Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1895-09-19
"TOOOUA-STEEy on MONOPOLY.
Some Pathetic Pictures Faithfully
Drawn.
Tahlequah Arrow.

1t was my fortune recently tC
travel somewhat extensively
through the districts of Coowee,
scoowee and Delaware. 1t is in
these sections of the nation that
monopoly is "getting in" its very
best work. The prairies are broad
and beautiful. The soil is ex-
ceedingly fertile; a perfect heaven
for the genius of agriculture. The
bounteous rains this season have
clothed these extensive plains OF
rich soil with miles and miles OF
tall. heavy, waving grass and other
natural herbage OF luxuriant
growth; and this great crop OF
spontaneous wealth is all belong
ing to the Cherokee people, each
man, woman and child being en-
titled to an equal interest; but it
is all absolutely locked up in the
clutches OF monopoly. 1t is d.
vided and quartered by wire fences
into vast tracts, some greater, some
smaller, just according to the
greed, the fnancial ability and
physical energy of the few who
happened to get the first grab. 1t
is grand spectacle of land-in-sev-
crafty under the sham of land-in-
common. Many of these vast en-
closures are operated merely for
the natural grass that is growing
within them; and generally in COL
fusion with moneyed white men
from the states who are in the
habit of buying, so to say, the
standing grass from the Cherokee
claim owner, by paying him, so to
speak, SO much per acre. In this
iniquitous way these vast, golden
prairies of Indian lands have
been made musical all this sum-
mer with the busy click of outside
mowers; while the stentorian snort
and defiant scream of the white
mans hay-press having been hurl-
ing derision into the face of our
national authorities. These vors.-
cious engines have been specially
active all this summer. They
have gormandized with the St.
Louis market and foreign pockets,
countless thousands of tons of our
nutritious grass-a magnificent re-
source which, instead of going to
feed the Unsuitable man of monop-
oily, should have been for the fod-
dering of the poor Indian COW as
step toward "bread and butter"
for his supperless children.
1t is noticeable that the be-
havior of monopoly becomes more
and more rampant and outrageous
the further you go out toward the
western part of the nation into the
region of cow-men and cattle kings.
Here the wire fences are actually
too long, and their enclosures so
extensive, for any accurate esti-
nation; it must suffice to simply
say that they are princely in d.
mensions, any one of them being
more than ample enough for an
ordinary English dukedom. The
entire country is either actually or
technically, covered by these stu
pendous wire improvements.
There is no spot left for an addi-
tional settler; while at the same
time the actual number of rightful
of all that great coun-
try would be scarcely enough to
one of the smallest town.
ships in western Arkansas. In
deed, there seems to be among
these fellow out there a hostility
to immigration, lest the incoming
of new settlers should result in a
division of their "good thing"
and a proportional reduction in
their proud enjoyment. Not a
great while ago, man, a Chero-
kee Indian he was, and a good |
honest citizen too, concluded to
leave the flint hills east of Grand |
river and remove his home to a
more auspicious place beyond the
He selected a spot |
and laid the foundation OF his |
prospective cabin, and then re-
turned to bring out his family and !
The location of this inno-
cent claim however was deemed |
to be a menace to the ambitious
greed of a neighboring monopolist
Accordingly this good man found.
upon his return, that during the
short period of a few days alb
sence his little improvement had
been completely encompassed by
a wire fence of many miles in ex-
tent, cutting him off (under the
silly provisions of our land laws |
completely from all enjoyment of
The soil except what happened to
lie within one quarter of a mile of
MS hearthstone. 1t is needless to
say what course this good man
chose, under the circumstance, to
pursue. He saw that this monop-
olist "had the law on him." that
the courts of the country would
never allow him to intrude upon
his land shark; and the offence
would be committed too by his
only setting his pillow in the ground,
Or cutting tree, or lifting a load
Of stone from the ground, more
han one quarter of a mile distant
rom his doorsill. The limit was
100 narrow for him; he was a vic
i'm of law, money and greed. He
.ook up his wife and little ones
and went on toward the sunset.
Now the hateful features of this
piece of sharp practice are by no
means the more graceful for its be-
ng at the hands of one of those
men who, though a socalled citi-
zen, have no right whatever to the