Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1903-01-02
NEGROES GROW RICH FAST.

NEGROES GROW RICH FAST.
n ny of Those Living in the Creek Ma.
tion Are We11-to- Do.
It is not in the South that the rich
est negroes are found. although many
in that region have amassed. goodly
store of property since the war. Doubt
less the wealthiest community of col
ored people in the world is found
among the Creek Indians in Indian
Territory There are about 1000 OF
them, and they are worth on an aver
age $4,000 each. The wealth of the
more Industrious foots up ever higher,
certain individuals being the owners
of from $4,000 to $4,000 worth Of
land each.
These negroes are the descendants
of slaves of the Greek tribe Of Indians
and are known as Creek negroes. They
are entitled to a share In the division
of Creek Indian lands, also part of
the trust funds. Together the 1000 ne
groes own 100000 acres Of land.
And yet their education is far from
are crude in the extreme and progress
goes slowly amid their huts and fields.
Unlike the other Indians Of the rich
five civilized tribes, the Greeks insist
ed upon freeing their slaves to give
them an equal share in their lands and
money. At that time there were few
slaves, but the number grew through
descendants, until now fully 1000 have
laid successful claim to a head right"
on the Greek rolls Of citizenship. They
have their own representatives in the
Creek Indian Legislature, their own
schools and their own churches. Ev-
erything bids fair to make them the
model community Of negroes in the
United States when Indian territory Is
recovering from the tangle wilderness
of reconstruction. its laws made uni
form and itself State Of the Union.
There Is little culture among the
Creek negroes. They have a social
set all their own, to which not even
the Indians are invited. Their charac,
teristics are in a great measure differ
ent from the negro Of the South or the
North. 1t is a mixture Of both, with
additional peculiarities.
Like the Indians, these negroes have
their dances in the open, which have
come to be sort of religion with
them. And, following in the footsteps
Of the Southern Negro, they have bar
becues, 'possum hunts and the like. AS
a Northern type of the negro they are
more Industrious and independent of
the whites, know how to work hard
and save their money, and, like the
type from the city, are well dressed
gaudily, but at the same time wear
ing expensive clothes.
These 1000 Greek negroes live in a
tract Of rich land called the Canadian
River bottoms, and Okmulgee is their
town and trading point. Okmulgee is
the capital of the Greek Indian nation.
and has been for years a negro town.
Recently, however, white people flock
ed in and have taken possession. The
negroes are starting their own towns
along the branch of the Frisco Rail-
road.
Notwithstanding that many Of these
Creek negroes are industrious. there
are some among them who rent out
their estates and lounge In idleness
about the railway stations. 1t is a
common sight to see a 5OO-acre tract
Of rich land in the Canadian bottoms
being titled by a white man. Invaria-
bly,, upon inquiry as to his landlord,
he will refer to the negro owner in no
complimentary terms. Meanwhile one
will find the owner shooting craps or
enjoying himself eating turkey and
'possum In a neighboring village.
When the Greeks freed their negroes
in 1864 the two fraternized for a time,
and even intermarried, but that has
all passed now. In accordance with
the terms granting their freedom, the
, Greek negroes are allowed voice in
the tribal government, and so they
have their own members in the Coun-
Gil, have their own schools and all
that; but the Greek Indian feels above
the Greek negro and refuses to asso-
ciate with him.