Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-08-16
Usage LANDS
J..... mas last Indi2n Ea3arVa-
ion oPel.l Is Settlers.
GREAT NATIVE WILDERNESS.

Feat NATIVE WILDERNESS.
Picturesque Kills and Prariss of the
Usage Country Allotted In Severalty
and Thereby Opened to the Influx of
the White Man--How the Land May
Be Sold.
If there are persons who love the
Usage Indian reservation for its
streams. its hills. it's forests and its
broad prairpS and feel the charm of
its history and traditions and look
upon it as almost the last remaining
eXpanSe of native wilderness. they
should hasten to look upon il. rs the
Old things and the old ways are soon
70 vanish forever. The lands, to which
the Osages have fee simple title. have
finally been allotted in severalty and
each Usage citizen has been given title
to his allotment.
Old Villages Still In Use.
This does not mean that the Osages
have abandoned their village camp life
and are living on their individual lands.
AS matter Of fact the Usage lands
generally are lying wild as they have
since the beginning of time. Allot-
ment. however means the incoming of
the white farmer with his industry
and the turning Of the grass grown,
flower strewn acres into productive
fields. Such lands as the Usage citizen
cannot sell he will rent. and to that
placed within reach Of the white man.
There are 2.23O certified allottees In
the Usage tribe. OF which any one who
failed to get his share Of lands will be
paid an equivalent in money. Each
Usage has ':57 acres Of land. At first
rate selections OF 100 acres. any one OF
which he was permitted to designate
MS his homestead to be inalienabe for
twenty-five years. Then he took n
fourth selection Of 100 acres or total
Of $40.
After the bestowal Of all these riches
It was found that there still remained
untaken land Of which the allotment
commission made Il per capita distri-
button amounting to seventeen acres.
Already white men are gathering on
the horizon of the Usage country to
spy out its resources and possibilities
and real estate agents are opening Of
fees in the different towns to engage
in land traffic. 1t will be possible for
an Usage citizen to sell all his land
save his 100 acre homestead under
certain conditions. He may rent all
his land for grazing or agricultural
purposes. The sale of his surplus land
or that in excess Of his homestead and
amounting to 497 acres will be per
mitted in two ways
Ways CT Selling the Land.
One is that he may receive from the
secretary of the interior n certificate
Of competency to manage his own af
fairs. For this certificate 175 Usage
citizens have made application. of
which twcnty-eight have been submit
ted to the secretary of the interior.
who approved twenty-five. The filing
in Il month or two. the secretary hav-
ing asked that further applications be
withheld until he has finished issuing
the deeds to the surplus lands. All the
homestead deeds are ready for delv-
cry.
The surplus lands Of the full bloods
and the incompetents may be sold
upon application If the secretary Of
the interior is convinced that the sale
would be for the benefit of the owner
The latter would be permitted to
spend the money from the sale of his
surplus lands only in such manner as
would be approved by the commission
or OF Indian Observation-Disclosures Okla,
Cor. Kansas City Star.