The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-07
THAT INDIAN OUTBREAK.


 The incidents connected with the outbreak of Crazy Snake and his fol- lowers have given renewed interest to conditions which have for some years existed in portions of what was form erly Indian Territory. and especially among the Creeks. To understand the conditions 1t is proper to remember that large grants of land were made to the Indian tribes of the Territory. which lands were to be held in com. mon. A few years ago, however. it was decided by our government to al- lot these lands 'in severalty." as 1t was called. by which individuals and heads of families were given possession of their pro rata share of the land.
 This would have been . good plan. no doubt. if there had been none con- cerned except the fuli-bloods. but here is where the "squaw men" come in. These are white men and negro men who have married Indian women in or. der to get part of the lands through their Indian wives. and also in the hope or expectation of getting . share of the tribal wealth. which Is very great with some tribes As general thing these "squaw men" are not of . very high type of citizenship. even the white ones among them. while most of the blacks. who have taken Indian wives are of the very lowest type. This mixture of red and black obtains much more extensively among the Creeks thap it does with the other tribes. and it is this experimentation of bloods that Is largely responsible for the Crazy Snake outbreak. In short. those who are most responsible for the trouble are composed of mixture of bloods not calculated to produce the best class of citizens.
 But in considering this so-called war 1t Is not fair or just to lay all the blame on the Indians or their leader. White men had good deal to do with it. just as they have with most other troubles with the Indians. The Brook iyn Eagle calls attention to the fact that "the provocation for the upris- ing was given by irresponsible whites. who. without authority under the law. attempted to raid the chiefs home. Though some of Crazy Snakes ad- herents. were outlaws, who deserved arrest and Imprisonment. he himself had committed no crime nor had he any intention of taking to the warpath until threatened with extermination. The story, as revealed by an oficial in- vestigation. is not creditable to the State of Oklahoma. It is a startling example of what lynch law will do to convuise a neighborhood when the ap- plication of it is attempted at the Iex- pense of people who have the means and courage to resist"
 It is the same old story which has been repeated time and again ever since the first white men set foot on American soil. The Puritans in New England. the Cavaliers in Virginia. the French and tha Spanish in the South all have largely the same record. There have been exceptions. of course. and striking ones, but largely the blame has been with the whites. whether that blame was due to ignorance of the Indian character, to overbesring get possession of the Indians lands, or whether all these had something to do with 1t. the result has generally been the same. The Indians. feeling themselves unfairly treated. have rs- sented the intrusion and imposition and hostilities have been the. inevit- able result.
 Of course an outbreak like this of Crazy Snake and his lawless followers could not amount to much The day of extensive and serious Indian out breaks has passed. we are persuaded. especially among those known as civ ilized Indians. among whom are the Creeks, Choctaws, Cherokees. Sem'- holes and chicasaws of Oklahoma There Is no probability of any war with any of these Indians, and the present trouble is little more than the lawiessness of outlaws. but we should not forget that irresponsible and up- principled white men had much to do with the outbreak.
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