The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1904-03-15
RICH OSAGE INDIANS.
They Have $s 536 900 In the United States
Treasury Which they Want to
Get

ma. want their money. says " ASH
ineton letter to thcNewS anG Cour-
ier. On the books OF the United
States treasury the sum OF $780,
900 stands to their credit. and they
have sent a delegation to Washing
ton to ask that it be divided up
among them. Up 70 the present
time they have received only the IN
tereSt O.? r." amount. paid quar-
terlv. President Roosevelt tod TIC
delegation tina: ne would *" VIA:
he could do. When he inquired
what the OsageS needed the cash
for. one OF the chiefs replied that
they We're n,ucl, ii need OF al1tol::o-
b,lcS.
This was a Joke, OF course. but
there is really no treason why the
OSaces should not have aliton:o-
biles II they want them. Ii IS an
old s,orv that tl,ey are the richest
people III the world. Every your&
woman in the tribe is all hei-cS> N
her own right and each buck.
squaw and child is worth not far
from $1,000. Every ind!v:dna!
among them OWLS 70S ac-es OF !a1:':'
or considerably over a square mile,
worth at the least calculation s.
an acre: to which must be added
S4,657 i'll cash in the treasury.
Forty wears ago tie OSagcS own
ed large slice oi lhc State OF Nan
sas. extending from Medlc'nc
Lodge eastward to Neosho. They
sold the strip to the government for
SI.25 an a acre. and part OF the
money equivalent was paid BY the
Indian bureau for a tract OF 1.4oo,-
600 acres OF fertile land. to which
the tribe was removed. The bal
ance. amounting to SS.5S6.ooo. has
been held in trust for tlle'a ever
since by the treasury. As
interest on the sum they re-
ceive annually s421.7I2. OF which
10000 in cash is distributed
among them each quarter. the BAL
ance OF s61,7I3 being expended bv
Uncle Sam q, schools and iii Va
rious other Nays io- their benefit.
The Osages lease large part Of
their lands to cattleInen. in this
way adding considerably to their
annual income. Where, as frequent
" happens, a household consists OF
father and mother and six or seven
children. the family IS worth Soille-
thing like $4,000 or 100000. and
eacl, new infant born adds $4,000
or 50 to the wealth OF the establish
ment. This includes no reckoning
OF accumulated property. Of which
many members oi the tribe possess
a great deal. Including wei: built
houses, agricultural tools and do
mestic animals. There are 1900
cattle 5000 horses OF the rescrva-
ton. all OF tl1cI:, belonging 10 the
Indians.
It is not surprising, then. that the
Osaccs are calle>; the richest peo-
pie in the world. Every year each
member OF tie tribe receives from
the government $3.50. tie income Of
a family OF ten IRON this source
alone being accordingly. $4,000 per
annum. Add 10 this the income
from 1850 acres OF land, worth at
s. an acre $1,000 and it IS OBJ
vious that starvation is not i,nml.
nent. No wonder that those In
dams employ white men to work
for them. while for the most part
they themselves pursue an eNis-
tencc of elegant leisure:
The earlier history Of the Osages
seems to have been one of repeat
ed migrationS. They were contl1-
uallv at war with other tribes. and
this may have been cause OF their
moving about from place to place.
For a while they dwelt near where
the city of St. Louis now stands
thence they moved up the Missouri
river to the Usage river. and from
the mouth of the latter stream up
near to it's source. in 1866 they re-
sided on the Usage River. III sev-