We have looked upon the dark side of Oklahoma Affairs, let us look on
the bright side for a moment. From last year’s report of J. George
Wright, Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes, it is learned that
there are 32,939 restricted Indians. These are still protected by the
Government, and all own homesteads. Notwithstanding the thousands of
Indians who have been swindled out of their property, or sold same at
ridiculously low prices, a great deal remains—sufficient to provide
every Indian of the tribes with a homestead and enough agricultural land
to maintain himself and family, provided he is protected in his rights;
all hinges upon that word _provided_.
As to the true value of this land, I shall not present the statistics,
but the entire 19,000,000 acres, held by Indians and Whites, because of
the great oilfields, coal and asphalt lands timber and farm lands, must
be worth at least $1,000,000,000. About half of this, or $500,000,000,
it is claimed that the Indians still own, largely because of the
restrictions placed upon their property.
Much of this land is what is known as tribal land, and when sold the
amount is placed to the credit of the tribe. The tribal attorneys, the
Government officials, and practically everyone believes that the lands
should be sold, and the money divided up among the Indians. The reasons
for this, I have briefly presented on page 28, when speaking of Indians
in general. By this method, we will rid the Indians of an
ever-increasing swarm of attorneys and remove all incentive to unwise
legislation.
Of the number of Indians at work, the value of their crops and labor, no
man may know. Estimates vary, but I suppose that it is no exaggeration
to state that about a third of the males belonging to the Five Civilized
Tribes work—thousands of them regularly. The Government has encouraged
this through the District Agents, or field helpers, whose duty it is to
instruct the Indians in farming, to protect them in their rights and to
exercise a general supervision over them. These field agents stood
between the Indian and the grafter, and there was a determined effort on
the part of a few men to have the entire number dismissed from the
Service. However, Congress continued the appropriation and these worthy
men are assured of another year’s effort on behalf of the Indians.
Some of the illustrations presented in these chapters are from
photographs taken by Mr. Allen and myself in Oklahoma and will give an
idea of the homes of the Indians, and some of the farms they have
brought under cultivation.
[Illustration:
OLD-STYLE CABIN, 1850–1890
Cherokee, Oklahoma. Photographed, 1913
]
The unallotted lands have usually been sold at auction and since
November 1, 1910, 1,838,921 acres have been sold for $10,458,945, or an
average of $5.68 per acre. This seems rather low price, but as most of
the lands were not developed and many tracts had grown up to bushes, it
is the best that could be obtained under the circumstances.
Of immense value are the segregated coal and asphalt lands in Choctaw
and Chickasaw nations. These total 455,303 acres. The value has been
variously estimated, and it is impossible to accurately or even
approximately state the amount. Coal tracts, in the eastern part of the
United States, have been known to sell as high as $1,000 an acre. The
price may vary from $50 for tracts wherein the veins are thin, to $500
for heavy vein of the best grades of bituminous coal. It will thus be
seen that at the lowest estimate coal contained in this enormous area is
of exceeding value, and this statement does not take into account the
great asphalt deposit of undoubted value. Up to the present, the
Government has successfully resisted attempts of those who would secure
control of this property. Commissioner Wright, on page 28 of his report,
states that there is in cash deposited to the credit of the Indians, in
banks in the State of Oklahoma, $4,474,189.45. The interest paid on this
sum varies from 4% to 6%.
Some of the coal and asphalt lands have been leased to mining companies
and during the year ending June 30, 1913, 3,103,071 tons of coal and
4,752 tons of asphalt were mined; the royalty on the coal being eight
cents per ton and on crude asphalt ten cents, refined asphalt sixty
cents per ton.
The tribal attorneys, acting for these Five Civilized Tribes, and
occupying high positions of trust and responsibility, have, without
exception, done what they could to further the interests of their
clients.
The existence of the Cherokee terminated June 30, 1914, and all tribal
offices were abolished. Whether the Cherokees will prosper remains to be
seen.
In addition to the totals presented, it must be recorded that
$2,480,739.35 were distributed to individual Indians. This sum was
received from oil royalties, lease privileges, mining royalties, rents,
bonuses, etc.
Dana H. Kelsey, Superintendent of the Union Agency, and acting in
conjunction with Commissioner Wright last year handled a grand total of
$8,215,989.71. Some idea of the enormous amount of business transacted
by his office may be gleaned from the statement that pieces of mail
matter (over half of which were letters) during the year totaled
364,218. His office investigated about 18,000 leases, land cases,
complaints and probate cases all relating to Indian property. The net
saving to the Indians by this governmental supervision was $667,352.25.
Mr. Kelsey states: “At the advent of statehood there were no ample
facilities to afford proper protection to the minor and incompetent
Indians, the former of which number approximately 60,000.”
Some of the difficulties with which his office has had to contend may be
imagined from the following quotation:—
“Many parties who sought to secure these lands either controlled the
appointment of the guardian or connived with the guardian to purchase
the land at grossly inadequate prices, the difference between the
purchase price and the actual price of the land being the profit
realized by the guardian and the purchaser. In other instances parents
who were appointed guardians of their children sold their children’s
allotments and dissipated the proceeds. This work discloses many
instances where parties desiring to lease minor allotments secured the
appointment of themselves or employees as guardian, and by so
controlling the land sought they were able to profit to a considerable
extent in subleasing lands for, in some instances, many times the amount
paid. Many of these leases provided for the improvement of the land in
lieu of cash rental, while none of the improvements were made. Many
complaints lodged with the field clerks are from the unrestricted
Indians, who, upon attaining their majority, find that their allotments
have been sold and the funds dissipated by the guardian, leaving them
penniless.”
I visited Mr. Kelsey’s office and spent a number of days there watching
the conduct of business. The tremendous activity in the oilfields, and
the thousands of applications for oil leases or purchase of Indian lands
pass, for the most part, through his hands and those of his able
assistants. If it were not for his efforts and those of Commissioner
Wright, and the tribal attorneys (and not to omit Mr. Mott, Mr. Foreman
and Miss Barnard), in other words, if there had not appeared before
those who sought to despoil the Indians this “stone wall defense”, there
would be little to record today beyond the fact that the Five Civilized
Tribes at one time possessed a great deal of property.
Mr. Kelsey served over ten years as Superintendent of the Union Agency
and is thoroughly familiar with conditions in Oklahoma. His
recommendations, therefore, should carry weight. They are found on page
93 of his report.
“1. Continued and more practical care of the health and property of the
older, uneducated, full-blood Indian, and the disposition, under proper
supervision, of his excess land holdings.
“2. The immediate placing of all mature, able-bodied Indians entirely
upon their own resources when shown that they have had sufficient
experience or education to enable them to earn a livelihood.
“3. Systematic and compulsory education of every Indian child, and
conservation of his property in the meantime.”
He emphasizes the education of Indian children for the reason that back
in the hills in Oklahoma there are several thousand children not
officially recognized as members of the tribes, for the reason that they
have been born since the rolls were closed. As no provision is made for
the education of these, he properly claims that these children
constitute one of the great problems in Oklahoma. He also states that
most of the adult Indians have remaining more or less property or money.
I would add to his recommendations that this property and money must be
wisely safeguarded else the Indians will become paupers. Already a few
of them are living on the section lines, along the county roads. And
this number will increase rapidly, unless we make the citizenship real
and effective.
The office held by Mr. Wright now being consolidated with that of Mr.
Kelsey, he acts as Supervisor. I wrote him a long letter concerning the
Oklahoma situation, and a portion of his reply should be included in
this book:—
* * * * *
“So far as the consolidation of the two offices is concerned, I rather
feel that you were unduly anxious over its effect. I have had the
responsibility of the entire work now for nearly two months, and am more
than ever convinced that the time was ripe for it and it was good
administration to have it all under one head, provided that head is the
right sort of a man, and that there will be no ill effects therefrom. It
was bound to come, and had better come while there was somebody here who
knew how to do it than later. I am having such fun getting it working
smoothly that it will soon be only an incident. I am happy to say that
the good work to protect the Indians goes on I think better now than
ever. We are getting excellent results from the new probate attorney
organization, in cooperation with our former field force (which is still
intact), and not only preventing new abuses, but, as time permits,
delving into and correcting many old and rotten ones affecting minors,
and I think the cooperation of the probate courts—especially since the
earnest entrance into the thing by the Commissioner personally—is a
hundred per cent better than it was before, all of which I helped plan,
and with which I feel I have had much to do.
“Muskogee, Oct. 23rd, 1914.”
* * * * *
All of the above is very encouraging, and I hope the consolidation and
the probate attorneys will work together for the result we all desire.
It would not be proper to close the Oklahoma affair without saying a few
words concerning Mr. Mott and Captain Grayson.
Captain George W. Grayson has served as official Creek interpreter for
many years. He understands the history of his tribe, is entirely in
sympathy with their aims, and has done much to aid the various tribal
attorneys in Oklahoma. With a fine Indian, Moty Tiger, Chief of the
Creek Nation, he has frequently visited Washington. I asked Captain
Grayson to read the manuscript of my Oklahoma section prior to
publication, and am indebted to him for valuable suggestions and
information. Captain Grayson as interpreter has been made use of by the
Smithsonian Institution men in their investigations of Creek language,
mythology and family life. There is no more able interpreter in all the
State of Oklahoma.
Mr. M. L. Mott has been referred to in previous pages of this chapter.
In closing, I would call attention to a remarkable scene which occurred
in the office of the Secretary of the Interior in February, 1914. The
Oklahoma delegation in Congress from the state of Oklahoma, had opposed
the reappointment of Mott as attorney for the Creek Indians. As we have
seen in previous pages, Mott put up a heroic fight on behalf of his
clients, thereby incurring the ill will of many persons. Each afternoon
for five days, were arrayed against him all the Congressmen from
Oklahoma. At the conclusion of these lengthy sessions, in which the
opponents were unable to prove anything of consequence against Mr. Mott,
the Secretary of the Interior issued him the following letter:
THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
WASHINGTON
February 14, 1914.
My dear Mr. Mott:
Chief Moty Tiger and myself have agreed upon Judge Allen as your
successor as Attorney for the Creek Nation.
* * * * *
I shall always take pleasure in contemplating the manner in which
you conducted yourself during the inquiry here. That you have been
honest under difficulties and fearless at all times in doing your
duty, seems to be admitted even by those to whom you have been most
antipathetic.
I am glad to know that you are going to return to Oklahoma and I
trust that by mingling freely with those people they will come to
see you as a man of ideals.
Cordially yours,
(Signed) FRANKLIN K. LANE
M. L. Mott, Esq.,
Washington, D. C.
We may search governmental records in vain for a parallel case. Here was
a faithful servant of the public, a loyal friend to the Indians. The
Congressmen appeared against him in force and brought up every
conceivable charge, in order to encompass his fall; striving to preserve
official peace in Oklahoma, the Honorable Secretary was forced to
replace him, yet at the same time wrote a commendatory letter in Mott’s
behalf.
The night following his honorable defeat, I saw Mott in his room at the
National Hotel. With him were two staunch friends of the Creeks, Chief
Moty Tiger and Captain G. W. Grayson. Mott uttered a remarkable
prophecy: “Moorehead, they are rid of me. The next step will be to force
out the Department of Justice men, Gresham and Frost; then Kelsey and
Wright will have to go; Kate Barnard must stop protecting minor heirs,
or her board will be abolished; also your Indian Commissioners. Having
cut off the real fighters, then they will remove restrictions. A few
years hence—and do not forget this—the Oklahoma Congressmen will ask the
American people to support Indian paupers, claiming that Federal
negligence has brought distress to thousands, and that the State of
Oklahoma must not be called upon to care for these indigents. Most
people who took Indian lands will not be compelled to return them, and
the Federal slate will be wiped clean of the 30,000 land suits now
pending.”
In eight months, nearly half of Mott’s prophecy has been verified.