Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-03
BAD FOOD FOR REDS.
The Secretary of the SaX-Fox Tribe
Visits on His Own Account
IN THE ARRAPAHOE TERRITORY.
Cherokees Will Resist the Opening Of the
Strip to Settlers.
DISSATISFACTION OVER HERD LAWS

@. Walter Battice, Secretary Of the Sax
Fox tribe of Indians in the Territory, was
passenger for Washington last evening
He was intrusted with a Government mis-
sion of which he declined to speak. He was
bright young man, having been educated
at Hampton and Bridgeport His father-in-
| law is Mahkosahroe, the principal
chief of the tribe. Battice Is q great be-
liever in education for the reds, and says
the Government system of schools is good.
His tribe will open a new schoolhouse next
week that cost $4,000. The Secretary de-
MED that the young bucks when educated
in the East become blanketed Indians as
soon as their clothes wear out They may
do this in isolated cases, but it is not the
general rule.
1.-THE opening OF the Cherokee strip in
the spring." he continued, will cause q
great deal of trouble and some bloodshed.
The Indians realize that it Is only ques-
tion of time until all their reservations will
be thrown open to settlers, but they feel
that they are not ready for 1t. The opening
of the Oklahoma country resulted in con-
siderable dissatisfaction, and the Indians
feel sore. The Cherokees are the most
intelligent of the tribes in the
Territory. They are practically civilized,
and through frequent intermarriages have
become two-thirds white. They won't see
their lands taken away from them without
a struggle, and their threats of trouble are
not mere idle boasts. Another thing that
made the Indians tired were the new herd
laws. They were intended to take advan-
tage of our people. The regulations lim-
tied our pasture lands, and the laws went
into effect so soon that 1t was impossible for
the reds to collect their cattle and ponies
that were beyond the lines These were
gobbled up by the ranchers, and in many
cases ponies were ransomed for more than
they were worth. The fines were onerous,
and lots of Indians couldn't pay them and
lost their stock.
"As soon as 1 heard that trouble was
brewing among the Cheyennes and Arrapa-
hoes on account of the Government schools,
paid them visit to see what I could do
to persuade them not to fight. When I
went into the schools and saw the food in
tended for the children. my stomach re-
volted, and 1 did not blame the people for
refusing to send their sons and
daughters to the schools. The buildings
were filthy, and the grains dried fruits,
etc, full of crawling vermin. The stuff
had decayed years ago and was not fit for
even savages to eat. The trouble is that
the food is bought by the agents in WASH
ingtnn, and don't believe they know how
bad it is. In the Eastern schools the super
intendents buy their supplies and the
boarding is all that could be desired. Un-
less it is remedied the Cheyennes and
Arrapahoes can be expected to 60 on the
warpath."
General Meigs, the Commissary General
of the United States army, was on the
limited last evening going to Chicago. He
said he had nothing to do with feeding the
Indians, and all he knew of dissatisfaction
among some of the tribes was what he
learned from the newspapers.