The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1907-05-16

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that time it was military necessity,
and as long as that administration
was in power there was no in
tringement in any way on the reserva-
tlon. But when change of admins
tratlon took place there was trouble
at once There were hundreds of
millions of feet of the finest white pine
covering their reservation and greedy
lumbermen and land-sharks were soon
at work. For was it not public do
main, and did not the public money
go to pay for these lands? What
right had any official to bar them from
entering it? So in 1877 Secretary
Chandler, who controlled the land de-
partment, issued an order that the
land was subject to entry, either by
script, presumption or homestead, and
general rush was made. But few
who understood land laws best went
Immediately to the land Office, and in
a few days every foot of the reserva-
tlon that had pine tree on it was
either covered with scrip or pre-
| empted. About five men claimed the
whole, principally the Bank of Madi-
son, Wis, and Dean of Minneapolis.
The land laws we're so loosely OBJ
served then that man had ONLY to
lay two sticks cross-way and throw
on piece of sod to make valid pre-
emption, and if a party did not have
| scrip enough he could get blank forms
manufactured and fill them out in
few minutes. He had only to swear
he had bought it as an innocent pur-
chaser when he would be allowed to
buy the land at one dollar and twenty
| five cents an acre. There were Indians
| enough there then to have cleaned out
every entry-man in an hour. but they
| thought they we're only after the pine,
| and as they had been told they had
sold it fair and square they we're will
ing to stand to their bargain. But if
| they had suspected that the whites in
tended to claim their lands there would
have been lively thinning out of
those squatters.
About this time the writer made his
| first acquaintance with the Indians,
coming in by way of Brunswick and
Snake river. They we're very friendly
to all the whites who came on the res
ervation to make claims and there
were about thirty who were occupying
small shanties as pre-emptors. the
largest part of the lands having been
covered with Sioux half-breed scrip.
[ also found a lumber camp in opera
ton. This was on section 5, 1927,
| by Ami Cutter of Anoka. This was
the first numbering done on the reser-
walton, and he was picking over a
number of sections, choosing only
the finest long timber. He had sew
eral Indians working in his camp.
The administration that had made
this treaty with the Indians was sue
ceeded by another with Carl Schurz
secretary of the interior. Mr..
Schurz's attention having been called
to the peculiar circumstances under
which the lands had been ceded. he
promptly Cancelled all entries and fl
ings. The lands remained in this
condition until Secretary Teller in
1882, in an order issued, said he felt
constrained to substantially adhere
to the decision made by Secretary
Chandler, and on August 7, 1882, he.
ordered the reinstatement of the en-
tries cancelled by Secretary Schurz.
An order was issued on August Is,
1882, instructing the local officers at
Taylors Falls to reinstate said en-
tries. This was the entering wedge
which finally deprived the Mile Laos
Indians of their lands.
The record of our dealings with
these Indians is unpleasant reading
and shows grave wrongs on the part
of the government. Of course the In
dams never had a fee-simple title to
these lands, as we understand the
term. They claimed them by con-
quest as all other tribes claimed
theirs. No tribe had an uncontested
title of any large tract of land, and
each tribe looked with jealousy upon
all interlopers. But it would
seem that the government, knowing
the fact that this tribe had for so
many years held it in reverence,
| would have tried to reserve few Sec
tions of land for the old Indians even
though it COMPELLED the majority of
the tribe to 60 to White Earth, where
everything was prepared for them.
It was wrong for the government to
make false promises. It would have
been hard to many of them at first,
but they would not have been left in
such wretched condition as they are
today. I feel confident that had they
of tho ~.