Of affairs to be longer con-
tinued.
SELLING GIRLS At AUCTION.
Twill now cali attention to another
shameful state Of affairs In the Indian
Territory. / read from page 120 of the
same report. The agent at the Ponca,
PAwnee, and Otoe agency, IN his re-
port, August 15, 1884, say:
The most deplorable of al these barbar-
ous customs Is the selling Of girls In mar
riaga; this practice, think, il universal. A
marriagsabls girl in family Is considered
- much IN article Of merchandise @ q
horse or m OF, and ID sold to the highest
the duties Of maternity When she ID mere
child, and often soTely against her will. An
unmarried girl Of more than fourteen or fif
tesn years of ago ID not to b. found. The
elevating and refining influence exertod by
young ladies in white society 10 unknown
among the Indians. The effect IL bad in
every way. Il cuts short their education
at the very point where it would begin to
be Of some practical advantage. A girl
ever fourteen or fifteen years Of age IL seldom
found In the schools. Il breaks them down
physically and they become prematurely
old; it degrades the women to . condition
little better than slavery.
such, In brief, ID the condition Of
this Indian Territory, and it constitutes
In my judgment one Of the foulest
blots upon tho civilization Of this coun.
try. It calls for heroic treatment and
speedy remedy, only to be found il
prompt legislation By Congress. It can
not be romedied in any other way. The
Indians should be brought into such re-
lations with the Government Of the u.
s. @ TO be msnable 10 law; then these
practices can be prohibited and the
Law prohibiting them enforced.
OKLAHOMA, AN EMPTY COUNTRY.
I come now to different branch Of
tho question. the unoccupied portion
Of this Territory-that portion which
hes been unoccupied for almost quar-
ter Of . century-certainly for over ~
years; namely, the country coded BY
the Greeks and 6ominoles by the treaty
Of 1866, commonly called Oklahoma,
ana the Cherokee strip, also ceded to
the U. 8. BY the treaty Of 1866. When
I use the word ''unoocupled" / do not
mean to say there arc not trespassers
there, but the word s'unoccupied" I
use in its legal acceptation, and mean
il j. not occupied By any person hav.
ing the right TO be In that Territory.
There are no Indians within the terri
tory Of Oklahoma, nor on tho Chero
kee strip, nor on the Public Land strip
lying West-they are al unoccupied.
The Cherokee strip contains 6,O22. .265
acres Of uuoccupied land; the Public
Land strip contains S,672. $40 acres: the
land ceded By the Greeks and Semi
noles contains ]. .887 800 acres, making
. grand total OF unoccupied country Of
II ,683, ,295 acres larger than the
States Of Massachusetts, Rhode Island
and New jersey oombided; nearly
twice - large - New Hampshire; al.
most 100000 acres larger than the
States Of Maryland, Delaware, and Con-
necticut.
Then we have the country occupied
BY tho Cheyennes and Arapahoes, Who
are located BY executive order. They
have no patents to the lands, nor are
they occupying them by virtue Of Treaty
stipulations. Farther south are the
Wichita, Kiowa, and Comanche res.
ervations. Tne Cheyennes and Arapa,
hoes occupy 4,297,77l acres: the Wich.
itas, 743.6lO acres: the Kiowas and
Comanches, 2. .968 1893 acres; and thai
also includes the territory occupied By
the Apaches. making aXrand total oc
cupied BY these Insignificant tribes ol
8.OlO.274 acres. The population 81
these reservations is given 1t Z 500. Bu'
this includes large percentage oI
whites, half-breeds, and Msxicans and
negroes, which would probably reduc<
the actual Indian population to nea,
or perhaps less than 5000.
But, admitting, Mr.. Chairman, tha
1900 y the true census Of this part o
the territory occupied By the tribes
have named, which is largely in exoesI
OF tho number which would be founs
by IN exact count, there il sufiicien
land in these reservations west OF or
lahoma, and south Of the Oneroke'
strip, TO give to each person /, 100 acre
or more than 400 acres to each fam
lily OF four persons.
Now, II We should give these Indian
their land in soveralty, ct the rate o
l6Oacres per capita, or $40 acres to eacl
family Of four persons, and settle then
in the region where they now are the,
would only require l,200, $40 acrei
leaving surplus Of 6,8U9, ,794 acre
which can be opened to settlement an
civiliz stion.
4 The O.age, the Kansas, the Ne
Perce, tho P0ncs, the Otoe, the Paw
nee, the I)Wa, the Sac and Fox, tn
Kickapoo, and Pottawattamie reserva
tions, lying east Of Oklahoma and wea
Of the civilized tribes, contain an are
Of secs. .366 acres Of land with an I.
dian and mixed population Of So