The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-09-13
POLLY TOMS.

fourth generation.
! more important than the punishment OF
Il few official heads.
What the bLsiI cs:. men want are cOldi-
lions uno"r winch the lanas and chaiteis
J can be REGARDED as security. That these
lands should no in the hands Of g%rafteTs
t. not conducive TO the influx Of a desira-
h- POPULATION
must look to the Government. far away
% Washington. y. G. from which place
Inc Territory seems to have been regard
ca largely as . dumping ground Tor Re
publican politicians who could not find d
Iop ia their own ~bailiUiCks.
Under the law row standing, the work
~ the Dawes Commission must he com
| I'eiod IN 1876. ana the Territory then Will
pass 10 state or Territorial government.
Al tho present rate of progress it is no
SeeiSs that the task cannot be completed
by tFat time.
\ responsible employee Of the commits
non, who. in fact. is the executive in one
pi me Iand-aiiUtment offices. asserts thai
ne pCHeVcs the work cannot be completed
on time under the present system. He
IU4uested that his name be not published.
since any such reasonable statement
might cost him his Job. But he asserted
1t: and he should know.
me Indian Territory Indian at close
!ahse, IS an Interesting study. Nominally
mere are some 5000 of MIN. but the figure
llc!udeS the half-breeds and all the other
iEclohS of lnd'en, the proportion which
rs more or less amalgamated with the
This element IS well able to take care of
nsgI'i indeed. tho c~ommingling OF white
%nI indian blood produces a type best
g'SriIhed by the word ''shrtwd. The I'M
I9!tHhate phase Of the amalgamation of
tHe races is tnat the injection Of white
49,, Ir1 SssnlS 10 create men who are the
"oTSt enemies of the full-blood. Their SYM
paLhlEs are no longer with their tribe.
ai1a they engage readily in land frauds.
me majority Of the fulI-bIoods still rove
ne mis-. The game slowly is being killed
'l soon the necessities of life must he
obtained by work. and can be obtAned
no o{her way 1t means q terrible ordeal
l"F ne iuIl-hlOud and apparently means
i%nati0n. '""i
CASE OF MISSISSIPPI CHOCTAWS.
a sample Of the full-bluod Indian who
long since has been deprived of his lands
and has lived a hand-to-mouth existence
Is found in the Mississippi Choctaws. In
mem. also, IS represented another phase
OF the tangled Territory muddle.
Three hundred Mississippi Choctavs. i'm
ported from Mississippi. where they re-
NAMED when the majority of the tribe
removed to the Indian Territory Reserya-
tCn, are living in what is derisively
called the "reconcentradO' camp, three
miles from Atoka. supported By a $1,000
congressional appropriation.
The Mississippi Indians entitled to allot-
ment IN the ChOctaw Nation number APP
pfoXimately 2.oOO. They are on the rolls,
nut are not vet permitted to allot. since
the law requires that they reside nine
months in the nation before that privilege
Is granted.
Some are scattered through the country
IN groups. subSisting as they may. 9th
ers, Ike thoss near AtOka, are gathered
Under the official wing Of the Govern
fn"rts $1,000. They have none too many
friends. and 1t cannot be said that the
future for them IS of any roseate hue.
IN the hrst place. the Choctaws Of the
territory Nation do not regard with ia
EoT the admittancc of their Mississippi
ILibcsUen to share in the land allotment.
ms sentiment is voiced by the half
breeds, qUarter-breedS, establishments
thIriy-sfcond breeds. and so on to the
lHtermaTricd whites, who are very wide
awake to their own interests and are af-
Ter as much as they can get. This fac
non claims that the Mississippi Indians,
having chosen to remain in Mississippi,
nave no title to Choctaw properties.
IN the second place. like the full-bIood
,hoctaNS of the nation. they are as help
less as babes in the wood when II comes
10 knuWlnE money values. That they be
other than skinned is hardly within
the range of possibilities. Whom say
they are released from the reconCentra-
do camp. they 60 to the land office To al
lot. They do not know locations and
values well enough to allot good land.
ihey prOspcc about the country and may
see land nat appears fun of promise.
tE"y inquire and are told that ii is taken,
or that it falls in the Government segre-
cations. To deCipher Government plats
IS beyond their capacity. 1t is rebuff af-
ter Tebufr.
HELPLESS BEFORE THE CRATER.
Unless some CRATER comes along.
single out land. allots him to it. pays
him a few dollars. and then beats him
out Of the acquisition. it is difficult to see
how the Mississippi Choctaw will get
anything. The few dollars from the
CRATER. in the majority Of such cases. IS
all that's in the deal, under the system
in force, for the -full-blood Indian
The Mississippi Choctaws. more than
any other one class, are the buffers In
the Territory scramble. Many of them
were taken in tow BY the lumber men.
VINO sought 10 allot them to the lumber
lands. But when the lumber district was
ordered withheld from allotment. no OBJ
ject existed on the part OF the lumber
men to maintain their crowd of imported
| Choctaws. Consequently. they were left
Ia shift for themselves. and; 1t is de-
| clared in Atoka, many are still wander
ing in the hills. half starved and without
| drove out to the Atoka camp a few
days ago. II lies in a WOOD on the side
Of a hill. near a spring The tents are
arranged in lines. avenues between. in
their military regularity contradicting all
impressions concerning the indian vii
lagp.' Of which much has been written
The general cleanliness also was a matter
Of surprise. his fact being due. prob
/ ably. to the exerttons OF white members
of the Indian police VINO are IN charse
some of the Indian men could talk Eng
Iish and appeared intelligent. BY far the
/ ma IOritE. however, NOIt n vacant SAPl
sion as r. they were wondering what this
expedition from Mississippi meant; They
have little or no employ ment- Here IN
tba Territory, they cannot find cane with
which to make baskets. which was their
principal support back in MISSISSIPPI pna How 2ov
anoI,a ~ u-aaviug very attractive baS-
ke1sE which thev sell for a mail price.
The women and girls, dressed e6o IN o sman9
tLa +raas 6eIn make a ~colorful scene. The
families. in nearly every case. are large,