The Portland daily press., 1893-02-27

pected sufficiently to indicate accurately
their character or value. It was origi-
naIly granted to the Indians for hunting
grounds, to prevent any necessity for
their encroaohing on the lands OF their
neighbors in the pursuit of game, and
extends westward from the Cherokee
reservation to the Rocky mountains
AS the game disappeared the Indians
ceased to use the land for hunting and
rented it out to cattie raisers for grazing
purposes. The boomers claim that the
Indian title lapsed when the hunting
stopped, and that 1t is now within the
power of the government to declare the
land open for settlement. These claims
they urge with very forcible arguments
and great deal of acumen, making out
for themselves very strong case.
Pawnee Bill, their leader, is unique
personality. He was the interpreter Of
the Pawnee agency before the Oklahoma
rush and acted as manager of one Of
the biggest cattle ranches in the territory
several years ago. He has been school
teacher, ranger and a guide, and may
be considered an extra fine specimen Of
Intelligent frontiersman. He Is de-
scribed as 'litale, Young, active, shrewd,
with bright eyes and repose Of manner
only acquised by long reliance on self"
At the time Of the settlement of Okla
homa be was dubbed the" Little Giant"
His real name is Gordon w. Lille, and
the boomers selected him for their
leadHrSata convention recently held at
Guthrie. Major Lillie fas figured as a
frontier detective, andin the summer Of
1884, at Medicine Lodge, Kan,, he was
Instrumental in breaking up a desperate
gang ofsbank robbers.
He has counseled the boomers to stgo
slow" and wait for thggovernment, and
if his advioeis Followed, as it was by the
1900 people whom he personally led into
Oklahoma, he will very probably once
more successfully lead his people to the
land Of their desire.
Major Lille proposed an alternative
scheme for the settlement of the strip in
case the government refused to accede
to the demands of the boomers. He Of
fered to lease the strip from the Indians,
paying them at least twice as much as
anybody else was willing to pay for it, as
he said, "just to save trouble and avert
q row."
Chief Harris of che qherokees refused
to consider the proposition. His answer
was, eve will settle it ourselves and
then sublet it to the whites" This would
seem to indicate that Chief Harris is not
uniformed as to the advantages to be
derived from the ownership of land.
White men have already improved
great deal of the land Of the strip as
tenants of she Indians and the boomers
government to evict their tenants SO
that they may let the lands to others at
higher rents. AS the leases Of some of
the present tenants have several years
to run, this course would probably Gre
Rte another difficulty and would, the
boomers say, undoubtedly cause trouble.
AS to the objects of these men who
are waiting on the borders of their prom
ised land, Pawnee Bill said to reporter:
1--WE want to create new state, and
we will, speedily at that. Oklahoma
means to do it; the boomers now on the
borders mean to do it, and let me tell
you that nothing can stop us from doing
it. VIII the boomers go in upon the
"trip if congress does not order a round
up for keeps? Well, you can bet so Of
the best ponies on the reservation they
will
Whats the use of letting another
spring and harvest pass by wasted? The
Black Hills country and southern Kansas
were settled in this way. Nothing
wrong came of that. The Cherokees
have no title to the strip. Judge Green
here declares it to be public domain, and
that suits the settlers to dot" 81