The Dolores star., 1906-11-02
RESERVE OPENED
HUNDREDS OF sooMens evApE
INDIAN POLICE.
WILD SCENES REPORTED
Opening Of Walker Lake Indian Reser.
walton !" Nevada Very DIsorderIy--
Lax Methods Work to oesraud Hon.
est Land sseker,.


walton In Nevada Very pisorderiy--
Lax Methods Work to Oefraud Hon
est Land Seekers.
Thorne, Nev.-The opening of the
Walker Lake Indian reservation Mon.
day was not as imposing as it prom
ised to be. on account Of the fact that
countless numbers of miners had
nocked into It during the night and
early morning. completely overwhelm-
Ing the Indian police, OF whom there
were but fourteen to guard seventy
five miles Of territory.
| While the opening was taking place.
Special Agent Parks Of the General
Land Once. was waiting for
an answer to his dispatch
sent to the General Land or
Ace at Washington, Sunday night,
urging that the opening be postponed
on account of the Irregularities he had
discovered. Parks pointed out that
the Indian police. who had been named
to guard the lines we're not only made
quate and ineffcient, but they had
taken money and liquor as bribes and
we're intoxicated most of the time
He stated in his dispatch that on ac-
count of the lax methods observed,
hundreds of prospectors had paid no
| attention to the time set for the open
| ing
This news soon spread through the
camps where bona fide prospectors
had gathered to make rush and as a
| result there was great deal of discon-
| tent.
Reports have reached here OF nu-
merous shooting affrays In the vicinity
| Of the old Arastra gold mine, which
| was the objective point Of hundreds OF
| fortune seekers who had arrived only
to find that the land had already been
taken up. They then attempted to get
| small sections. with the result that
blood was shed in numerous instances.
although no fatalities have been re-
ported.
Special Land Agent Parks deplores
| the fact that the rush was allowed to
take place, when 1t was known that
the laws OF the United States in re-
gard to opening a reservation had been
evaded. He says that there Is yet a
possibility that the present opening
may be declared invalid and a new
one called for.
Sub-Indian Agent Robert Lovegrove
made the sensational statement that
United States engineers who were sent
here for the purpose of carrying out
reclamation work on the portion OF
| Walker Lake reservation that had
beer allotted to the Indians, had occu-
! pied their time in placing launches on
/ the edge Of Walker lake for the pur-
pose OF participating in the rush, con-
trary to the law which states that all
persons shall keep on a reservation
| until the time fixed for It's opening.
l. With the firing of mighty blast OF
| dynamite from the top Of Grant Peak.
| the highest point in the adjacent
! mountains, the reservation was opened
at noon Monday. At the given signal
| hundreds OF searchers for gold hur-
ried helter-skelter over the boundary
lines of plain and mountain and before
| the great cloud Of smoke which rose
| into the air from the dynamite explo-
sion had drifted away, spectacular
!; race of automobiles. race horses and
vehicles was on. So great was the
rush across the desert from the line
nearest Hawthorne that number OF
persons narrowly escaped being tram
| uled over, and in numerous instances
I
| injuries were reported.
| Horses were ridden till they
dropped and men recounted their Ill
| fortune when their automobiles be.
came stalled in the deep sands. Jaded
| and overcome by thirst, numbers OF
prospectors barely summoned enough
strength to make their locations.
| Those who had waited for the signal
from the top of Mount Grant before
| rushing into the reservation. found
that all the most valuable claims In
| the vicinity of the rich Dutchman, Cot
tonwood and numerous other creeks
emptying into the southwestern sec
| tion of Walker lake had been taken up
by men who had rushed in the night
before. Even men. who employed
| launches to take them across Walker
lake from the eastern side found that
their efforts were of no avail, as they
were much too late to be on an equal
footing with the men who had disre.
gardei all law.
/ arANnAan OH FINED.