Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1905-06-30
LAND OF THE REDS RICH.
A Paradise for the Negro-Many
Wealthy Colored People.

i Curtis the great Chicago Record Her
aid correspondent. saw when he was
in the Indian and Oklahoma terri
cries last week
Negroes seem to predOminate every
where at the railway stations in the
cars. in the streets. in the fields and
even in the Jail, where rs per cent
of the prisoners are black and 80 per
cent of them, am told, are awaiting
trial for selling or introducing liquor
into the territory. The anti.liquor
regulations are very strictly enforced.
Every man who is caught with a bot
tie in his possession is clapped into
Jail instanter, and is usually sent to
the pententiary for six months
or a year. The reason that
the jails are so crOwdede is
that man who is arrested or indict.
ed for crime cannot very easily get
bail. because all of the real estate
las been held in common by the In.
dians. Only recently have white men
been able to obtain titles to the land
they occupy, and the courts will not
take anything but cash bail or per
sonal property security.
trious. ] have noticed many colOred
women working in the field-plowing
and hoeing corn and most of the
mechanical work is done by negro
men About onetifth Cf the colored
population are descendants of slaves
brought heres from Georgia, North
Carolina Alabama. Mississippi Ten
ressee and Louisiana at the time of
The great migration. The remainder
are immigrants from the same states
and from Texas and Missouri, who
rave been induced to come here by
the unusual opportunities and ad-
vantages offered them for labor and
tr2de. Oklahoma and Indian Terri
tory have been called The Negro
Paradise"
In the Five Nations thus far l,SGo
negroes have received allotments OF
land, all tie way from fifty acres to
5000 acres each This includes men.
women and children. for all infants
born before March 5. 1905. have the
same legal right in the distribution
Of the tribal lands as their fathers
and grandfathers, and the negro al
lottees enjoy an advantage over their
former masters in that no restrictions
have been placed upon them. They
can dispose CT their allotments for
any price and at any time they like.
This is a singular anomaly, because
their former masters are not per-
mitted to sell without consent OF the
secretary Of the interior.
The freedmen, as they are called,
have other advantages also, and in
the Creek Nation especially they are
very influential They have practical
ly controlled that government for
many years. The Creek legislature Is
composed of two branches, elected by
the men of that tribe. One is called
the house of kings and the other the
house of warriors. The negroes have
even numbers in the former and
majority in the latter. In business af-
fairs they are also doing very we'll.
Some of the richest men In the ter |
ritory have negro blood in them.
banker told me that he
knew of twenty-five or thirty negroe;
in that town who are worth $25,eOo
or more. and he named eight, one
after another who were worth more
than $4,000. He mentioned one col
pred man who constantly kept cash J
balance of from $1,000 to $4,000 in
his bank. The richest negroes use !
he white national banks for obvious |
reasons, but there are two savings
banks in Muskogee exclusively man
aged by coored people for the bene-
fit of the poorer members OF their !
race, and both Cf them seem to be
doing a good business. Both have a
few white depositors.
One of the most prominent negro
merchants told me that about one
half the members of his race in In !
dian Territory were saving their mon
ev, buying property and taking gcoh
care Of themselves. The other hall !
are shiftless, extravagant and live
from hand to mouth They waste their |
money in dissipation, gambling and
gratifying childish Whims About 81
per cent of the 1860 negro allottees
have sold their land: some OF them
got good prices fer it, but unfortunate
ly, many were so anxious to get the
money that they snatched whatever
was offered and signed the deed With
out a second thought. Those VINO
have sold are of the shiftless class
owever, ana would net have made
any use of the property II they hao
kept it. 1t is fortunate for their tll-
ture welfare, however. that parents
are not empowered to dispose OF the
lands allotted to their children. The
latter cannot ALLEVIATE their property
Until they become CT age, and in the
meantime their parents will have the
use of it, Some of the freemen nave
very large families, and as each chi'd
draws full share. the joint holdings
of several families are very large.
The commissioners tell OF one negro
in the Creek Nation who has twenty
five children, and in the allotment
every one of them receives tract CT
land appraised at $1,04S. More than
half of these children are under age.
and their lands can be leased tor
agricultural purposes at good prices:
The population of Muskogee is
about one-fourth negro. They own
the two, banks | have mentioned, one
drug store, two drv goods stores. one
furnishing store, dczsn
groceries and several restaurants. cl-
gar sores and barber shops-thirty-
seven business establishments in all,
one daily newspaper and nine church
es-an average of one church to Goo
or 700 people, which is a serious bur-
den upon them. The rivalry between
tie religious sects is much stronger
among the negroes than among the
whites, and each denomination IN
sists upon having its own minister
and house of worship. Several large
brick buildings in the business sec
ton of Muskogee are owned by ne
groes, and recently one Of the best