The Galveston Daily News
Galveston, Saturday June 6, 1868
[Submitted by Nancy Piper]
The Osage Council
A letter of the 23d ult, from the Osage Council grounds, informs the Missouri Democrat that the treaty, in addition
to provisions heretofore made known, provides for the sale of the present reservation and trust lands, in all about
8,000,000 acres, for the sum of $1,500,000, $100,000 to be paid within three months after the ratification of the
treaty, and the rest in yarly payments of $100,000 and the completion of the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston
railroad, twenty miles south from Ottawa, patents for one-fifteenth of the lands in value are to be issued, and
upon each subsequent payment and the completion of an additional twenty miles of railroad, patents for one-fifteenth
of the lands are to be issued.
The prospects of the signing of the treaty were not very encouraging on the 20th ult.; but on the 23d the correspondent
believed that it would be carried.
The Treaty Ratified
Since the above was written we learn from the St. Louis Republican, of the 31st, that the treaty had been ratified.
A correspondent of that paper, writing from the council, on the 27th ult., says:
An important treaty between the United States Government, represented by Hon. N. G. Taylor, Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, Col. Thos. Murphy, Superintendent of Kansas Indians, Col. A. G. Boone, and Major G. C. Snow and the chiefs,
counselors, warriors, and head men of the Osage nation, was today concluded and signed by which the Osage nation
ceded to the Government and the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston road, the remaining lands owned by the Osages
in the State of Kansas, including their trust lands, amounting in all to about 8,000,000 acres. By this cession
the annuities of the Indians are largely increased and abundant provision made for their settlement in their new
home in the Indian Territory, the establishment of schools, churches, a saw and grist mill, blacksmiths, etc.
Grave difficulties have recently occurred between the settlers and these Indians, and their early removal to the
Indian Territory is regarded as a most desirable consummation. The sale of the lands to the Galveston road, upon
the terms proposed, it is believed, will insure the speedy construction of this important line of railway, connecting
the lakes and Gulf, and add largely to the wealth, settlement and commerce of the Western States.
This important item of information should cheer on the spirit of enterprise in our city and throughout the State.
It shows that , in this enterprising country, even bad government cannot keep down the progressive energy of the
people, and indicates that in a few years Texas will be far ahead of her present position in some of the most essential
elements of prosperity and greatness.
[The Oklahoman, April 14, 1903, pg.1 - Submitted by Sara Hemp]
FIVE WERE KILLED; DISASTROUS EXPLOSION IN A TERRITORY MINE
Of Seven Working in the Chamber, But Two Are Alive, and They Are Badly Burned
Kansas City, April 13 - A special to the Journal from South McAlester, I. T. says:
Five men were killed and two severely burned today by a gas explosion in Mine 77, of the Kansas & Texas Coal
company at Carbon, I. T.
The dead: FLOYD ODER, GEORGE TEER, FRANK McMULLEN, JERRY KINCAID, O. A. FIELDS
The injured: Robert McCraney and Ben Hamilton.
he cause of the explosion is unknown. Seventy-five men were in the mine, but all escaped injury except the seven
who were working in the chamber where the explosion occurred. All of the dead miners except McMullen had families.
The Oklahoman, April 22, 1903, pg.2 - Submitted by Sara Hemp
Asks Heavy Damages
South McAlester, I. T., April 21- Damage suits to the amount of $79,900 were filed against the Central Coal and
Coke company, all growing out of the mine explosion shich occurred April 13 at mine No.77, at Carbon. The heirs
of Jerry Kincaid sue for $20,000; the heirs of Jerry Hill sue for $20,000, and the father of Willie Johnson for
$9,000. Ben Hamilton sues for $10,000 for personal damages. Six of the miners were
killed or have since died, and two are badly hurt.
New Oxford Item (New Oxford, Pennsylvania) June 18, 1897 Page 6 - Submitted
by Nancy Piper
Boom Town of Tents
Picturesque Scenes In The Indian Territory
Great Increase in Hayden’s Population When the Ex-Slaves of the Cherokee Tribe Receive $800,000 From the Government
The most interesting town in the Indian Territory and one of the wonders of the year, writes a correspondent of
the Chicago Record, is Hayden, where the Government has been paying off the Cherokee freedmen. A few weeks ago
it was only a post office, with one store and a blacksmith shop. In a few days it became a busy town of 4000 people,
mainly colored. The one intent of the population was to receive checks from the Government of which they are the
beneficiaries.
When the Cherokee Nation liberated its slaves during the Civil War a treaty was arranged between them and the Government
that the freedmen should be received into that Nation as citizens and hold land in common with the Cherokees.
When the Cherokee strip was sold the Indians forgot the provisions of the treaty and wanted all the money, but
the Court of Claims gave $800,000 to the freedmen and it was the distribution of this large sum that brought the
people together.
Hayden is twelve miles from the railroad and the gathering was all housed in tents, for there was no time to make
permanent dwellings if there had been an intention. The Indians and freedmen were accompanied by a large number
of fakirs, who had the most enticing devices for the money to be paid out. They put up a “Midway Plaisance,” where
all sorts of games were in progress. Then, to swell the crowd, there were hundreds of business men who have been
selling goods to the freedmen for months on credit, trusting in the coming of this suspicious time for their pay.
The total number of freedmen on the rolls was over 4500, and each share was worth $188.74. The payment was made
by family, and on account of the tangled relationship of a race that was so lately slaves, the making of the rolls
proved to be a tremendous task. The identification of the members of the families was no less onerous, for they
all look alike to the stranger. The public school is one of the unknown factors of Indian life in this section
and there are few who can read and write.
The camp has been the most orderly in the history of the Indian Territory payments. In former cases there has
been always a larger attendance of the tough element which has made the nights hideous. Here the nights become
wild about the midnight hour and then the “fellows” who want to cut a dash are in their element. Then it is that
the Alkali Ikes are ready to go out and shoot a few holes in the atmosphere without warning. Girls with red ribbons
in their hair are here and they “do” the town of tents in the most approved fashion, while the old folks are having
a shouting prayer meeting, after the manner of the colored folks of the South. The brethren from Oklahoma are
numerou s and they are usually of the sort that has the money-making craze well developed. There is an attempt
to keep gambling off the grounds, but with small success.
Riches of the Osage Nation
Over in the Osage portion of the territory every member of the tribe is wealthy. The men are handsome and the
squaws are not bad-looking. They are few in number and are decreasing every year. Now there are only 345 voters
in the tribe and they are the recipients of the bounty that might well make a price happy. The tribe has 1,000,000
acres of land and about $9,000,000 in the United States Treasury On which the interest is $400,000 a year. This
is paid every three months and it amounts then to $54 for each men, women and child in the tribe. Of the $400,000
one-tenth is set aside for education and the children are all sent to schoo l. They go to Catholic boarding schools
and are not allowed to get the apportionment if they are not is school. The Indians, too, have a large amount
of rent from their land, which they lease to the cattlemen for cash.
Frequently the leading men go East on a visit and travel in Pullman cars, as do other luxurious Westerners. They
take their families to Europe and have for their servants white men and women who are tempted by the princely wages
to forget that they are the superior race. While full bloods wear in the council chamber, and sometimes on the
street, the full robes of the Indian
Warrior, for the most part they are dressed in the in the ordinary fashion of the whites. One of the wealthiest
men, who by the way has twelve children, lives in a house that is the equal of any city residence, having cost
$10,000. It has all the improvements of plumbing and heating and is as comfortable as could be desired.
The Osage nation is ruled by a council of fourteen members which is chosen once in two years and which is in continuous
session. It meets whenever there is anything for it to do. The present council wants to draw from the fund in
the national treasury a sum equal to $600 for each member of the tribe and spend it in beautifying the lands of
the nation, in building roads and in erecting public buildings. They promise that the money shall be used to good
advantage, but it is doubtful if it will be allowed. The elections are like those of other states, except that
the electors go up to the judges and announce their choice of members of the council. No ballots are used. The
lands of the Indians are separated by a strip of public domain about a quarter of a mile wide and this cannot be
tilled. This tends to keep the Indians from quarreling and makes the courts of the nation comparatively free from
business.
The ambition of many of the frontier white men to become rich has led them to marry squaws of the Osages. They
can do so, if the woman is willing, without any other formality than the paying of $20 for a license. This does
not give them any part of the trust fund distribution, but their children are so entitled and some of the men thus
married are wealthy from the start that they got in this way. The whites of course are in favor of drawing out
of the National Treasury the money for improvements, as each member of their family will get a share. The full
bloods on the other hand, are somewhat jealous of the movement, and prefer to let the United States keep the cash
and pay them only the interest.
This money came from the sale of the Indians’ former home in Kansas which was in the best part of the State.
They seem to have made a good trade when they took the Government’s offer and sold out. Instead of being paupers
they are among the Nation’s richest people, and if they are successful in getting the additional amounts that they
are asking they may have it within their means to make great advances in civilization.
The fears of many, when the territory was opened to the settlers, that there would be frequent outbreaks of the
Indians and consequent scalping have not been realized. The Indians having sold their lands to the whites seem
to have made up their minds that they are on honor to behave themselves and they do so. They keep on their reservations
and any wrong doings that are reported are usually of the harmless order.
It is plain that they are taking on the customs of the whites, and some Kansans who went down to the territory
to fleece the poor redskin at one of the pay days, taking with them about $300, had to send home for money to pay
return fare. They made up their minds that the Indian is not quite such an unsophisticated individual as he is
purported to be in the pages of Fenimore Cooper.
