Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-08-24
RIVER BED MATTERS
CONTINUE INVOLVED
Question as to Who Arc the Rlghtful
Owners One That is Not Settled
by Any Means.

OILTON, Okla, Aug 23.-The fact
that an attempt is now being made
to secure some of the valuable Cim-
arron riyer-bed oil properties by pre-
empung it under the old mining
claims act brings to light many claims
20 ownership Of these properties. The
ola mining claims act had been for
gotten but was uncaTthed as another
peg on which to hang a claim. Under
the terms of this act, should it be up
held, this land-nOw worth many
many thousand dOllaTs-wOuld be OBJ
tanned for less than two dollars an
acre
As has been explained frequently
both the state of Oklahoma and the
Creek Indian tribe claim the owner
ship Of the river beds The Greeks
claim it as a part Of their original
nation, and the state maintains that
It was government land and being un-
allotted passed to the state when
statehood was inaugurated This dis
pute is now being determined in the
courts, and much depends upon the
fact as to whether or not the Cimar-
ron is navigable.
Another claim to a valuable river
bed lease secured from the owners
of the land along the bank on both
sides is that the land lying along the
river at this particular spot was never
allotted Indian land that it never be
lOngcd to an individual Indian but
was sold at public auction by the
government and was therefore owned
by the white purchaser including the
bed of the river
Another claim to a lease is based
on the proposition that the laws Of
the state should be uniform. 1t is
argued that if the Cimarron river bed,
where OIL is found, belongs to the
state, then the state also owns and
should control the entire length of the
Cimarron river through this state,
including the valuable salt deposits
in northwestern oklahoma and the
sand and gravel interests along its
entire course; that the state can not
own the oil stretch and not the rest,
Claim IL Under Land Lease.
The Carter Oil company, as well as
some others, claims lease on the
river bed to the center Of the stream
under the riparian rights maintaining
that the lease the company holds on
the Yarhola allotment, for instance,
extends over the river bed to its CEN
ter. Many of the oil companies. with
leases on the lands lying along the
river, make this claim.
In some instances, as in the case OF
the Larry Nolegs island in the Ar
kansas river, an individual Indian
claims part Of the river bed as an
allotment while there are other in
stances where claimants maintain that
the river bed being a government
land it is open to homestead entry,
In the Larry Nolegs case the matter
is still pending in the federal and
state courts.
In addition to all these claims the
state land board is continuing to lease
the river bed to the highest bidder,
for oil and gas purposes, and the in
terror department, acting for the
Creek Indians, has supervision of the
development work.
Kaw River Case i'm Kansas.
In connection with the river bed
disputes it has been recalled recently
that case involving the Kaw river
bed in Kansas was tried in the gov
ernmcnt land office at Topeka. 1t
involved the ownership of sandbars
formed in the river. 1t seems that
settler had mortgaged his land and
when the mortgage company fore
closed he moved out on a big sandbar
and claimed it as separate and dis
tinct from his home place which was
mOftgaGed. lhc general ldnd OIIlCe
decided against him and gave the
river bed to the mortgage company,
setting forth that the mortgage COW
cred all the land to the center of the
stream It may be that some claim
ant will bob up with a mortgage on
the Cimarron bed.
New Rivcr-bcd Owners.
There have been several changes in
the ownership of state leases on the
producing river bed sections of the
Cimarron during the past few weeks,
all within the immediate oil fieiu.
j. S. Cosden, who owns refineries at
Gushing, Bigheart and Tulsa, recently
purchased a half interest in the North
Pool oil company river-bed lease in
section $751;. This property has four
producing wells and a fifth drilling,
one of them a 2,300-barrel producer.
During the past week Henry Leschcn
of st. Louis. who with others compose
the North Pool company, sold the re-
mainder of his interests to Charles