The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1921-08-11

The Crow Indians, those willy war
riors of old Montana, swift on the
trail, valiant in battle and cunning a
stealing the horses of their triba
enemies, are not dreaming of wild
foray and battle din nowadays.
Their thoughts, sleeping and wax.
ing, are fixed, not Upon blood curd.
ling war whoop, blazing settlements
the skull crushing thud of the toma.
hawk and the whistle of the rifle
bullet, as were those of their recent
ancestors, but upon high powered
autos, airplanes, if you please, and
monographs. The transformation in
the mind of the Crow is due to one
little word, "oiI.' Oil has been
found on the reservation and every
man Jack of them is a potential mil
lionaire, keyed up to enjoy, in antici-
patton, those Injuries which only un-
limited wealth can give.
A KingIy Domain
A lordly domain is the Grow res
ervation, tucked away in the south
eastern corner of the big state of
Montana, covering nearly two de-
grees of longitude and one of latitude
and comprising nearly all of Big
Horn county. There are LOO Crows
registered at the agency and it is
estimated that when the reservation
is allotted in severalty each Indian,
man, woman, and child, will receive
not less than 1900 acres of land,
to do with as they will.
In addition to this allotment, there
will hn o1Cn on i'm N n nnnoho~ ~
acres, the property of dead Indians,
to be sold.
With oil proven on the Indian land
the imagination of the tribe is on
fire and the flames are carefully fan
ned largely by the get-rich-quick
white man who, as always, is ready
to turn every opportunity to his own
without much regard to
the rights of others. In some in
the discomfort is genuine.
AS a result of the cupidity of the
and the Vaccinations of his
white brother, a situation is develop
ing which may deprive the braves of
dearly wished-for Packards
and Pierce-Arrows, not to speak of
she flying planes and airships.
Ol Lenses |
Trouble has arisen over the grant
ng of oil leases. Urged on, it is al
eyed, by the white man who is anx-
GUS to get a finger in the pie, the
indians are seeking to repudiate the
Icts of the superintendent in grant
ng leases to the companies who have
in oil.
If this can be accomplished the
wells, n of which is producing 400
,arrels and another 240 barrels a
Iay, will, it is asserted, revert to the
ribe, and those who are now out
iders may be able to get their
clutches on the property, or, failing
hat, a lease on favorably located
Such is the view taken by those
vho secured control of property be-
ore friction arose, while the other
ide charges favoritism against the
uperintendent as we'll as 'lack of au-
hoTity." l.
The pioneer in the oil industry on /.
be reservation is an old cattle man =,
Hardin, Frank Henry. Henry has :
time to time bought up dead :
claims until he owns nearly ;
NO townships on the reservation. :
The Henry Leases k
In addition to his purchases Henry t
lso ran cattle on the Indian ground c
nder leases. The law requires that |
eases shall be passed on by the
'ibal council. 1t was a lot of trouble a
alling the tribe together to pass on t
leases so about two years I
go the tribe duly passed a resolu- 9
on, signed by the chief of the coun- a
Il and attested by the secretary, au- l
1orizing the superintendent to grant C
II leases during the life of the reso- q
ltion.
Under this authority many leases I
been granted. Then came the l
enry lease for oil. Several others C
The Henry lease passed to t
lie Western States Oil Company.
commenced and in due time T
70 wells have been brought in. i
Curses in Various Languages I
With the discovery of oil every ?
'wn on the reservation began to L
Izz. Were these flat-chested east g
who couldn't tell a buck from t
squaw to reap the benefits of In
an oil?
Then there was a h~urrying to and v