The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-12-27
MONEY VALUE OF 4 soUAW.

l Why Even an Old and Ugly One is Matrt-
 mentally Dssirabi-.-tha Wealth of Car
 tain Indian Communities. and the Ad-
 vantages Enjoyed by White Men Who
 Have Indian Wives.
 Fort Sill Correspondence New York sun.l
 Just what use a white man can have
 for a homey. dirty Indian squaw is
 not clear to many people. In a city
 in the east he might, perhaps. hire her
 10 the manager of museum. Or even
 to employ meniai. he might use her
 in the west. were he fastidious enough
 as servant. But to take her as his
 wife-to eat with her to work with her, to be with her day after day, and for
 many days at time with her only
 that Is another thing. And yet that Is
 just what scores of shrewd sagac!ous.
 intelligent white men are seeking to do-to marry squaws, regardless of
 whether they are old or young, wrinkled
 and hldeous. or smooth-skInned and pretty, only so they are full-blooded
 Indian squaws. For an Indian squaw on her reservation Is literally worth to a keen white husband her weight in
 gold. The recent payment of cash to
 the Cherokee Indians at Sequoyah has developed much information of impor-
 tance in regard to the Indian situation.
 Sequoyah, until the excitement caused
 by the payment of some three-quarters of a million In currency to the Chero- kees. attracted little attention. It's only
 building of importance is the court
 house, which is very small. Recently.
 however. there were encamped around
 the court house at least 1000 people, some of them with an idea of permanent 'settlement. The majority of this | crowd, however. was attracted to the spot by the excellent prospects of a good ready-money business to be done during the distribution of money per | capita to the destitute Indians. A good many Indians on receiving their money left at once, taking the governments gift with them. Those who remained, with few exceptions, lost all their | money to the sharpers.
 iHSiC ID ilttic ludl tHc of the recipients of the governments bounty are wealthier than the average white man one meets in days journey, for, thanks to a most generous con- struction of treaties, they have re- ceived over and over again handsome sums from the government, and the in- dividual undivided wealth of the mem- bers of large number of tribes aver ages nearer s2,0O0 than $100O. The question of statehood and the allotment of land to individuals has been the main subject of comment for months past during the various periods of dis tribution, and it is singular to note how strongly the proposition is objected to. There seems to be general feeling that in the early future statehood and allot-s ment will be forced upon the different tribes, in which case every man, wo- man and child will receive quite a con- siderable tract of land, and will also be- come entitled to a considerable sum of money. The scheme, as it is generally understood, would involve not only the handing over ta ,eyerysIn6ian a. home- stead in his own right, but the govern ment would reserve and sell the re- mainder of the land and also the town sites, dividing the proceeds among: the members of the tribe. ,s ,...
 By this arrangement every Indian, ir- respective of age, would be placed in the position of a farmer with substan- tial capital upon which to commence operations, and that so favorable a scheme would be looked on as rob- bery or oppression is remarkable. But in the elections just over every candi- date who expressed so much as willing ness to consider the proposition was showed under hopelessly. Only here and there an intelligent Indian is met who regards the proposition as an in- tent upon the part of the United States government to put a forcfble barrier upon the continued encroachments and avarice of the cattlemen and others who are gradually entrenching then- selves in the country, and who will eventually assert rights to title and give a great deal of trouble.
 In reality it is the squaw man, or | white man who has married an Indian | woman, who is responsible for all the l trouble the government has.encountered l in fixing up treaties and sealing agree ments with the Indians for the mutual | benefit of both the white and red men. | At the recent distribution of money at | Sequoyah an immense number of sauaw | men appeared to collect the large sums of money due to their wives. This mon- ey is issued as to the Indians under the provisions of their treaty.
 The squaw man Is ever present when money is to De seen. He has, however, been too severely condemned by writers who have never entered into the Creek. Cherokee, or Choctaw nation. He is not necessarily a. fugitive from justice, a schooner, or an idler, but when he is not the first he is either the second or the third. TheSwhite woman who vows to love. honor, and obey an Indian brave is almost a social outcast, losing all her existing relationship and entering upon life of misery and wretched- ness to her. When the order of things is reversed. however. and white man marries an Indian girl, itquite frequent " happens that the domestic relations between the parties are at least pleas ant. ASIA