El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-07-09
INDIANS
STARVING
Six Thousand Perishing On
the ella Reservation Be-
cause of Lack of
Water.
INDIA FAMINE AT HOME
Something About Irrigation and
Storage Reservoirs in ConneC-
ton With the Situation in Arl.
Zona.-The pimds are Among the
Best of Our Indian Wdrds.-They
Consider Themselves Regular
Defendants of the AZteCs.
For the HERALD.

or the HERALD.
Indians Starving to Death" is the
heading of a Phoenix special to she
Chicago Tribune, the text of which is
| as follows: 'SiA Thousand Indians are
| starving TO death on the ella reserva-
ton, according to s. M. MCGOWAN,
superintendent of the Indian INDUS
trial School of Phoenix. His state
ment paints most deplorable picture
OF conditions existing among tribes
| that have never been contaminated by
white blood.
"Superintendent MCGOWAN said he
found twenty helpless adults in one
miserable shack, that would, under Or
binary circumstances. scarcely accom-
modate three persons. Congress has
appropriated $50, 900, but no method of
distributing the money was stipulated,
hence 1t is tied up, while the wards Of
the government are starving to DEATH"
This statement of the pitiable condi-
ton of the friendly aud industrious
Pimas Is old news 20 western readers,
and the case is one of the most shame
full and outr ageous Instances of neglect
ami betrayal on the part Of she 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 q
condition of wealth and great prcsperi-
ty to actual starvation through the
neglect of the federal government,
while the adjacent Apaches, always the
white mans foes and causing more
trouble, pillsge and loss of life than
q y western tribe, should be to-day
same government seems q rewarding
of enemies and killing Of friends.
For hundreds of years the Pimas
lived in plenty, irrigating their fields
from the water of the G.la until the
white man came and diverted it's waters |
onto other areas. At the time of the |
Gsdsden Purchase Lieutenant Michler
of the boundary commission said of
these Indians In his official report,
dated way back in 1856
"Besides being great warriors they
are good husbaudmen end far "1ers and |
work laboriously in the field. They |
are owners of fine horses snd mules, |
fat oxen and milch COWS, PCS aud |
poultry and are a wealthy class Of In
dams. The Pimas consider them
selves regular descendants of the |
valley we found lands fenced aud irri- |
gated and rich fields of wheat ripeu-
ing for the har1est-a view differing
from anything we had seen since leav-
ing the Atlantic States. They
grow cotton, sugar, peas,
wheat, and corn. AS sat upon
n rock" continues Lieutenant Michler,
ed Pima took pleasure in pointing out
the extent of their domain. They
were anxious to know if their rights
and titles to their lands would be re
spected by our government, upon learr =
ing that their country had become pa
of the United States
The old mans anxiety was but too
r-.1l Id
now the wealth and prosperity of his |
tribe with its present restitution and |
decay, he would have cause to rise in |
vengeance AID demand that this |
great govern 4.ent adopt a course of |
com mon decency.
There are many people in the east |
ern states who have DRIED out against
the injustice melted out to the poor
Indian. Their sympathy ususlyl has
savage, treaoherous, and relentless foe
of the white man. But here now is a
worthy cause-none worthier ever
lived; to right awrong; to give to a
good people that of which they have
been wrongfully dispoiled.
The solution of the problem is so
easy.so simple. The waters of the ella
are ample to supply the needs of the
Pinas, and many others, only
they LARGELY run to waste during flood
times. The government reports and |
surveys show that the bulldog of a
great dam on the ella would store up
enough water to irrigate thousands of |
acres OF as fertile land as the sun |
shines upon.
Cannot some of our friends who have |
anon professed such interest in The |
poor red man come to his assistance nov
and see that he may be accorded simple |
Justice? The cause Is worthy; the means
are at hand; the interest alone is lack
ing.
IEs Good Doctor That Takes His