The Wichita daily eagle., 1901-06-16
Wichita Man Tells About
Wealth of RartIeSvilIe.
HAS BIG OPPORTUNITIES
For Men of Capital and Genius
for Development.


/ southeast road from our city, It might
/ as wei be a thousand. New York, Chi
/ eago, St Louis and Kansas City are ex-
/ plotting enterprises in the Indian terri
I tory at the present time. requiring nil
lions of dollars. with st. Louis largely
in the lead. The very air is rife with
enterprise, men are looking for coal,
lead, oil, gas, promoting new towns un-
der the Curtis act. building railroads
and laying the foundations for a new
state. AS an Illustration OF what is do
ing: Last month me Creek Nantion vot-
ed in favor Of the new treaty which gives
them their lands in allotments Of leo
acres and does away with the tribal rela-
tion; and in less than a week there were
contracts let in AIuskogee for quarter
Of a million of dollars for buildings.
The Curtis act was the key that open
ed the Indian nation. 1t became a law
in 1888 and most OF the towns have been
built since then. and the building Of new
railroads and the extension OF old ones
have kept pace with the towns. But the
field is so large that I viii not Try 20
cover any more thsI what has come
under my observation.
in this town business and a short state
ment giving the principal features OF the
Curtis act viii be timely. White men
who were here previous 20 the Curtis law
had no rights, and were interlopers, un-
less married into the tribe; out since that
law became effective, they have rights
Of possession in towns and can lease
farms. When tribe by majority vote
does away with the old tribal relation
then deeds are given for the lots as fol-
lows: Three appraisers are appointed,
one by the interior department. one BY
the nation, through its chief. and one by
the citizens comprising the tOWnsite COM
pany. These three shall appraise the
lots, not taking into consideration the
values thereon. The person having pos
session Of lot at time Of such appraise-
ment shall have preference for the right
OF purchase, at one-half Of appraised
value, and this morning win be
turned into the treasury of the nation
making the treaty. Bartlesville was
organized under his act and while It
is not two years old, II has
Fe which was built from Caney to Owassa
since the town started; most Of the bust
ness houses supplied with natural gas
for fuel and light. and a telephone sys-
TEN that gives as good local service as
that of Wichita at nearly one-half the
cost. This sounds much like a fairy
tale but il Is so all the same. The
promoters Of this town are Wm. John
stone and Geo. 3. Keller. who have been
Indian traders for a quarter Of CEN
tury The latter married a squaw and
is citizen. and the town is on their
land. Both OF these are fine business
men, and highly regarded by their fel-
low citizens as well as the Indians The
sole owner OF the telephone company is
W. II. Gates, young Kansan from Con-
cordia and in less than ten years, unless
some accident happens, he viii own and
control several thousand miles Of toll
lines with a lot of stations as accessories.
The farms are mostly worked by white
men who have leases from the Cherokees.
and they average much better IN inteIli-
gence and thrft than is naturally be-
lieved By the Kansan. The land In cul-
tivation is al first bottom and the wheat
harvest IS In fun swing and the crop viii
make from 25 10 90 bushels-aH soft
wheat. The corn is in advance OF ours
and much OF il is laid BY The Cherokee
and Dalawares are the owners OF these
lands and while you cannot nno a fuu
blood among them. yet they are all alike
IN the fact that they viii not work They /
have been wards Of the United States 50 /
long that they cannot conceive that IL |
VIII ever be necessary that they shall I
work. But the grading and appraisiug |
of their lands Is IA active process now.
As I talked with some Of these men
who are doing the work under the inter- /
or department. Each Indian ln the Cher (
1kee nation VIII get 10 acres OF land Of /
which he can sell 81 acres within a year.
and the other g. with the consent on the 4
Of the interior. When you look
at the great Caney valley with a width of
rom three 10 four mites which VII b.
worth from go 20 SO an acre as soon az
he new treaty is adopted. one can red
ly see what snap there IS ahead for the
white man. The farms have fair in-
lr0vements. are all fenced and some of
hem have been IN cultivation for over
p years with no signs Of exhaustion.
The ol and gss Leid ~ this locality
g orc Of the most Interesting features.
.rd it s. two miles west of Eartlea7fae
"a the Usage nation. The name ~ the
.ompany is the osaee or ana Gas coru-
ANY The base was obtained lrom
'onzress tT q crowd ~ EeW EOrksEs and
hey are exploiting TIRE field az the pres
TT time II company with Mr. Gates.
visited tha re.G and 60 81 a rarFelo1s
eEion. There are in operation elaFe-
H Esus ran. frcm 80 to 5f tarrels each
day and e is riped p shs Earrlesgfrie