The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1914-04-04
INDIAN OWNS OIL LAND
Pct Of i6o Acres Is Worth
Millions

Millions
Cleveland. Ark. March al.-When |
cid Hu-lah-ni-kah. Usage Indian.
~squatied~ al The base Of a range OF
ION hills bordering the Arkansas
river. two miles northwest Of Cleve-
land in 1899. and built a farmhouse |
that IS nov little more than shack.
he did no, have the slightest idea
that be was setting on the richest
,rac, OF oil land in the United
States.
Today the leo acres embraced in
Hu-lah-ni-kah's allotment has a mar
ket value OF from 100000 10 sl2.-
o00.0 900. II two acres OF an adjoining
quarter section should De included.
the value OF the l60 acres would be
close 10 S1f.000.00 for the combined
production Is 10000 barrels OF OIL a
day.
Twenty-ihrce wells have been drill
ed. and not one is dry hole. Some
of the wells have an initial product
ion OF 1000 barrels every "a hours
oil al present is worth Sl.o5 a barrel.
The bulk OF the production is on
the northeast quarter, and no wells
have been drilled in the west half.
I The daily output equals the capacity
OF the pipe line.
Usually l6 wells are drilled ON
each quarter section, making "a wells
on section In this particular case.
however. 10 guard against offsetting
By rivals, the producing company Is
drilling at the rate OF - extra wells
TO the section. n total Of &c. II the en-
tire section should be drilled. Based
upon results to date. II the wells yet
to be drilled should be as productive
as those brought in, this section
would produce more than $4,000 bar
rels day, making this section worth
nearly S4O.Ooo.OOO.
The present royalties amount 20
about 81 a day for every man, woman
and child in the Usage tribe Of In
dianc
The homes.eads Of Hu-lah-ni-kah.
with OH wells in the door yard. would
be a palace Mt for kings II its struc-
ture and appointments were in keep
ing with the estate upon which II
stands But the two-story frame
house. implanted, going to decay. and
now untenanted, looks bleak in its
surroundings. A quarter Of a mile
to the south is the Arkansas river,
broken by sandbars. Once or twice
a year the river rises until its food
laps the rails OF Hu-lah-ni-kah' horse
corral.
Hulah.ni-kah. whose English name
is Jack Wheeler, doubtless would
have crouch II he cared for money.
but to him money means scarcely
more than moonshine whisl1ey or ba.
con or spring water. The old man
receives only his per capita share of
the wealth
When the Usage tribe agreed 70
the allotment OF their lands IN sever
atty, the welfare OF the entire tribe
was protected by the provision that
the income from all minerals On al
lotments should be paid into tribal
treasury and shared by each mem
Der OF the tribe making It impossible
for the Usage on whose allotment oil
or gas might be found to receive the |
entire income. Were 1t not for this
condition, Hu-lah-ni-kah income |
.,-..,fl ~ h,.,4 z -Qn
Hu-lah-ni-kah wears his hair in a
big roach, shaves his head, paints |
his face and wears moccasins and a |
blanket He is about seventy years |
old and good-natured. He cannot |
speak English.
In early days Hu-lah-ni-kah was a |
valiant warrior. The English mean
ing Of his name is eagle man" Ten
or twelve years ago, Lenders, a Phila |
delphia painter, was eager to as
semble collection of scalps. Few |
osages would admit they had taken |
scalps.
Lenders and his guide visited HUI
lah-nikah. Not suspecting the old !
man had scalp. the guide said:
"Hu-lah-ni-kah. what will you take !
for your old scalps?"
The Usage turned to his wife and |
asked if she thought they ought to |
sell their collection Receiving an az |
firmative answer. Hu-lahni-kah dis |
played thirtyfye scalps. Some were |
from the heads of white women and |
children. The greater number, how
ever were from Indians. Lenders |
paid $75 for the lot.
The oil land is divided into four
allotments of 100 acres each, all of |
which belong to the Hu-lah-ni-kah |
family The land was formerly a |
part of the Foster blanket lease.
chIdren's Diseases Very Prevalent
Whoopin0 cough is about every