Sharp County record., 1899-03-31
INCREASE OF INDIANS
AS Many Now as When Columbus
Discovered America
Few Have Been Killed in Wars and
Medical Science Saves Others-Less
Liable to Extinction Since
Advent of Whites

It is commonly accepted and often
reiterated opinion that the North Amer
lean Indian is becoming rapidly eN-
tinct. Such an idea as this has been
made the cause for the expenditure of
a great deal of sentiment, sometimes
maudin, about the melancholy fate of
the noble red man." 1t may surprise
some people to know that the state
ment that the American Indian is dis
appearing race is seriously challenged,
and furthermore, it is alleged that the
numerical strength of the race is as
great now, or very nearl y SO, as it was
before the advent of the white man.
The recent outbreak of the Chippe-
was has elected the usual amount Of
regretful sentiment that all Indians are
soon to be converted into good In
dians," and this has led writer to af-
firm that "the Indian is not dying out,
if we are to take the census of the best
ethnologists asauthorities." Either the
census-taker and scientist or the SEN
timentaist is wrong, he says, and he
proceeds to show that the error is large
ly ON the part of the sentimentalist.
The Indian has suffered from wars,
from disease con ntracted from the white
men and from intermixture with the in
vading and superior people, most
common cause of race extinction; but
for all that, if present figures and an
cient estimates are to be accepted, he
is very nearly holding his own This
writer says:
''The best authorities are of the opin-
ion that the Indian population Within
the confines of the United States was
never more than 25C,OO0, and that when
they were in the most fourishing con-
dition. According to the census of
1890 there were 249,273 Indians scat
tered throughout the country. That's
slightly less than 250,OOO-not enough,
however, to justify the opinion thatthe
Indian population is falling off. 1t is
not impossible that the 7S7 necessary
might have been raised in the round
up by the censustaker. On the other
hand, it is also possible that the orig
inal rough estimate might have
just that much advantage Of the facts.
On theother hand is the possibility that
the earliest estimates were short of
the truth. But that we do not know
for certain. We can only take the
opinion of those who have given the
matter especial consideration, Even
if all are wrong, SO long as there are
nearly a quarter of q million redskins
Ewing there need be no immediate fear
of their dying out as a race in the near
future.
Except for the two causes Of disease
and race admixture the Indian has been
less liable to extinction since the ad-
vent of the white man than he was
when he was the sole possessor Of the
continents. He has suffered much from
consumption and other forms Of tuber-
culoss con tracted from the whites, but,
of late years, at least, this has been
more than offset by better food sup
Plies, medicine, ETC.. which contact
with the whites has given him. Race
admixture has never been so marked
in the United States as in those coun-
tries occupied by the Latin races
Mexico and Central America, for in
stance, where large portion Of the in
habitants are Of mixed aboriginal
blood. SO far as war is concerned, the
conflicts with the whites have not been
$40 destructive to Indian life as were
the wars among themselves, in which
whole tribes we're often eXterminated,
and no quarter given to women and chill
dren. The whites have probably killed
no more Indians on the continent of
North America than the Indians killed
of the whites,
There are indications that the popu-
lation of North America had been much
more dense before the arrival of the
white man than il was when he came.
In the era OF the mound-builders there
must have been large population
along the Cumberland river in this i'm
mediate region, The large number CT
funeral grounds and the number Of
skeletons that have been eXhumed are
proofs of the fact. Still there was no
resident population Of any kind in
this section when first discovered by
the whites,
The Indians have been mostly crowd
ed into the west, and those that were
once in the habit OF roaming over
vast areas are now collected on small
reservations, but they are not becoming
rapidly extinct, as has been commonly
pposed,-Philadelphia Inquirer.
Mcxico's Limited Railroad Mileage
Al L.. L.,