Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1905-02-24
Indian Territory.

DEAR EDITOR: SO many inquiries have
been sent to me regarding Indian Ter
ritory and the business opportunities
offered here that have decided to write
brief description of the country and
condition here as l have found them, and
| am sending the same to you herewith
in hopes that it may prove of interest to
your many readers.
Indian Territory contains an area of
more than 10000, 600 acres, or more than
| GA 900 square miles, and is therefore more
then thirteen times the size of our own
Green Mountain state. The Indian pop
ulation is officially known as the Five
Civilized Tribes and is composed \of the
| Cherokee, Seminole, Chickasaw, Mus
kogee or Creek and the Choctow Nations.
These with the intermarried whites and
defendants of negro slaves, known as
freedmen, who have certain rights as
citizens of their respective tribes, number
about 81 ,000 small per cent of whom
are full boods, while the white population
according to the last report of the United
State Indian Agent was 100000, making
total of about 700, 900 people.
These Five Civilized tribes prior to the
passage by Congress in 1898 of the Curtis
Act controlled their own affairs, having
separate constituted governments, with
their respective chiefs and other national
officers, their councils. enacting such
laws governing their country, schools, and
affairs generally as they saw fit, acting
independent of the United States Gov
eminent. Each nation owned all its land
in common, and under their tribal laws
and customs any member was authorized
to take for his exclusive use any area of
such land not in use of any other citizen.
By the Act above referred to Congress
extended certain laws of Arkansas over
the Territory and established a United
States court, and at the same time it
created what is known as the Dawes
Commission or Commission to the Five
Civilized Tribes. The object of Congress
in creating this Commission has been the
dissolution of the tribal governments, the
title to land. the vesting of possession
and title in severaty among the citizens
of the tribes, and the assimilation of the
peoples and institutions of this Territory
to our prevailing American standard.
TIE Act undertook. not to let anybody
and everybody come forward and take
public lands, but to administer upon five
great estates, aggregating over 10, CO., 900
acres. Nearly all this has been done
since June 2Sth, 1898. At times the
Commission has had i'm its employ as many
as 500 clerks. surveyors, land appraisers,
and laborers engaged in the work out
lined and in the plating, rollmaking.
and other work incidentto such an under
taking. This has been done at an expense
10 the Government of about five cents
per acre. Under allotments thus made
each citizen has received from 10 to 32O
acres of land, a portion of which has been
designated as his homestead, and is
inalienable for period of Il years.
Indian Territory is not an organized
territory; it has no political status; it has
no local government except the incorp-
grated towns; no counties; no taxes, other
than tribal taxes, are levied for other
than municipal purposes, and excepting
certain tribal laws, all laws are made by
Congress, and the Territory has no re-
preventative in that body. This is termed
LONG range legislation" No similar
conditions as to government exist under
the control of the United States.
The influx of population has been and
is remarkable. Men are coming from all
parts of the country particularly from
the Northern and Middle states. These
men are energetic, enterprising, sociable
AID progressive; they care little fol
pedigree, but insist on an answer to the
question "What are your" Every where
towns are srringing up, those already
established rapidly growing, some so sub
stantial as to be dignified by the name OF
S cities, Mustogee, the largest city in the
Territory, claiming population Of
$4,000.
The resources of the Territory are un
numbered and diversified, its principa
agricultural products at this time beinf
nay, wheat, corn, and king Cotton"
, crop failures are unheard of; oil and ga
: deposits are now being developed il
# certain localities il abundance and o
the nignesr quality; coal mines not only
} supply local markets but find demand il
+ Texas. Arkansas, Oklahoma. Kansas anC
missouri; aspnaiU Deus, winch only nee(
l. capital and improved machinery for re
filming; other minerals are also believed t,
e exist and only await development; mil
e lions of feet of merchantable pine ar
5 found in certain parts of the Territory
e while an ineXhaustible supply of NOR
n common woods cover practically ever
k section. These waists interests. heretofOr
practically undeveloped and largely un