St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-04-01


was trying to raise the departed. These
pow-wows are held regularly every Sat
urday night at some of the log houses,
while in summer prominent knoll is
occupied, and then they frequently. In
the attendant excitement, take off their
clothing and distribute it among their
friends and give away everything they
possess.
AS previously stated, the Flambeau
reservation consists of five townships,
river, while One-half of the balance is
open Norway plains and the rest good
pine. There is only about 100,00O,0OO
feet Of good pine left ON the reservation,
one-half of which is estimated to be first
quality and the balance second quality.
About 39,000,0G0 feet has been cut and
put in the past winter from this reSer-
walton, which is about 40 per cent less
than anticipated, hence one can approx
innate how long it will be ere the entire
reservation is denuded of its pine for
ests, although there are millions OF feet
left outside of any reservation. But
leading lumbermen eandidly say that
inside of the next ten years very little
profitable pine will be found in North
ern Wisconsin.
INDIAN CONTRACTS.
There is considerable interesting MS
tory in the method OF cutting pine on
the Indian reservations. 1t is known
generally that the government ceded
certain pine lands to the various tribes
of Indians few years ago, and allowed
each male Indian twenty-one years OF
age to file claim Oh eighty acres. with
the privilege of making annual con-
4,o a. h IDo fo., n11tfip0 the nine
and that this money received should pc
used in cultivating the land after the
timber was cut off, but it is proverblal
on the other hand that the Indians have
never done so, nor never will, Tor 1t is
entirely foreign to their nature to work;
and the question is, what will become
of the Indians after the lumbermen
withdraw their support, for if it had not
been for the l0ggers the dusky denlzenS
of Chippewa and Price counties would
have starved unless supported by gov
eminent funds.
The plan pursued by the loggers is
to find an Indian who has claim ana
contract with him to cut pine upon 1T
at so much per 1000 feet, and when the
contract is closed, it is customary to pay
a certain per cent down either in cash
or supplies, which the Indian generally
proceeds-to gamble away. All contracts
expire within one year. but quite ire
quently the Indian will contract with
two or three loggers for the same timber
and get an advance payment from each
one, while the logger has no redress.
The one whose contract is dated earliest
is accepted by the agent and the rest
are worthless, so one can comprehend
some of the chances the logger has to
Ia Inolinn with tho J1nhlQ
red man. In case of heavy, deep
snow, such as fell last winter, the diff
Guilty of profitable logging is great, and
unless contractor can secure enough
timber on his contract to pay his adj
vances, he is out that much, because the
Indian never reneWS contract.
One of the largest camps Oh the Flam-
beau is that of III. w. Farley & Co.,
uder the management of Jack CoSgrlff,
where 100 men are employed and some
forty teams, and the cut this season will
reach 100000 feet ON the reservation
and adjoining lands, and purchases
fully 40,00O,000 feet more. The firm con-
stantly employ from twenty to twenty
five teams hauling supplies from the
station of Fifeld, on the Wisconsin Cen
trial. They are called tote teams, and
an endeavOr is made to get as large a
supply into camp during the winter as
possible, because when the roads
break up it is almost impossible to
travel the tote roads. The average time
for making a round trip under the most
favorable auspices in winter is three
and one-half days, distance of thirty
five miles. while in summer four horses
require fully two days to drag load of
1,500 pounds from the station to the
camp, and the cost Of carriage exceeds
60 cents per 100 pounds.
Timber that is put in from the reser-
walton on Bear creek floats down to the
Manitowish river. thence into the north
fork of the Flambeau river, down the
Chippewa to Beef slough, where the
Chippewa unites with the Mississippi,
muking a distance ofover 800 miles from
the starting point.
At Beef slough the logs are separated
by their distinctive marks, made into
RATS, and subsequently sold to mill
men down the river from Wabasha to
ST. Louis.