The Odanah star. [volume] (Odanah, Ashland Co., Wis.) 1912-1916, 1913-10-10
Indian Agent Everest on
Record
NO MORE FARMS OUTSIDE
indians Must Now Confine Them
selves to Reservation.

We notice in last Fridays Ashland News
that Indian Agent Everest has given out
statement that he will not approve of the.
purchase of farms by Indians outside OF the
! reservation. We quite agree with MIR.
Everest in his move, as this is what we have
been contending for some time past On
this reservation are lands that are equal and
/ in some cases superior to lands purchased
outside and could, with the same amount OF
moneys spent for the purchase of an equi--
pped farm outside, be made as good. In
the past the Indians have been allowed to
buy farmes outside at handsome prices not
saying that the farms thus purchased was
equal to the money spent, far from it, as
each man had to make his mite but in the
face oF all this they were allowed to buy.
How many have madea success of it? While
we take the Indian who is farming. on the
reservation, so far they have all succeeded
as the fair this fall proves. Of course there
are some parcels of land that are worthless
rbut the bigger majority are as fine as one
would care to own.
Mr.. Everest declares that the exhibits
here this fab shows beyond question that
there is no part of this region where the soil
is more better ther it is on this reservation
and each Indian is the owner of land that;
can be- developed into good farms.
We might 60 further and say that we
think it good policy where an Indian, the
same as any other race, does not care to
farm or is not adopted to it, that parcel of
land be turned over to one that is. In the
! Indian race as well as other races all are not
adopted to farming, and it would be waste
Of time and energy TO try and make farmers
| of such but to those that will farm the right
place to start is on their own lands. The
| one great drawback to our reservation as to
4 farming are roads but MIR. Everest hopes to
be able to secure an Appropriation from con-
gress this fall for that purpose. but whether
he will be successful remains to be seen as
the department in the past has not been
favorable to such action. In the past the
Indian were not given the opportunity for
farming his allotment that he now enjoys,
as we all know, for the lack of proper
officials at the head. 1t is only in the past
two years that we have men here that un-
derstand the rudinments of farming, hence
the reason of the Indians buying farms out
side and again it was good business for the
realestate agents.
We have been informed that large am
oun. of money at one time was spent for
roads on this reservation, the amount men,
toned was sufficient to build cement roads
good many miles long, but as we passed
over this road we could not see where the
money could of been expended as it was
simply brushed road. While we under
strnd thousands of dollars were spent on the
roads to Ashland. If these sums of money
were now available under the present super
vision we would have roads everywhere.
Superintendent Everest is making good
fight for the securing of an appropriation for
this reservation and our citizens should do
all they can to aid him in securing same aud
we hope it will only be matter of hut a
few short years when these now vacant lands
will be dotted throughout with good subst-
antial farm buildings and large fields of pro-
ducts.