The Opelousas courier., 1904-10-29
last STAND OF THE INDIAN.
FINAL RALLY OF THE RACE AT
THE WORLDS FAIR.
Carving Up of the Indian Country
The Once Broad Domain of the Red
Men Reduced to q Limited Area.

Carving Up of the Indian Country
The Once Broad Domain of the Red
Men Reduced to a Limited Area.
The opening of the Rosebud Res7r-
vation to the settler lends ~pertinence
to the statement Of q writer in the
Worlds Work that "at the St Louis
Fair the American Indian will make
a last spectacular rally as a distinct
race"
To crafty the vanity of the Indians
the early Government treated them
as separate nations C"domestic, de
pendent nations'), and made treaties
with them with all the formality used
in dealing with the powers. 1t con-
coded their right to the soil, which
in the case of most tribes had been
based upon force employed against
other Indians. The Government
bought these lands from the Indians
and then sold them as needed to the
whites.
By an act of Congress signed by
Jackson in 1884 a wide belt OF u
try west of the Missouri and extend
ing from the Canadian border down
to the Texas line was set apart Tor
the Indians. But the tide pressed
against the barriers Of the Indian
country. The new settlers melted
wars with the Indians and forced the
Government to buy out the claims OF
tho Indians orI AnNVn than To mar
rover quarters. Thus the big do
main OF 1834-54 has shrunk to It's
present little measure in the Indian
Territory, with its five "clV1llzed
tsibes'-the ~Cherokees, ChickasaWs,
Creeks, Choctaws and Seminoles-
end remnants Of other tribes. And
all Of these in the aggregate-o2,5OO
IN 1900-Were outnumberad e
times by the white residents OF the
.erritory-302, $50 in that year. In
addition there were 36.853 negroes
there, most of whom were eX-slaves
officially classed as Indians. The In
fian population Of the Indian Terri
cory of 1903, including the eX-slaVes,
was about $4,000.
What has become OF the Indian en-
pire of 1834-54? All Of it save the
Indian Territory has been organized
into thriving political communities,
comprising all of. Kansas except the
southwest corner, all of Nebraska,
half Of South Dakota, more than a
third Of North Dakota, almost all OF
Montana, Wyoming and Colorado and
all of Oklahoma Territory, while Ok
lahoma, with the Indian Territory,
will soon be admitted as a State. The
tribal relations of the C~herokees,
ChickasaWs, ChoctaWs, Greeks and
Seminoles will by act Of Congress be
dissolved by March 4, 1906, and then
the vast Indian range Except the
scattered ~reservations) will all be
brought under civilized sway. The
old Indian country now contains
many great cities-Omaha, Denver,
Kansas City, Topeka, Cheyenne and
others-and contains in 1904 100000
progressive and prosperous people.
Outside of Alaska the Indian popu-
iation of the United States is about
270,0 The five civilized tribes, COW
ering practically all of the Indian
Territory, and New York's $500, COM
prising remnants of the Onondagas,
Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas and Tus-
caroras, number about 10000. The
New York Indians are On eight little
reservations of about $4,000 acres in
the northwestern part of the State,
and are well advanced in civilization.
The other $50, 1000 Indians are on 1856
reservations, containing 100000
acres, an area about the size of Mimi
esota, scattered through eighteen
states and thre territories, nearly all
west of the Mississippi and most Of
them west Of the Missouri.
The Indians are increasing in num-
bers. Many are increasing also in
wealth. The property Of the Chloe
taws and Chickasaws, which is about
to be divided among them will
amount to $1,000 or more for each
man, woman and child in those
tribes, while the holdings of some of
the other Indians are even greater.
The average per capita wealth of
the rest of the United States is only
about $1,000. Thus every one of
these Indians will be richer than the
average citizen.