The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-27

rarely carried large sums The traders
 were their bankers a single store some- times having from thirty to forty thou
 sand dollars of Indian money on deposit for sixty or ninety days. The traders
 invariably accepted the money with os | tenslble reluctance, and some of them ac tually charged the Indians for taking care of it. These sums were used for securing
 discounts and establishing their credit. When Coffin required a large sum from Lewiston, then, he knew an Indian courier 10 be the safest means of transmitting | the money. Accordingly, he told one of | the bucks, whom he knew we'll that he l should go to the Lewiston National bank and get $f0,0O0. Meanwhile, he telephoned the bank to deliver the money. In due time the Indian returned with the gold. 1 As he handed 1t over, Coffin observed | something bulky under the bucks shirt
 and, thrusting his hand into the loose
 collar brought forth a quart of whisky. The Indian had carried 1t twelve miles without touching a drop, but now he
 drained the bottle without once removing 1t from his mouth.
 But if the Indians are careful with the money of another they are careless enough with their own. One instance
 is sufficient to illustrate this peculiarty.
 An Indian buck had just cashed a draft
 for $S00 receiving the amount in shining twentes. He ral1ed them from the coun- ter into his sombrero, puckered the brim, tied the precious burden to the pommel
 of the saddle and left pony, saddle and
 money all day at a hitching post. The money was not molested.
 Coffin relates another incident instanclng
 the integrity of the Indians. certain buck was enamoured of a squaW of neighboring tribe. The squaw died, leav- ing an unpaid account at the store. On
 being notified, the Neg Perce lover
 promptly paid the score, which amounted to $20 It is the custom for the nearest of kin to defray all expenses left by the
 deceased, believing that otherwise the | dead will lie uneasy in their graves. When the fiat lands of the Neg Perces were thrown open to settlement by the
 whites, there was a great rush into the country, and few of those who were sue cessful in securing locations possessed
 more, in a financial way, than was re-
 quired to pay for the filing. Perhaps there has never been instance in which Uncle Sams homestead laws have
 more gratifyingly accomplished their pur- pose of making homes for the homeless than in the opening of the Neg Perce reservation.
 A. c. Eitzen, one of the pioneers of | the prairie, relates many interesting an
  l few who went into the country with | little capital. newcomer recently drove l oyer the prairie with him. From an eml-
 hence near the busy little town of NeE | Perce were visible half a score of mag nificent farms, each having it's well Kept l buildings and fences, each eloquent of l prosperity It was a prospect to enthuse
 one with the country and the newcomer l involuntarily expressed himself in terms | of extravaganee His companion smllqf l grimly At length. he said:
 My boy. there is not a farmer so far
 as you can see who could have paid for | a side of bacon ten years ago, unless | except myself and one or two of my near | neighbors. The first night l pitched camp ! here a stranger strolled up to my fire l He wore d wistful expression. and knew l he was hungry I invited him to supper and you can bet your boots there was no parleyng over the acceptance. He had | filed on that quarter just north Of us | During the evening he said he had just
 four bits left, and did not know how
 he would make out. unless he could get
 credit at the store. He put me next to the l quarter I now own, and l gave him $oo l That tided him over for awhile, but he soon had to use his credit, and 1t was
 a mighty good thing for all the people | here that the merchants could carry them.
 | | and a good many of them were years i'll making an even break, but they all won | out in the long run, and l doubt If two per cent of their accounts went bad event.
 ualy They are all doing a rattling good 1 business today, and there is not farmer
 they trusted who cannot sell out for
 from s5OO0 to S15.o0o. Yields of from 50 to l 50 bushels of wheat to the acre are
 common, and crop that goes only Sl
 bushels to the acre is considered i failure
 Wheat is the mainstay of the country
 but all grains and grasses produce pro-
 life yields Irrigation is not required
 even for fruits. Every farm house Is 1 surrounded with orchards of apples. pears l peaches, plums, prunes, apricots and other l fruits. Melons and berries prosper. and 1 the rich, warm loam needs no fertilizer 1 for gardening It is l.. sal farming
 country, but it is destined to experience
 a great transformation in the next few
 years a transformation almost as great 1 as that it has undergone in the past de- cde, for the country is becoming more |, densely populated. as immigration pours
 in from the east and middle west, and the morning of the small tract and of in-
 tensfied farming is even now dawning.
 In a few years the Neg Peree prairie will | be one great garden and berry patch. 1 supporting ten families in plenty where
 single family prospers today.
 l Contact with the whites has taught the | Indians much concerning agriculture, and
 many of the best farms on the prairie are l the allotments that have not been rented
 to the whites. Many of them have magni-
 fcent homes, but beside each Indian
 house, however pretentions, is a tepee
 which many of them occupy during much | of the year. and to which they Will in- variably retire, regardless of season or 1 state of weather. in time of illness. None of their farms, excepting what are known 1 as "heirship' lands. where no Indian | heirs remain, have passed to the whites
 the treaty providing that the Indians | must hold their allotments for twenty 1 five years. When there are no heirs 1 lands are sold by the Indian agent to | the highest bidder. and the proceeds Of l the sales go to the Indians.
 | It is a question of time only until all 1 of the Neg Perce lands will be owned by | whites for the Indians are decreasing in number from year to year. From a purely sentimental point of view. the passing of