The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-10-08
WORLDS HIGHEST COMMUNITY

/
Happy Usage indians In Oklahoma.
The richest community in the
world Is right here In America, and
not made up Of finsnciers, Wall street
men. or railroad magnates. either;
but OF Indians, who know little about
modern methods of speculation and
who are throwing their wealth to the
winds in manner that would almost
make the son Of q magnste green
with envy. These Indians are the
z20o Osages who reside In Oklahoma,
who we're born rich, and who are
proving to be more lucrative than a
gold mine to the white men who have
learned the art Of separating the In
dian and his cash. Were 1t not for
the federal government. which has ex-
ercised q paternal restraint over
the Osages. they would by this time
have sunk into poverty. But Uncle
Sam has seen to II that they should
not have all their money at their dis
posal at once; he has financed mat
terB for them, and for that reason
they are the richest community on
earth.
Each member OF the Usage tribe
has In his possession homestead of
$50 acres and $50 acres of surplus
land. none of which is worth a cent
less than SO an acre. Thou, besides
this. they have In the treasury of the
United States aboat 5000. 600 Their
real property is extremely valuable,
Nature having fa-ored them by de
posting there natural, gas. petroleum,
semiantbractte coal, zinc, lead, cop
per. oolite, ceneut rock. building
stone and brick clay. The natural
gas supply is SO generous that most
Of the time the iets in 1D1Auses and
ON the streets are ieft 11n1as night
and day.
There are about 500 fA1aloods in
the tribe, and they take pride in
keeping up the. customs. OF their an
cestors- They hold virtpously to their
secret order of Hofibreh, and the
squaws carry their wealthy little
papooses on boards on their backs,
sometimes scolding them in Indian
MrEpn, but never striking them or
furnishing them in any other way. 1t
Is noticeable fact that they never
resort to the bfIIingsgzte that many
white mothers make use of In cor
recting their offs. ring. These full
bloods are nabobs in every sense of
the word. If their land Is titled, they
hire some one to till It, your wealthy
Usage doesn't PCT his hand to the
patch any more tan Rockefeller and
Carnegie do. 1t is an extremely short |
distance that Mr.. Indian can be per.
suaded to walk; re has forsaken the
ways of his ancestors who bestrode
the bare back OF a bucking broncho; |
he rides on the soft cushions of a
carriage or moto- car. Few indeed |
are the shows the. come GEAR which |
he does not attend and he shows |
the same fpndness for flrewater that
his rrogsniiors revealed when first
their lips presssd the neck or booze
bottle.
The town of Tawhuskg, Oki., is
whore these wealthy redskins reside,
ana Hhen there is nothing doing in
tbs bailiwick among the Indian eiti. |
zens, it may be surmised that the pro
verbal cold day in July has arrived |
With plenty Of money and sporting |
the Indians make things /
lively enough, They own 100000 |
surplus acres OF land which have |
been the. favorite of Nature, who has
blessed them with crystal springs and |
flowing creeks. But the Indians say
they want to sell off Their surplus
land aad get their hands on the
ready cash; SO Uncle Sam mas ar
ranged TO put it on sale for them In
The autumn, and then for a little
while. 1t may be y1iessed, the sharks
viii fatten on the money of the
Usage.
A fairly good number of these In
Hans speak thu English tongue,
.hough they are by no means stu
Tents Of elegant expression and have
10 penchant for Shakespeare or Mil
on. They do not In the main be-
,Cme habitual drunkards, and are on
he whole very healthy tribe. There
ire few who are dying of tubercu-
osis. But of the whole 1900 there
ire but two who are blind and ont
yho Is deaf mute. Not many white |
communities can show such a health
ecord as that. Among them are
many male giants In stature, and they
galk with the proyerblal straightness
# an Indian. The squaws, however,
re given to walking with a waddIing
notion. On the whole the Osages are
lot as solemn as some of the other
ribes, and they seem to be pretty
lappy One would think that they
night to be, favored as they are Up
o few years ago 1t was a common
'ractice for INSCRIPTIONS white men
o marry the young Indian girls in
rider to possess themselves of their
money, but stco has been put to
hts form Of swindling; fortune-mar-
fers must now apply elsewhere.
rhomas Marshbank Mullins in the
'athfnder
n ~ Nc LnME LiArc |