The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1914-06-17

that confront the Indian office at
Washington.
Sells to Study Usage Tribe.
Every secretary OF the interior and
ie,cry commissioner of Indian affairs
for more than thirty years has found
the Usage Indian question one of his
troubles. Commissioner Sells has
early discovered that the Usage is
his one worst dream. He is going
to devote most of the summer to
that question and expects to be in the
Usage reservation a good bit Of the
time between now and the settlement
of the lease difficulty, the school
problems and the liquor infamy
In addition 10 the territory covered
! by the Foster lease the commissioner
has to consider the leasing of 100000
acres to the westward of the Foster
! lease not covered by it, which is con
sidered good wildcat territory. In
| fact, it is better than wildcat terri
tory for there is development con
| tiguous to it that proves some of it
| to be good Oil territory This latter
territory is that which was assidu-
ously sought to be leased by the I'm
Gle sam Oil company and the leasing
I of which has been a matter of par
lsan political issues in the tribe Cor
long time. The royalties from oil
and gas lands in the Usage will con
t'nuC to be in a common fund OF
the tribe until 1881. After that time
they will become the property o.
the allottees who own the surface
1t will be seen that this provision
leads TO a chance for political issue
in the tribe. When it is fostered and
urged by Interested persons the issue
becomes acute,
Secured Bonus and Royalty.
An instance of the interest that is
being taken by Commissioner Sells in
the Usage and the welfare of the
tribe is seen in the recent leasing
of 900 acres Of tribal lands for
oil and gas, which the commissioner
made in September Just before the
break in the price of oil. In this
lease he secured for the Osages a
fixed royalty of One-siXth-which is
in excess of the average royalty-and
| in addition a cash bonus of $500, 900.
Two months after this lease was
made the value of oil was reduced TO
point where it would have been
| impossible for the lessees to make
such liberal offer of bonus TO the
| Indians
While Commissioner Sells has ad-
mitted that the human side of the
Indian problem interests him more
than the material side, his careful
supervision of the the material IN
terests of his wards shows that he is
ncl overlooking their temporal vel
fare. He may deplore the fact that
s. to so a week spending money is
allowed the Indian children at the
Gsagc boarding school in PawhuSka
| by fond but misguided parents, yet
he is not overlooking any opportunity
to secure TO those parents and their
children ali the money that they are
entitled to under the law. And it is
in this effort to guard, protect and
defend the Indians that the commits
sioner of Indian affairs is going TO
! fave a lot of worry before he gets
through with the expiring leases and
the new lands that ought to be
| leased in the Usage reservation.
standard Holdings.
As a result OF an investigation
made by Mr.. Sells and n senate com
mittee it has been ascertained that
the Standard OH company is toler-
ably firmly in'renched in the produc-
! tion OF oil in the Usage nation. The
Standard. by mortgage and lease, CON
trolls more than 1000 of the $4,000
! acres covered by the Foster lease.
end it actually owns and runs - per
cent of the oil produced in the Osase
nation. The oil production from In
dian land in Oklahoma for the past
ter years exceeded 40O,0OoGoO bar
rcls. The INVESTIGATION showed that
persons who, in 1896, secured leases
on 100000 acres Of Usage land got
renewals and new leases to cover $50
100000 acres n 1906.
OF the companies operating in jht
Usage nation the larnsdall company
on which the Standard has a mort