The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1910-10-20

and remained idle on account Of the title
4 bnqabao. The same grade Of land in
! Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and the
fotller aoricnltural STATES, was. bringing
from 'SG5 to $50 per acre, while tie In
dian lands in Oklahoma were taken by
the weeds for the lack Of purchasers at
! $40 and SIS.
4 Within the past year, however, things
have greatly changed The Government
decidcd to sell the restricted lands forthe
Indian and supervise the prouceds from
the sale Of such lands Tie Indian, as a
rule, inexperienced and in any business
/ pertaining to his land; such az renting or
leasing, only stcccelcI in retting the
lite cIouAel, hence the scare Of poor
titles,
The plan Of tic Go~crpmcrt officials h
to clear tie land Of such clouds, appraise
the land and improvements, and Offer
The Same to the highest bidder, thereby
in uring perfect tide, the deed icing pre-
pared in the office Of the United States
Indian Superintendent.
From the lightning the plan proved
an excellent one and before the third
monthly sale The LIFTS Of land we're sought
by people in all the states The United
States Indian Superintendent has today
on his mailing list Of monthly land sale
notices some 5000 names Of interested
persons in other states, who are DESTROYS
Of purchasing the Indian land.
The axe ace ACREAGE offered monthly
! by tie United States Inliqm s'uperin-
tendent is 10000, and some wonths the
list more than doubles that amount The
! October sales now being advertised show
l5o, 900 acres. a majority ~ which is sus-
/ ceptib!e to the highest state ofcultivation
and win raise in abundance all tho crops
Of the temperate zone.
These tracts are appraised by twocom-
petcnt land men, one REGULAR land APP
praiscr and the other the District Agent
in the locality where the land issituatod,
and who is familiar with the conditions
in this locality.
The land is advertised for thirty days
in the newspapers Of the state and by
printed posters distributed BY hemailing
] list system. The bids are opened on the
day specified in the advertisement and
! the highest bid, If it exceeds the amount
stated in the appraisenent, gets the land.
| At the time OF sale ten per cent of the
amount offered must accompany the bid
and the balance to be paid on receipt Of
notice from the Indian Superintendent
to the OBJECT that the deel has been cx-
ecuted and IS ready for delivery.
1 There is no doubt as to clear title to
land purchased in this manner as the
records are carefully examined bv the re-
prescutativcs OF the Indian Superin-
tendent and if no clouds affecting title
are found, the land is adve "tised. When
IAN Indian makes application for the re-
moval Of restrictions upon the sac of his
land the same is submitted to an appraiser
/ for an investigation MS to its quality, inn
provcments and consideration be-
ing taken as to the distance from mar
kct, kind Of market and the roads. At
the same time the District Agent is given
description OF the land and he checks
the county records wherein the land is
located to ascertain whether there are
any illegal Instruments Of record. Ifsuch
instruments appear of record the Superin-
tendcnt will not advertise the land until
the title can be cleared.
! The land advertised through the Office
of the u. S. Indian Superintendent is Of
every quality, found in any state, there
being open prairie, timber, first class
agricultural land, and large tracts Of
rough land suitable only for grazing pur-
poses. The better grades during thepast
year have sold at prices ranging from $40
to $40 per acre, while grazing land has
brought from 81 to per acre.
In the Southern part Of the State and
along streams the land is covered to some
extent with understandable timber, and in
the Eastern part Of the State the land is
underlaid with vast beds Of mineral
lead, zinc, iron and coal The central
portion Of the State from North to South
has the famous oil pools probably the
largest in the world--and the land Of
fercd for sale is from every portion OF
that part Of Oklahoma, formerly known
as the Indian Territory, so rich in these
resources
Professor Charles N. Gould, State
Geologist, has made careful investiga-
ton OF this part Of the country and in
his report, recently submitted to the
State Officials stated that, in his estima-
ton, there are many undeveloped pools
of oil--in fact, that this product may ex-
tend to many parts Of the Eastern half
of the State
The U. S. Indian Superintendent is
now sending out the lists showing lands
advertised for sale during the month of