The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-08-13
$50, 900 BUSHELS OF WHEAT AWAITING SHIP


BUSHELS OF WHEAT AWAITING SHIP
MENT.
world famous. Now orchards are being
set, and doubtless this will render them
equally famous as fruit growing regions
According to Indian traditions, the
Clearwater valley was the earliest home
of the red man. In this respect it occu-
pies the same relation to the aborigines
Of North America that the garden of
Eden holds in the history of the white
race. Away back at the beginning of
the century, when Lewis and Clark went
on their famous trip of exploration
through the far northwest, they heard
wonderful stories of this region, where,
the Indians declared, snow was never
seen and the grass was always green. 1t
was and is the belief of the Indians that
the gods part the snowclouds so as to
let the sun shine into this reservation,
as an especial token of favor to the Nez
Perces, and these have until recently
been very loath to give up tribal owner
ship Of the tract. Now. however, they
have consented to hold their lands in
severalty and to let the whites neighbor
with them in their occidental Eden.
The Nez Perces who dwell in this de-
electable region are known as g treaty
Indians" in distinction from the F'non-
treaty. tribe who were banded under
Chief Joseph in 1877. These savages
were then located in Wallowa county,
and the war was brought about by their
refusal to remove to the reservation.
The Indians now on the reservation
were settled there in 1855, and have
long been regarded by their white &C
quaintances as among the most progress
i've of all the aborigines. They are not
blanket Indians nor do they live in
lodges or wigwams, but in houses. Their
dress is the same as that of the whites,
and they cut their hair. In a small way,
too, they have engaged in agriculture,
they raise many horses and cattle and
possess much valuable property, some
of their leading men being very rich as
Indians go-that is, worth from $75, 900
to 800, 900 each. Web TeStamen, for
instance, prosperous Nez PIERCE Of the
Clearwater valley, has more cattle than
anywhite Eanehman in that part of Ida
no, and an Indian named Luke is noted
for possessing cattle of finer breeding
than are to be found elsewhere in the
far west. These men and others like
them have been at the head of the op-
position to the opening of the reserva
ton. Under old conditions their cattle
enjoyed free range, which Will not be
the case under the coming regime.
In the beginning the reservation was
of considerably greater extent than it
now is At present it is about 20 miles
in length by 80 OF 40 miles wide. 1t
contains 724, 308 acres and supports
2,O00 Indians. Under the last treaty,
which has been ratified by congress,
each head of an Indian family has tax
en- a quarter section, or 100 acres, each
single person over Is, 80 acres, each or
phan under IS, so and all other children
40 acres each. These tracts have been
selected at will by the Indians them
selves, and they have generally taken
up plots on the rivers and streams where
water for stock and irrigation can be
had. Their allotments take up 49,, 234
acres, leaving 544, 074 acres for the
whites, and for which the tribe is to re-
ceive So an acre. As soon as the first
installment Of 1925, 222 is paid by the
government the reservation will be
thrown open.
Some notion Of the fertility of the
tract upon which some thousands of set
tiers are to find homes may be had from
the fact that the Palouse region, similar,
but if anything inferior to the reserva-
ton, is the greatest wheat growing sec
ton of the west. For 100 miles it is one
great wheatfeld, and the yield runs
from 80 to $40 bushels an acre, the av-
erage being from AZ to 90. 1t is not IN
common to see $50, 600 bushels of Pa
louise wheat awaiting shipment. Wheat
is not its only product, however. The
Palouse region is capable of raising any
product of the temperate zone, as was
shown by farmer at recent agricu1-
tural fair who exhibited 100 varieties
of cereals, fruits and vegetables, all
grown by himself.