Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1900-11-23
OKLAHOMA
Land For the Landless - Difficulties
New Settlers Will Encounter
Country Misrepreserted.

n
ASADARKo, OKLA.
November 16, 1900
On the 10th of July / was directed
| by the commissioner of Indian affairs
| to proceed to the Comanche and
| Kiowa country and commence the
work of alloting lands to the Indians
thereof and in obedience thereto |
have been here since that time en-
gagged in the work assigned me. The
| Comanche and kiowa reservation is
loca'ed in the southwest corner of
Oklahoma Territory, being bounded
on the west by the Texas Panhandle,
on the south by Red River, on the
east by the Chocktaw and Chickasaw
| nations, and on the north by the
| Washataw river, and contains over
three millions of acres of land. 1t is
the last large Indian reservation
which can be opened to white settle
ment in the southwest and the en-
| vious eye of the white man has been
| painting for it 10 these many years, as
| the hart panteth after the water
brooks, and as the time approaches
when he thinks the opportunity will
be given he Is getting ready to make
a wild rush for a quarter section OF
the same, but what disappointment
there is going to be. There IS no
country within the limit of the Re
public about which there has been
such gross misrepresentation and
monumental lying in the press and
rostrum as this reservation.
| While it is a reservation of beauty
the thousands who rush madly into
~ lob fn
ton, will find to their deep sorrow
| forever. 1t is true there is much
good land, but the Indians will get
the greater portion of this, and by
the time they get their allotments,
the reservations are made for school,
agency and military purposes, there
will be but small per cent. of good
farming land left for settlement. 1t
| is a magnificent corn country, and
| fortunes have been made off of it bV
cattle .lt n, but the real farming land
| constitutes less than one-third of the
VIII, lie and this the Indians will have.
In view of this fact to refer to it as
the great Eldorado, country OF
| splendid possibilities, as it is by
newspaper correspondents backed by
railroad corporations, thus exciting
in the minds of the people who are
| seeking homes an expectation which
is in the end in vast majority of
cases doomed to the keenest disap-
| pointment, is a moral crime for
which the party making it and the
newspaper publishing should be
| punished.
One of the most pathetic scenes
| that has come under my observation
during the summer is the large num-
| Der of men and women passing
through the reservation along the
public highway, looking to the right
and left, locating in their minds a
claim here and there, drawn here by
these false representations and also
by q strong desire to get a quarter
section of good land, for most of them
want homes, and vet the great ma
jority are doomed to disappointment
for reasons already given; and, as |
have noted the passing of this lazy
class of citizens, | have said where
are the home seekers to be accom-
modated? In our ambition todevelop,
increase population and material
wealth and become a great world 5
power. we have flung wide open the
gates to foreign immigration; and
they have come by the almost count
less millions, pushed into the unoc-
cupied territory, settled the same,
and now when our sons and daugh-
tiers want lands they find that about
all that is worth having has been pre-
occupied, and they must wander on
homeless and landleSs. The policy
l. l.,.I . - e l..
us rapidly to the front, but it is one
that is to result in great hardships
and misery to the millions of native
inhabitants.
On the 10th of August, camp num-
Der l, moved into the field and erect
ed its tents on the open prairie and
the actual work of allotting was
commenced. Very grave difficulties
were encountered right IN the begin
ming, which made the work exasper
ating slow. The monuments in the
way of corner stones, stakes, blazed
trees, which had been made % wears
ago by the original survey, had to
great extent disappeared, and it
became necessary before any quarter
section could be allotted to retrace
the original lines and re establish the
original corners, and days were often
consumed in doing this retracing and
without any different result. After
seven weeks of active work surveying
party number l has only been able to
make about sixty allotmentS, and
camp number only about forty.
making a hundred all told; and of
?, 500 to be made, at this rate of pro
gress, it would take the present force
at least three years in which to com
plete this work. And yet the law af
tirming the treaty and making pro
vision for the allotment declared that
it should be accomplished in ninety
days from the date of its approve
ment, all of which shows how little
the average congressman often knows
about matters which come before him
for his legislative action. But here
| am now with a letter longer than it
should be and have not said anything
about the Comanche and kiowas as
tribes which | intended to do when /
commenced So | will close with the
promise that If the spirit moves me
will write them M in q future letter