The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-21
Government Makes New Ar rangement Between the Oil Operators and the Original Owners of the Land, Where Fortunes Squirt From the Earth.

WaSnlnSSOus July ZL-MOre Soou
 fortune has come to the Osage In- dians. who. are noted as the veal
 thieet people, per capita, in the world,
 and whose lands in Oklahoma are rich
 with oil, gas, and other minerals. An
 nouncement was made yesterday as the Interior Deparanent the Secr~
 tary Lane has approved oil leases dts-
 posed of at the recent auction sale,
 embracing lands belonging to this tribe, thereby concluding the transac-
 tions in connection with new oil and
 gas leasesl covering 6SO,000j acres of
 land that were included in the former
 sol olcalled Poster lease, ? which expired
 ln March of this year. M
 By this new arrangement between
 the Indians and oil operators, the av-
 craze annual Income of more than R,000 allotted Osages will be increased
 from between $500 and $700 per annum
 t1 Something between $s0o and $1,9o0 per annum. The per capita wealth of theos Indians is estimated by the In- dian once at about $20, ,0O0 The new iea1es are for period of five years, but may run until the year 1881, pro- vIded oil and gas continue to be found 1u paying quantities.
 X The es0,000 acres of land involved was held under the ''Foster leaser by about 16O sub-leases in areas ranging from 70 to 300.ooo acres. Under this lease the tribe received one-eighth royalty on the oil produced. The; land thus utilized embraced about one-half Of the area Of the Osage Reservation, the entire surface of which has been allotted tn the members of the tribe in severalty. Under an act of Congress, however, all oil, gas, and other min erals in the land are reserved to the tribe until 1sa1. unless otherwise dt- Eected by Congress. I-6 As the result of extended public fhpGrings conducted by Secretary Lane Mith oil operators, sub -lessees, and all Uther Interested parties, the making of thoroush Investigations by govern 1uepf agents, and conferences with the tribal council of the Indians, new oil
 leases have been granted to sublessecs covering their former holdings, not ex- ceeding 4,SO0 acres each, and aggre- eating about 1so.Ooo acres. of which about 120,000 acres by quarter section units iss subject to a rental. of q per year until drilled, leaving about 50O, ,0e0 acres of the old lease to be leased for oil in the future
 The Osages win receive under the new oil leases one-sixth royalty from wells producing less than 100 barrels per day and one-f1fth royalty from wells producing 100 or more barrels daily: also rental of $1 per acre per yer on each 160 acres of undeveloped 1qud Furthermore, as result of the recent sales at public auction of about '15,0oo acres of the producing lands formerly Leld by operators on which producing wells average less than five barrels of oil DOT day and 1,760 acres on which the wells average over 25 barrels per day on each 16O acre tract, there rere realized cash bonuses az gregating about $3,z33,o0o, in addition to the stipulated royalties.
 Former gas leases covering the same land embraced 6S0,O0 acres New gas leases cover about 90o.00o acres. Un- der former gas leases, the tribes re- ceived $100 per anna1m for each gas well service, which aggregated about e1z.000 annually. As result of com 4 ferences between gas men and the ! secretary, the tribe will receive under new gas leases minimum royalty of 3 cents per ], 1000 cubic feet measured at or, near the wells, which royalty, 1t is expected, will aggregate at least s7o0, 900 annually.
 It is therefore estimated that the { annual income to the Osage tribe un- der new oil and gas leases. based on the same production as during the past year, will aggregate at least B. 800, GOO. in addition to the $3, 2S3, 900 re- ceived in cash at recent sale, as against about $5o0.ooO heretofore re- ceived annually under the old lease.