The Odanah star. [volume] (Odanah, Ashland Co., Wis.) 1912-1916, 1912-07-12
Committing TrespasseS
Which is Proven
They Are Now Trying 10 Secure A
Sett! em ent Aided By the
Department

Agent Campbell has issued call in these
columns for council to be called and held
at Odanah, Wis. by the Lapointe Agency
Band of Chippewa Indians, July "a, 1912
at t.: so p. m. This council mas been pro-
posed by the Commissioner of Indian AZ
fairs, the purpose of which is to settle with
the Indian owners for treSpaSSeS committed
by the ]. S. StearnS Lbr. Co. SO many years
complained of by the Indians and denied as
many times by the Company and the gov
ernment officials BY the use of paid cry
down officials With the aid of an attorney
which the Indians employed at great expense
and annoyance, the Indians have finally sue
ceeded in convincing the Indian Office to
admit the truthfulness of the complaint.
now to be mild we say convinced but to be
truthful presentation of matters has been
that of facts so raw, that hordes of gnawlng
officials are being forced to desiSt and in
public light admit an intrusion and a breach
of trust on the rights of the Indian, which
hurriedly the Lumber Company offered to
settle for one thousand dollars, to which
the Indian Office, in guarding his wards in
terests, not withstanding paragraph Of the
contract under which they operate, saying:
"No green or growing timber shall be clt
or removed from the unallotted lands of the
Of
sion by said JustuS S. Stearns will subject
him to liability to prosecution and punish
ment under Section 53SS of the Revised
Statutes as amended by Act OF June 4, 1888,
rs Stats 166, as well as forcible removal
from the reservation, and suit on his bond,
and shall work also as forfeiture of all
contracts for timber on the reservation and
all rights under sucfi contracts), saih no to
the treSpasSing company you will have to
paw $4,000, of which the Indians refused to
consider as being utter inadequate. A new
offer is now to be referred as being made to
the Indian Office of SIS, 1850 as an ade-
uuate amount which the Indian should ac
cept as full settlement recommended by four
government investigators namely, Gresham,
Worral, Hamilton and Campbell. Dc''he
is now being entertained by The Lns,..rs IS
to adequate examination having been made,
Expert Indian Investigators hold tha: two CT
three experienced woodSmen could not
thoroughly examine, approximately 5O,000
acres of territory in whole year which Mr..
Hamilton claims to have examined in two
or three weeks Especially when the writer
personally knows knows of two genuine
treSpasses not mentioned by the investiga-
tors the fact is that there are so many other
things to be accounted for by the company
the Indians believe an accountant like Mr..
4. L. Dalby should be permitted to repre-
sent the Indians as against the Indian Office
and Lumber Company 1t has for a long
time been the belief among intelligent In
dians that the agency office with life long
officials under the present methods called
policy were being So fully schooled in cor
ruption, that they had come to regard graft
wherever it would permit part of their
loar as against duty.
Now, Mr.. Reader we wish to ask you
this question. If you were to make con-
tract with another party ard violated that
contract would you not be subjected to
whatever such violation melited and held
liable to a strict enforcement of its proyi
sions. You certainly would. Except were
YOU doing business on an Indian Reservation
and through your godfather who pretending
to represent the Interests of the first party
was in reality the parentaiSt OF the second
party. Has this corporation the ]. S.
Stearns Lumber Company any more right
than you or | as citizens of these United
States to break a contract? Well that is
Just what this company has done backed by
the present administration. 1t looks like a
big game of graft by expert grafterS, with
the Indians as the looted subjects and the
I. S. StearnS Lumber Company as the bene-
fciary for II long years this has been going
on here and for these years the Lumber Co.
has gotten the ScalpS of the Indians all in
dicating that their money bags seems to
have been used quite freely. They H. e
time and again denied emphatically that they
committed trespass on this reservation.
Now if theyshave committed no trespass
why do they voluntarily raise their price of
settlement from $1,000 to over $4,000. In
the first place why did lhey offer anything if
they committed no trespass. They have
acknowledge their guilt and have violated
their contract, and still allowed to continue
just as if there was no such provision as Sec
ton S. above referred to. But maybe the
guardian caused it TO be put i'll only to ke