The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-19
RICH INDIANS
YOUNG sQUAws WITH IMMENSE DOwRIEs ATTRACT AMERI-
 CAN YOUTHS.
many Rich oil Wells in Osage Country Poor People Made Rich Beyond Dreams by Discovery
 of Oil.

Nowata, I. T., dispatch.
 The white mans red brother is roll ing in wealth." The Indian Is rich.
 Can you believe that hundreds or men. women and children who were living in tents and huts six years ago out on the open prairie are today re- ceivinR more money than they know what to do with:
 That is the condition in the northern part of the Cherokee and Osage na- tions. Six years ago this country was a huge cattle range. Only small per cent of the acreage was under cultiva- tion. The country was not prosper ous There were few men of means. and they were white men who had married and had been adopted into the tribes.
 Tents, log houses and shacks were the principal place nf hahitation.
 In six years the tents and cabins have boen transformed into magnifi- cent dwellings. A rubber tired car- riage and a standard bred horse. have replaced the branded COW pony. To his credit in the bank the Indian has thousands of dollars.
 To gaiu ail this wealth he has not performed one whit of labor. His acres. stin uncultivated. are dotted with oil well derricks. From his land into pipe lines pours the wealth~-biack crude oil.
 Lo calmly smokes on. does no work and takes what is given him Uncle Sam does his thinking. Yankees make his money.
 About six years ago members of the government geological survey discov- cred crude oil on top of water in a well near Bartlesviiie. twenty miles west of this city. The news was sent 10 Washington. Standard oil was in- formed.
 Then the rush began.
 The Secretary of the Interior at frsS refused to permit speculators to ae- velop the Indians land. Finally a1tei months of dickering. the Cudahy oil rompany of Chicago obtained the Sec- retarv's consent to drill test well near Bartlesville At the same time the Indian Territory Illuminating thl Company obtained lease of the entiFe Osage nation.
 The first we'll was a gusher. one thousand barrels per day was the pro ductioh. In February, 1904, leases on hundreds of acres in the CheroKee ha- tion were approved. Train loads or sunnIies were sent rushing to the ter ritory from Indiana, Ohio and Penn svlvania. Scores of steel drills were sent down after the wealth that lay under the Indians land.
 More than $2,o00,000 was sunk into the ground before one cent was real ized. Then Standard oil, operating through the Prairie oil and Gas Com pany. extended its pine line into the the territory. oil began pouring into the retiheries and out into the world. Wealth began pouring into the Indians' coners.
 Towns sprang into existence in a day. Hotels were built on the open nrairie to accommodate the ever in creasing number of investors and dri1lers. ,,.-
 During all this strenuous activity the Indians smoked on and existed. Now he is reaping his harvest Under a ruling of the Interior Department the Indian receives not less than 10 per cent of all oil pumped from his land Standard Oil and the producer divide the other 90 per cent.
 Since September l, when sale Of freedman land began, the royalty has increased. Today cash bonus O, from $20 to $400 per acre Is paid, ana a121-2 per cent royalty guaranteed
 Stories of the rapid rise to wealth Of many of these Cherokees, Delay ares and Osages read like fairy tales. Will liam Johnstous who married dauS h. fer of Journeycake, last chief Of the Delawares several years ago. had his daughter, Nellie, choose as part pl hCl allotment in the nation, forty acres Of land on the Carey River near Bartles- vile.
 The land was then worth S4 DOT acre Todnv $50, 900 cash would not buy 1t.
 The Cudahv Oil Company drilled nine wells on the Nellie Johnstone lease. Each was q producer.
 Since Nay l. 1904, Nellie Johnstone has received on an average $75 per day seven days in the week. Twenty eight thousand dollars per year for lb- ,ear-oId Delaware Indian girl!
 Every morning. with the rest of the white and Indian children in the little territory town of Bartlesvtlle, Nellie Johnstone wades through the mud to school. The burden of $75 per day rests lightly on her shoulders
 Fortunate will be the pale face vouth from the States who wooes and wins Nellie Johnstone. Her dowry will be as rich as that of a princess.
 Nellie Johnstone is only one of sew eral hundred Indian children who are growing wealthy by leaps and bounds Their royalties are held in trust for them by the government, Not until all of the restrictions have been re- moved from the land of the Indians will they be allowed to spend their money at their own pleasure.
 william Johnstone, father of the s75 a day girl" came into the terri tory twenty years ago. He married