The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-08-22
INDIAN TIMBER
MAY 60 CHEAP
----------
But Twenty Days Notice for Sale
Of 25o,000,O00 Feet in One
Lump.
INDIANS IN COUNCIL
AGREE ON A PROTEST
Wisconsin Company Is On Ground
Floor - Indians Suspect
There 8 a Deal.


Special to The journal.
Detroit, Mimi, Aug. 22.-The Chippe-
was Of the White Earth reservation are
unanimously protesting against the ar
rangements for the coming sale of tim
Der from their allotments. They are
convinced that their interests will be
sacrificed by the present program, and
a strenuous attempt will be made to
have the sale called off. ~. Il
A great council of chiefs and leading
tribesmen was held in White Earth yes
terday afternoon, and Special Agent
Downs of the bureau of Indian affairs
was called into conference. He is here
on other business, but heard the COM
plant of the Indians. A written pro-
test will be sent at once to the depart
ment at Washington.
The main ground of the protest is
that the time elapsing between the ad.
vertisement, Aug. 16, and the sale.
which is to take place Sept. 5, is too
short to get proper competition, and the
timber is almost certain to fall to
wealthy wisconsin, corporation which
has been preparing for years to bid on
the timber. The act Of April 81, 1904,
under which the sale is to be made, is
SAID to have been passed with the ap-
proval Of this company, which has had
experience already in buying and log
glng timber from two Indian reserva-
lions in Wisconsin.
timber will go for much less than it's
zeal value and will be bought as
rsnap.'
The company in question has covered
the entire territory, and has an inside
estimate, not only on the amount of
timber, but on its accessibility and cost
of marketing, and this company is said
mer for a logging road thru the reserva-
ton. It is in a position to bid, but no
other company, it is claimed, can get
sufficient information between now and
Sept. 5 to bid intelligently. The tim
Der to be sold is estimated at more than
2oo,ooo,oo0 feet, and under the rules
made by G. F. Larrabee, the acting In
dian commissioner, is to be sold in one
lump. Bids for part Of the vast
! tract will not be entertained. The
7 notice of sale, which has been published
in one Minneapolis paper, but nowhere
else in MINI sota, states that there is
{ estimated to be 9o,OOO,OOO feet of white
100000 feet Of jack pine; $4,000, 1000
/ feet Of Eastwood; 20,OO0,OOO of elm, 49,
100000 Of maple and 100000 feet of
ash. "Each proposal" says the no.
tice, Unjust cover all of the classes
, above mentioned. Proposals for the
timber, should be at the rate per thous-
and feet. Any proposal not covering
all Of the classes mentioned will not be
considered.o
Say Estimate Is Low.
The estimate Of the government was
made. it is claimed, in three days
time by man with little practical
experience as timber estimator, and
: cruisers who have been over the ground
declare that there is 2oO,OOO,00O of
the finest pine left standing in Mime
sofa to be found on the allotted lands,
to say nothing Of the hardwood tracts
The result Of the sale, if held Sept.
s, they say, will be that the one com
pany which is prepared to bid will get
the tract practically: at its own price.
1t is likely that the Wisconsin syndi-
cate will put in several bids, some low
and some high. Altho more than
100000 worth Of timber Is involved,
the bids only need to be accompanied
by certified checks for $4,000. If one
or more Of the syndicate bids turned
out to be higher than necessary, it
would be easy to default the checks
and get the timber at lower bid
However, there are no signs now of
any swift competition in the field. Some
Minnesota lumbermen have Just heard
of the sale, it is said, and are extreme.
ly angry at the short notice given
They say that six months notice was
given of the sale on the Cass Lake
1SbSl FdIlou, duu tudG Inc SGdt6 always
gives a month or more for examina
ton Of each tract offered. The gov
eminent has allowed just twenty days
from the date of the obscure advertise
ment in which to estimate and prepare
bids on 100000 tract.
Object to Forest Reserve.
The Indians who have been for years
depending on the proceeds Of this salt
1y ~
nant over the forest-reserve provisions
which require that. "groups Of from
two to four matured pines, situated al
Intervals Of about 400 feet,' shall b.
marked and saved from cutting. How
ever, the possibility Of low bid BY
company on the inside getting tn
whole tract causes a great deal NOR,
mixed blood, commenting on the mat
ter, says it is-"perhaps the creates
injustice ever done the Chippewa In
dians.' He further says:
-. There is little doubt in the mind
OF our people that the Wisconsin lum
= bermen who have been fleeing tn,
ChlpPeWas In that state are prepared
that the men who have been examining
the timber on the reservation during
?, the past year are representatives O.
those lumbermen. The timber whic]
is to be sold includes, besides pine, al
classes of hardwood, and this canno
be purchased separately, but must ais
be included in one bid and sold t.
one bidder. There is only one larg
lumber company that we know of tina
deals in all classes of timber, and tina
is the company supposed to have mad
: the examination, and which is likel
to be the only real bidder. 1t is al
outrage for which some one will b
held responsible when the facts ar
sifted OUT