The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-08-16
EXEMPTFROM ALLTAXES
sQUAw MEN THE ONLY WHITE CITI-
ZENs THUS FAVORED.
After Marrying Indian Women They
Are Into the Tribe and
Cared for by the Government.

What more could a man ask than to have
the government provide a living for his
wife and all his children? What more could
a man wish for than TO- be free from taxes,
free from the cares OF ordinary mortals.
and to live as careless and unrestrained a
life as was ever lived by the wandering In
dian tribes on our Western plains?
Yet such an earthly paradise is enjoyed
by A class of white men in the West. and
they are rapidly acquiring wealth under
these favorable conditions. They are most
ly a class of men whose restless spirit and
love of adventure brought them in contact
with the Indians in the early fifties. Many
of these men were hunters, supplying wag-
on trains and United States troops with
wild game on their long journeys overland
to Utah and California. During these years
the Indians followed the buffalo. elk and
deer over the plains of Kansas and the
valley of the Platte. in Nebraska. These
early pioneers and hunters often camped
and lived with the Indians and made their
homes in the Indian tepees. To insure their
safety they were often taken as members
of a tribe. which was soon followed by their
choosing a wife. generally the daughter of
an influential chief. This was evidence to
the Indian Of their sincerity in joining the
tribe. As the ceremony consisted princi-
pally In giving the prospective father-in-
law a few ponies. and then leading the
bride to his own tepee. within a few years
the squaw men. as they were called. had
become quite numerous.
BY the treaty of 1868 the Indians re-
iinquished all the territory occupied by
them in Kansas and Nebraska. and were
confined to parts of Wyoming and the
great Sioux reservation in western South
Dakota. In return for this concession they
received regular rations. which were in
creased in 1876. and certain annuities which
were given them in clothing each year.
Those white men who had married Indian
women had now become engaged in stock
raising. When the Indians were restricted
to their reservations. the squaw men fol-
lowed their wives and children. They gave
up hunting and devoted their time entirely
TO the cattle business.
No section of the United States is so nat
urally adapted TO stockraising as the Sioux
reservation Although the agreement of
1876 deprived the Indians OF the Black Hills
and fertile valleys Of the Belle Fourche.
and the agreement of 1855 had further re-
duced their grazing lands nine million
acres. yet there remained 10 them the south
half of the original Sioux reservation, which
to-day Is unsurpassed u BLUM pun POctc.
The fertile valleys of Wounded Knee. Por-
cupine, Medicine Root and Bear-in-the-
Lodge creeks are green with luxuriant
grasses, even during these summer months
when the Western plains are parched.
brown and dry. This fact the stock men
of northern Nebraska fully appreciated
and until a few years ago thousands of
their cattle were grazing on the reserva-
ton. But after numerous disputes between
the whites and Indians. and continual ILL.,
feeling caused by the petty thieving on the
mart of both cattlemen and Indians. the
Indian agent at Pine Ridge issued an order
recurring ali white men TO remove their
stock from the reservation. But there were
few whites exempt from this order. These
were the squaw men who had married In
dian women and had settled on the reser-
walton. They had acquired none of the
rights of an Indian by their marriage. but
were allowed TO remain Will their families.
These are the men who fear not taxes.
and whose families are wards OF the gov
ernment. BY treaties and agreements with
TIE Indians. every Sioux. whether full. half
or quarter blood. who remains on the res
ervation. draws rations from the govern
ment. receives annuities under the treaty
of 1868 and will practically be taken care
of and fed until they become self-support-
ing. which will not come TO pass for sew
eral generations
The white man who marries an Indian
may remain on the reservation with all the
rights OF his wife. and has the rights OF a
full blooded Sioux. as far as stock and the
free-range question is concerned. but. OF
course. draws no rations. An Indian Is not
a citizen and has no rights worth men,
tioning. yet he has one that Is the envy OF
III Western cattlemen. that OF possessing