The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-07-13
40 ? n - 80 \ n
AN INTERESTING CASE.

AN INTERESTING CASE.
a IS 1000. 900 melon that has baen
riPening for nearly IS years Is at last
being sliced by the government for
distribution among the Cherokee In
dams. ta:nns been a standing claim
6r the halans nsainst Uncle Sam since
1855 In that year the government
owed the Gherok for land purchas.
sfd.t the Aum or 81. 100. 900. which lay in
The trea snryi to their credit with In
terest yat Is per cent. Then one fine
day mn error was male In the audit
ling department OF the Treasury and
IL appeared according to the books.
that the Caerokees had nothing to
their credit. Their aeah men took M
the matter. hired lawyers and for c.
long yeArs labnred to establish their
claim They tried the executive off
!eia16 and hesieged Congress but with
out making nm impression worth a cent.
!LtS say nothing of the millions they
we're after. They were told the books
showed they: had nothing coming and.
government records !beinE infallIble,
there swaslno3 ground for argument. So
| twas. year after ear. rs tine Indians
made their pilgrlma ges TO Washington.
bout 10 years ago the aspect Of
things changed somewhat when Robert
5 il owen an attorney OF Muskogee. I.
4 n was given charge Of the claim. He
Was o member OF the Cherokee nation
through his mothers! side while nls
father was Robert IL. Owen, a ViEgir-
Ian md President OF the Tennessee
SraIltoal. Attorney Owen, was highly
+ educated. he had wit and judgment
beslles. and he proceeded to maize
things move The first thing to do
was to get permission from Congress
Ito proceed against the government in
heA Court of Claims and prove that
StinE dollars or the ancient
zee fund really lay In the vaults
{TFeasury. He got 1t and after
srepented the reinforcement. two
fngs I'M tho Court OF Claims being
tessarys to prove up the claims %:
hsIndinns. In the seven years can't
hgn he conducted Mr.. Owen induced
congress to pass three bills aud two
resolutions necessary In his WORK
nybody feeling that It Is not much
Mob to get that much action out o:
sreateFt legislative body In The
has never 1sundertaken any lit
1dJtnskelike = moving the Rocky
dtnins.
Fen's final contest was to move
ynase Into the United States SUI
me Court and ne succeeded In that
1906 as he had in nll that went be-
e.S5The record he submitted to the
irti consisted ot 1900 printed pages.
argued the case against the skilled
fyers In tho government service and
won a judgment that the original
f.Eswelled; by the accumulated H.
est to IS. 900 600. belonged TO the
nE tCherokees. "a
rhe court awarded him fee OF
$1,000. which aprroximatcs the rec.
for stiRenlsi for legal services even
he supreme Court.
Ine%aeElsiph PihCHH uPph bpfsAh
BIT nfHclnls the. .stupendpns task of
,rtninlnE who was entitled to the
hey,iof seeing to 1t TINT none having
hts were overlooked and that i'm
hers did not get n place Mt the
Inter. "a person having ono sixty
iii part OF Cherokee blood was q
member of. the Cherokee nation
1.-THE search through involved fam
.iesthreatened to BIO almost end
The list Of those entitled to
elfn the fund has now heen cnrn-
Rli hoewyeri and contains $4,000
es. III was made mp from an army
1000 applicants. ~
e man who won the big flght and
rewarded with the princely tee