The Duluth rip-saw. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1917-19??, 1918-04-06
TICKLE FORTUNE FAY0RS
OKLAHOMA AB0RICINES
Discovery of Zinc-Lead Fields Enriches Indians and
Enables Them to Follow the Trails in
High Power Automobiles

The previous issue of the Rip.
saw told how Victor Rakowsky, q
mining engineer who was born
and reared in Duluth, made for.
tune in the Oklahoma zinc and
lead fields. Much of those mineral
bearing lands originally belonged
to Indians and there is much of
romance in connection with the
acquisition of the mineral deposits
from the Indian owners and their
exploitation by white men.
Mr.. T. A. Richard who so in
terestingly told the story Of Mr..
Rakowsky's success in his journal,
the Mining and Scientific Press,
of San Francisco, further says:
f'The mention of the Indian
owners of the land draws atten.
ton to an interesting feature Of
industrial development. In Otta-
wa county, the county in Okla
homa that is the scene Of the prin-
cipal mining activities, there are
seven Indian tribes, but Of these
the Quapaws are the only ones
fortunate enough to own mineral.
producing lands. The allotments
were made to them in 1896, in COM
pensation for vague, rights per-
tanning to them as aborigines.
When they were restricted to
this reservation each male adult
received 240 acres. In 1897, by
act Of Congress, the Indians were
permitted to lease their lands for
a period of 10. years, but at that
time there was no immediate
prospect Of using this privilege
.profitably; not until eight years
later were rich deposits discov-
cred under the surface Of the
prairie.
"the original leases were OBJ
tanned for the purpose of drilling
for oil, attention having been at
tracted by the tar seen on some
of the water in this region. At
that time, the Quapaw reservation
was the greatest producer Of
prairie hay in the country.
'The reservation extends south
ward six miles from the Kansas
state line into Oklahoma. In Kan
sas all the land is held by whites
and no repetition Of the Ottawa
county experience is possible.
"When ore was found a hun
dred feet below the surface, the
Indians were easily persuaded to
grant leases on small royalties, say
5 per cent of the smelter returns;
the local lessons were quick to sell
their rights to spectators, who
paid absurdly small sums, from
$25 to 5000 or $500, and then in
turn sub-leased the ground on roy
alties of 10 or Is per cent to real
mine operators.
"The Indians did not cultivate
the land; Of so cents an acre they
would sell to a white man the
right to cut the crop of wild hay
that usually represented the only
product of the soil.
"Hhere and there, along the
bottom lands, bordering the small
and sluggish streams of this fiat
country, small areas of cultiva.
ton devoted to corn and sorghum
might be seen, but in a broad way
the region could be described as
untamed prairie. For ample. a
state official purchased for $3.50
the mineral rights on land be-
longing to Wah-tah-noh-zhe, a
squaw, who had leased the land
on a royalty to the Miami Royal
ty Co. This state official became
the recipient of tribute while the
Indian woman received $3.50 IN
cash, which seemed :, h~r lots of
and a more assured profit
than the uncertain proceeds Of
operations that she did not
understand. Her ground happened
to become the site of the highly
productive operations Of the Tur-