The times., 1898-11-18
THE pELAwAREs' DEPARTURE.

THE DELAWARES' DEPARTURE.
1T is likely says Walter s. Logan.
attorney for the Delaware Indians. that
the United States will soon see the last Of
| them. The Delawares have a peculiar
history. They met William Penn upon his
| arrival. and with them he negotiated his
| famous treaty. They stood as a solid
( wall between European settlers on the
/ East and the ferocious Indian tribes on
/ the west They were known as peaceful
| Indians, ever ready to defend their
rights, if necessary. when attacked, but
never provoking trouble nor making an
attack themselves. II is doubtful whether
the early English settlements in this
| country could have been maintained if it
had not been for their friendship. Logan,
| the friend OF the white man. was a De-
aware chief.
| Originally the Delawares and the kin
dred Algonquin tribes occupied more than
two-thirds of all the territory which con-
! stituted the original United States, from
I the Penobscots To the Savaunahs and
away beyond the Aneghenies toward the
Mississippi and they numbered nearly
10000 souls. European civilization. ever
pressing them on the East, drove them
westward and westward. until finally
what were left of them were peaceably
settled in Kansas, where the treaty was
made In 1866
1.-The Delawares had been loyal through
the Civil War and many of the tribe
with nd fisffu IN, rfrs
Union army. The Cherokees on the other
hand, sided with the South. The white
men wanted the Delaware country in
Kansas, and the fact that the Delaware
braves had stood side by side with them
in defense of the Union was not strong
enough to protect them. But this land
had been solemnly guaranteed TO the
Delawares by the United States and the
faith Of the nation was behind the Della
ware title. Again the Delawares proved
themselves the friends of the white man
Fertile as was their new-found home on
the plains OF Kansas. much as they had
become attached to it, they consented to
move again So the treaty of 1866 was
made.
"A suit is now pending in the United
States Court of Claims and will be tried
this Winter to determine the rights OF
the parties under the contract The Della
paid for two things-to wit land and the
privilege of citizenship-they are entitled
to both. The Cherokees claim that the
Delawares must put their land back into
the common pool and divide up with the
Cherokees.
Whatever the result of this suit" con-
tinued Mr.. Logan. the Delawares have
determined that they will shake the dust
of the United States from the soles of
aa-g-
Indian Territory is soon to be opened up
to the white man. They are not strong
enough to resist the terrible and constant
pressure Tney have the best lands in
the United States, and the white man is
bound to have them. The offer of citizen
ship and the privilege of voting contained
in the recently passed Curtis bill have no
allurements for the Delaware. He has had
too much experience with the white man
The Mexican republic, our sister on the
south. asks the DeIawares to transfer
their allegiance, and offers to welcome
them to hospitable homes. tract of
land around the mouth of the Yaqui
River on the Gulf of California. in the
State of Sonora, fertile as the valley of
the Nile. and in a climate where life Is
worth living has been offered if they will
come and cultivate it. The leading men of
the tribe visited this country and report
ed strongly IN ITS favor. Ihere seems TO
be little doubt that they Will move TO
Sonora as fast as they can sell out their
interests in the United States.
The Republic of Mexico has dealt more
kindly with her Indians than the United
States" said Mr.. Logan. Our fathers
wiped the Indians off the face OF the
earth In Mexico there are more men of
Indian lineage today than in the time OF
Montezuma. English colonists in America
brought their wives with them, and the
civilization that they planted was the
European civilization In Mexico the
Spaniard came alone, and the first thing
he did was to marry an Indian girl And
SO the present Mexican race is the re-
suit of the union of the strongest men OF
Spain and the most attractive women of
the Aztecs.
To-day in the United States the Indian
is a ward of the nation. In Mexico he is
free and the equal OF every other citizen
Benito Juarez, the great liberator of
Mexico, was a full-blooded Zapotec In
dian. Porfirio Diaz Mexico's present
great president. combines Indian with
European blood In his veins Matias Ro-
nero, for almost half century Mexico's
representative in the United States, has
the best blood of both races in his veins.
And the men who are ruling Mexico now
are of Indian ancestry. The Delawares
think that in a country where the Indian
Is a citizen and an equal, where he holds
the principal places of profit and emoIu-
ment, where 1t is held an honor and not
disgrace to have Indian blood in ones
veins, they may find a home and rest
and peace and quiet for their footsore
race