The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1900-07-02
INDIANS
ire PerlShing ON the ella Res
eTvatiOn.

WARRINGTON, July t-rndtoos
Starving to Death" is the heading Of
Phoenix Special" TO the Chicago
Tribune, the text Of which is as fol-
lows; six thousand Indians are
starving TO death on the ella reserva-
ton, according to $. NJ MCGOWAN. su-
perintendent of the Indian industrial
school at Phoenix His statement
paints most dcplorable condition ex-
isting among tiibes that have never
been contaminated by white blood
Superintendent McGowan said that
he found twenty helpless adults i'm one
miserable shack. that would. under or
dinary circumstances, scarcely accom-
modate three PRISONS. Congress has ap-
propriated $4,000. bur no method of
distributing the money was stipulated.
hence il is ted up, while the wards OF
the government are starving to
death"
This statement Of the pitiable con-
dition of the friendly and industriou
Pimas is old news to western readers.
and the case is one of the most shame.
ful and outrageous instances of neg-
| lect and betrayal on the part Of the
United States of an ally. worthy and
true.
! That 5000 Pima Indians always the
! consistent and active friends of the
! white man. should be reduced from a
condition of wealth and great pros
perity to actual starvation through
the neglect of the federal government
while the adjacent Apaches, always
the white mans foes and causing more
trouble, pillage and loss of life than
any western tribe should be today
sleek and well-fed at the hands of the
same government seems a rewardinR
Of enemies and a killing of friends.
For hundreds of years the Pimas liv-
ed plenty, irrigating their fields from
the waters of the ella until the white
man came and diverted it's waters in
10 other areas At the time Of the
Gadsden Purchase, Lieutenant Mich
Ter of the Boundary Commission said
of these Indians in ms official report,
dated way back in 1856:
Besides being great warriors they
are good husbandmen and farmers
and work laboriously in the field. They
are owners of fine horses and mules,
fat oxen and mich cows, pigs and
poultry anc are wealthy class Of In
dians. The Pimas consider themselves
regular descendants of the Aztecs AS
we journey along the valleys we found
land fenced and irrigated and rich
/ fields of wheat ripenng for the harvest
, "a view differing from anything we
a mad seen since leaving the Atlantic
5 states. They grow cotton sugar peas,
] wheat and corn. AS | sat upon a rock -
continues Lieutenant Mchler, admir-
ing the scene. an old gray haired Pima
. took pleasure in pointing out the ex-
! tent of their domain. They were anx-
! ious to know if their rights and titles
= to their lands would De respected by
our government upon learning that
their country had become part of the
I United States"
8 The old mans anxiety was but too
r well founded and could he contrast
/ now the wealth and prosperity of his
] tribe before the westward sweep OF
civilization with it's present destitu-
2 tion and decay he would have cause TO
rise in vengence and demand that this
, great government adopt a course OF
d. common decency.
There are pople in the eastern states
VINO have cried out against the injus.
: tice meted out to the poor Indian
? Their sympathy usually has been mis-
S placed and wasted upon a savage
1
2 white man. But here now is a worthy
. cause - none woTthier ever lived; to
= right wrong; to give to a good peo-
] pie that of which they have been
. Wrongfully despoiled through the
e criminal carelessness of the govern
ment. And the solution of the problem
is so easy, so simple, The waters of
the ella are ample to supply the needs
OF tn starving Pimas and many Others
. only they largely run TO waste durine
flood times The government reports
and surveys show that the building OF
a great dam on the Gila would store
Q up enough water to irrigate thousands
0 of acres of as fertile land as the sun
: shines upon.
I Cannot some of our friends who
have anon professed such interest in
. the poor red man come 10 his assist
ance now and see that he may be ac-
corded simply justice? The cause is
. worthy; the means are at hand; the
l. interest alone is lacking
Res fnr he