St. Paul daily globe., 1889-05-24
The Vast Area of Rich Land
Locked in the SiSsetOn
Reservation.
Belief That the Indians Will
Get the Indemnity, at
the End,
And the Great and Fertile
Basin Be Thrown Open
to the Public.
The Great Region Described
as an Arcadia for Farmer
and Miner.
Special to the Globe.

Special to the Globe.
BRowN'S VALLEY, Minn., May 3d.
There IS much inquiry among Mime
sotians and people out of the state re-
specting the chances for homes on the
Sisseton reservation, with a view to
permanent settlement. It is tract of
country just across the boundary line,
lying almost contiguous to this city.
about mile only separating. There is
no doubt but that it will soon be opened,
probably within year or eighteen
months. The Indians themselves
foresee this as an inevitable event,
and are preparing for, it with
cautious management. Accepting
the system of severalty, they
have already selected their farms, To-
Gated mostly at the foothills near the
outlets of ravines and in the hay val
leys. They are ready to commence the
new life when the government shall
have paid what is justly their due.
1t will be remembered that in 1862
the Sissetons as tribe defended the
whites during the great massacre in the
Minnesota valley, and that nearly all
the scouts who subdued the hostiles and
paved the way for pioneer settlers all
over the new Northwest were
members Of this tribe. The
government Unfortunately confis-
Gated certain annuity lands mutually
belonging to different tribes. The
SisSetOnS, basing their defensive argu-
ment on
SPECIALLY DEFINED TREATY
and claiming their rights on the grounds
W
to be reimbursed; and last year their
claim was acknowledged to be valid by
the Indian commissioner, and a bill
favorably reported to congress to allow
the Sissetons $3f2, IT'S, and certain
annual bonus to square accounts up to
1858. Action on the bill was post
poned to the close Of the session, and
under adverse circumstances defeated.
1t will come up again, and no doubt be
passed. The "Open sesame" hinges
here; we must assist the Indians in Sc
curing their rights. and it becomes us
to institute solid pressure upon
congress-, resolved upon justice.
The area of the reservation is. in round
numbers, 10000 acres. About 200, 1000
acres has been selected by the Indians
for farms-all that will be necessary, it
is believed, to be fill the legal demand,
leaving at the least calculation 100000
acres for white settlers. Its shape is like
that of tlatiron, having its base to the
north and its south point at Lake Kam-
peska, near Watertown, Oak. It is
longitudinally bisected by rampant of
hills or coteaux. that stretch nearly
north and south about seventy-fve
miles. Lying east of them is
VAST PRAIRIE
touching Lake Traverse toward the
north. finely drained to the east and
south. having a soil which, for richness,
is unsurpassed in the Northwest. Ex-
cepting here and there an Indian cabin
and few small patches of cultivated
land, all this beautiful prairie re-
mains unsubdued. just at the foot
of the coteaux fronting the agency
on the east, unique for it's isolated
mounds, is long and wide meadow
through which courses branch of the
Upper Minnesota, the soil of which is
a!!uvial. deep and very productive for
all varieties of crops indigenous to the
climate. About four miles. down
Lake Traverse from Browns Val
ley commences the Sweet Coen
Valley. that circles for miles
to the northwest, interlocking with lit
tie lakes; at, its outlet emptying into
Lake Traverse, is a springfield stream
which, if economical by dam, would
afford good water power for flour
mill or mills. AS general rule, the
prairie is undulating and spreads out to
view in grand perspective. There is
room here not only for Indian families,
but for a vast population of whites, who
would soon transform these WildS into
a Western Eden.
The coteaux are hills piled on hills, a
veritable chain of mountains, peppered
with bOulders, rifted here and there
with deep and well-wooded ravines-
more numerous in the eastern than
western slopes-down which course liv-
ing rills from springs that gush out
from thee foot hills, and sometimes
high up on the shaggy sides Of the
bluffs. Years ago there were thousands
OF lakes filling the basins; though grad
ually shrinking, they are not reduced to
hundreds vet. Some OF them are
UNFAILING AND BEAUTIFUL.
their waters pure and their shores
sandy and surrounded by forests of
oaks, cottonwoods, bass, sugar naples.
elms, box elders and innumerable
clumps of plum trees. Among such
may be reckoned Enemy Swim lake,
known in Indian dialect as the TOka-
Niwe-Yapi; Buffalo lake, the Can-o-
Wanasapi; Wabay, the breeding
place of the green-leg bird. Nothing
in all the far West excels the vastness
and every-varying beauty of the CO.
teauX. Standing on the crest of any of
these mountains in clear day one can
behold landscape scenes that are in
deed enchanting. Near the extreme
north end of the chain is jutting
point. the Heipa, or Mountain
Head; from this elevation the enrap-
tured mind can see from fifty to sixty
James and Sheyemse rivers, to the
north the Red river valley. to the east
the vast prairie country dotted
with villages and cities, walled
by the forested shade Of the
Park region or the Big Woods.
And then what waterfalls, what weird
retreats under interlacing bowers of
grape and woodine bending down the
tall pOplarS and oaks till they hug the
dripping rocks. The Scottish Highlands
are not more picturesque and dreamy
for haunting nymphs and elfins.
These woods and waters are the
breeding and hiding places of ducks
and geese. About eight miles north
west from Browns Valley is another
romantic locality known as the Thunder
Birds Track, the Wa-kin-yan-owe. It
is mound towering above rich mea-
dow, along which wanders the Mime
nesota under fOrested arch. On its
crown is a fat stone on which are the
imprints of q huge birds claws,
conspicuous as the tracks of the
ancient birds indented on stones in the
Connecticut valley. There are strange
and interesting traditions associated
with the Thunder bird; it caused
cyclones and floods, and the former gen.