Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1902-03-07
!; INDIANS As V|cT|NIlERS !
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Chicago da;lies have contained re-
peated announcements that certain
parties had purchased the riparian
rights of the Pottawatomle Indians,
near Dowagiac, Michigan, TO made
lands following the shore line Of Lake
Michigan in that state, Indiana, and
Illinois. One hundred thousand dol
lars Is the sum said to have been
spent In acquiring these rights by the
spectators in question, who claim
they can establish the fact in law that
all persons in Chicago occupying land
east of the original shore line are
trespaasers. The Lake Shore Drive
and much valuable property on the
South Side of Chicago is the result Of
accretions since the date of the Indian
treaties, on which the claim is based,
hence should the spectators conten-
ton be sustained, many Chicago prop
erty owners would have occasion for
disquiet. But it Is cheering to know
that, according to Indian Commission
err Jones, the Dowagiac Indians have
had the best Of the deal, and the pur-
chasers are likely to find in their
claims species Of gold brick. The
Commissioner states that under the
treaty Of 1888, in consideration Of
100000 acres Of land west Of the Mis-
sissippi and the annual payment Of
$4,000 by the United States for thirty
years, the Pottawatomies, as tribe,
coded to the United States all their
title in lands along the Lake Michigan
front, and were removed to western
reservations provided for by the
treaty. A previous treaty had pro-
vided that lands claimed by Indians
could be sold only to the United
States. AS to the islands or lands I'M
der navigable waters, long line Of
decisions has vested the title to such
lands In the sovereign, the withdraw
al Of one sovereign vesting the title in
his successor. Therefore the with
drawal of the tribe from the Michigan
lands, under the terms of the treaty of
1888, vested the title to such sub
merged lands in the United States, and
later in the several states. The In
dams near Dowagiac, Michigan, by
remaining when their tribe removed,
severed their tribal relations and have
no more right to shore land than any
other citizen of Michigan. Such is
Ctnfnrnnnf m Ice;
Jones. If the Indians have gotten the
best of the white man, it will be one of
very few cases on record, and will
but poorly Offset long list of debts
in which the advantage has been on
the side of the pale faces. They have
been the victims of so many dishonest
schemes it's no wonder they have
grown suspicious and bitter. One of
the latest recently unearthed in Wash
ington, concerns an attempt on the
part of certain influential men to rail-
road through the Department of the
Interior lease for the control Of ex-
traordinarily rich mineral lands in the
Uintah Indian reservation. The inves-
tigation promises to be sensational,
and may result in the retirement of
one or more government officials. A
report received by the department,
from Special U. S. Commissioner Ward
Z. Pack, shows that the lease with the
Indians was secured through gross
Misrepresentation; that not more
than thirty Indians were present at
the alleged council at which it was
granted. The lease allowed extraor-
binary privileges, including the right
to locate and operate mines on pay
ment of per cent royalty. A lost
mine, reputed to be the richest in the
world, and rediscovered before the
present Ute Indians took possession
Of the reservation, is said to be in
cluded in the territory, and to furnish
the motive for the lease.