Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-11-04
indian FRAUD Is
LATEST EXPOSURE
IN SOUTH DAKOTA
Major Kelley, Of Rosebud, Is
Said to Have Participated
In Game Of Securing
Land for a Trife.

Aberdeen. s. D.. oct. 27.-A Uniteo
States commissioner is now taxing eYi'
dencc on the Rosebud reservation in
South Dakota. in cases which promise
TO develop some startling testimony re-
garding conditions on the reservation.
The proceedings are In the nature Of a
civil suit started by the government.
for hearing In federal circuit court, in
which 1t Is claimed various aged and
! decrePit Indians Of the reservation
have been d~efrauded of their land
through Misrepresentation of the de-
PENDANTS in the several suits, by winch
the defendants secured for q song very
valuable lands which are now in the
hands Of third parties.
-Four separate complaints are entered,
each one charging that aged and in
firm Indians, mentally and physically
incompetent. have been deprived Of
land ranging from a half section to q
full section, by II Coterie Of shreWd and
u"nprincipIed men. the total land Sc
cured from the Indians in this fashion
a~ggregating several thousand acres,
and aggregating in value many thou
sands of dollars.
District Attorney ACCUSES.
The complaints are signed by Edward
= Wagner, United States district at
tOrney for South Dakota. One COM
plant is the United States against f..
J.. Debcll, William II. Lynn and the
Royal Union Mutual Life Insurance
company, and alleges that an Indian
woman. known as Big Old Woman"
was assigned by the Indian department
. dGaTtGT section OK land IN Mycr
county, South Dakota. under the terms
Of the law dividing the Sioux reserVa-
ton into separate reservations, and
that or June I, 1908. Edward b. Kelley,
then agent on the Rosebud reservation.
sent to the indian bureau an alleged
application puTporting TO be signed by
Big Old Woman. asking that the land
In question be set aside for her use In
fee simple, Kelley in a communication
accompanying the petition, recommend
ing that the patent be issued, repre-
s~enting to the commissioners OF Indian
affairs that Big Old Woman was we'll
% do and competent to manage her
" affairs and take care of herself.
4 Sharp Transaction.
Accordingly the patent was issued on
September s, 1908, and the complaint
alleges that on September %, 1908, De-
bell presented for record in the register
OF deeds office in Trip county, South
Dakota, what purported to be warranty
deed. in which Big Old Woman trans
ferred the land to T.. j. Debell for the
sum or $1,000, n ueeu pufpOftllS 10
have been made out before w. C..
Courts, a notary public in the employ
of Debell. The complaint states that
the land instead OF being worth 81, 500,
is worth $4,000, but hat no sum was
paid to the Indian wonlan that II
never knew Of the transaction, n vas
mentally a wreck. totally ~uneducated,
and entirely unable TO comprehend the
nature Of the transaction, If n had
been made.
After Debell had secured possession
Of the property under the fraudulent
transfer, he is alleged to have trans
ferred II TO w. H. Lynn, who IN turn
mortgaged the property to the Royal
Mutual Life Insurance company. Lynn
and thu Insurance company are made
parties TO the suit, the later to prevent
1t from foreclosing on the mortgage it
holds. The estate of Big Old Woman
is valued at $4,000 and tho suit is for
the purpose of compelling the defend
ants either to return the quarter Sec
tion Of land to the rightful owner. or
to pay over the $4,000.
Four other similar cases are also
under investigation and many moro
are expected to follow.