The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-01-10
A STRIP swINDLE.
The 0herokee Commissi Apparently Over
reached by thu Indian Leaders.

GUTHRIE, O. T., Jan Authorization
has been received here that 100 Cherokees
have arrived on the strip and have staked
off claims on the most fertile land obtain.
able They expect to hold eighty acres
each, by virtue of article of the recent
Cherokee treaty, which provides that
Those Chetokees now resident upon the
strip may take eighty acres of land, which
shall cover their improvements" 1t is
believed that they have secured this
article in the treaty for the very purpose
of cheating white settlers out of much OF
the most fertile land in the strip. Many
more families are getting ready to move,
and unless congress act speedily the In
dians will secure most Of the valuable
lands
NINITA, l. T., Jan. 9-FOllowing the
announcement of some few days ago that
the deal for the Cherokee strip had been
satisfactorily closed, and that the Chero-
kee council had approved the trade In de-
tail, comes the news of a most gigantic
swlndle in connection Herewith. It has
been an open secret among the more in
teliigent Cherokees ever since the trade
commenced that an effort would be made
on the part of lot of Jobbers from both
within aud outside the Batlon to grab all
The best lands in sight. but just where
this intended grab would come III has all
along remained IA mystery.
In article of the final agreement be
tween the commissioners on the part of
the United States. and the five committed
men representing the nation, through
whom the trade was made, the veil is
lifted, and the people are permitted to
gaze upon one of the prettieSt planned
steals ever heard of, it having hardly d
comparison in the long list of questionable
transactions in connection with Indian
legislation. To the casual observer on the
outside or the unSuspectlng Indian at
home the section referred to appears all
right, and bears no evidence of bad faith,
but to the searching eyes of those who
have been expecting steal of some sort 1t
pOrtrays a state of affairs that will cause
an immediate investigation by congress as
soon as The articles of agreement are laid
before that body at Washington, and may
ultima ely result in congress refusing to
ratify the sale. Articles |, 2, and / of the
terms upon which the strip is ceded to the
government relate principally to the price
trnders and the abrogation of the fifteenth
article of the treaty of 1866.
Article }, the Objectionable portion of the
agreement, contains provision granting
seventy acres each to every man, woman
and child of the Cherokee tribe who may
have taken lands in the strip prior TO the
first day of November, 1891 THIS section
allotments as described above shall not ex-
ceed seventy, and that such allotments
shall be made and confirmed under
such rules and regulations as shall be pre-
scribed by The secretary of the interior,
and when so made and confirmed shall be
conveyed to the allottees respectively by
the United States in Zee simple.
The exact purport of section can be
better understood when il is stated that
the favored seventy above mentioned
went out on the strip last fall during the
excitement incident to President Harri-
sons famous order and gobbled up all the
more favorable locations for farms and
town sites In case this agreement is rat.
flied by congress, every desirable location
for towns aud cities in the strip will have
gone into the hands of seventy favored
persOnS 10 the exclusion of the honest
who may come later on and
pay the cash for his own 100 acres.
That this sort of legislation is the worst
kind of a job no one not connected with
the scheme will deny. Its scope is so far
that no one here will attempt to
say who the main instigatOrs are, bat that
the present Cherokee council and United
States commission will be severely con-
demned on every hand is readily conceded
by everybody. The far-seeing and strictly
honorable element, both Indian aud white,
are determined that no repetition of the
scenes that were witnessed in
the opening of Oklahoma shall occur in
the tlnaEopenlng of the strip lands. When
the matter comes up liz congress a strong
protest Will be entered against the ap-
proval of section Of the final agreement.