Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-06-27

he approved first by the Government
before payment could be made out Of
their restricted funds. The Usage
agency superintendent refused to
make settlement on the ground that
the flying concern and taXicab COM
pany should have obtained the con
sent of the guardian for the Indians
to travel by airplane and taxi at
cost Of 1854 instead of the chaper rate
OF $l6.04 by railroad.
One of the most battling cases ever
encountered in the Indian Service has
been the series Of alleged murders in
a family of Usage Indians In Il plot 10
gain possession of their estate. The
first mysterious death occurred in
May 1921. when Annie Brown. an
Usage Indian woman, was found muir
dered on a road. She was an Usage
allottee and shared in the tribal in
come, although she was not re
stricted Indian under guardianship OF
the Government. About the same
time Charles WhitehOrn, another full-
blood member of an Usage family, was
killed.
Two years later in February. 1923,
a relative OF Annie Brown and par
fial heir to her estate. named Henry
Roam, a full.blood Usage Indian. was
found dead in an automobile. He had
been shot through the back OF th@
head. and the car was on road lead
ing out Of Fairfax. Okla. within the
boundar ies Of the Usage reservation.
The following month Rita Smith. an
Usage Indian woman. and her nus
band Will Smith. who was White
ma and who had been active in gath
ering evidence regarding Roans
death were both murdered when their
home was blown up by bomb. A
I "nil tie hi ro
at the same time.
An extensive investigation OF the
murders was made by the Department
Of the Interior. and two men ultl-
matelv were indicted by grand jury
in Oklahoma. The cases came 10 trial,
but were thrown out of court on ac-
count of faulty indictments.
EOR more than a year Interior De
partment inspectors have been in
vestigating various transactions OF
the Indian Bureau in Oklahoma in
volving property and other business
affairs of rich Oklahoma Indians un-
der Government Guardianship Re
cent developments resulted in the Sus-
pension of several officials connected
with the Five Civilized Tribes.
The Investigations have assumed
such proportions that Secretary Work
placed them under the direct super
vision of the Assistant Secretary Of
his department. The force of fnspeC-
tors heretofore engaged in the work
of inspection has been increased in
number and every phase of Indian
activities is being looked into.
In October. 1924. inspectors were
sent to Muskogee, Okla. TO examine
into the activities of an insurance
company in obtaining large insurance
policies from restricted Indians of the
Five Civilized Tribes. This resulted
in disseminating the practice. An
other investigation was the case of an
Indian woman who in obtaining a d.
vorce from her husband made a set
Element of $50 900 upon him. The in
vestigation showed that there was a
division of a considerable part of the
money among Oklahoma attorneys.
and the evidence was submitted to
the Department of Justice for action.
Oil has been discovered on a num-
Der of Indian reservations. including
the Pawnee. Otoe. kiowa. Crow.
Blackfeet and Navajo. The agency
headquarters of the Five Civilized
Tribes Ghe Cherokee. Creek. Choctaw.
Chickasaw and Seminole in Okla
homa) now has a well organized oil
leasing section which handles Snil-
lions of dollars each year, mostly for
individual Creek Oil-land owners.
Discovery OF oil on A small tract Of
allotted land belonging to an Indian
woman living on the Shawnee reser-
walton has given her the largest daily
income of any Indian in the United
States. The amount she receives daily
is approximately $1,000 in royalties
from several oil wells recently brought
i'm on her land. The tract of land was
q poor type of soil from an agricul.
tural standpoint. 1t was considered
of not much value until oil was found
in large quantities, making her rich
overnight.
Dying unmarried and without IS
sue, Robert Thompson. a member of
the Quapaw Indian Tribe of Okla
homa. left one of the largest estates
coming before the Bureau of Indian
Affairs for settlement. Its appraised
value totaled $440.733. derived chiefly
from lead and zinc royalties allotted
him in the Quapaw reservation. Pro
ceedings for the determination of the
heirs have been conducted for some
time. Muskah-tun-kah Track. a sister
of the deceased Indian. and Mary
Thompson, a niece, being adjudged the
lawful heirs. The sister entered an
additional claim of $50. 900 against the
estate on the ground that she had
furnished her brother a home and
had taken care of him during his
lifetime The claim was disapproved.
In addition 10 owning property es-
timated at approximately 1900 900
600 in value, individual Indians under
the guardianship of the Government
have large deposits in banks, accord
ing to compilation completed re-
Gently at the Interior Department.
The figures show that there are ap-
proximately 4.493 individual Indians
with cash balances In banks ranging
from 81 900 up to 5000. 900 or over. and
that there are thousands of Indians
with deposits to their credit ranging
below $1,000
OF the weather. Indians. there are
IA with over 100000 in cash deposited
in banks. with between $3.50, 900 and
100000; 10 with between 500 900 and
$150,00O; 40 with between $75.O0O and
100000; 81 with between $50, 900 and
$4,000: $40 with between 10000
and $4,000: ~ with between s25 900
and 100000: IS with between $50 900
and $4,000: rs with between s15. 900
and $4,000; 40 with between So
900 and SIS 900. and 421 with between
$1,000 and $4,000. Under the law
these Indians are unable TO withdraw
their deposits without first obtaining
the approval of the Government.
The scope of the Job as Commission
err of Indian Affairs may be appreci-
ated further from the fact that there
are now approximately $500 employees
in the Indian Service. of whom nearly
1000 are persons of Indian blood, with
a total pay roll of nearly $4,500, 900 a
year. There are $50 employees in the
Washington Office, the remainder Of
the personnel being distributed in the
field among 9a Indian agencies cover.
inn L. L.