Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1909-1915, 1910-08-26
INDIANS ALWAYS PREY Of WHITES
HBlen Hunts Fight For AborigL
mes forgotten When In
uBasing Value of Broad
Acres Is Seen.

the property, but considered that q
good deal of 1t would be held for
twenty or thirty years The act was
a piece Of interference with the rights
and destres Of the Indians under any
circumstances, but this provision was
q raaesudng point, and for nearly
twenty years the sales proceeded with
this HuiteIial.
Eut It seemed too had to leave the
1Rnas In the hands Of the unprogres
sire for SO hong & time. Four years
sgo IN amendment to the Dawes act
removed all restrictions from the sale
Of the land and authorized the issu-
Rnce OF fee simple patent to any
allottee competent and capable of
managing his or her affairs"
The Indian office construed the
meaning of this statute to be that If
any Indian disposed of his land know
ing he would not get it back again he
was competent and capable" within
the meaning of the law.
Children Also Robbed.
There have been $4,000 cases in
court in regard to the sale of these
lands by persons competent and capa-
ble.' Not all of them concerned
adults, for the case Of the Indian child
has been even harder than that of his
parents. Many children Of the Five
Nations are very rich by inheritance.
The tribes are dying, and those who
survive have often much land coming
to them. Here is scope for the guard
lam idea.
In 1896, after it was decided that
the lands were to be divided, the CON-
mission announced that applications
for rights In the apportionment of land
should be made within thirty days and
be passed upon within ninety days.
That was fourteen years ago. and they
have just wound up the matter. In
deed, there are some cases not yet
settled.
Mansfield g. McMurray Of McAlester
Get forth to the Five Nations that some.
body had to be employed to keep of
the rolls the names Of persons who
were not really Of their tribes. The
Indians agreed-poor, muddled. badg.
cred, haried tribes that wanted moth.
Ing but TO be let alone. v+h. :: :.
Now. It was the business Of the gov.
eminent to attend to this. and go Ethan
Allan Hitchcock's secretary Of the
interior said =afterward I'm no uncer.
tain fashion, but the government
didn't do anything about it, and Mans,
field G. McMurray proceeded to push
people Off the rolls. They got SO q
head for pushing, or something like
that. Anyway. the bill amounted to
$750,o00.
Indians Pay All Bills.
There was a protest. McMurray and
others were indicted. and then the in.
dictments were dismissed The In.
dams paid that bill. as they have paid
various others.
Also they paid sometimes for getting
on the rolls. Occasionally the fee was
30 per cent Of all they had. Taking 1t
by and large. there has seldom been so
satisfactory carnival from the graft.
er's point Of view.
There was talk of reopening this
rich view and looking over the rolls
the other day. but even the Indians
have learned the trick now. and they
presented petition saying that they
have already spent over $1.OOO.OOO de-
tending themselves against fraudulent
claims Of citizenship in the Five Ma
tons and they would prefer to have
the matter rest as quietly as it can
They add, with some natural bitter
ness, that had the question of decid
ing on Indian blood been left to the
Indian courts It would have been set
tied more swiftly and justly.
| When the announcement was made
that homesteads would be sold at one
half the assessed value or the land
two lots to each person. there was an
other rush to profit by the graft. The
land had been Indian land. half a mil
lion acres In all, andit was offered on
these terms to encourage civilization
to take nice long step and settle In
Oklahoma.
Laws Easily Evaded> :
Any man who wanted to speculate ir
land got certain number of men al
home. tramps or friends-anybody-tc
give him their power of attorney
then to Oklahoma without DELAY: twt