Daily Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893, 1889-05-28
Petition to the President
He is Solicited to Take a Hand
in the Cheyenne Reserve
Matter.
A Petition and Complaint which
Embodies Great Points Upon
which il is Founded.
THE cHEYESSEs MUST co

1HE fHIfENNIs MUST GO.
Atnired Movement by Custer County for
Dths Extinction Il the Cheyenne R.serya-
tion.
The following petition will he pre-
sented to the citizens of Miles City to-
day for their signature. Similar cir
culars have been circulated throug bout
the country for the past two months,
resulting in securing the signatures %
between seven and eight hundred
actual residents, nearly half of which
are from the localities on Tongue river
and Rosebud, where the incubus of
the Indian occupancy IL most severely
felt. The petition is as brief a.
/ proper statement Of the case would
admit of and We request tHat our peo-
pie read il carefully, so that when
called upon 10 stiix their signatures
they may do SO understandingly. Ii
is as fOllows:
MILES City, MoNT., May 27, 1859.
To His Excelleucy Benjamin Harri-
son, President OF the Uuited States:
The Undersigned citizens of Custer
county, irrespective OF party, do most
earnestly pray that you may cause
tina, portion OF our county known H.
The Northern Cheyenne Indian res
prvation,n located on Tongue river,
! Lame Deer and Rosebud creeks, To be
thrown open ana restored to the pub
lie domain, for reasons which are eel
foril. below, and which We think will
| be deemed sufficient.
This reservation was created by an
executive order after white settlers
had taken up homes within It's limits,
and the order preserves TO these set
tiers the rights Of occupancy aud own
ership, but IL also surrounds each OF
tbsm with Indian territory, over
which the Indians can aud do roam
at will, committing continual trpspsss
on the cstile, sheep and crops OF the
white settlers, who have no redress and
can have no escape save by desertine
the homes on which they have spenr
elsewhere. In this respect this reser-
vation IL an anomaly and stands dis
tinctive smopg the res 'rvations Of the
county; the experiment-ifs such il is-
of ssndwicbing whites and Indians
together, has long since proved sbor-
tive and sbould-if the benefits and
comforts Of either race are to be con
sidered-be ended without further de-
lay.
The reservation Is notoriously lily
sdspted 10 the proper care and super
vision OF the Indians, and also for
their subsistence by farming; its only
arabic lands lie In the valleys Of the
Ton gue aud Rosebud, two parallel
streams 2j miles apart. and separated
by a mountainous divide that Is al
most lm mpasssble, making communica-
ton between the two bands or camps
Of Indians very difficult at all times
and at some seasons impossible; In the
|, valleys OF there streams the best loca.
tiGns were taken by white settlers be-
fore tue Indians were placed here, and
these valleys are so circumscribed in
area that there IL but little arabic lano
for apportioD to the Indians fol
? agricultural purposes, certainly moth
ing like what they would be entitled
\ 10 under the utual spportionment o
100 acres 10 each head Of family, etc
Again, one OF the indispensable requi
sites Of farming In this country Is irri
. CATION. and this having been recog
Dized by the early settlers on thes,
A streams, il Is a fact that as much ant
A more water than these streams usual,
carry, has been covered by wate
rights, so that were IL proposed TO al,
these Indians In their farming opera
tions by the taking out Of an irrigat
IT ing ditch, there would not, in fou
seasons out Of five, be any water lef
for their use, as In seasons when waite
IL needed, each settler uses 10 the ful
extent Of his right. Though report
have been made that these Indian
were successfully practicing agricuI
ture and bettering their condition,
Is "A fact beyond controversion tina
they have steadily retrograded in IN
past five or six years, and are not an
Y never have been, worthy Of commer
y In this regard.
The location of these Indians in "a
valleys of the two streams mentioned
4 10 great extent bars two high wa,
hNhh tht rNdAnturitAh UbIl vi hA
county, to Miles City, the county sea
Previous to the creation Of this reseI
walton, Miles City was the principl
cattle shipping point for eastern Mon
tana on the line Of the Northern Ps
II cifc road. bat one seasons experlmer
sufficed 10 show that II was impossibl
to drive herd Of Wild cattle OF horss
through an Indian camp, and NJ the
IN occupy the only roadway on each {
!" these streams, all attempts to drive :
D; Miles City were abandoned and as
|c consequences our county seat has lot
10 mnch business and prestige FROM thl
cause.
The lands now occupied by tbes
unproductive wards OF the nation
would, II vacated by them, be quicki
taken up by bona fide settlers wh
A would at once become Taxpayers; ths
Al this Is Important may he judged D
the statement that our county, no'
containing but 200 Taxpayers, u bu'
dened with debt of 5000 the n
duction Of which, and our tax Of taxa