[No. 127—SECOND SERIES—5000]

OKLAHOMA'S POOR RICH
INDIANS

AN ORGY OF GRAFT AND EXPLOITATION
OF THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES—
LEGALIZED ROBBERY

*A Report by*

GERTRUDE BONNIN

RESEARCH AGENT, INDIAN WELFARE COMMITTEE
GENERAL FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS

CHARLES H. FABENS

FOR AMERICAN INDIAN DEFENSE ASSOCIATION

MATTHEW K. SNIFFEN

FOR INDIAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION

FEB 18 1924

PHILADELPHIA, PA.

OFFICE OF THE INDIAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION
995 Drexel Building

1924

[No. 127—SECOND SERIES—5000]

OKLAHOMA'S POOR RICH
INDIANS

A Report by
GERTRUDE BONNIN

FEB 18 1924

1924

IN EXPLANATION

During the summer of 1923, while on his usual Western trip to the Indian Country, our Secretary, Mr. M. K. Sniffen, made a preliminary investigation into the Indian probate situation among the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma. Upon his return to Philadelphia, in October, his report on that subject was presented to our Board of Directors. After mature deliberation, it was decided to have Mr. Sniffen make a thorough study of this amazing Oklahoma Probate situation. Various organizations interested in Indian affairs were invited to co-operate. The Welfare Committee of the General Federation of Women's Clubs selected as its representative Mrs. Gertrude Bonnin (a college-bred Sioux, and now living in Washington, D. C.), and the American Indian Defense Association detailed as its representative Charles H. Fabens, Esq., an attorney-at-law.

These experienced investigators spent about five weeks in Eastern Oklahoma during the months of November and December, 1923, making a first-hand study of the conditions described in the following pages and gathering information from all available sources. Their report discloses a situation that is almost unbelievable in a civilized country, and makes it clear that a radical and immediate change of the system in vogue is necessary if the members of the Five Civilized Tribes are to be saved from pauperization and virtual extermination.

HERBERT WELSH,
President, Indian Rights Association.

February 5, 1924.

SUMMARY

As the result of a careful, first-hand investigation of Indian
conditions in Eastern Oklahoma by the undersigned, it is found—

That because Congress, by the Act of May 27, 1908, took from
the Interior Department all jurisdiction over Indian probate
matters in Eastern Oklahoma and transferred it to the local
county courts, the estates of the members of the Five Civilized
Tribes are being, and have been, shamelessly and openly robbed
in a scientific and ruthless manner.

That all efforts by the Department of the Interior to have the
County Courts follow rules of procedure that would afford a
measure of protection to the Indians have failed. The rules pro-
mulgated by the State Supreme Court in 1914 were soon weak-
ened, and then were annulled on July 10, 1923, by action of the
Oklahoma State Supreme Court, leaving each County Court a
law unto itself.

That in many of the Counties the Indians are virtually at the
mercy of groups that include the county judges, guardians,
attributors, bankers, merchants—not even overlooking the under-
taker—all regarding the Indian estates as legitimate games.

That an examination of 14,229 probate cases in six counties
where the Indian population is largest shows the average cost of
administration to be TWENTY per cent, and in some instances
it has been as high as SEVENTY per cent. That there is no pro-
vision limiting the cost of administering an Indian estate in
Oklahoma: the amount is optional with the county courts. Inci-
dentally, the cost for probating Indian estates in other sections of
the country cannot exceed a total of $75. In most cases the cost is
not over $20—which is less than two per cent.

That excessive and unnecessary administrative costs, uncon-
scionable fees and commissions, are allowed by many of the
County Courts to professional guardians, attorneys, et al.

That even in cases where there is no actual dishonesty or collu-

sion between these judges and guardians, the results show a flagrant disregard of the Indians' welfare highly lucrative to those empowered to protect the Indian interests.

That Indian children have been allowed to die for lack of nourishment because of the heartlessness and indifference of their professional guardians, who had ample funds in their possession for the care of the wards.

That young Indian girls (mere children in size and mentality) have been robbed of their virtue and their property through kidnapping and a liberal use of liquor.

That to the grafters "the quick and the dead" are all the same. On one occasion they waited literally at the bedside of a dying woman, and hardly had the breath left her body when her thumb was pressed upon an ink pad and an impression from it made on an alleged will, which was later offered for probate.

That a woman, after being dead four years, was resurrected as a man and able to sign a lease—all attested by witnesses and a notary public.

That the undertakers were solicitous to see that a deceased Indian had a first-class funeral, and they thoughtfully provided a "solid bronze casket" for $2600 or $2700, with a $75 silk flag (worth not more than $25) to float over the grave—and other accessories in proportion. The best is none too good for an Indian WHEN DEAD, if he leaves any property. Dead or alive, however, the grafters manage to "get" the Indian.

That in one respect, at least, the actions of these informal organizations are consistent; sex or age makes no difference; the young child, the adult, the incompetent (mentally or physically) are all treated alike.

That many of the county courts are influenced by political considerations, and that Indian guardianships are the plums to be distributed to the faithful friends of the judges as a reward for their support at the polls. The principal business of these county courts is handling Indian estates. The judges are elected for a two-year term.

That "extraordinary services" in connection with the Indian estates are well paid for; one attorney, by order of the court, received $35,000 from a ward's estate, and never appeared in court.

That in the case of smaller estates, in many instances when the

6

ward becomes of age he is in debt to his guardian; his property has been squandered and nothing is left for him.

That frequently in disposing of tracts of inherited Indian land, the purchase price has been four-tenths of its actual value, as proved by mortgages placed on the property a few days after the sale was approved by the Court,—according to the records of twenty cases, taken at random from various counties.

That when oil is "struck" on an Indian's property, it is usually considered prima facie evidence that he is incompetent, and in the appointment of a guardian for him his wishes in the matter are rarely considered.

That every effort made by the Federal authorities to safeguard the interests of these Indians has been thwarted.

That the Interior Department is powerless, under existing law, to protect these helpless Indians from this wholesale plundering, because Congress vested exclusive jurisdiction over probate matters in the county courts of Oklahoma.

That while the Interior Department maintains a staff of probate attorneys, they are without any specific authority. The Court will hear them in a perfunctory manner and then usually ignores their protests.

That there are "divorce promoters" going around among the Indians drumming up cases for their attorney friends, for the fees to be secured.

That some attorneys co-operate with "flappers" to ensnare wealthy young Indian men into matrimony, making free use of bootleg whiskey as an aid. Soon thereafter a divorce usually follows and the court allows liberal alimony to the flapper wife, which she shares with her co-partner, the attorney.

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## THE REMEDY

That the only hope for saving the property of the remaining 18,000 restricted Indian members of the Five Civilized Tribes—for them and their children—lies in giving to the Interior Department definite and specific authority of a character that will afford real protection to these Indians.

A bill has been introduced in Congress (which has the approval of the Indian Bureau) to correct these Indian probate conditions in Oklahoma, and it is hoped that all friends of the Indians will write to their representatives in the Senate urging its prompt consideration and enactment. These bills are known as S. 2313.*

GERTRUDE BONNIN,
Research Agent, Indian Welfare Committee, General Federation of Women's Clubs.

CHARLES H. FABENS,
for American Indian Defense Assn.

MATTHEW K. SNIFFEN,
Secretary, Indian Rights Association.

*S. 2313. A bill for the protection of the restricted lands and funds of Indians of the Five Civilized Tribes, and for other purposes. By Mr. Harreld.

8

## THE BILL OF PARTICULARS

When Oklahoma became a State, in 1907, there were 101,506 enrolled members of the Five Civilized Tribes—including 23,405 Freedmen. Since then restrictions have been removed from the property of 40,934 members having less than one-half blood, in addition to that of the Freedmen. Of this 64,339, it is estimated that upward of ninety percent parted with their land for an inadequate consideration; or to put it more bluntly, most of them were robbed by the local grafters.

In the light of the foregoing facts, we were quite ready to believe a prominent attorney of Creek County, who is said to know the game from every angle, when he thus referred to the probate situation:

> "IF THE MACHINERY OF THE GOVERNMENT HAD ENTERED INTO A CONSPIRACY TO CHEAT, ROB AND DEFRAUD ITS INDIANS IN OKLAHOMA, IT COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT IN A BETTER WAY THAN BY THE LAWS IT PASSED."

He should have added, however, that the laws in question were enacted at the insistent demands of the Oklahoma Congressional delegations.

### HISTORICAL

To understand fully the force of this indictment, a review of the past is desirable.

The Enabling Act of June 16, 1906, providing for the admission of Oklahoma and Indian Territory as a State and the adoption of a constitution, stipulated—

> "That nothing contained in the said constitution shall be construed to limit or impair the rights of persons or property pertaining to the Indians of said Territories (so long as such rights shall remain unextinguished), or to limit or affect the authority of the Government of the United States to make any law or regulation respecting such Indians, their lands, property or other

9

rights by treaties, agreement, law or otherwise, which it would
have been competent to make if this Act had never been passed."

So eager was Oklahoma for statehood that its citizens were
ready to accept any and all conditions imposed by Congress,
and the constitution adopted in accordance with the Enabling
Act explicitly and unequivocally recognized the complete juris-
diction of the Federal Government in all matters relating to the
person and property of the Indians concerned. Once a state,
however, the situation immediately changed, and the solemn
pledges of the constitution were deliberately brushed aside.
As stated by Prof. W. K. Moorehead, in "The American
Indian"—

"Many of the candidates for Congress ran upon a platform which may be described as anti-Indian—contrary to all State promises, sacredly made. I have original handbills, such as are used in Oklahoma elections. Mr. J. H. Maxey presents his portrait and says: 'The Government Must Pay the Taxes on all Non-Taxable Indian Land;' 'The Affairs of the Five Tribes Must be Settled.' Mr. Reuben M. Roddie is even more frank. Over his picture, in large letters:—'Pay the Indians Their Money and Remove all Restrictions.'"

REPUDIATING A PLEDGE

Further light is thrown on that period by Grant Foreman,
Esq., a resident of Oklahoma at the time, who is quoted in Dr.
Moorehead's book, as follows:

"Oklahoma with 1,500,000 population, became a State on
November 16, 1907, upon a pledge contained in her constitution
that she would never question the jurisdiction of the Federal
Government over the Indians and their lands or its power to
legislate by law or regulation concerning their rights or property.
Immediately she had a delegation in Congress and at once began
a determined campaign for further repeal of the laws enacted
for the protection of the Indians. The main argument employed
was that the Indians were competent to care for their property
and needed no legislative protection against improvidence; that
the State could be trusted to afford them all the protection they
required and that Federal guardianship and supervision should
cease, as an interference with the personal privileges and rights
of citizens of Oklahoma. And they made much of the fact that
among the mixed-bloods there are a few individuals who are quite
shrewd enough to look out for themselves.

"This fight was highly successful to the white contenders and

10

resulted in the enactment of a law on May 27, 1908, effective
July 27, 1908, repealing the restrictions on the sale of a large
class of land including all homesteads of freedom and of mixed-
bloods of less than half-blood, freeing from restrictions all told,
over 9,720,000 acres. It provided also that all homesteads,
as well as all other lands from which restrictions against sale
were removed, should become taxable the same as lands of white
people, whether sold by the allottee or not. This late act vio-
lated the terms of the agreement made with the Indians under
which the homesteads of the Creeks and the allotments, or parts
thereof, of the Choctaw and other tribes were exempted from
taxation for a given period."

THE CRIME OF 1908

The Act of May 27, 1908, also provided:

"That the death of any allottee of the Five Civilized Tribes
shall operate to remove all restrictions upon the alienation of
said allottees lands; Provided, That no conveyance of any in-
terest of any full-blood Indian heir in such land shall be valid
unless approved by the court having jurisdiction of the settle-
ment of the estate of said deceased allottee."

This removed all Federal supervision of the sale of inherited
lands by full-blood (and, of course, incompetent) heirs, and gave
jurisdiction in the premises to the local county probate courts.
The Interior Department tried to work with these local courts,
on the presumption that as they were virtually designated as
agents for the Federal Government, that the trust would be
honestly administered. The fallacy of this hope was soon ap-
parent.

The grafters were quick to realize the possibilities the Act of
1908 opened to them, and plans were soon working smoothly
in their interest and to the great detriment of the Indians. In
the absence of Federal supervision, the Indian heirs were robbed
in a wholesale manner, virtually with the aid of these county
Courts. The abuses became a notorious scandal, and as a means
of affording some protection to the Indian, Field Agents were
authorized by Act of Congress, to represent the Department.
They had no standing in the courts, however, and were in reality
nothing but painful witnesses to wholesale graft. Even so, they
saw too much, and Congress, in 1912 (at the behest of the Okla-
homa delegation) refused to make the necessary appropriations
to maintain them and the service was virtually abolished.

11

In 1914, the then Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Hon. Cato Sells, as the result of much personal investigation of these practices, drew up rules of procedure for the probate courts to follow, which aimed to protect the Indians. They were promulgated by the Oklahoma State Supreme Court, and brought improvement for a time. The grafters, however, were numerous and influential, and in 1917, Section 10 of these rules was re-pealed, letting down the bars of protection. On July 10, 1923, the remaining rules were revoked by the State Supreme Court, and each County Court became a law unto itself. Under a ruling of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the probate court does not have to be in session to order the sale of Indian land. It can be done by the judge while on a fishing trip, for instance. There are forty County Courts having to deal with the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes.

### AN EXPERT OPINION

A prominent attorney of Creek County, who is in a position to know whereof he speaks, said to us:

"The great trouble in this probate matter centers around the county judge's office. They use the business as a political proposition. No lawyer in town who practices law legitimately can get in. A man has to buy a big case. I have been here for ten years, and we have not had a square judge during that time. How is it worked? Suppose, for instance, here is a guardianship of particular value and I was a friend of the judge and he wants to appoint John Doe as guardian. He can say to me, 'you tell Doe I will appoint him if he digs up $5000.' When Doe is appointed guardian he soon gets back his $5000—and then some. The wards often get little more than a bare living out of their estates. There is no way to compel the judges to act square."

### JUGGLING LAND SALES

When inherited land is to be sold, the judge of the County Court concerned appoints a Board to appraise the property, and usually approves, without question, the findings submitted. An examination was made into the records of twenty such cases, taken at random, from various counties. The result indicates that if there was no deliberate conspiracy to defraud the Indian heirs, there was flagrant and criminal indifference to the interests of helpless minors and incompetents.

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"Case No. 4" is typical. Lucy Carney, a full-blood Chickasaw Indian sold, WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE COURT of Pontotoc County, 154.45 acres for $1600, and three days later, the purchaser was able to borrow from a Trust Company the sum of $2100. In other words, as that Trust Company does not loan in excess of forty per cent of the actual value, this property was worth $7300; yet it was sold, WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE COURT, for $1600. The other nineteen cases are of a similar nature, and a story could be written about each one. It should be further observed that the approval of such deeds by the County Court is final, from which there is no appeal.

### HELPLESS FULL-BLOOD HEIRS

Another blow was dealt to the interests of the Indians by Section 2 of the Act of June 14, 1918, which provided:

"That the lands of full-blood members of any of the Five Civilized Tribes are hereby made subject to the laws of the State of Oklahoma, providing for the partition of real estate. Any land allotted in such proceeding to a full-blood Indian, or conveyed to him upon his election to take the same at the appraisal, shall remain subject to all restrictions upon alienation and taxation obtaining prior to such partition. In case of a sale under any decree or partition the conveyance thereunder shall operate to relieve the land described of all restrictions of every character."

Under that clause, it is possible to do gross injustice to one or more Indian heirs to inherited lands. Let us say that six heirs have an interest in a desirable piece of land, and a white man wants to buy it. Five of the heirs are willing to sell, but the sixth is not. The Court can appoint Commissioners to appraise the land; then it will be offered to the unwilling heir at the price indicated. He would have no money to buy it, so the Court could make an order of sale, and the sixth heir would be forced to take his share of the appraised value, from which is deducted his pro rata share of the costs, attorneys fees and other expenses. Moreover, such suits for the partition of lands, usually brought in the District Courts, do not require any notice to the United States Probate Attorneys, and the heirs would be forced to accept the amount awarded by the Court, regardless of its fairness.

Incidentally, an Oklahoma Congressman has put forward a

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bill to authorize three-quarter blood Indians of the Five Civilized
Tribes to sell their surplus lands. That may be taken to indicate
that the grafters whose appetites have been whetted by plunder-
ing the thousands of mixed-bloods from whose lands restrictions
were removed, are tired of waiting for the full-bloods to die, and
are looking for more easy picking.

THE PROFESSIONAL GUARDIAN

The professional guardian is a class that seems to be indigenous
to the soil of but one State—Oklahoma. At one time there was
no limit to the number of estates that could be intrusted to his
"tender" hands, but it was such a profitable business that the
Oklahoma legislature interfered by passing an act providing that
"no person shall be appointed guardian for any minor or minors,
or other person or persons, who is, at the time of the hearing of
the application for appointment, the guardian of as many as five
persons other than his or her own family and relatives."

This "reform" may have been brought about by the jealousy
of those "hungry for good things," but it was not with a view to
protecting the Indians. Still, with five good estates, the pro-
fessional guardian is able to assume the rôle of a "leading citizen,"
own a fine house, and a high-priced automobile, and live in
luxury. They are usually quite alert, and do not wait to be
called by an Indian. Let oil be discovered on an Indian allot-
ment, and one of the profession will promptly file a petition in
Court to have the individual declared incompetent (if it is the
case of an adult) and ask to be appointed guardian. Of course, as
the court wants to "protect" the Indian, the petition is usually
granted. There are probably 4000 of these professional guar-
dians, and the estates intrusted to them vary from a few thousand
dollars up into the millions.

These grafters often keep a "birthday book" so they will
know when the minors with estates become of age (which means
the restrictions on the lands of mixed-bloods are automatically
removed). They have been known to go to the Government
Indian schools to call on these minors, and promise them presents
of gold watches, or invite them to share their homes after they
leave school, or become of age. Sometimes this "come into my
parlor" invitation is accepted, but where competition among the

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grafters is keen, it helps to open the eyes of the prospective
victims.

However, it is believed that the professional guardianship
game is a very profitable one; and we learned of one instance
where a man said to be a "King of the Bootleggers" gave up that
supposedly lucrative business to join the ranks of the Guardians.
It may be that he considered the latter trade to be more lucrative
and safer!

Each guardian usually has an attorney steadily retained—
probably to advise him how far he can go and be within the law.
It is believed that if the guardian was honest and competent,
there would be no need for the regular services of an attorney.
But there are many, many attorneys in Eastern Oklahoma, and
they have to live somehow!

One case came to our attention where grafters were ready to
pay a man well for this services if he would steal or kidnap an
infant half-blood Indian or Mexican child, for the purpose of
giving it to a white adventuress married to a rich Indian, so that
the woman could claim to have a "blood heir" to the estate in
question.

The professional guardian is catered to by banks, who desire his
account; by the merchants who want to secure the ward's trade;
his friends want liberal loans on questionable security—and in
this way the whole community is interested—not forgetting the
judge, who is anxious to be re-elected.

Many of the County judges appear to be quite lenient in their
attitude toward these guardians; there is no real auditing of the
accounts presented for the judge's approval, and usually "every-
thing goes."

An attorney living in Okmulgee, who has been a resident of
Oklahoma since 1898, declared that guardians for Indians do not
need attorneys. He stated that the cost of administering Indian
estates was at least twice what it ought to be; that the fees
allowed were excessive, referring to an instance where an attorney
received a commission of $1800, when $180 would have been a
proper charge. He also said that many attorneys in Okmulgee
made their money from collecting fees of ten per cent from
bonuses on oil leases, and that all they had to do to earn it was
to put an advertisement in the local papers. He further declared
that many of the buildings in Okmulgee were erected from Indian

15

money; that as a matter of fact the town was built on Indian money, and that the same can be said about Tulsa, Muskogee, and other cities of Oklahoma.

It is impossible to state the total number of Indians who have been plundered, or the value of their property, but of the 64,339 whose restrictions were removed in 1908, probably not more than five or ten per cent have anything left. Now most of them are living back in the hills, or being cared for by friends and relatives.

There are about 18,000 restricted Indians, who have property — their children, born since the rolls closed, do not appear on the records. As these adults die, however, their property becomes unrestricted, and the grafters, like vultures, are soaring around awaiting the visit of the Grim Reaper, ready to swoop down on the incompetent full-blood heirs the instant the breath leaves the relative's body. These grafters usually aim to have the heirs sign a contract to pay them fifty per cent of the amount to be automatically transferred to them, and yet they render no service in the transaction.

## AN AWAKENING OF DECENCY

It would be unfair to say that these practices are condoned by *all* the citizens of Oklahoma. We believe that there is a large number of people who feel keenly the disgraceful conditions that have developed, and that they will be ready to co-operate in any movement that gives promise of putting an end to the vicious operations of the probate system. It is also believed that when their demand for remedial action reaches their representatives in Congress it will be heeded.

The Committee on Commercial Law of the Oklahoma Bar Association, in a report presented to the State Bar Association, at a meeting held in Oklahoma City December 28, 1923, referred to the Probate situation as follows:

"The general turmoil existing in the State, and the constant plundering of public funds by those who consider their certificate of election a license to take everything in sight; the dissipation of estates by the appointment of one or more guardians or administrators without business experience and wholly incapable of handling business affairs, many of them graduates of the bankruptcy court, or a committee-woman who has rendered valiant service to the successful candidate, and the appointment 'by the court' of two or more attorneys on fat salaries to aid these

16

guardians and administrators in the 'faithful proficient performance of their duties' and to keep their clients at large while the widows, orphans and wards go hungry and poorly clad, cause one to wonder why he should die and leave an estate in Oklahoma. The depressing effect of these conditions in this State are apparent to all but 'the faithful and lucky ones.'"

This report, be it noted, was unanimously adopted by the Oklahoma Bar Association.

## THE SYSTEM AT WORK

The whole system of guardianships turns upon the county judges. These judges are elected for a two-year term by popular vote and the guardianships are regarded as political plums. The judge depends for his election on the persons whom he has promised to appoint guardians, and once he has appointed them he will depend on them for his re-election, and so will not remove them even if they are incompetent. The guardian makes whatever purchases needed for his ward at certain stores, or tells his ward that he must purchase at these stores, and thus the storekeeper is anxious to have the guardianship continued and to have the county judge re-elected. Thus an informal organization is built up so that every member of the community of any influence has an interest in protecting the system.

There are two evils that result from this system: One is the charging of excessive guardian fees, attorneys' fees and administrative costs; the other is the actual abuse of the trust by dishonesty, petty graft and negligence. There are plenty of cases of this sort to be found in every county.

The first step in any guardianship case is to make application to the county court for appointment. In the case of a minor it is only necessary to show that there is some money to be handled. In case the Indian is of age and has property, it is necessary to show that he is incompetent to handle his own property. Although incompetents are not specifically referred to in the Act of 1908, the practice of the Oklahoma Courts has been to regard them as included in the term "minors" in Section 6 of that Act. The County Courts, in general, have little hesitation in declaring any Indian incompetent to handle more than a very limited sum of money, and no Indian for whom a guardianship is sought has any likelihood of avoiding it. As an example of this, take the case of Susanna Butler and the case of Munnie Bear:

17

SUSANNA BUTLER nee DACON, is a full-blood Creek girl, about twenty years old, with an income from the Department of $500 a month, and also some land leased on crop-share agreement.

An action was brought to declare her incompetent. Testimony showed that she usually spent all the $500 in the first part of the month and had a few unpaid bills and that a large part of the expenses came in taking motor trips around the country with other Indian girls, her own age, in which she paid all the expenses.

A garage keeper testified that she bought things from him at excessive prices, but on cross-examination denied he overcharged and said that she merely bought the best in the market instead of something just as good at a lower price.

Susanna admitted that she did not know some details of oil leases which were handled by the Department for her. There was no other evidence of incompetency of weight. It was held by the County Court that she was incompetent and a guardian appointed. An appeal is pending in this case.

MUNNIE BEAR, a young, shrewd full-blood Creek woman, with the help of her half-brother, ran a farm which she inherited from her aunt, her own allotment being leased.

When oil was discovered on her allotment, an action was started to appoint a guardian for her. The testimony shows that although she did not speak English, or read or write, she had managed to save enough in three or four years to buy some $2000 worth of livestock and a Ford truck for use on the farm, and had at least $2500 more in bank. Her half-brother, Lonie, testified that she kept all the money in the bank in her own name; that she never let him keep any of it; that he took care of the stock and that she kept account of it and that he did not sell any of it without seeing her first, and that if she agreed to the sale he handed her the money and she put it in bank. On this evidence, it was held that she was incompetent to handle her own property and a guardian was appointed. The case was reversed on appeal.

The principle of Munnie Bear's case seems to be that if she never spent any money, she did not know the value of it, and the principle of Susanna Dacon's case would seem to be that if she always spent all the money, she did not know the value of it.

Both cases were decided by the same judge, William L. Seawell, of Okfuskee County, in February and March, 1923.

18

## HIGH COST OF GUARDIANSHIP

After the appointment, the guardian selects an attorney to advise him, and both he and the attorney collect fees. It is these attorneys' fees, in addition to the guardians' fees and the court costs, that bring the total cost of administration to such a high figure. In one case, the guardian not only asked for and received a fee of $300 a month for himself, but in addition asked the court to appoint a co-guardian to help him, also at $300 a month; he retained an attorney at $250 a month, and the co-guardian retained his attorney at $250 a month, making a total cost for administering the estate of about $13,000 a year.

An interesting sidelight on the allowance of fees is shown by the following testimony:

"E. T. Noble, first being duly sworn on oath testified as follows:

BY MR. ELROD:

Q. You have read the petition, Mr. Noble?

A. Yes.

Q. Now, under that statement of facts, what would be the value of the services as set forth in the petition of the guardian for a year and four months?

A. Well, I see by the petition that the guardian has acted as the guardian of the estate of Katie Fixico, an incompetent, since the 26th day of March, 1915; that he has invested and loaned out about $200,000 of the ward's money; that he was instrumental in making a contract for the sale of her royalty at 25 and ½ cents premium, and that he was instrumental in obtaining a $50,000 bonus for the execution of an oil and gas lease on land belonging to the ward. I know something about Mr. Kimberley's management of this estate and I also know something about his ability to handle an estate of this character but I am not familiar with the value of services of this kind. It seems to me that for the services rendered, as shown by the petition, a fee of from two to five thousand dollars would not be exorbitant.

BY THE COURT: To Mr. Elrod:

Q. You state in the petition that this girl has demanded a great deal of her guardian's time.

A. No, but I can prove that

BY MR. NOBLE:

I know that he has given a good deal of personal attention to the estate and her in person, but I would not say that

19

that service would be worth the same amount for the next year, probably, because this year's service have brought into existence all of this property. I do not think that five thousand dollars would be exorbitant, although it might be.

Mr. Horner, after first being duly sworn on oath testified as follows:

BY MR. ELROD:

Q. You have read the petition, Mr. Horner, what would you say as to a suitable fee for the guardian's services?

A. Well, let me ask if this 25 and 1/2 cents per barrel is for a continued period?

MR. ELROD: For one year.

BY THE COURT: That contract there, Mr. Horner, was made when oil was down.

A. I should say those services are worth $250 per month.

Mr. George A. Johns, first being duly sworn on oath testified as follows:

BY MR. ELROD:

Q. Mr. Johns, what do you say?

A. I have heard the petition and have some occasion to know something about the work Mr. Kimberley has performed. I know that the estate has been very carefully managed and I should think that this first year five thousand dollars would not be unreasonable for sixteen months.

BY THE COURT:

I do not think it is exorbitant in this case because I know that there is not a week passes hardly but what Mr. Kimberley has to take her to the picture show and he waits outside to take her home.

BY MR. ELROD:

If the court will swear me I will testify that there is not a day that she is not a care.

BY THE COURT:

I will make an allowance of five thousand dollars."

## RICH GUARDIANSHIP FEES

In the case of Isaac Mason, held while we were at Muskogee, it appears that his guardian received $13,000 for guardianship fees during five years, although the total income from the estate was only $41,000, of which $27,000 was from oil royalties. These

20

oil royalties are money paid to the guardian or ward by the Indian Bureau, and their collection involves no work whatever on the part of the guardian.

The actual abuse of the guardianship trust is best brought out in the case of Allie Daney. She had an allotment containing oil, which could have been leased for a bonus of some $10,000, in addition to the usual royalties. The guardian, however, entered into an arrangement with a friend of his by which he, as guardian, made a lease for a nominal sum and was to receive personally a part interest in the lessee's profits. It seems that the lessee failed to live up to the agreement and the guardian then brought suit to set aside his own lease on the ground that he had entered into a conspiracy against the interest of the ward. The guardian later charged the expenses of this suit to set aside the lease against the ward. In this case the probate attorneys excepted the guardian's report and the exceptions were sustained.

A much simpler form of abuse occurred in the case of Mitchell Boudinot, an Indian minor in Wagoner County, where the guardian simply omitted from his report some $6700 which were paid to him by the Indian Bureau for the ward.

A common practice is the sale or purchase of land at exceedingly high or low prices. For example, one Montie Sampson, was recently removed from his guardianship of a Creek Freedman. The evidence showed that Sampson had purchased a lot of land for his ward for $18,000, although the seller had only paid $14,000 a few days previously. In fact, the second deal was made before the deed had been signed for the first deal.

## IRKSOME RESTRICTIONS FOR WARDS

It should be remembered in all these matters that the guardian decides when, where and how much of the ward's money he will pay for his support, and at what stores the ward may purchase goods to be charged to the guardian. In several cases the guardians live in towns some twenty or thirty miles from the homes of their wards and give their wards an allowance of perhaps $10, payable twice a week, so that the Indian, to obtain his own money, finds it necessary to spend a whole day traveling to the guardian's office and back to get enough money to live on for two or three days, and then has to repeat the whole proceeding. The guardian usually tells the ward that he will pay such neces-

21

sary bills as the ward incurs at a certain store, and deducts the amount of the bill from the allowance. If the ward purchases at any other store, the guardian will not pay the bill and the ward rarely is given enough money to purchase things for cash at any other store, so that the store favored by the guardian has an absolute monopoly of the ward's business. It is impossible to prove to what extent the guardians share in the profits of the storekeepers. It is easy to see, however, that the storekeepers have considerable interest in maintaining the guardian as a guardian and, therefore, retaining the county judge in office. In this connection we quote from the record of the case of Katie Fixico:

"In 1919 a motion was made before a new County judge to remove the guardian. The guardian then petitioned to have the motion heard before a different judge. He stated that the judge was prejudiced and said that he and the attorneys representing him have at different times been approached by the judge of this court and in effect promised that the petitioner would not be disturbed in his management and control of the estate of said incompetent if he would discharge his present attorney, W. D. Elrod, who is a reputable member of the Okmulgee County Bar in good standing and would select attorneys suitable to the judge of this court to represent him as guardian of said incompetent, and as suggested to the petitioner that he should make loans and investments in such manner as to personally profit thereby."

He later states that he believes that the auditing of his account directed by the judge was done "in the hope that he might find an opportunity to redeem one of many promises he has made to turn over large estates of minors and incompetents, handled in his court, to his personal friends." This petition was signed and sworn to by the guardian June 14, 1919, and appears in the pro-bate files, which are public records. The records also show that the judge refused to disqualify himself and was removed from the case by the state District Court.

## AS TO LOANS

Another and common practice is loaning out the ward's money on promissory notes to personal friends of the guardian, sometimes on inadequate security. Thus the guardian places the borrower under personal obligation to himself and lets the risk

22

fall upon the ward. Similarly, guardians are in a position, by keeping the ward's account in certain banks which they favor, to facilitate their own dealings with these banks. In the Fixico case, the guardian invested $70,000 in County Court House bonds. He then loaned these bonds to the Bank of Commerce. The bank did not pay the guardian for the use of the bonds but simply gave him a receipt. The bank then used $25,000 worth of these bonds as collateral security for money of the State on deposit with it and $45,000 for collateral security for money of the county on deposit with it.

Aside from cases of deliberate dishonesty, we find constantly in the reports purchases for the benefit of the ward which are totally unnecessary, sometimes ridiculous. In one case there is a record of the purchase of a Ford car, accessories and gasoline, for the use of a child thirteen years old. In another case, that of Russell Thompson, the guardian purchased an automobile for a boy of seventeen, and gave as a reason therefor that the boy's eyesight was defective!

## REGARDLESS OF SEX OR AGE

There are some phases of our investigation that can be presented best by a feminine mind, and we leave it to Mrs. Bonnin to describe the following three cases:

Near the center of Eastern Oklahoma, in Tulsa County, MILLIE NEHARKEY, kidnapped a few days prior to her reaching legal age, is now awaiting the court's pleasure in her case, after having been subjected to unbelievable brutality. Though wealthy in her own right, she is living upon charity, in the home of Indian friends, while her property is tied up in litigation through no fault of hers. This excerpt from *The Phoenix*, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, dated November 2, 1923, gives the story as follows:

"An amazing story of a conspiracy to defraud Millie Neharkey, 18 year old Indian girl, out of oil lands valued at $150,000 is contained in an information filed in the United States District Court yesterday by Edwin Booth, special assistant to the Attorney General, seeking to revoke the attorney's license of Robert F. Blair, prominent Tulsa lawyer, and disbar him from practice in the Federal Courts.

"Blair is charged with malpractice and conspiracy in the written request presented to and signed by Judge R. L. Williams which came after an investigation covering more than eight

23

months by operatives of the Indian Service and the Department of Justice. Blair is given 20 days to file an answer.

"In the information the Government alleges that a conspiracy existed between Blair, Grant C. Stebbins, president of the Gladys Belle Oil Company, and A. B. Reese, of Tulsa, to defraud the girl of her lands as soon as she became of age.

## GIRL WAS KIDNAPPED

"Blair is represented as having been employed by Stebbins to assist in carrying out the scheme to defraud the Indian girl and at the same time the former induced her to sign certain instruments empowering him to act as her attorney.

"In carrying out the details of the conspiracy and at the instigation of Stebbins, the girl was kidnapped and hurried out of the State by employes of the oil company and taken to Cassville, Mo., where Blair procured her signature to a deed conveying land to Stebbins for a cash consideration of $1000.

"In connection with the kidnapping it is charged that the girl was plied with intoxicating liquors, kept in a state of fear and prevented from communicating with her former guardian or Indian officials and was without knowledge of the contents of the legal papers presented to her by Blair to sign.

## KEPT IN IGNORANCE

"Blair is also charged with having appeared in the district court of Tulsa County claiming to represent Millie Naharkey and procure the dismissals of certain actions and suits there pending which had been filed in her behalf and later to have vigorously resisted the reinstatement of suits.

"He is charged, following the execution of the contract with the girl for the lands, to have met her in Independence, Kansas, where she was brought by Reese and to prevent her knowing of the fraud which had been perpetrated upon her.

"When the girl was found by government officers in Kansas City, September 15, 1922, she was taken before the United States attorney and lawyers employed by Blair claiming to represent Millie Naharkey protested at the interference of the government.

## MAY FILE GRAVER CHARGE

"In the final charge Blair is alleged to have aided and abetted Stebbins and Reese by giving them advice and taking such action as necessary to protect them against the efforts of the government to procure the return of the girl to Oklahoma. He is charged with having received compensation regularly from the Gladys Belle Oil Company while pretending to represent the girl as her attorney.

"The action of the government is believed to be but the first

24

step in investigating the case. It has been rumored for several months that white slavery charges would be filed against the abductors of the girl.

"The investigation in this case has not been completed and it would not be proper to assume what facts may develop,' Booth said. 'Should investigation develop sufficient facts to warrant other actions they will be considered fully and taken if justified.'

"In the evidence on the case accumulated by Thomas P. Roach, special officer of the Indian service, a complete record of the kidnapping case appears.

## FORGED CHECKS ON HER

"The report declares that early in June, 1922, Millie Naharkey left the Chilocco Indian school and returned to the home of her mother, five miles south of Tulsa, and was induced to leave with relatives and men later identified as agents of the Gladys Belle Oil Company.

"The party first stopped at Cassville, Mo., where Blair joined the party and secured the deed for the land from the girl.

"At the time the contract was executed, she received $2000 in checks from the Gladys Belle Oil Company for oil runs from the land and turned them over to her half-brother, Foxie Red, and were in turn deposited in a Tulsa bank.

"Checks cashed on the bank payable to W. R. McNutt, one of her abductors, were later declared to be forgeries.

## ALSO ROBBED FATHER

"After leaving Cassville, the party moved on to Roaring River, Mo., a resort in the heart of the Ozark mountains. Many 'wild parties' with liquor flowing in abundance were staged here, the report declares, and the sworn statement of a watchman at the resort indicates that several 'nature parties' were staged on the hotel lawn by women who attached themselves to the kidnapping expedition.

"In connection with the filing of the information yesterday, it was asserted by the Indian officials that Stebbins was involved in a similar deal to secure possession of land purported to have been purchased from Moses Naharkey, father of Millie.

"Stebbins later gained a clear title to the land after prolonged litigation in which the case was carried to the Supreme Court.

"The case lagged during the final months of Victor M. Locke's administration as superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes but soon after Shade Wallen was appointed to his post it was pushed with vigor.

"Commissioner of Indian Affairs Burke, upon receipt of Roach's report of his investigation, immediately sought assistance from the attorney general's office in prosecuting the case.

25

"The case is one of the most revolting in the history of the Indian service," Superintendent Wallen said last night.

"It is hard to find a case parallel to this one. The conspirators not only attempted to deprive this innocent Indian girl of her property, but one of them, according to the evidence, made an unlawful assault upon her."

I personally met Millie Naharkey, and was struck by her smallness of stature, her child's voice and her timidity. It was difficult to believe that she was of legal age, for she appeared in every way to be a girl of only thirteen or fourteen years. She was decidedly immature. She talked English; told me she was in the sixth grade prior to the time she was kidnapped but now she was not attending any school.

After a long private conference with this little girl, I grew dumb at the horrible things she rehearsed, much of which is of official record at Union Agency, Muskogee. There was nothing I could say. Mutely I put my arms around her, whose great wealth had made her a victim of an unscrupulous, lawless party, and whose little body was mutilated by a drunken fiend who assaulted her night after night. Her terrified screams brought no help then,—but now, as surely as this tale of horror reaches the friends of humanity, swift action must be taken to punish those guilty of such heinous cruelty against helpless little Millie Neharkey, an Indian girl of Oklahoma. This is an appeal for action, immediate action, by the honest and fair-minded Americans of this 20th century. We believe they are in an overwhelming majority over the criminal class, and the power is in their hands to redeem not only the helpless Indians, but a sister state of the Union from the petty thieves that infest her.

## A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD VICTIM

The smothered cries of the Indians for rescue from legalized plunder comes in a chorus from all parts of eastern Oklahoma. The case cited above is from Tulsa County. And now follows another outrage perpetrated under cover of a County Court in the southern part of eastern Oklahoma.

Little Ledcie Stechi, a Choctaw minor, seven years old, owned rich oil property in McCurtain County. She lived with her old grandmother in a small shack back in the hills about two and a half miles from Smithville. They lived in dire poverty, without

26

proper food or clothing and surrounded by filth and dirt. Ledcie Stechi inherited lands from her mother, including twenty acres which became valuable oil property. Other lands she inherited were sold by her uncle, Noel Samuel, for a consideration of $2000 which was deposited in the bank subject to control by the County Judge, who allowed $10 a month for the support of Ledcie Stechi.

After the discovery of oil on the twenty acres above mentioned, her uncle, Noel Samuel, who was her guardian, was induced to resign through a combination of various tactics, force, persuasion and offer of reward which he never got. Mr. Jordan Whiteman, owner of the First National Bank of Idabel, whose attorney was instrumental in Noel Samuel's resignation, was appointed guardian. At the time of Mr. Whiteman's appointment, July, 1921, Ledcie lived with her old grandmother in the hills, and until 1923 they were in a semi-starving condition. Once a week the old grandmother walked to Smithville to buy food on the monthly credit of $15 allowed them by Mr. Whiteman, at Blake's store. They had no conveyance. Sometimes she was too tired to walk back. Then she hired some one to take her home, which cost fifty or sixty cents. During this period from 1921 to 1923, the guardian did nothing to make them more comfortable or to educate the little Indian heiress.

In the fall of 1922 the guardian attempted to sell ten acres of Ledcie's oil land which was producing at the time, and appraised at $90,000, for a consideration of $2000. This attempt was defeated, and with the result that Ledcie Stechi's monthly allowance was increased to $200, from which the guardian allowed the child and grandmother a credit of $15 monthly at a local store. Still, throughout the following year, Ledcie and her old grandmother fared no better than prior to the $200 allowance to the guardian. In April, 1923, they were brought to Idabel, the County seat. The rich little Choctaw girl, with her feeble grandmother, came to town carrying their clothes, a bundle of faded rags, in a flour sack. Ledcie was dirty, filthy, and covered with vermin. She was emaciated and weighed about 47 pounds.

A medical examination showed she was undernourished and poisoned by malaria. After five weeks of medical treatment and nourishment Ledcie gained 11 pounds. Her health improved, she was placed by an employee of the Indian Service in the

27

Wheelock Academy, an Indian school. Mr. Whiteman, evidently fearing to lose his grasp on his ward, demanded the child, and Ledcie Stechi, child of much abuse, was returned to the custody of her legal guardian 24 hours after she was taken to the school where she would have had good care. The last time the aged grandmother had seen Ledcie, and only for a few minutes, was on the 12th of July.

A month later, on the 14th of August, word was brought to the hills that Ledcie was dead. There had been no word of the girl's illness and the sudden news of her death was a terrible blow to the poor old grandmother.

The following day, at dawn, before the corpse had arrived, parties of grafters arrived at the heretofore unknown hovel in the hills and harrassed the bereaved old grandmother about the future disposal of Ledcie's valuable properties.

Rival speculators went over with the body of Ledcie Stechi. Some of them sent flowers to be placed on the grave of her, who though but a child, had known only of poisonous thorns. The floral offerings were too late for the child of sorrows, but they were made by hypocrites who hoped thereby to play upon the heart of the aged grandmother, who was now the sole heir to Ledcie Stechi's vast estate.

Greed for the girl's lands and rich oil property actuated the grafters and made them like beasts surrounding their prey, insensible to the grief and anguish of the white-haired grandmother. Feebly, hopelessly, she wailed over the little dead body—its baby mouth turned black, little fingernails turned black, and even the little breast all turned black! In vain she asked for an examination of the body, believing Ledcie had been poisoned. "No use. Bury the body," commanded the legal guardian.

The Court has already appointed a guardian for the grandmother,—against her vehement protest. She, too, will go the way of her grandchild, as sheep for slaughter by ravenous wolves in men's forms, unless the good people of America intervene immediately by remedial Congressional action. Such action is the duty of all loyal Americans for the protection of America's wards.

Incidentally, another heir has been put forward in a contest suit; but whichever way the case is decided the attorneys expect to come in for fat fees.

28

## IN OSAGE COUNTY

Having heard a great deal about the questionable tactics of County Judges, and having read many records of cases in the County Court files, I naturally wanted to attend a hearing that I might get facts first hand. By inquiry I learned that numerous cases were on the Court calendars of the different counties of Eastern Oklahoma. I selected one in which I did not know any of the parties concerned or the nature of the case.

On November 19, 1923, I attended the court hearing of the case of Martha Axe Roberts (nee Washington), in Osage County, held in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Martha,—a Shawnee, and widow of an Osage from whom she inherited one and one-half shares in the Osage Nation,—did not appear in person. She was represented by her attorney, Mr. T. A. Chandler, a former Congressman from Oklahoma. This case involved an effort to remove the present guardian and transfer jurisdiction over Martha's estate from the Osage County Court to the Craig County Court. It was surprising at the outset when her attorney, identifying Martha, offered a government record of her enrollment that the Court would not allow it. The continued protest of Judge Sturgill, attorney for L. T. Hill, guardian of Martha, made it next to impossible to give any evidence for the Indian woman. The court would not hear the story of her deprivations and poverty.

Though Martha had inherited wealth (an annual income of at least $15,000), it was so manipulated by her white guardian, L. T. Hill, of Hominy, Oklahoma, that instead of her weekly allowance of $75, she was told she had no money. Mr. Hill let her have $1.50 and sometimes as much as $2.50, claiming it was a personal loan to her.

Dissatisfied and lonely, Martha left Hominy and went to live with her father and mother in Craig County. She moved her household goods to White Oaks, among the Shawnee Indians. Her guardian went to Vinita, a nearby town, and there finding Martha in her Packard car, put her out on the street and took her car away under a writ of replevin. Martha got a conveyance, through the kindness of a friend, and went home only to find an empty house. Her household goods had been taken by her guardian, even to the kitchen stove. For her and her two small children there was not a bed nor a chair nor food in the house. Her "professional" guardian further placed a notice in the newspaper

29

warning the public against giving Martha any credit. He wrote
her a letter; told her she would get no money from him until she
returned to Osage County.

During these troublous times her fourteen months' old baby
got sick. In her extremity, Martha again telephoned to her
guardian for money, as she could get no one to attend her child
except a negro doctor who, upon hearing of the notice in the news-
paper, left the case. Mr. Hill refused to pay Martha any of her
money.

This Indian woman of ample means in her own right, with an
annual income of at least $15,000, was thrown upon public
charity, while the court allowed $1900 to her guardian for re-
plevining her property. Without proper food and medical care,
the baby died. When Mr. Hill heard of the child's death he
telephoned to his ward to hold the dead body a day and wait
until he came when he would make all the funeral arrangements.
So obstinate in not letting his ward have her money when the
baby was yet alive and there was hope of saving its life—now, so
ready to spend her money after the baby was forever lost to its
broken-hearted mother. The Osage County court would not hear
this tragic story of the Shawnee woman whose identification it had
refused to recognize. Like countless other Indians, she was but a
fly upon the chariot wheel of her legal guardian.

Mr. Hill was represented by Judge Sturgill, a former judge of
Osage County, under whom he had been appointed guardian for
Martha Axe Roberts, nee Washington. The objections of Judge
Sturgill to most of the evidence offered in Martha's case were
sustained by the court and therefore stricken from the record.
The Court stenographer forgot to take down the statements of
Mr. Chandler, Martha's attorney, until he requested her to do so.
Plainly, the court was dominated by Judge Sturgill. It is com-
mon talk that the present judge owes his appointment to the
influence of this same Judge Sturgill, following his resignation.
Whenever Judge Sturgill spoke, the Court's hearing improved and
much went into its records about John Washington, Martha's
father, being a worthless drunkard and also that Martha had no
sense of the value of money, nor of right and wrong; that she was
crazy. Within a short half-hour, the Court dismissed the case.
Mr. Chandler gave notice that the case would be appealed to the
State District Court.

30

I felt an overwhelming indignation at the legal helplessness of
a poor, rich Indian woman.

Yet, there was a question in my mind lest Martha be mentally
unbalanced under the strain and humiliation of her situation;
that there might be some foundation for this official statement
against her that she was crazy. To satisfy myself on this point
I went to Vinita. There I met a gentle, bright-eyed Indian
woman. After hours of conversation with her, in the course of
our visit together, I found her very intelligent, though unlettered.

I spent the evening with her, her little child and her father and
mother. Many things were told to me of her guardian, Mr. Hill.
She said he had a store in Hominy to which he limited all her
purchases. He sold her faded shopworn blankets that had holes
in them at full price and refused to exchange them when she pro-
tested. When she wanted to buy a Singer sewing machine, Mr.
Hill told her she had no money. He bought her, out of her own
funds, however, an expensive Packard car, and submitted to the
Court a gas bill for eight months amounting to $2750. Judge
Sturgill, then on the bench, approved it. Mr. Hill's father-in-law
sells gasoline. This item was later protested.

Martha further said her guardian bought high-grade hogs, pay-
ing as much as $90 for a six months' old pig, when she was not
interested in stock raising and only wanted a few hogs on the
farm to use for meat. Now Mr. Hill is paying a man $50 a
month, out of her funds, to care for the stock she did not want.

Martha says her estate is being mismanaged by her guardian
and, while he is not guardian of her person, Mr. Hill is trying to
force her to return to Osage County. Her own desire is to remain
in Craig County with her father and mother, and to live among
her people, whose language she speaks. Martha has more than
enough means for herself and child. She is to be admired in her
wish to live with her father and mother, who are no longer
young, to make them more comfortable in their advancing age.

Her father, John Washington, is a bricklayer and stone cutter
by trade. He is a man well informed in practical business meth-
ods and has a keen memory. He did not deny the charge against
him that he uses intoxicating liquors, but he told me of many
occasions, which he has not forgotten, when Mr. Hill, Martha's
guardian, supplied him with his whiskey in the name of friend-

31

ship. It appears that Mr. Hill would make use of the habit he
himself encouraged now to discredit John Washington.

I called at the Farmers State Bank in Vinita and asked the
cashier, Mr. Martin, if he knew John Washington. He said
"yes." Mr. Martin had been born and raised there and knew
everybody. I asked him if the charge against John Washington
was true, that he was a worthless drunkard? He said, "I have
never seen him drunk. On the contrary, I consider Martha and
her father intelligent above the average Indian."

My conclusion is that Martha is not crazy but perfectly sane,
and her love for her parents, which draws her to them, is wholly
admirable. She is a victim of exploitation.

Under the present bias of the County Court, where judge, ex-
judge and "professional" guardian combine their forces, the
Indian is legally bound and gagged. There is no hope of justice so
long as these conditions are permitted to remain. Legalized
robbery of the rich Indian is an ugly practice and abhorred by all
self-respecting Americans.

The human cry of this Shawnee woman is a call to America for
defence and protection.

HOW ESTATES SHRINK

RICHMOND BRUNER, one-half blood Creek No. 2385, died on
February 13, 1922, leaving an estate consisting of his homestead
forty acre allotment from which oil is being produced and from
which royalties had accumulated in the hands of the Indian
Department to the extent of about $114,000 in bonds and cash.

At the time of his death Richmond Bruner was married to Jane
Buner, a negro woman, who had been caring for him during their
married life, some three or four years, and who, upon his death,
in the absence of a will, became his sole heir. For several years
prior to his death Bruner was a paralytic, unable to care for him-
self, and required constant attention, which was accorded him by
his wife until his death.

On February 15, 1922, at about 11 o'clock in the forenoon, a
petition was filed in the County Court at Okmulgee, Oklahoma,
signed by Jane Buner, the wife, asking for the appointment of the
Guaranty Title and Trust Company of Muskogee, Oklahoma, as
administrator of the estate. This petition was presented by Mr.

32

E. C. Motter, an attorney at law of Okmulgee. The funeral took
place at 3 o'clock of the afternoon of that date.

Following the appointment of this administrator various wills
were presented for probate and various persons appeared claiming
to be heirs of Richmond Buner and entitled to share in his estate.
On June 27, 1922, a decree was entered by the Probate Court
denying the claim of all the heirs except Jane Bruner, denying the
wills to probate, revoking the order of the previous order appoint-
ing the above named Trust Company as administrator and
appointing George M. Swift and Harwood Keaton as special
administrators. On January 6, 1923, Swift resigned and C. H.
Baker was appointed to succeed him.

From the order of the Probate Court of June 27, 1922, above
referred to, appeals were taken to the District Court and on
February 2, 1923, the District Court entered its decree finding
that Jane Bruner was the sole heir and in substance upholding the
decree of the Probate Court and naming the Guaranty Title and
Trust Company of Muskogee as a depository to receive the funds
belonging to this estate in the hands of the Superintendent for the
Five Civilized Tribes and authorizing the payment of claims
against said estate out of said funds except as to certain attorneys'
fees which are not specifically mentioned. This order was made
on the last day of the term and was presented to the Court
by one Charles Runyan, an attorney at law of Muskogee, who, it
seems, had associated himself with Messrs. Motter & Walker in
this case. The judgment of the District Court was procured on
representations made to the Court that it was in pursuance of
stipulations which had been entered into and agreed upon by all
parties concerned and the Court, upon this information and
apparently believing that the settlement of the controversy was
satisfactory to all concerned and in harmony with the rights and
equities of the various parties, signed the order relying upon such
representations and believing that a fair and equitable settlement
had been effected.

Thereafter a motion was filed in the District Court on behalf
of Keaton and Baker, special administrators, to vacate the order
of February 2, 1923, above referred to, and at a hearing on this
motion it developed that numerous things had been done with
reference to this estate which had not been called to the attention
of the District Court. As a result of this hearing the order of said

33

Court was vacated in so far as it undertook to appoint the above named Trust Company as a depository and authorized said Company to collect and receive from the Indian Department the funds belonging to this estate. From this order the Trust Company is now perfecting its appeal to the Supreme Court of the State.

Since the appeal was taken from the order of the Probate Court to the District Court the special administrators have resigned and were succeeded by one Bert Hodges as administrator, who, in turn, has retired from the case and the above named Trust Company has again been appointed administrator of the estate.

In the meantime Jane Bruner has been declared incompetent and guardians have been appointed for her. These guardians are appealing from the order of the Probate Court appointing the Trust Company as administrator and are also defending an appeal from the order of the District Court which is now being perfected by the Trust Company. The foregoing is a brief synopsis of the action which has been taken in the Courts in this case.

Jane Bruner is a negro woman, without education, of only average intelligence and practically no business experience. She is obviously not qualified to handle an estate of this magnitude. As stated above she has recently been declared incompetent and put under guardianship. The facts appear to be that immediately upon the death of Richmond Bruner the wife, Jane, was induced to sign a contract of employment with Motter and Walker under the terms of which they were to represent her in protecting her interests in this estate. For this service it is understood they were to receive 25% of the estate. Mr. Motter was heard to state a few days after the death of Richmond that he was present when Richmond died and evidently he was keeping it very close touch with the affairs of these people at that time and lost no time in procuring the contract as soon as the death occurred.

Upon the presentation of the order of the District Court on February 2, 1923, which, on its face, appeared to be upon a stipulation and agreement between all the parties in interest, the Superintendent of the Five Tribes paid over to the Trust Company the funds on hand at that time belonging to this estate. It should be explained here that upon the death of Richmond, leaving no heirs who were full-blood Indians, his entire estate became unrestricted and passed out of the control of the Interior Depart-

34

ment. Hence it was that upon presentation of an order, valid on its face, determining the heirs and appointing an administrator to whom the money should be paid, no option was left in the Department but to turn over the funds.

From the best information obtainable, partly from the records in the Probate Court and partly from other sources, it appears that upon the acquisition of this money by the Trust Company the same was disbursed in part as follows:

<table><tr><td>Lafe Walker</td><td>$10,000</td></tr><tr><td>E. C. Motter</td><td>10,000</td></tr><tr><td>Charles Runyan</td><td>10,000</td></tr><tr><td>A. E. Graham, attorney</td><td>2,500</td></tr><tr><td>E. T. Noble, attorney</td><td>2,500</td></tr></table>

In addition to this there are Court orders on file in the Probate Court authorizing the payment of $1000 as attorneys' fees to James S. Hayes, $1000 to Corchran, Ellison & Charles A. Dickson, attorneys, and $2500 to Mathews & Alley, attorneys. We are informed that none of these amounts which have been allowed by the Court have been paid.

In addition to the amounts paid to Motter and Walker there is paper on file signed by Jane Bruner in which she attempts to discharge these attorneys in which she alleges that at the time of his filing thereof, May 31, 1922, she had already paid them $1400.

Court orders have also been signed authorizing the payment to George M. Swift of $359.50 to reimburse him for expenses incurred in connection with his duties as special administrator, and also an order authorizing the payment to Harwood Keaton of $257.40 in payment of bond as special administrator.

A copy of the stipulation and agreement on which the decree of February 2, 1923, was based could not be found either in the files of the Probate Court or in the files in the District Court. It is understood, however, that this agreement provided for the payment to Tom Bruner, an alleged heir, the sum of $21,000 and to Jennie Nash, an alleged heir, the further sum of $10,000.

It is understood further that it is claimed by the Trust Company that the sum of $30,000, or thereabouts, was paid to Jane Bruner direct. At the hearing on the motion to vacate the order of the District Court she denied, under oath, receiving that sum or any other sum from the Trust Company.

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It also developed at said hearing, and from investigations made by the guardians, that Webb Littlefield, at that time President of the Trust Company, had borrowed $7500 from Jane Bruner giving her his notes therefor. It also appears that he advanced at another time $4000 for which he took a deed to the homestead allotment above referred to and from which oil was then and is now being produced. A house and lot in the City of Muskogee was purchased out of this fund for Jane Bruner for $5000, the title thereto presumably being clear and unencumbered at the time, it developing later, however, that there was a mortgage of $1500 against the same.

The guardians, when they investigated the condition of this estate, found a balance of something slightly in excess of $584 on hand with the Trust Company belonging to the estate. Jane Bruner had nothing, not even a home to live in and was, in fact, destitute at the time these guardians took her in charge. A small balance of some $2200 was found in the Indian Department here after the larger sum had been turned over to the Trust Company and this amount was paid to the guardians and has been used by them in caring for this woman since that time. This is now about exhausted. The royalties from the homestead 40 acres are being withheld on account of the claim of Littlefield under the deed which he has to this property. The sum total of this whole transaction, as the facts appear at this time, is simply to the effect that as a result of the machinations of attorneys and the Trust Company in question, Jane Bruner has nothing left of an estate amounting in the first instance to more than $114,000 in cash and a tract of land worth many thousands of dollars, the income from which alone would give her every comfort in life and support her as long as she lives.

### IN BRIEFER FORM

To cite all the cases investigated would be monotonous repetition; suffice it to say, their number is legion, and while there may be variation as to harrowing details, the general result is the same, so far as it concerns the plundering of the Indians, under the "system" as developed in eastern Oklahoma.

A brief summary, which follows, of a number of glaring cases will show that in the activities of the informal organization of grafters, sex or age make no difference; the young child, the

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adult, the incompetent (mentally or physically) are all robbed in the same thorough, nonchalant scientific manner. The "system" has but one object—GET THE MONEY AND GET IT QUICK!

In the case of HILLY BEAR the grafters waited almost at the bedside of this woman, and when the breath left her body they took her thumb, pressed it on an ink pad and then made the finger-print signature on a document alleged to be her last will. When an investigation was made the ink was found on Hilly Bear's dead finger. Fortunately, this atrocious effort was defeated; but it illustrates some of the methods that have been used by the grafters.

AKEY ULTEESKEE, full-blood Creek, No. 4231, had land adjoining Bartlesville. When she was four years old she was taken by a man named Lannom and raised as his own child. Her land had oil on it. When she became of age her guardian owed her $22,000. The guardian was also the father of Akey's illegitimate child—he robbed her of her money and her virtue. The child was given away. When last heard of it was at Ft. Smith, Ark. Akey is now of age; has no guardian for obvious reasons, and is living at Willowbrook, Calif. She has a small income, of about four or five dollars a month, which is handled by the Muskogee office.

SINA BATTIEST died November 8, 1918. She left a child (about one year old at the time of her death), Malvina Battiest, now Billy.

FOUR YEARS LATER Sina Battiest, according to the certificate of a Notary Public, appeared in person, AS A MAN, and executed a lease to one Charles S. Lynch, and "his" signature is duly attested by two witnesses. This document is in Book 110, page 39, Records of Stephens County, Oklahoma.

Thus, it will be seen that the grafters can bring the dead to life, and even change the sex!

FANNIE TIGER, full-blood Creek, widow of Palmer Tiger, inherited one-half interest in her husband's estate. The Court approved a purported Oil and Gas lease for $4000 paid over County

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Judge's desk; the money was put in envelope; taken to bank by her and when counted only $1500 was found. This purported oil and gas lease was later found to be a deed to the property.

The case was contested in Court; the district Court decided against Fannie Tiger. Motion for a new trial is now pending.

ROBERT THOMPSON, an incompetent restricted Quapaw Indian, about fifty years old. He was sent to an Insane Asylum. When the present guardian took charge of this estate, a little over two years ago, $24,000 was receipted for. The Liberty Bonds and all securities have been disposed of, and the balance now on hand (November, 1913) amounted to $54.40.

CHRISTINE BENNETT (mixed-blood Choctaw) became of age in May, 1923. Oil was developed on her property a few years prior to that date, and from the available records it would appear that the amount received from the estate was $151,000, out of which Christine received less than $15,000. The remaining 90 per cent went to attorneys, or was loaned by the guardian on worthless securities.

SABER JACKSON (Creek full-blood) received $50,000 for his courtesy right in the property inherited by his daughter. A guardian, of course, was appointed to handle that money. By order of the Court, the guardian paid himself approximately $8000. Five thousand dollars was paid to certain attorneys, in addition to their expense accounts. Then the guardian is alleged to have loaned out practically all of the balance of the money to close friends or business associates on security that was wholly inadequate.

The indifference of a County Court to the interest of a full-blood Indian is illustrated in the case of ISRAEL LEWIS, Choctaw Roll No. 11,925. Under existing law, a deed from a full-blood heir must be approved by the County Court having jurisdiction. A petition was presented to the Pontotoc County Court in the name of Israel Lewis, to sell a tract of inherited land for $2800. The land was appraised at $4502, and another bid for $3500 had

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been submitted. The Court ignored the probate attorney's pro-
test, and the land was sold for $2800.

## IN CONCLUSION

These cases, we think, are sufficient to show the hopelessness of the present situation. In the same section of the Act giving jurisdiction to the county courts was a provision for the appointment of probate attorneys to watch the interests of the Indian wards. The Oklahoma Courts have held that they are not bound to pay any attention to the recommendations of these probate attorneys, and the latter informed us it is only by keeping on friendly terms with the judges that they are able to accomplish anything whatever for the benefit of the Indians. In one case an attorney told us that the court had held that a brief which he filed as probate attorney for the United States, and as Amicus Curiae was entitled to no consideration as filed by the Probate Attorney of the United States, but would be considered as he had added the words "Amicus Curiae," or, in substance, that they would hear him as a friend of the Court but would not hear the United States by its Attorney.

## THE REMEDY

There is no hope of any reformation of the present system, and if action is delayed for a few years there will be no Indians with property to be protected. Legislation should be enacted at once giving the Department of the Interior as complete control of all Indian property and Indian minors and incompetents as constitutional limitations will permit, and this should apply to all Indians in Oklahoma.

Respectfully submitted,

GERTRUDE BONNIN,

CHARLES H. FABENS,

For American Indian Defense Ass'n.

MATTHEW K. SNIFFEN,

For Indian Rights Association.

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