The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-02-03
HOPE CONGRESS
PROBES IN UTAH
Persons Interested in Reservation
Want Investigation.
STORY OF UINTAH LEASES
STRATEGY USED WITH INDIANS
DISAPPOINTMENT FELT.


to the affairs of the Uintah Indian res
ervation there Will be sore disappoint-
nnent among a large number who claim
TO have definite knowledge Of gross
frauds there The resentment in local
circles is still aimed at the Florence
and Raven Mining companies. The
abuse of the special privileges given
them under the law opening the reser-
walton is claimed to be scandal and
it is asserted if the whole matter IS
opened up and probed 10 the bottom
some names high in the councils Of the
nation Will be smirched-
1t is the belief of some who have
been watching the course of events with
deep interest that the opening of the
reservation win be postponed to some
day still far in the future: that fol-
lowing this resolution will be adopted
by congress providing that an investi-
CATION be made with a view to annul-
ling the special privilege given to the
two companies named, and this may
throw the whole matter back into con-
gIess.
How First Lease Was Obtained.
Some idea of how the present tangle
in the reservation has come about may
b. gained from the story told by +.
VIC HaUhenbruck Of his operations in
the Uintah reservation
4 have been in the reservation more
or less for the last sixteen years" Mr.
Hathenbruck said yesterday 4 knew
of the original Caleb Rhodes mineral
locations, and back in the days when
Colonel Randelet was Indian agent at
White Rocks I began trying TO get a
lease from the Indians for $4,000 acres
of valuable mineral land in the Uintah
reservation. 1 went 10 Colonel Rande-
let and told him what l wanted TO do
He said he favored il and permitted
me to go among the Indians TO explain
them; went from tepee TO tepee, some
times with an interpreter and some
times without because L could speak
the Indian language myself. Before I
was ready 20 call the Indians in open
council in the matter Colonel Rande-
let told me he had resigned and that
he did not wish to do anything to en-
barrass his successor; that he desired
To leave him free to act in this mat
ter
Captain William Z. Beck succeeded
R&ndelet and l went TO him. He said
his predecessor had explained the whole
situation TO him and that he favored
my proposition. He permitted me to
go ahead with my negotiations with the
Indians.
Makes Treaty For Government.
AT this same time there was an al
lOtment commission in the reservation
to induce the Uintah Indians to give
the CncOmpahgre Indians portion of
their land They had been moved in
from Meeker, Colo, and were on the
UHcompahgre reservation temporarily
The government wished 10 settle them
on portion Of the Uintah reservation
and a commission composed Of Jeffries,
Harper and H p. Myton was there for
that purpose. These men worked for
two years without success. Finally
they asked me TO use my influence with
the Indians to induce them to accept
the offer of the government. In three
weeks L secured the agreement of every
Indian in the reservation to the allOt-
ment
while all this was going on. another
special commission headed by Inspector
Bartch. visited the reservat ton and in
vestigated all that was being done
Special Indian Inspector Reynolds was
on the ground also, so that if there had
been any thing wrong about my dealing
with the Indians it would have been
known.
There was dirty'work enough to pre-
vent me from securing my lease. L was
shot al a number of times. 1 held nv
life to be in danger all the time An
attempt was made TO bribe Cantaip
Beck through his son TO have him beat
me; but in spite of all this l won.
got the consent individually of every
one of the $50 Indians in the reserva-
ton to my lease, and then / called the
Indians together in open council AT
White Rocks. This open council was
required by the law TO make the lease
legal.
Strategy to Get Chief.
"AH the Indians in the reservation
gathered except old Chief Tabby. and
none of them would sign my lease or
the allotment to the UncOmDahuyras
without Chief Tabby. The commission
ers We're at their wits ends and it
looked as though the whole matter
would fail through. L suggested that
we send for Chief Tabby and bring hin,
IN None of the commissioners would
CO. none of the Indians would 60. 7
could get no white men to make the
trip.
Finally I said, I will go myself,
took with me my nephew Henry MT
tall We went forty-fve miles into the
mountains in the dead of winter TO
ChleL IabbyS camp in the creek conn
try. We found the chief sick and If
did not seem as though he could live.
he was over eighty years old at the
time and might have been ninety.
doctored him in his camp for a xvael-
and then told him he was well enough
TO go TO the council He consented 10
make the trip We put him into a lurn-
Der wagon and started. We would
travel three or four miles in the warm
est part of the day. Then we NyouI5
stop for the night, build up a great fire
and fill Chief Tabby with hot tea and
coffee 20 thaw him out The weatbeI.
was bitter cold and the snow was deer,
We were in danger of being frozen 10
ueath all the time, and Of being buried
IN an avalanche many times
L sent runners on ahead tn notiftr
the others that we were coming. 81
that they would keep the Indians fror,
straying off. 1 sent word to have a
feast prepared for all the Indians for.
the day of our arrival. When we
reached White Rocks and every Indian
was enjoying good hot meal old Chief
Tabby got up on the spring seat of the
wagon and made them a speech tellina,
them TO sign my lease and the allot-
ment TO the Uncompahgres.
Tabby Given Concession.
This was December Is. 1897. Later
i'm the day / called the twentv-one
chiefs, including Chief Tabhy into a
council and we talked the whole mat
ter. over. Everything was open and
above board. Chief Tabby said he
was very old and would not live to get
the BENEFITS of the lease. He was
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