The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-10-27

land. they will get equal shares Of ths
invested funds which are to be paid u
them just as soon as they have all Sc
lected their allotments.
What will become of these Indians thus
suddenly enriched9 In the opinion OF
many the outlook is NOT hopeful. Condi-
lions at present are in CHAOTIC state,
and it does not seem likely that living
conditions will improve when the Indians
own the Territory. Towns with popula-
tion of five or six thousand people have
no sidewalks at all and no roads worthy
of the name. After a heavy rain bust
ness is practically suspended. The build
ings are of the fiimsiest character. In the
| farming districts the Indians will not i'm
prove their farms because they have no
positive assurance where they can take
| up their allotments. Few of the fullblocds
send their children to school.
At present. the whites. Of whom there
are 2Ce,eCc in the Territory, have practical
ly no rights. They cannot own land, and
prior to a recent decision they have not
even been allowed to own houses or stocks
oil merchandise, SO that any white desiring
10 do business must do it under the name
OF an Indian or of an intermarried citizen
having Indian rights. Many whites mar
ried squaws. thus Obtaining tribal rights
and the halfbreed children of these unions
are the most intelligent and progressive
members of the Indian community. Others
paid the monthly tax of SO cents and hired
out to the indolent Indian farm owners or
storekeepers, accommodating money by in
dustry
1t is from this class that the danger to
the Indians portends. These whites know
the value of the lands. They have or can
get money. AS soon as the Indian takes
up his allotment it is his to do with what
bp Thpra &c hat. IN,
most cases, as regards the fullbloods, who
make UP about one-third of the total In
dian population, they will sell out TO the
whites. 1t is generally predicted that they
will sell out almost in a body. and emf
crate to Mexico TO find a wilderness where
in they can rear another edifce OF tribal
misnaragement, while the halfbreeds will
remain to become citizens of the new
State that will eventually be made out of
Indian Territory. Willy fellows are these
halfbreeds who well understand the value
of what is coming to them. Far and wide
they have roamed. prospecting for lead,
zinc. coal. and oil. and their discoveries
they have kept secret. with view to get
ting their allotments where these treasures
lie. Then when local or Eastern capital
comes, with money in both hands the half
breed will be in a position to get about
what he asks.
Tourists from the East visit the Indian |
Territory rather expecting that wild In
dans clad in blankets and gorgeous paint |
will be found hanging around the town
and railway stations and >avidly cycling |
tire scalp of the paleface invader In |
stead. one meets race of dark-skinned |
people, some highly educated and glad to |
meet you. others little stubborn with |
the deeply imbedded hatred of their race !
against the whites, but all far above the |
blanket Indian of the reservation.
They como quietly and peacefully to the
enrolment places. making Of the enroll
ment days a sort OF picnic. Nest of them.
even the fullbloods, wear the dress of
civilization. One of the men who will le-
come a citizen of the United States is
Zeke Proctor, Cherokee. and bad In
dian. Several years ago he killed seven
men near Westville and shot the deputy
marshal who tried to arrest him. AS a
rule the fullbloods are docile and even
kindly, but they have not the ability or
energy of the half-breeds, and 1t is prob
able that they will soon become extinct
At present the Five Tribes are the pluto
Gratis of the American Indian race. What |
they will be after they have come into
their full heritage is a problem upon the
solution of which may depend the Gov
ernment's treatment of all its other
wards. Should this scheme of naturaliz-
ing these Indians prove success it may
be repeated with other tribes.