The Portland daily press., 1891-06-30
RICHEST OF ALL TRIBES.
Big Fund of the Usage Indians In
the Treasury.
New York Sun. ]

OpoAh1uB Oh FlSlG 10 Ino InQlaQ Ter
ritory some years ago Senator Plat said:
"When ] was at the trading post Of the
Usage Indians Twasmuch amused to see
an. Indian buyinga barrel of good -four
for himself and a barrel of cheap -four
for the white man who worked for him. -,
The Usage Indians can afford to be lux
urious. They are the wealthiest Indians
in the United States.
1t is estimated at the Indian Office that
the Usage Indians-men, women and
children-are worth $40, 900 each in what
ought to be as good as cash.. e., salable
land and the governments promise to
pay. So great is thesinterest on the sum
held by the United States to their credit
that the secretary Of the interior will not
pay out all of it at one time, and a
gradual increment;is. adding to the mill
ions already credited to the tribe on the
books of the government.
The Osages came to their wealth
through the sale Of their lands in Kansas
when they were moved to a reservation
in what is now known as Oklahoma ter
ritory. One Indian abandoned his tribe
and chung to his Kansas land, and it is
said that today, through the appreciation
in thevalue Of that land, he is worth a
million dollars.
he isperhaps the richest Indian in the
world. Nothing is known of him at the
Indian Office because, having abandoned
his tribe, he has ceased to be subject
of sohcitu de to the gentlemen in charge
Of Indian affairs at the national capital.
The land belonging'to the other Indians
was bought by the government and
thrown open to settlement.
THE INDIANS AND THE, GOVERNMENT.
In buying this property the govern
ment did not make any actual payment
forit. It announced to the Osages that
theyshad been creditedwith the amount
of the purchase money and that they
would receive interest ON that amount.
There was no deposit made to secure
this Indebtedness of the government.
There is nothing to represent it in the
treasury department. except the record
Of the fact that it has been assumed by
the government. This has been the prac-
tice of the government-its exclusive
practice-for many years.
A long time ago the treasury depart
ment used to purchase southern state
bonds with the purchase price of Indian
lands and hold them in trust for the
Indians. A great many of these southern
state bonds are now in the treasury
vaults, held in trust to secure indebted
ness to the Indian tribes. But on the
majority of them no interest has been
,paid ~ A. -A4>~ FOR n LONG time. in
fact, the bonds in effect nave been re-
pudiated.
Tho government, however, under its
contract with the Indians, is held liable
for the interest which these bonds should
have drawn. This interest it has as
sumed. So the purchase of the state
bonds was losing investment for the
government. Its unhappy experience in
this direction has taught it the wisdom
of securing its debts to the Indian, like
its other obligations, with a promise to
pay.
In the deposits to the credit of the
Usage Indians there is one item of s., 49,
515. The annual interest on this is $407, :
376. There are about 1900 Osages on
the reservation in Oklahoma. The ex-
act number mentionedin the last annual
report of the Indian commissioner is
1,496; but this, of course, varies from
time to time. The members of this
tribe, men, women and children, are
joint sharers in the interest money. AS
it is paid to the tribe it is divided equally
among them. 1t is drawn by the head
of each family for himself, his wife and
his children.
HOW THE MONEY is SPENT.
The Indian with large family draws
a goodly sum each month. Even the
amount to which the single Indians are
entitled is large-for an Indian. 1t has
been the policy for the secretary of the
interior, acting for the president, who
underthe new law, is the trustee for the
Indians, to pay to the Usage tribe only q
part of the money to which it is entitled
The amount paid annually was for a
long time $250,000. Two years ago the
payment was increased, at the request
of the Indians. to $500, 900 year.
That is less than rs per cent. of the
amount due the Indians, and the other
% per cent. goes toward swelling the
amount with which the tribe is credited
on the treasury books. What will be
done with this slowly increasing capital
and the correspondingly increasing in
terest on it is question with which the
government has not yet troubled itself
Occasionally some of the interest
money which is due to the Osages is ex.
pended for their benefit by the secretary
of the interior, within his discretion.
The Indian Office has on hand now plans
for $4,000 building to be used as a
dormitory and school in connection with
the education Of the Usage children.
The council of the tribe requested the
secretary to make this expenditure. The
government looks after the education Of
the Osages, and special fund is set
aside for educational purposes.
The government supplies them with
agricultural implements and a great
many other things which the Indians
could very well afford to buy for them
selves They do buy a great many lux
uries. Very few of them save any of
the money which is paid to them by the
government. The trader at the agency
gets greater part of it within an hour
after the payment has been distributed.
The Usage leadership is regarded as the
most valuable in the United States.
Other traders have more Indians to deal
with, but not so much money