Evening star., 1934-05-30
INDIAN MADE RICH
BY OIL SUCCUMBS
Barnett Is Found Dead by
Woman Who Fought to
Control Fortune.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
LOS ANGELES, May 30.-The
worlds wealthiest Indian, jackson
Barnett, 90. was found dead in his
Wiltshire boulevard mansion here yes
terday by the white woman whose
marriage to him was annulled by
the Government, but who was per-
mitted by the decree to remain as his
housekeeper.
The old Creek tribesman, who saw
Oklahoma grow from wilderness,
sharing literally in its oil millions,
died shortly before am. Ills death,
apparently of heart attack. occurred
in the imposing Colonial mansion at
the southern gateway to Hollywood,
where the rubber neck" busses stop
to. satisfy the curiosity Of sightseeing
thousands.
The woman whose marriage to him
was annulled by the Government last
April /, after more than 13 years Of
legal fights over control of his for
tune, is Mrs. Annie Laurie Lowe, a
Kansas widow half his age.
Autopsy to Be Held.
Barnett apparently was stricken as
he was dressing after his customary
early rising. The body was sent to
the coroner's Office for an autopsy,
but DR.. Joseph Nicholson, the family
physician, said he believed the Chief"
as his wife called him, had succumbed
to heart disease probably an hour
before she found him.
Upon learning of the death, Interior
Dano nffiPiolS O. WQShinQtnn
said the estate would go to his Indian
heirs and that none of it would be
given to Mrs. Barnett. Under the
Governments annulment decree Bar
nett was declared incompetent and
Secretary Ickes was designated as his
guardian.
Counsel for Mrs. Barnett, however,
indicated today she may make a
legal fight to obtain the entire estate.
1t was said Barnett's death will not
change her plans to appeal court
dcision that ordered her to turn back
property the Indian had signed over
to her, and she may take court ac-
ton for all of the estate. Mrs. Bar
nett was in SecluSion, and her coun-
sci would not be quoted further.
SSV,VUu,UVV.
The old Indians wealth came from
oil soon after 1912 on his Govern
ment allotment of land near Henry
eta, Okla. This land is reported to
have yielded more than s20,000,000
in oil.
During the long. frequently sensa-
tional litigation that followed his
marriage to Mrs. Lowe in 1920, the
Government charged she kidnapped"
him. Having been adjudged incom-
petent and a ward of the Govern
ment, Barnett, the Government coun-
sci contended, did not realize the
meaning of his marriage and did not
know the value of money he gave
away.
Soon after his marriage, Barnett
signed away, with his thumb-print
signature, gifts totalling $l,l00000.
Half of this went to the Baptist Home
Missionary Society, half to Mrs. Bar
nett. The courts ordered the society
some time ago to return its share.
Then, after bitter court fights, Mrs.
Barnett was ordered to turn back
to the estate certain properties here
valued at more than 100000.
Dressed in natty, youthful clothes,
Barnett was a familiar figure here
as a volunteer traffic director at the
street intersection where his mansion
stands. He was 1.-THE and straight,
and might have been taken for
man of so.
Two May Be Beneficiaries.
One of his diversions was tending
string Of calico ponies at his Cold
water Canyon ranch north of Bev-
erly Hills.
Federal authorities said the Okla
homa benefciaries probably would
include two persons. During the liti-
cation here it developed he had
nephew and niece, Jimmie and Nellie
Barnett.
Mrs. Barnett always insisted the
Government suits were persecution
She contended Barnett, if she had
not married him, would have stayed
at his Oklahoma cabin, a bare-footed
semi-savage. She said she gave him
the first shave he ever had, and
bought him the first good suit he
ever wore.
IF Jackson Barnett was kidnapped"
she said heatedly in court here once,
"the Government should engage other
women like myself to kidnap the rest
of the Indians"