The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1905-06-24
CDEUR D'MENE INDIANS
WILL OPEN RESERVATIONS

Surveyors AT work Contains i
Rich Lands and Fine Tlmber-The I
Indians Are Prosperous ana PerfeetIy
Contented.
The appropriation BY congress Of
a sum Of money for the survey Of the
Occur d'Alene Indian reservation
calls forth queries as to the extent,
topography, resources and people Of
that portion Of the government
domain. 1t IL an established fact
that contracts for the survey have
been let. that civil engineers are
now in the field. and the preliminary
work Of subdividing the tract already
begun. II is generally believed to
be the intention Of the government
TO open this large area Of fertile land
TO settlement by homeseekers. and
that the work Of tie surveyors, which
has been noted, is the first step
towards the fulfillment Of that pro-
ject.
Charles Q. Worley, Indian agent
at DE Smet mission, furnishes most
Of the statistics Of this article.
THE RESERVATION.
The reservation, which is situated
wholly in Kootenai county. contains
approximately go square miles, or
400, 900 acres. At least two-fifths
Of the land embraced in the reserva-
tion is cuItiyable, and Of great
fertility. The remaining three tifths,
or nearly quarter of millicu acres,
contains a heavy growth Of timer.
consisting of fir. tamarack, white and
yellow pine and cedar. A large pog-
tion Of the timber land, when
cleared, viii make desirable farms.
The land already under cultivation
ranks among the best for agriculture
In northern Idaho.
PRODUCTIVE CROPS.
The principal crops thus fan
produced have been wheat, oats and
hay, but the soil has also beer
proved TO be admirably adapted L
the growth Of sugar beets.
d. c. Corbin, the owner Of tbs
sugar mandatory at Waverly Wash,
made an experiment last year a
Lowell on the reservation with salts
factory results. He is now cultivat
/ ing 1900 acres Of beets in the sam,
vicinity, with all indications Of l
heavy yield.
In 1904 there were produced on
the reservation by Indian farmer
so, GOO bushels Of potatoes, 10000
tons of hsy. The government mil
sawed I25, 600 feet of lumber ex
clusively for the use of the Indians.
The census taken last year show
the number of stock as follows
Horses, $500 head; cattle, 1900
hogs, GOO; sheep, It's.
OF Occur d'Alene Indians ther
, were males 255, females 245. Be
, sides these there were 81 Spokan
: Indians nearly evenly divided i
3 regard to sex.
; The reservation is tTaversed by tn
: Tekoa- Burke branch Of the 0rego
Railroad s Navigation company, o
= which IL situated the stations {
j Tilma, Lowell, Watts, Plummer an
/ Chatcolet. By a contract eutere
into with the railroad compan
- when it secured a right of way acres
the reservation. all Indians of tt
!. Occur d'Aiene tribe are carried frs
/. between Tekoa aud Cataldo, di
a lance Of s. miles.
/. When the railroad was bull
A which was In lss9-90, Cataldo VI
/, at the eastern extremity Of Il
|. reservation. but is on land which b
q since been sold to the government
and opened TO settlement.
l. POPULATION GROWS LITTLE.
N Statistics show very little cham
\ in regard to number of Indians
le the tribe since the Mission was ests
lished at DE Smet in 1850. The
were then approximately 500 Of l
ages on the reservation, and the &c
sus recently completed shows praci
III cally the same number. The Dir
and the death rate are nearly count,
10 balanced as shown 10y the record
Mt l6 deaths from July l, 1904 to Ju
TO l, 1905, and II births for the sal
A. period
TX Notwithstanding the Longevity
az many Of the Indians. the morali
w rate is high, being exceeded By on
at a very few cities In the United Stat
On A visit to their cemetery furnish
he convincing proof that large prop
10 ton OF the deaths are those Of infal
ed and children. and that having pass
pt maturity the chances are excell'
u a 4