The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-05-05
PLAN SUGGESTED THAT LOOKS
DECIDEDLY SIMPLE.
'lT|zEN GIVES HIS idea
P.oints Way to Overcome Congress.
4 sionaI Objections and Realize
the Needed Money.

The way to open the reservation
Il is to open it; and the time to begin
@ work in that direction is now."
IA Thus a well-known citizen express.
Esed himself somewhat epigrammatical
tSsly few days ago when the all import.
AAant subject of securing cession of a
II yTprtion OF the Grow reservation was
n 'e topic OF discussion by a small
sssssssA,,t Of gentlemen who are deeply
u interested in the matter because OF
the undoubted benefit that event
would prove to Billings.
"We have waited long enough on
\ the men whom we have thought could
& and would help us, and now let us see
II we can't help ourselves. The In
dians are as anxious to get rid of a
part of their land as we are to have
I'D it thrown open to settlement and by
little well directed effort we should
v be able to succeed at the next ses-
sion of congress-" continued the gen
tleMan quoted. II have given the
4 subject considerable thought and
study and to my way of thinking the
way lies easy and clear. All that
is necessary is to 60 about it in the
right manner, in manner that will
appeal to congress because of the
fairness of the proposition we have
& to submit.
MI Congress has placed itself on rec
Ford as being opposed to voting any
lahore of the public funds for the pur-
base of Indian lands and has given
ii mi to be understood that hereafter
n reservations or portions OF res
I ations are thrown open to settle
Il lit the settlers will be required to
3 pay for the lands and that the money
SO derived will rave to be '.sed in
n the payment of the Indians. Accept
ing this as final congress should not
| object to the plan | have in mind.
\ This is as follows:
|}Bs The Plan Proposed.
Complete familiarity with the
row reservation enables me to form
Stolerably correct idea of the extent
II the really arabic land it contains
md which could be opened to settle
sdent. Outside of very small ex-
|Satent say a few hundred acres, about
all the land that can be reclaimed is
4 situated along the Yellowstone and
Big Horn rivers.
In order to get the irrigable land
JpeM bill should be drawn and sub
aiMed at the very opening of the
/ eY session of congress providing
commission OF appraisers to
3plore the part it is intended to ope'i
Id place value upon every acre ny
me proposed ceded strip. Three
|erades of value might be fixed-one
|af0r land that is irrigable and can
be placed directly under ditch, one
yor bench lands and the remaining one
For lands that are absolutely beyond
reclamation and useful for grazing
purposes only. Then the land should
UC surveyor duu IAO Ull1 ouOuAu pIO.
vide that no more than quarter Sec
tion of the really irrigable land should
|xbe sold to one person or company at
the price per acre fixed by the ap-
|6raisers.
Nov by reason of it's location all
! this land would be contiguous, that
Ns. it would form long strip adjacent
Ito the two rivers l have mentioned
md would form solid body Of cul-
|tiyated lands along and between the
! streams and the land in the interior.
Then to give value to the land imme-
|Ediately back of this cultivated strip
the bill should contain a provision by
(which the buyers of the irrigable land
lRopld be permitted to buy some of the
hack land, as may call it, in proper
ION of two acres to one, thus giving
each owner of $50 acres of irrigable
q n 800 acres of grazing land. On
he would be enabled to run a
Sll bunch of stock during the sum-
Il and save his hay raised on the
land for winter feed. An arrange
Rxtaf5 could be made by the settlers
Reconstruct a parti-fence between
cultivated and grazing land for
3protection of their crops. To In