WINDSOR AND ROBERTS.
[Col. J. H. Windsor and Senator or Dr. Roberts appear to be main
owners.]
[Also mentioned: A. D. Windsor, possibly the son of Col. J. H. Windsor.]
In the matter of Roberts [Senator or Dr.]
it is really confusing. I have seen the following mentioned: N. B. Roberts,
H. W. Roberts, and D. W. Roberts.
The Traveler of October 3, 1883,
stated that W. B. Roberts and E. T. Roberts and Colonel J. H. Windsor of
Titusville, Pennsylvania, were the owners of Willow Springs stock ranch.]
CATTLE AND OIL INTERESTS.
Windsor & Roberts become members of
the Cherokee Strip Stockmen’s Association in October 1882. “Major
J. Gore” is with them. Article refers to them as the “Pennsylvania
Oil Company.”
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, October 26, 1882.
THE STOCKMEN IN COUNCIL.
Special Meeting of the Cherokee Strip Stockmen’s Association.
In accordance with the call issued by
the President, the Cherokee Strip Stockmen’s Association met in Caldwell
at 10 a.m., on Tuesday, the 24th, inst.
President Ben S. Miller called the association
to order. The regular secretary being absent, W. B. Hutchison was appointed
to act as secretary pro tem.
Ed. M. Hewins stated the meeting was called
for the purpose of taking such action as would prevent the stealing of stock
from members of the association, and where stock was stolen to bring the
thieves to prompt punishment. Mr. Hewins closed his remarks by offering
the following resolution.
Resolved, That A. M. Colson, chairman of the Inspection Committee, be and
is hereby empowered to offer a reward of $1,000 for the arrest and conviction
of any person or persons stealing stock from members of this association.
The resolution was adopted by a unanimous
vote.
Mr. Hewins also moved that the Inspection
Committee be empowered to employ detectives, whenever it may deem necessary
to aid in the detection and capture of parties engaged in stealing stock
from members of this association. Carried.
On motion the following was adopted.
Resolved, That any member or members of this association who fails or refuses
to pay his or their proportion of an assessment made by the duly authorized
Inspection Committee of this association, of which A. M. Colson is chairman,
be debarred from all the rights and privileges of this association.
Col. J. H. Windsor and Major J. Gore were
elected members of the Cherokee Strip Association upon paying the requisite
admission fee.
On motion of Mr. Colson, the proceedings
of the meeting were ordered to be published in the Caldwell and Anthony
papers, and in the Kansas City Indicator and Price Current.
There being no further business, the meeting
adjourned.
BEN S. MILLER, President
W. B. HUTCHISON, Secretary, pro tem.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, October 26, 1882.
Col. J. H. Windsor and Major J. Gore of
the Pennsylvania Oil Cattle Company, were in attendance at the meeting of
the Cherokee Strip Stock Association on Tuesday. The company have their
ranch south of Arkansas City, and sufficient pasture room for 10,000 head
of cattle. The company’s brand will be P on left shoulder, O on the
side, and Co on left hip. Senator Roberts, of Pennsylvania, is a member
of the P. O. Company, and takes a great interest in it. It is perhaps unnecessary
to add that the company, with commendable forethought, made arrangements
to have a copy of the COMMERCIAL every week.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, November 23, 1882.
Fencing on the Strip: Chief Bushyhead’s Message.
We see by the Cherokee Advocate, that
Chief Bushyhead has called attention in his message to the fencing of ranges
in the Territory. He makes no objection to fencing, but in plain and pointed
language enters a protest against a few individual Cherokees parceling out
the Strip to their personal advantage. In this, the COMMERCIAL heartily
concurs with the chief. The Strip is the common property of the Cherokee
Nation, and while there ought not to be any objection to the Nation making
such use of the land as will inure to the benefit of the Cherokee people
as a body, nothing like monopoly upon the part of the shrewder members of
the Nation should be tolerated. This thing of John Jones, Dick Dunbar, Big
Hand, and Little Finger coming to the Strip, laying out patches of ten to
twenty-five miles square, and then selling the right to occupy them, putting
the money in their own pockets, is an outrage upon the poorer members of
the Nation. If a railroad company should attempt anything half as vicious,
not only the Cherokee Nation but the Interior Department at Washington would
be in arms against it.
The proper way for the Cherokee council
to do, is to pass a law giving the stockmen the privilege of fencing in
a reasonably sized range for a consideration that will be equitable to both
parties, the money to be placed in the treasury for the benefit of the whole
Nation. The council should also provide that the ranges shall be of uniform
size, taking into consideration a fair supply of water, etc., but no man
or organization should be allowed such a range as would give him or them
advantages over individuals of smaller means. Treat all alike, and if one
takes a range for 10,000 head of stock, make him pay for that number. If
he takes a range for 5,000 head, make him pay for that number, and so on.
And to the extent of range to be allowed,
we have no suggestions to make. We can only say that the best policy would
seem to be, both for the interest of the Cherokees and the cattlemen, to
make the ranges as small as possible without destroying the profits of the
business.
Another thing, the council should unite
upon a system of fencing that would leave a free roadway from all ranges
to shipping points on the Kansas line. Without some such arrangement, trouble
will arise among the cattlemen, and their last state will be worse than
their first.
As to the stockmen, we have no advice
to give them. They probably know their own business better than any newspaper
scribbler can tell them, but at the same time we can’t refrain from
suggesting to them the propriety of having, through representatives chosen
from among their own number, a free, full, and frank conference with the
Cherokee council while it is in session, and among other things make arrangements
for holding grounds adjacent to the shipping points on the Kansas line.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, November 23, 1882.
The stockmen on the Strip should make
some kind of an arrangement with the Cherokees whereby a fair sized strip
of country can be held open for the exclusive use of cattle shippers. In
order to do this they should at once set down upon those fellows who are
selling ranges for their own advantage. Our advice would be, give not a
dime to any man, full blood, half white, or brevet Cherokee, for the privilege
of occupying a range. Pay honestly and faithfully every dollar due the Cherokee
nation for the privilege of holding stock on the strip, but not one cent
for a shark to put in his pocket. In other words:
“Millions for de fence,
Not
one cent for tribute.”
Note. Evidently the paper at Arkansas
City under Standley was asleep at the switch and did not know what was happening
to them. About the time they noted that Capt. C. M. Scott had left on a
train for the east for Washington, D. C., Windsor & Roberts had already
had their “advance man” called “Superintendent,” referred
to as “Major Gore” fencing in the Windsor & Roberts property
south of Arkansas City. What I am really puzzled about is the item that
tells about Scott’s journey to Washington, D. C. It mentions two others
going there. Whether they were advising Scott or whether they had other
interests are never made clear. MAW
Arkansas City Traveler, December 6, 1882.
Major Gore, one of the most genial of
the B. I. T. men, left for the East last week. He will visit Texas to buy
stock before returning to this section.
Arkansas City Traveler, December 6, 1882.
Messrs. N. T. Snyder, C. H. Searing, and
Capt. C. M. Scott left on Monday’s train for the East. Before returning
all three of the gentlemen will visit Washington, D. C.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, December 7, 1882.
Concerning Fencing.
The following is a part of the bill passed
by the Cherokee council in convention assembled at Tahlequah, in regard
to wire fencing on the Cherokee Strip west of 96 degrees, and has been sent
to Chief Bushyhead for his signature. We would have published the bill in
full if space could have been spread, but the part copied is what interests
our citizens most.
“Be it further enacted. That all fencing, of whatever character,
done or that may be hereafter done on the herein before mentioned lands
for purpose of pasturage by citizens of the Cherokee Nation, or persons
claiming to be citizens of the same or in the names and on account of such
persons by citizens of the United States, under whatever pretense, are hereby
declared to be illegal and unauthorized, and the owners and claimants of
such fences, whether of wire and posts or other material, are required to
remove the same within six months from the date hereof, or the same shall
become the public property of the Cherokee Nation and be sold subject to
removal by the Sheriff of Cooweescoowee District or his lawful Deputy, after
he shall have publicly advertised the same in the Cherokee Advocate
and one other newspaper, published in the town of Caldwell, Kansas, for
the space of thirty days immediately preceding said sale. Provided, That
wherein it may be made to appear, that posts or other wood and material
used in the construction of said wire or other fences, have been obtained
from the lands aforesaid of the Cherokee Nation—the same shall be taken
possession of in the name and on the behalf of said Nation and sold in the
manner above provided, in the first instances, and shall not be subjected
to sale or removal by owners or claimants. Provided further, That
this act shall not be so construed as to prevent licensed stockmen from
constructing such lots at their usual headquarters, not exceeding twenty
acres in extent, as may be necessary for the better management of their
stock.”
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, December 14, 1882.
We urge upon Hon. Thomas Ryan the propriety
of pushing through his bill for attaching the northwestern portion of the
Indian Territory to the District of Kansas for judicial purposes, and for
the establishment of a U. S. Court at some eligible point near the southern
border of Kansas. The western portion of the Territory is now practically
under no other law than that of force, for the reason that where a criminal
is arrested and sent to Fort Smith, persons having knowledge of his guilt
cannot be induced to give information for fear of being dragged to Fort
Smith as witnesses at a great inconvenience and loss of time and money.
The practical effect of this state of affairs is to make the Territory a
harboring place for the worst class of outlaws in the country, whom the
law-abiding and orderly people cannot rid themselves of except by taking
the law into their own hands.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, December 14, 1882.
Chief Bushyhead has vetoed the bill annulling
the contracts made between cattlemen on the Cherokee Strip and citizens
of the Cherokee Nation, and also the bill to lease the Strip to a combination
of members of the Nation. His veto messages have not been received, but
it is safe to say that in both vetoes, the chief was eminently correct.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, December 14, 1882.
While on our wanderings down in the Territory,
we heard a conversation among cowboys accidently brought together at one
of the stage ranches on the road between here and Reno. They were discussing
the cattle business, as only cowmen can, and commented upon fencing, cowmen’s
work, etc., at the same time freely criticizing some of the cattle bosses.
In speaking of the extra work entailed by reason of fencing, one of them
stated that S. Tuttle was one of the whitest men on the range. He had built
a comfortable house for his hands, and while he exacted faithful services
on their part, at the same time he did not require impossibilities. The
line riders had each only ten miles of fence to look after, instead of twenty-five,
as on some ranches, and in so far as he could, Mr. Tuttle made the hard
and laborious life of a cowboy as smooth as circumstances would permit.
The moral to this will show itself next spring when, we believe, S. Tuttle
will find very few of his cattle outside of his range at the general round
up.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, December 14, 1882.
WASHINGTON.
An Indian Territory special says the Indian
authorities and Indian Agent Tuft are trying to remove 2,000 Indians from
the Creek and Seminole countries, who have moved in, settled, and occasionally
intermarried. Secretary Teller has the matter under advisement. If removed,
they may make trouble.
Arkansas City Traveler, December 20, 1882.
Capt. Haight informs us that he was called
into the Territo­ry a short time ago to settle a boundary line between
two large pastures. One of them, just south of Arkansas City, contains 190,000
acres, and is being fenced with barbed wire. This is being done by Col.
Windsor, of Titusville, Pennsylvania, under the cover of the names of two
Cherokee Indians. The other is being fenced by Mills and Stevens. Telegram.
Arkansas City Traveler, December 20, 1882.
Stockmen’s Meeting.
ARKANSAS CITY, Dec. 18th, 1882.
Pursuant to notice published, calling
a stockmen’s meeting at the Central Avenue, on Monday last, about thirty
stockmen responded, and the meeting was called to order at 1 o’clock
p.m. Mr. Hodges was called to the chair, and O. O. Clendenning was appointed
Secretary. The Chairman then read an article from a Cherokee paper, stating
what the Cherokee Council had done to prevent Eastern Companies from fencing,
and thus depriving the stockmen of the several ranges for which they had
paid and held license to in the Indian Territory.
Mr. J. E. Snow, Attorney of Winfield,
then read a series of resolutions prepared by himself and W. P. Hackney,
the acting attorneys for the stockmen. The resolutions are too lengthy to
be inserted here, but the sum and substance was that the stockmen there
assembled pledged themselves to abide by and aid each other to the utmost
extremity in resisting the action of the fencing monopolies which are attempting
to illegally force them from their ranges.
The resolutions were adopted and signed;
and the following gentlemen, Messrs. F. M. Stewart, D. Warren, and W. H.
Dunn, were appointed a committee to act in the premises and decide as to
the action necessary to be taken to enforce the resolutions as adopted.
A motion was put and carried that the
minutes of the meeting be published after which the meeting adjourned subject
to a call of the committee.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, December 21, 1882.
From Caldwell, Kansas.
EDITOR INDIAN CHIEFTAIN: As you have an
outspoken people’s paper, I send you a few lines upon matters west
of 96 degrees.
The spirit of invading Oklahoma is on
the boom, and they threaten to march about the middle of February in strength,
and hold by force. If a rope and tree could be furnished the leaders, the
cause would end.
After looking over our delegates’
report to the council and seeing so much bosh from the U. S. Indian department,
I feel it my duty to defend Cherokee rights. We have 6,500,000 acres of
beautiful, rich land unsold west of 96 degrees, and we ought to control
it like men, and quit begging thieving officials who always act in favor
of those who pay the most for their influence—it is ours until sold
and title conveyed. They claim a right to control by a clause of the treaty
of 1866, which says, “the government may locate friendly Indians, etc.,”
which clause conveys no title and is abrogated by a provision to remove
no more Indians from their homes, etc. Doing, and failing to do, are different
things. Then they claim a set price of 50 cents per acre, dated 1878, when
the treaty provides for a commission to value all lands sold. Admitting
that a price was fixed in 1878 for such land at 50 cents per acre, to hold
before sale and regardless of increased value, shows fraud which annuls
the whole proceeding. They have bought and paid for the Oklahoma ceded lands,
and have room there for more Indians than there is to locate. Such a sale
of our land works an evil instead of good, it furnishes fusions instead
of homes for other tribes, and gives land sharks an excuse to move and rob
them of their homes at our expense. This country was provided by our parents,
and we should hold it sacred as a headright for the Cherokee blood, and
not ruin our inheritance by blind and corrupt legislation, as has been done
with our homestead east of 96 degrees, where parties ignore Cherokee rights
to buy foreign votes. If we have 15,000 Cherokees, a division of this land
will give 433½ acres per head, and with an individual title placed
on the market would bring from $3 to $40 per acre, and at a low average
of $5 per acre, would give $2,166.83 per capita, enough to end our cry for
bread money that politicians so eagerly take advantage of to make voting
stock.
Fencing stock pastures west of 96 degrees,
I will state, was a means of self-defense adopted by stockmen, and guaranteed
by individual enterprise of Cherokees, upon common right.
Our land unsold begins east at the Arkansas
River, and runs west to the Panhandle of Texas, being 178 miles long by
57½ wide, and joins Kansas on the south in length. Under the old
mode of herding, no one could afford to hold stock nearer than 10 to 20
miles of the state line; they would ramble or be driven to Kansas pens,
and to recover them, owners have to pay a fine, damages to crops, and other
expenses, as per herd law. The result was that licensed herds left about
one-third of our range vacant, which was covered by men living on the line
with sheep and other stock on which they paid no taxes. Most of said range
is being reclaimed by men fencing and stocking pastures, thereby saving
the range and timber and creating more revenue for the Nation and establishing
Cherokee rights by fencing squatters out.
It is true, some of our people abuse the
cause by covering stock from tax or taking more range than is needed. Our
treasurer has the right to tax all stock west of 96 degrees, and cover all
extra range with stock, which will stop the swindle and greed. J. W. JORDAN.
Arkansas City Traveler, December 27, 1882.
C. M. Scott is now at Cadiz, Ohio, having
left Washington on Friday last in order to spend the Holidays with his parents.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, December 28, 1882.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22. Captain Scott, of
Arkansas City, Kansas, is here to consult with the interior department respecting
the conflicting leases of lands in the Indian Territory, made by the Cherokee
Nation to various cattle men of Kansas and Missouri for grazing purposes.
This is the inauguration of a big fight between the original lessees, who
are small cattle owners, and the large companies who are striving to acquire
control of these lands to their prejudice.
Arkansas City Traveler, January 3, 1883.
It would please us to hear of a nice little
rebellion and uprising of the people along the line of the Territory on
both sides. A company in Pennsylvania is fencing in large tracts of land
already occupied by settlers, to the exclusion of any who may choose to
cross the border. Barb wire fences twenty-five miles long are being stretched
all along the line. One of the pastures south of Arkansas City contains
190,000 acres. This is being fenced by Col. Windsor, of Titusville, Pennsylvania,
under cover of the names of two Cherokee Indians.
Burden Enterprise.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, January 4, 1883.
THE CHEROKEE OUTLET.
Important to Stockmen.
The Globe-Democrat of last Sunday
publishes the following special from Washington, which may or not be of
interest to stockmen on the “outlet,” according as they view it.
It is dated Dec. 30, 1882.
Reports have reached the Indian Bureau
from Cherokee County, Indian Territory, to the effect that the white men
are erecting buildings and fencing off pastures in the “Cherokee Outlet.”
Commissioner Price today addressed a letter to Agent Tufts at Muskogee to
warn the white herders to remove with their stock from off the reservation,
allowing twenty days for the exit. If the herders fail to get out at time,
the agent is authorized to call on the military to eject them.
If we understand the above rightly, the
attempt will be made to remove the stockmen from the strip, or “outlet,”
as it is termed in the dispatch. Should such be the case, the move will
be an outrage upon the stockmen, for which no excuse whatever can be offered.
For they have paid taxes to the Cherokee Nation and received a permit therefor
to hold their stock on the strip. In addition to paying taxes, many of them
have also bought and paid for such right as the Cherokees could give to
fence their pastures and to erect suitable buildings for the shelter and
accommodation of their employees. They, therefore, have an equitable right
to remain undisturbed so long as they do not violate the laws of the United
States and the regulations of the Cherokee Nation governing the occupancy
of the lands.
But, it will be urged, the Cherokee have
no right to grant pasture-fencing privileges on the Strip. Why not? It is
not worthwhile to quote extracts from their treaties at this time, for they
have been published so often as to be familiar to everybody who has taken
the least interest in the Territory affairs. It is only sufficient to state
that these treaties convey to the Cherokees, in fee simple, the lands in
question, and that, until paid for by the United States, the Cherokees have
the sole control of the lands, with the undoubted right to secure from them
the largest revenue possible. No one who thoroughly understands the full
merits of the question will argue differently. Therefore, it seems to us
that if complaint has been made against the stockmen, it comes from envious
or malicious parties, parties who cannot occupy the country themselves and
are not willing to allow others to do so.
The stockmen, in their own interests,
should take steps to ascertain the full meaning of the dispatch, and if
there is anything in it, adopt a course that will protect their rights.
Since the above was put in type, we have
discovered the following in the Washington letter of the Kansas City
Times.
“By the Cherokee law each Indian
has been allowed to appropriate a given quantity of land suitable for grazing
purposes in the Indian Territory. It appears that the rich and powerful
corporation known as the ‘Standard Oil Corporation’ have gone
into the speculation of cattle raising, and the better to serve a monopoly,
have hired Cherokee Indians at nominal rates to take up grazing lands for
the benefit of the company. Heretofore, the people of Missouri, Kansas,
and Texas have been able to graze their cattle in the Indian Territory by
paying so much a head, but the plan of the Standard Oil Company is to drive
out all those engaged in raising cattle in a small way. The leases or contracts
made with these Indians by the Standard Oil Company have been submitted
to Secretary Teller, and to his credit, be it said, he has peremptorily
declined to approve them. This evidences the fact that the Secretary appreciates
the interests and wants of the western people, and is not to be dragooned
into injustice even by so powerful a corporation as the Standard Oil Company.”
This, we think, accounts for the Globe-Democrat’s
special.
It is well enough to restrain monopolists,
but we venture the assertion that the parties who are objecting to the Standard
Oil Company’s leases are stock owners on the Kansas border, who have
been in the habit of holding cattle in the Territory without paying one
cent of taxes on them to the Cherokees or the state of Kansas. In their
way, they were monopolists as well as the Standard Oil Company.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, January 11, 1883.
LEASING THE OUTLET.
The Schemes of Monopolists.
Last week the COMMERCIAL published a statement
regarding the flurry created by an order, issued by the Secretary of the
Interior, for the removal of stockmen from the Cherokee Strip. On Friday
last, Mr. Tuttle, of this city, received a telegram stating that the order
had been rescinded, and on Saturday the following appeared in the Globe-Democrat.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 5. B. H. Campbell,
representing a syndicate of Chicago capitalists, is negotiating with the
Secretary of the Interior for a lease of a tract of land thirty miles square
in the Indian Territory belonging to the Cherokee and Cheyenne Indians.
They propose using it for grazing cattle, and agree to cut only such timber
as is necessary to provide posts for wire fences to enclose the land. They
offer $50,000 rental for the land. The Indians are represented as being
anxious to enter into the arrangement.
B. H. Campbell has evidently experienced
a change of heart since he quit editing a greenback paper in Iowa. Then,
his soul was harrowed by the privileges granted monopolists and their encroachments
upon the rights of the people. Now, he is only too anxious to be enrolled
in the ranks of that hated class.
Letting Mr. Campbell rest for the present,
it is well enough to state here, that
1. The Cheyennes do not control any lands
in the Indian Territory.
2. Even if they do, neither they nor the
Cherokees, jointly or separately, have anything to say about leasing lands
in the Territory for grazing purposes.
3. Secretary Teller has no authority to
lease lands in the Territory for any purpose whatever.
But even if he has that authority, and
chooses to exercise it in favor of a cattle syndicate or an individual who
desires to engage in the stock business, then he may also lease a tract
or tracts to colonies or individuals for agricultural or mining purposes.
Furthermore, to acknowledge the authority
of the Secretary to give a lease to Mr. Campbell’s Chicago syndicate,
is practically an assertion that the land in question belongs to the government,
and therefore is subject to settlement. Certainly no one assumes that to
be the case.
In the above we do not wish to be understood
as objecting to leasing the lands in the Territory, west of 96 degrees,
and not absolutely required for the use of the Indians now occupying them,
for grazing purposes. On the contrary, the COMMERCIAL has been the first
to advocate such a course, believing it would be beneficial to the Indians,
a great saving to the country, and put at rest—for a time, at least—all
attempts to force the Territory open to settlement. But this must be by
the authority of Congress, and under such regulations as will not permit
the entire country to be absorbed by two or three combinations like the
one represented by Mr. B. H. Campbell. And it is well to remark right here,
if the attempts being made to place the control of the grazing lands, in
the Territory, into the hands of a few men, or any combination of capitalists,
is persisted in, the results will be that in less than one year the land
in question will be dotted with claim houses instead of cattle. A little
reflection on this point may possibly save some useless and likewise expensive
trips to the national capital.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, January 11, 1883.
COUNTERMANDED.
Notice was received from Agent Tufts,
on Monday, to publish the order notifying stockmen on the Strip to remove
fences and improvements. Yesterday morning a dispatch was received from
him countermanding the notice to publish. It would seem, from this, that
the order issued by the Indian Bureau had been suspended until the condition
of affairs on the Strip are thoroughly investigated. Should this prove to
be the case, the stockmen need not fear any further trouble, as such an
investigation will undoubtedly convince the Interior Department that no
cause exists for interfering with them.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, January 11, 1883.
Stockmen’s Meeting at Topeka.
We see by the Commonwealth that
a special meeting of stockmen belonging to the Stockmen’s Association
of the Cherokee Strip, was held in Topeka on Monday. M. H. Bennett was elected
chairman pro tem., and after a free and full discussion of the order issued
by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs removing all improvements from the
Strip, on motion Hon. E. M. Hewins and Maj. A. Drumm were appointed to wait
upon the Secretary of the Interior and request a thorough investigation
of the intentions of the stockmen in erecting enclosures and making the
improvements complained of. Also, to request a suspension of the execution
of the order until the investigation is made.
The meeting adopted the following preamble
and resolutions.
WHEREAS, We have an association known
as the Cherokee Strip Stockmen’s Association, whose members own over
ninety percent of all livestock grazed upon the Cherokee Strip, Indian Territory,
and all difficulties heretofore arising between members of this association
have been amicably settled by themselves, and
WHEREAS, We, as stockmen of the Indian
Territory, claim no right whatever in said Territory, only as guaranteed
us by virtue of paying a grazing tax on stock to the Cherokee nation; therefore,
be it
Resolved, That we would respectfully request the Secretary of the Interior
to make a full and complete investigation of the interest and purposes of
the stockmen on the Cherokee Strip in the Indian Territory, as regards their
improvements further than to simply protect their stock from trespassing
upon the ranges of their fellow stockmen.
Resolved, That we are opposed to any company or individual monopolizing any
part on the Territory that infringes upon the rights of any person or persons
that have paid the grazing tax upon their cattle and have grazing ground
allotted and set apart for the benefit of the cattle upon which said tax
has been paid.
Resolved, That we unanimously disapprove of the Standard Oil Company or any
other corporation or company of individuals, in fencing up the grounds known
as the “quarantine grounds,” said grounds having been set apart
by the association, by and with the consent of the Cherokee authorities,
for the benefit and use of persons driving cattle from Texas and other points
for shipment.
Resolved, That we, as members of this association, will use our utmost endeavors
to prevent all trespassing upon the timber lands of the Cherokee Strip by
whomsoever it may be. We do also insist upon all persons holding stock upon
the Cherokee Strip preserving order and quietly submitting to all the laws
and decisions of the governing power of the hour.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, January 11, 1883.
The Commonwealth: The Chicago capitalists who are negotiating
with the Secretary of the Interior for a lease of 2,400,000 acres of land
in the Indian Territory, are under the leadership of B. H. Campbell, late
United States marshal for the northern district of Illinois. They offer
the magnificent sum of two cents an acre for the richest land in the west.
The scheme goes on all fours with Uncle Rufus Hatch’s offer to take
the Yellowstone Park off the government’s hands for a hotel site, or
that other proposition of the Standard Oil Company to “freeze out”
all the small cattle men in the Territory.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, January 18, 1883.
The Commonwealth of the 14th informs
us that “stockmen in the Indian Territory are much pleased over the
news that they are not to be removed until an investigation is held by the
Interior Department.”
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, January 18, 1883.
THE CHEROKEE LAW ON FENCES.
Elsewhere will be found the law relating
to pastures and fencing the same, passed by the Cherokee Council at its
last session, and approved December 9, 1882.
On the face of it, the law was intended
to apply only to that portion of the Cherokee country east of the 96th meridian,
yet if it means anything, it means that all fenced pastures on the Strip
must also be reduced to fifty acres, and that those who have erected fences
enclosing a greater number of acres, must remove the same immediately after
the first of March next.
If this is the construction to be placed
upon the law, then it is only fair to characterize it as a piece of bad
faith on the part of the Cherokee Nation toward the stockmen who have fenced
ranges on the Strip. By virtue of the laws of their nation, Cherokee citizens
had taken those ranges and authorized the parties occupying them to build
fences and such other improvements as would make them complete stock ranches
within the meaning of those laws. That being the case, the stockmen acted
in good faith, with no intention of wronging the Cherokee or assuming rights
to which they were not entitled.
And this was fully explained to the Cherokee
Senate by Mr. P. N. Blackstone, one of its members, in the discussion on
the sweeping confiscation act introduced by Mr. Ross, and which failed to
receive the approval of the Principal Chief. Mr. Blackstone, to his honor
be it said, stated at that time, that he and other citizens of the Cherokee
Nation were alone responsible for the course pursued by the stockmen, and
if any punishment was to be meted out to parties for encroaching upon the
rights of the nation, he and others, who had taken possession of the lands
in question, should suffer and not the innocent stockmen. In this course
Mr. Blackstone gave an example of manliness, moral courage, and a sense
of honesty and justice deserving of all credit, and which might be advantageously
imitated by the Cherokee Nation.
The COMMERCIAL stated when the fencing
began, and so believes now, that it would be an injury to the men engaging
in it and the stock interests on the Strip, but it has been adopted by many,
at a great expense, under what was ample authority, and now they should
not be disturbed without just cause.
If they are now compelled to remove the
fences, it is only right that some compensation should be made them in return
for the expense which they have incurred through no fault on their part.
At all events, there should be no such thing as total confiscation or destruction
of their property, such as seems to be contemplated in the law of December
9.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, January 18, 1883.
Leasing Indian Land: Secretary Teller’s Statements.
WASHINGTON, D. C., January 5. There have
been repeated efforts of late on the part of different syndicates to lease
large tracts of land in the Indian Territory. Among the applicants is B.
H. Campbell, of Aurora, Illinois. Upon applying to Secretary Teller tonight
for information, he said that he has not yet considered the application
of B. H. Campbell and others for a confirmation of a lease with certain
tribes of the Indian Territory, which is for a tract of land thirty miles
square. The secretary stated tonight that he is not unfamiliar with the
subject, as it was brought before his attention last summer in the form
of complaints from the Wichita tribe of Indians that stockmen had come into
the Territory and made contracts with the Indians, imposing on their ignorance,
and giving them hardly enough consideration to justly warrant the application
of the term. The secretary stated that the War Department was called upon
at the time to drive these men and their cattle out of the Territory, but
was unable to do it. He had no doubt that today there were many of these
men who have made contracts with the more ignorant tribes for the lease
of large tracts of lands, where the consideration allowed the Indians was
a mere trifle. “This,” he stated, “is especially the case
along the northern boundary of the Indian Territory, where the dishonest
cattle raisers in the southern part of Kansas have imposed on the Indians
most shamefully.”
The Secretary explained that he had no
authority to lease the land, but that he could only confirm or reject a
lease made by the Indians. He stated that Mr. B. H. Campbell presented his
case to the department, and he understood it was to lease a tract thirty
miles square; this in round numbers would be about one million acres, and
the price proposed was two cents per acre per annum, which is the price
paid for grazing land in Texas. The Secretary did not know whether or not
he would be in favor of issuing such a large tract to one party, and was
inclined to think two cents too small a figure. He thought, however, that
the gentleman referred to would pay more than two cents per acre. He called
attention to the Cherokee reservation, in which there are 6,000,000 acres,
which leased at two cents an acre, would amount to a rental of $120,000
per annum. This, the secretary said, was more than could be realized from
any other use of the land, as it is not arable except in occasional spots.
Besides the small price offered for the
land, the Secretary thought that another objection was the promiscuous crowd
allowed to enter the Territory under these contracts, such as cowboys, who,
he thought, had a demoralizing effect upon the Indians. This, he said, it
was proposed to remedy by selecting one-half of the herders from among the
Indians, which, he thought, would be a check, especially in view of the
effort now being made to disarm the cowboys.
The Secretary summed up his statement
by saying that, if a fair price was offered for the land, and the Indians
agree to the contract, he thought that to lease it in tracts of reasonable
size, with certain restrictions, would be a benefit to the Indian. He stated
that there were several cases of this character before the department. One
from Mr. Babbitt, of St. Louis, and one from a Mr. Duncan, of the same place,
were the only two names he could recall, though all of the applicants were
stockmen of the West. He stated that he would probably take up the cases
early next week.
The above is copied from the Kansas
City Indicator, not for its intrinsic worth, but to show that all the
humorists or fools have not put the wild, rushing Mississippi between themselves
and the surges of the Atlantic coast, and for the further purpose of giving
our readers an idea of the misinformation which can be put into circulation
with the aid of lightning and printer’s ink.
A careful perusal of this artistically
constructed dispatch will naturally impress upon the mind of the average
citizen of this section that the writer of it, whoever he may be, has attempted—to
use a vulgarism of the day—to put it upon the venerable Secretary of
the Interior, or that he means to create the impression that the aforesaid
venerable is as innocent of all knowledge regarding affairs in the Indian
Territory as a high salaried editor of an eastern daily or an intellectually
pale student of a theological seminary. Contemplate for a few seconds the
idea of Indians, singly or in tribes, leasing any portion of the Territory!
And then the inference that the Indian
“Whose untutored mind
Clothes him in front and leaves him bare behind.”
save when he adorns himself with the picturesque
“gee string,” is a higher order of mammalia than the white herder
employed in the cattle camps of the Territory. Well, it is too rich for
anything.
Notice, too, the oracular way in which
the Honorable Secretary is made to class the stockmen on the Cherokee Strip
as a set of thieves. It must, of course, be highly flattering to such men
as Andy Drumm, Ed. Hewins, Tuttle, Milt. Bennett, Ben Miller, Tony Day,
Charley Moore, Johnny Blair (the editor of the Post), and even Barbecue
Campbell. While we haven’t the least doubt that these men would for
a moment hesitate to take in out of the wet anything they might see lying
around loose, it seems impossible to believe that they could concoct any
scheme whereby the poor Indian would come off second best. At all events,
the Indian is ahead, so far.
To sum up, if the Honorable Secretary
of the Interior did unburthen himself in the above manner, it must have
been all Barbecue could do, with all his gall, to refrain from stuffing
his “wipe” into his mouth. It is a safe bet, that so soon as B.
Q. could do so, he withdrew and sought the friendly shade of some elegant
Washington bar, and there drowned his risibilities in the beverage of the
age A rare joker is—B.
Q.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, January 18, 1883.
Penal Law.
An act to prevent monopoly of the Public Domain.
WHEREAS, The Constitution declares that
the lands of the Cherokee Nation shall remain common property, and that
the National Council shall have power to adopt such laws and regulations
as its wisdom may deem expedient and proper to prevent citizens from monopolizing
improvements with the view of speculation, and,
WHEREAS, The Inclosure of large bodies
of land for whatever purpose is violative of the paramount ownership of
the people in the common property of the Nation, and calls for the exercise
of the power invested in the National Council to adopt such laws and regulations
as it may deem proper to prevent citizens from monopolizing improvements,
therefore,
Be it enacted by the National Council,
That all inclosures of the lands of the Cherokee Nation by wire, whether
barbed or plain—and posts, wood or iron, the said material having been
at no time recognized as constituting a lawful fence in the Cherokee Nation,
or as constituting any part of an improvement under the constitution, are
hereby declared to be unlawful, and where such inclosures exist, the owners
or claimants of the wire and posts used in making such inclosures are required
to remove the same within ninety days after the passage of this act, or
it shall be the duty of the sheriff of the district, wherein such fencing
may be found, to remove it, and to sell so much thereof as may be required
to cover the costs of such removal, after giving further notice of the time
and place of sale in three successive issues of the Cherokee Advocate.
Be it further enacted, That from and after
the passage of this act it shall not be lawful for any person to hold, for
the purposing of grazing, a greater quantity of land than fifty acres attached
to the farm owned or occupied by such person, he being a citizen of the
Cherokee Nation.
Be it further enacted, That in case any
farm is or shall be inclosed by wire and wood or iron posts, such fence
shall be lawful when constructed as follows, to-wit:
Wooden posts not less than seven feet
long, six inches in diameter, firmly set in the ground two feet, and not
exceeding eight feet apart; one wire four inches from the ground; next,
one board, one by six inches, four inches above first wire; next, second
wire four inches above first board; next, third wire fifteen inches above
second wire; second board one by six or eight inches, eighteen inches above
third wire; said wires to be fully stretched and securely fastened to the
posts, and the boards to be securely nailed to the posts.
Approved, Dec. 9th, 1882.
[The ninety days for which the above penal
act has to be published before it becomes a law, will expire March 27, 1883.]
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, January 25, 1883.
AGENT TUFTS APPOINTMENT.
Agent Tufts has been appointed by the
Secretary of the Interior to investigate the occupation of the Cherokee
Strip by cattlemen and the fence question. Mr. Tufts is general agent for
the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles. While we believe
he will act impartially in making his investigation, we are at the same
time convinced that it would have been better for all concerned if the Secretary
had selected someone in no wise connected with either side. No information
is given as to when Agent Tufts will enter upon the discharge of his duties,
but it is presumed that he will make his report in time for the Secretary
of the Interior to lay the whole matter before congress, should such a course
be deemed necessary.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, February 1, 1883.
West of 96.
Hon. John Q. Tufts, our excellent agent
at Muskogee, has very properly been chosen by the Secretary of the Interior
as special agent to investigate the rights of the Cherokees and cattlemen
in this fencing of the land west of 96. He is the right man in the right
place. We are confident he will make an honest and fair report of the matter,
and that the rights of the Cherokee Nation in the premises will be protected
as far as his report can do so.
There is something in this matter beside
the wire fences belonging to Dick, Tom, and Harry, and in suing for their
destruction by the hands of the U. S. Government, the rights of the Cherokee
Nation are disregarded. The Secretary of the Interior has no more right
to order a fence torn down west of 96 by virtue of his right, or of that
of the U. S. Government, than he has to tear them down east of 96. The land
west of 96 is ours; we own it under patent; we have never alienated it;
we have never sold it, but have only agreed to do so when the government
wants to settle friendly Indians and is ready to pay for it, and when thus
sold and occupied, we yield “possession and jurisdiction,” which
we have especially retained in this agreement. (See treaty of 1866, Art.
16.) But if it is not sold or occupied, we do retain possession and jurisdiction,
and we make every man but our own citizens pay for grazing there—no
man can use it without paying our Nation tax or rent money. Have we the
right to demand and collect rent money and yet no right to protect ourselves
in using this property? Have we a right to the field and yet no right to
protect it from intrusion? Can we rent or use this grazing farm and yet
have no right to fence it? This seems to be the Secretary’s idea, as
he endorses the communication of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, from
which we quote.
“Neither have the Cherokees, in their
national capacity, the right to make settlement and improvement, or to authorize
the same, on the lands in question. This right, I understand, the Cherokee
authorities do not claim, and that they have not authorized such settlement
and improvement.”
The Cherokee National authorities have
never disclaimed the right of settlement and improvement there, though they
have taken no action authorizing it. They do have, however, unquestionably,
the right to settle it and improve it, according to the treaty, but if the
government of the United States wants to settle friendly Indians there,
the improvements and settlements will have to be vacated so as to make operative
the promise made by the Cherokee people in the treaty. Until that time they
have the right, and will maintain it. The opinion of the Commissioner of
Indian Affairs seems to be guided by the contemptible opinion of Chas. Devens,
Esq., while acting as attorney general. We heard some time since a distinguished
gentleman, who had occupied the executive chair of a great state, define
an attorney general as a man of legal attainments, who was salaried to furnish
legal grounds for the course the executive wishes to pursue. Mr. Devens
seems to have been such an attorney general, for it is unquestionably expedient
that in view of future settlement of friendly Indians on this land, no settlement
of a substantial kind should be made by Cherokees. And this was doubtless
the executive wish. Mr. Devens makes his legal opinion, which is a poor
pretext, uphold this wish. He does as he is paid to do and the world rolls
on.
If the government were to want to remove
these fences in response to our request, as a Nation, it would be all right,
but when the government desires to move the fences of its own motion, we
cry stop! If you can destroy fencing of your own motion west of 96, you
can do it east of 96! We object to such a precedent.
Some of our dignified citizens who are,
under ordinary circumstances, fairly good thinkers, have rather rejoiced
at the recent action of the secretary; quite overlooking, in their eagerness
to destroy these leases, the dangerous precedent. There is a principle in
this business; let us bring it to light and stand by it. If we want to destroy
these fences, let us do it as a government as our right, but do not let
us call on the United States to do it as their right, lest when the precedent
is established, the government think it well to lay down our eastern fences
and have them run north and south, and east and west on section lines.
The above is from the Indian Chieftain,
published at Vinita, C. N. The position taken by the Chieftain is
the same advocated by the COMMERCIAL for the past three years, viz: that
the Cherokees had the sole control of the Strip, and that neither congress
nor the interior department had the right to dictate how the Cherokees should
manage it, or what use they should make of it.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, February 1, 1883.
Hon. John Q. Tufts, by advice of the 15th
inst., has been directed to report substantially on the following points
on the lands west of 96:
1st. How much fencing has been done on
the lands in question?
2nd. To whom do the fences belong?
3rd. Name of each individual company or
organization, claiming to own such fences and the quantity claimed by each.
4th. How long since fencing was commenced?
5th. What effect has such fencing had
upon legitimate trade and travel, and also upon mail routes?
6th. What effect upon preservation or
destruction of timber on said lands?
The agent was directed to suspend all
further operations under office letter of the 30th ult., until a full report
as called for above is made and action has thereon been taken by the Indian
department and communicated to him. Vinita Chieftain.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, February 1, 1883.
SPECIAL STOCKMEN’S MEETING.
Official Report of Proceedings.
A special meeting of the Cherokee Strip
Stock Association was held in Caldwell, Kansas, January 27, 1883.
The meeting was called to order by W.
E. Campbell, vice-president of the association; John A. Blair, Secretary.
The object of the meeting was stated by
the chair and letters were read by Mr. Walton from E. M. Hewins concerning
matters pertaining to the vital interests of the association.
On motion a committee of five was appointed
by the chair to draft resolutions. Messrs. M. H. Bennett, A. McClain, S.
Tuttle, Marion Blair, and O. Ewell were appointed as such committee.
On motion, a committee of five was appointed
on reception of Major John Q. Tufts upon his arrival in this city, February
7th, 1883. E. M. Hewins, I. S. Ballinger, S. Tuttle, J. W. Hamilton, and
M. H. Bennett were appointed as such committee. On motion the committee
was increased to eight and A. McClain, Ben S. Miller, and A. M. Colson were
appointed as such additional committeemen.
The following resolution was adopted.
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to make a draft of the Cherokee
Strip, showing the quarantine grounds, trails, fencing, etc., and report
the same to the annual meeting of the Association on March 6th, 1883, together
with such recommendations as they may deem best for the interests of the
association.
Messrs. A. M. Colson, M. H. Bennett, J.
A. Blair, H. Hodgson, and S. Tuttle were appointed as such committee.
The committee on resolutions submitted,
through its chairman, the following report, which was adopted.
WHEREAS, It is to the interest of every
person, company, or corporation grazing cattle on the Cherokee Strip, that
that scope of country known as the quarantine grounds be left open for the
use of Texas cattle drovers and local shippers, and that the trails across
said Cherokee Strip used by Texas cattle drovers and local ranchmen be left
open and free from all barriers of any kind. Therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that all the trails across
the Cherokee Strip, leading to all shipping points in Kansas and the northwest
be left open and free from all barrier, such as wire fences, board fences,
or any kind of fences whatever.
Resolved, That we, as an association and as individuals, deprecate and discountenance
the actions of any person, company, or corporation in building any wire
fences or other barriers upon the ground set apart as quarantine grounds
for through Texas cattle or for shipment of Territory cattle, and that we
will use our individual efforts to discourage any further occupancy of the
said grounds for ranch purposes by local stockmen.
Resolved, That this association recognizes the rights of the Cherokee Nation
in collecting a grazing tax upon cattle grazed on Cherokee lands in the
Indian Territory, and that under the permits issued by the Cherokee Nation
is our only legal right in said Cherokee country.
Resolved, That it is the earnest wish of this association that the title
and control of the said Cherokee Strip be definitely settled and the unquestionable
legal control of it be determined that we may be the better enabled to conform
to all the laws governing it.
Resolved, That this association fully endorses the action of the official
meeting of the association held at Topeka, Kansas, on January 8, 1883, and
that we re-affirm the resolutions there adopted as the sense of this meeting.
Resolved, That the thanks of this association are due and are hereby tendered
Hon. E. M. Hewins and Major A. Drumm, for the able and efficient manner
in which they represented our interests before the Secretary of the Interior,
and that we full endorse their actions and statements in the matter; and
that the association is entirely satisfied with the action of the Secretary
of the Interior Department in appointing a special agent to investigate
fencing matters on the Cherokee lands, and will give said agent all the
assistance in our power to arrive at an equitable conclusion in the matter.
M. H. BENNETT, Chairman.
There being no further business before
the meeting, a motion to adjourn prevailed.
W. E. CAMPBELL, President.
J. A. BLAIR, Secretary.
Arkansas City Traveler, February 14, 1883.
Major Gore, [?] one of our stockmen, returned
to the city last week.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, February 15, 1883.
Cherokee Interests West of 96.
[From the Vinita Chieftain.]
The editor of the Chieftain has
said well and truly that “some of our dignified citizens who are under
ordinary circumstances, fairly good thinkers, have rather rejoiced at the
recent action of the Secretary, quite overlooking in their eagerness to
destroy these fences, the dangerous precedent. There is a principle in this
business, let us bring it to light and stand by it.” The principle
in this business is that some of our people cannot tolerate individual enterprise
even should it save them half of their territory; while they look on in
silence and indifference at the violation of their treaty on the part of
U. S. Government in appointing a commission of its own (in which the Nation
has no representation) to put a price on their land of not one third of
its value, while the Nation as a party in interest had the right to aid
in fixing the price.
Another consideration is, the Cherokee
Nation can protect its interests better, where its citizens have actual
possession, than when the country and land are in the possession of persons
that have no legal control over it.
The necessity of fencing and owning the
range is becoming more and more apparent, and should be acted upon boldly
by men advanced in their ideas, yet no further advanced than the times.
Propositions will be made to the Cherokee
Nation, by Texas and New Mexico, to combine in raising cattle, then the
goose that lays the golden egg will be found. Let Kansas and Arkansas stop
their depredations and encourage the Cherokees in locating ranches where
their best grain producing countries are, and where improved farms in their
states on the Territorial line can be bought from $10 to $15 per acre. Encourage
the fencing of all the desirable places in the Indian Territory; especially
where grass, water, and shade trees can be found. Yes, encourage the breeding
of cattle in Texas and New Mexico. In the spring those men on the southern
ranches start for the northern ranches located in the Indian Territory.
Prepare your millet, stock fields, and corn for feeding next winter. Stockmen
have found out one thing, that it pays better to feed than to starve. It
is better to unite our efforts, so the interests of all concerned will be
served. S. S. S.
The above article of Mr. S. S. Stephens
presents a new idea to us, to wit: “That the U. S. Government expected
Cherokees would settle” west of 96. We think, however, the writer is
in error in his view, because the treaty provides that the land taken for
the settlement of friendly Indians should be taken in a “compact form.”
This condition precludes the idea of permanent settlement and in fact when
the Osages were settled west of 96, the Cherokee government endorsed this
interpretation by moving her citizens and paying them damages. Permanent
settlements do not seem to have been contemplated in the treaty, and the
Nation by her subsequent actions seems to have thought permanent settlement
inconsistent with the rights of the U. S. Government.
The statement that the government of the
United States abrogated the 16th article of our treaty in 1878, is erroneous.
This act referred to, doubtless, is that providing that no more Indians
shall be settled west of 96, without an act of congress authorizing it.
It was simply an act limiting the power of the Interior Department.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, February 15, 1883.
The Fence Question.
Major John Q. Tufts, special agent of
the Interior Department to investigate the fencing business on the Cherokee
Strip, arrived on Thursday of last week, remaining here as the guest of
C. F. Summer until Sunday, when he started for the range to make a personal
examination of fenced pastures, and gather such other information as would
enable him to make a full report of the situation to the Department at Washington.
It is expected that he will return in time to take the train today for Arkansas
City and the range immediately south of that place, after which he will
make out his report at as early a date as possible.
During his stay here, Major Tufts was
called upon by many of our citizens, who were pleased to make his acquaintance,
and speak of him as a most affable gentleman, and one who will do his whole
duty regardless of consequences. Owing to unfavorable circumstance, we failed
to meet the Major, but from what we have learned of his character through
those who have known him for years, we feel satisfied that in his mission
he brings with him no preconceived notions, and will be actuated solely
by a desire to deal justly with all parties concerned.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, February 15, 1883.
The rumor was current a couple of weeks
back, that Hon. D. W. Bushyhead, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation,
would make Caldwell a visit about this time. So far, he has failed to put
in an appearance, greatly to the disappointment of a large number of our
people, who, though having no personal acquaintance with him, yet cherish
a high regard for his character as a man and a servant of the people. Through
the Cherokee papers and the published proceedings of the Cherokee council,
we have watched Chief Bushyhead’s career during the past four years.
In all that time he has shown himself a wise and conservative ruler, and
while tenaciously holding out for all that is due his people, at the same
time he keeps in view, the fact that the boundaries of the United States
are not circumscribed by the section lines of the Cherokee Nation. In other
words, he seems to believe that the Cherokees are a part and parcel of this
country, and while caring for themselves, should at the same time contribute
their share to the general advancement of the country. The Cherokees, during
the past ten years, have proved themselves fully competent to exercise the
functions of self-government, but better than all under the wise leadership
of such men as Chief Bushyhead, they are gradually shaking off that spirit
of selfish egotism and clannishness which has made them regard the outside
world as enemies, and retarded them in the development of those qualities
of liberality and justice which alone make any people great.
But we have wandered from the subject.
What we really started out to say was that we trust Chief Bushyhead may
find it convenient to pay Caldwell a visit in the near future, and we offer
the suggestion, that he be invited to meet with us in March while the stockmen
of the Cherokee Strip Association are in session. Who will second the motion?
[WIRE FENCE STOPPED: ROBERTS & WINDSOR.]
Arkansas City Traveler, Wednesday, February 21, 1883.
Wire Fence Again. Senator Roberts, of
Pennsylvania, accompanied by Mr. Windsor, arrived at this place Tuesday
of last week, and remained several days looking up their interests in the
stock speculation they are about to engage in, in the Territory south of
this place. It was the intention of these gentlemen to fence in all that
country west of the Arkansas River, and north of the Ponca Reserve, as far
west as the Shakaska River; but another Cherokee, Mr. Mills, laid claim
to the range as far east as Bitter Creek, and that portion of it was abandoned.
The original intention as suggested by Mr. Gore, superintendent of the company,
was to run the fence on the divide between Deer Creek and Chilocco, leaving
a strip about four miles wide on the State Line. After losing the Shakaska
country, he was overruled in this and the posts were set about one mile
below the line, cutting off the ranges of Mr. Chambers, Mr. Hill, Scott
& Topliff, Mr. Fox, and Mr. Parvin along the State Line, who had paid
the Cherokee tax, besides a number who hadn’t paid, and several in
the Territory who had paid. This wanton overriding of the rights of these
gentlemen naturally produced trouble and the Secretary of the Interior interfered
and stopped it.
Mr. Roberts then came out to see what
had been done, and returned with the conviction that the people had not
been treated fairly, and with the determination that they should be, and
the result is that the rights of all those who have paid the tax will be
respected. C. M. Scott’s range will be left entirely out, as well as
all of his neighbors, and the fence placed west of the Ponca road and south
of Chilocco Creek.
There is a disposition with some to crush
out the company entirely, which is wrong. These gentlemen have the same
right to the unoccupied range as anyone when they have paid the tax imposed
by the Cherokees, and as long as they hold themselves within the bounds
of right, without infringing on others, we would rather have them there
than not have them. That the Cherokees have a right to impose a tax is recognized
by the Department of the Interior, and having that right, it is clearly
a matter for them to decide the terms and the parties to whom the grazing
permit is granted. Those having paid the Cherokee tax are protected, and
we cannot well see what more could in justice be demanded.
Arkansas City Traveler, February 21, 1883.
We received a pleasant call from Mr. Roberts,
of Titusville, and Colonel Windsor, last Wednesday. These gentlemen are
the parties who are fencing in the range south of town about which so much
excitement has prevailed. From the way they expressed themselves, it is
intended to do nothing that will in any way clash with the rights and privileges
of any of our people. This being the case, we can gladly wish them success.
Arkansas City Traveler, February 21, 1883.
A large majority of the stockmen holding
cattle southeast of Hunnewell and south of Arkansas City will be in attendance
at our annual stock meeting, with the determination of becoming members
of the Association and abiding by the rules of the same. One strong organization
on the Strip can be of more benefit to the stock interests than half a dozen
weak ones. “In unity there is strength,” or words to that effect.
Post.
Arkansas City Traveler, February 28, 1883.
Stockmen’s Meeting.
Pursuant to call a number of stockmen
met at the office of C. M. Scott, in Arkansas City, Kansas, and organized
by calling Mr. John H. Tomlin, of Winfield, to the chair and C. M. Scott,
Secretary.
The following gentlemen were present:
W. J. Hodges, John Mytie, John Love, Love,
Weathers, Tipton, Chinn, Wicks, D. Warren, Hugh McGinn, J. H. Saunders,
Moorehouse, Dr. Carlisle, and others.
On motion a committee of three was appointed
to settle all claims of stockmen with the parties proposing to fence, or
any other whose interests might conflict.
Committee: W. J. Hodges, Chairman; Drury
Warren, and C. M. Scott.
Mr. Weathers thought the Oil Company had
no right in the Territory, and did not believe in adjusting matters with
them. Thought they should not be recognized in the meeting at all.
Mr. Hodges thought if they paid the tax
and complied with the law, they had as much right as anyone to the unoccupied
range, and that we should not expect the range to lay idle, and that it
would not, and anyone claiming it and paying for it would be protected,
whether they were of Kansas, Pennsylvania, or England.
Mr. Chinn said if a man paid, he had no
protection against Texas cattle, to which Mr. Hodges replied; only through
the Stock Association.
Mr. Warren didn’t see any harm in
the Oil Company occupying the range as long as they interfered with the
rights of no one legally there.
Mr. Love is on the west side of the range
they propose to fence. He hasn’t paid his tax. When he stopped there,
he did not expect to remain long—was going farther west, but finally
concluded to remain. He then rendered payment to the Treasurer of the Cherokee
Nation, and his offer was refused, although he was first on the ground,
and had conflicted with no one; and after they had refused, the grant and
privilege was given to Mr. Gore. He did not believe in discriminating in
favor of a monopoly, and that too, when they were not on the ground, and
have not yet a hoof of stock on the range. He said there was no fairness
in it, and that the Oil Company were only acting fair since they could do
no better. That they had tried to shut out all alike and would have done
it if they could, and he appealed to the stockmen to stand by him as he
had stood by them.
Mr. Hodges thought Mr. Love’s case
one of merit, and that his right would not be ignored.
On motion the meeting elected Mr. Tomlin,
Mr. Love, and C. M. Scott a committee of three to forward the grievance
to Major John Q. Tufts at Muskogee, Indian Territory.
On motion Drury Warren, Mr. Wicks, and
Mr. Weathers were appointed a committee of three to attend the meeting of
the Cherokee Strip Stock Association, to be held at Caldwell March 6, 1883.
The following resolutions were introduced
and passed.
Resolved, That it is the sense and desire of this meeting that no quarantine
ground be established east of Bitter Creek.
Resolved, That no through Texas cattle be permitted to be driven along the
State Line east of Bitter Creek, or within four miles of the line during
the summer months and that we will use our best endeavors to prevent such
doing.
Resolved, That each and everyone of us become a member of the Cherokee Strip
Association, and that we stand by one another in the protection of our rights.
On motion the meeting adjourned.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, March 1, 1883.
CATTLE MEN IN THE TERRITORY.
The following, which we clip from the
Globe-Democrat, will be of interest to stockmen in the Territory.
The land which Mr. Campbell wants to lease, does not belong to the Cherokees,
and even if it did, the Secretary of the Interior has no more authority
to lease it than he has to lease a farm belonging to any man in the United
States. As to preventing the Cherokees from deriving a revenue from their
lands in any way they may see proper, except by selling it to other parties
than the government, it is hard to understand whence the Secretary derives
any authority to interfere. One thing is plain, however, to the people in
this section, and that is, if the Cherokees have no right to the control
of their lands, known as the Strip or outlet, and can be prevented from
allowing cattlemen to occupy them, it will be understood that the lands
belong to the United States, and they will be settled upon before the Honorable
Secretary can bat an eye. So long as the lands in question can be used for
stock, there will be little objection to them remaining in their present
status, but drive out the cattlemen and the farmers will at once take possession
of them. Perhaps it would be well for some of our leading stockmen to impress
this idea upon the Secretary’s mind.
“WASHINGTON, Feb. 21. Mr. Campbell,
of Illinois, a prominent cattleman in the Indian Territory, has been here
several days, trying to lease a tract thirty miles square, in the Indian
Territory. He offered $50,000 immediately for fifteen years. The Secretary
of the Interior refused to grant the lease. Mr. Campbell is in receipt of
a letter, which says a Western Congressman and a number of friends are trying
to lease the same tract and additional land, offering a greater rental.
Unless the Secretary changes his opinion, the lease will not be granted.
The Cherokees are anxious to have the land leased. The question has been
raised whether or not the Indians have a right to let their lands to white
men, and it is said a division will be made in the Interior Department which
will prevent them. Now the leases are made, and ratified, by the Secretary,
if he feels so disposed.”
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, March 8, 1883.
Muskogee Journal: Col. Tufts has received a complete map
of the Cherokee Strip, showing the location and size of all the pastures
on the Strip. There are about 20 pastures in all, aggregating 700 miles
of fence. The largest pasture is 20 miles square.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, March 8, 1883.
THIRD ANNUAL ROUND-UP
-OF THE-
CHEROKEE STRIP STOCKMEN.
NEW ORGANIZATION MADE.
No Show for Monopolists.
The third annual meeting of the Cherokee
Strip Stockmen’s Association met in the Opera House on Tuesday, March
6, 1883, at 11 a.m., and was called to order by the president, Ben S. Miller,
who made the following remarks.
It becomes my painful duty to call this
Association to order again. Painful, because it will be a rehash of what
we have done, the past year, some of which has come to light, and some of
which may never show up. On looking to my right, I miss the face of one
who, in life, was one of the best supporters the chair had, and whose council
and suggestions were always so timely. I refer with sorrow to our friend
and brother, A. H. Johnson, who was stricken down in the prime of life last
summer, without a moment’s warning, by the Power that controls the
elements. He has gone to a place where “scattering,” “gatherings,”
and “round-ups” are no more. Whether to a range that is fenced
or open, we know not; but we do know that if it is fenced, no Congress,
Secretary of the Interior, or Indian Commission can tear it down at their
pleasure.
The roll was called and the following
officers reported.
Ben S. Miller, president.
John A. Blair, secretary.
M. H. Bennett, treasurer.
The reading of the minutes of the previous
meetings was on motion dispensed with.
M. H. Bennett, treasurer of the Association,
presented his report, showing the receipts to be $3,645.16; expenditures,
$1,537.12, leaving a balance in the treasury of $2,108.04. Report accepted.
On motion, Messrs. W. E. Bridge, T. F.
Pryor, P. Carnagie, J. W. Carter, and Cid. Eldridge were appointed as committee
on membership.
On motion, Messrs. Hodson, Eldridge, Drumm,
Hewins, and Tuttle were appointed a committee on permanent organization.
On motion the president appointed W. S.
Snow, James Hamilton, and Ed. Hewins a committee on constitution and by-laws.
Mr. Hewins moved that the president appoint
a sergeant at arms, whose duty it shall be to see that bonafide members
of the Association are seated together and apart from spectators. Carried.
The Association then adjourned to meet
at 2 p.m.
On re-assembling at 2 p.m., the committee
on credentials reported the following list of new members, which report
was accepted.
D. R. Streeter, Northrup & Stephens,
C. W. Blaine, F. M. Stewart, R. B. Clark, R. H. Campbell, W. J. Hodges,
G. A. Thompson, S. A. Garth, W. H. Harrelston, W. M. Dunn, G. B. Mote, Crutchfield
& Carpenter, Walworth, Walton & Rhodes, W. B. Lee, W. W. Wicks,
J. A. Emmerson, John Myrtle, J. H. Hill, A. J. Snider, A. G. Evans, R. W.
Phillips, E. W. Payne, Tomlin & Webb, H. W. Roberts, E. P. Fouts, W.
W. Stephens, A. Mills, C. M. Scott, H. P. Standley, Lafe Merritt, J. N.
Florer, D. W. Roberts, C. H. Dye, M. W. Brand, Drury Warren, W. P. Herring,
S. T. Tuttle, E. W. Rannols, N. J. Thompson, W. H. Dunn, E. A. Hereford,
J. Love, Johnsons & Hosmer, S. T. Mayor, D. A. Streeter, M. H. Snyder,
S. P. Burress, C. C. Clark, J. C. Weathers, G. V. Collins, and H. H. Campbell.
The committee on permanent organization
reported the following officers.
President, Ben S. Miller.
Secretary, John A. Blair.
Assistant Secretary, Tell W. Walton.
Treasurer, M. H. Bennett.
Report adopted.
Mr. Hamilton from committee on constitution
and by-laws, asked for further time. Granted.
The committee on membership reported names
received as temporary members until the constitution and by-laws were adopted.
Report accepted.
On motion of Mr. Cooper, the report of
committee on permanent organization was adopted. Whereupon Mr. Ben S. Miller
thanked the convention for their united confidence in him as a presiding
officer, and without any flourish, announced that the next order of business
would be the appointment of a sergeant-at-arms, and therefore appointed
Marion Blair.
On motion, the Association resolved itself
into a committee of the whole, and on motion of Major Drumm, the following
committee on round-ups was appointed.
A. Drumm, W. E. Campbell, Marion Blair,
H. W. Timberlake, Syl. Fitch, J. W. Carter, Tony Day, M. K. Krider, Oliver
Ewell, Pat Carnegie, and E. W. Payne.
On motion, W. B. Hutchison, Caldwell
COMMERCIAL; H. P. Standley, Arkansas City Traveler; T. A. McNeal,
Cresset; E. W. Payne, Index, Medicine Lodge; H. A. Heath,
Kansas Farmer, Topeka; J. J. Jewett, Kansas City Indicator; H.
H. Heath, Kansas City Price Current; R. L. Owen, Indian Chieftain,
Vinita, Indian Territory; Lafe Merritt, Transporter, Cheyenne, Indian
Territory; J. C. Richards, Press; C. T. Hickman, Democrat,
Wellington; were elected assistant secretaries of the convention.
Report of H. R. Johnson, inspector at
Kansas City, was read and accepted. The report sets forth that Mr. Johnson
has caught 207 cattle wrongfully shipped, valued at $75.00. [Wonder if they
meant $75.00 each???]
A vote of thanks was tendered Mr. Johnson,
and various other inspectors, for their efficient work on behalf of the
Association.
On motion the following gentlemen were
appointed as a committee on programme for tomorrow’s work: Ben. Miller,
Carnegie, Bridge, Hodgson, Hamilton, and John Blair.
Messrs. John Reese and John Volz were
instructed to furnish the Association with an exhibit of expenses incurred
in pursuing cattle thieves.
A telegram dated Kansas City, March 6,
to W. B. Hutchison, from Agent Miles, was read as follows: “Agent Tufts
recommends that fences be permitted to remain and others with the consent
of the Cherokees.”
The convention adjourned until ten o’clock
Wednesday morning.
SECOND DAY.
Convention called to order at 11 a.m.,
on Wednesday morning by President Miller.
Mr. Hamilton, chairman from committee
on constitution and by-laws reported progress.
The following report of committee on round-ups
was presented by its chairman and on motion of Mr. Hodgson was adopted.
REPORT.
We, the assigned committee on round-ups,
appointed by the Convention of the Cherokee Strip Stock Association, held
in Caldwell on March 6th, 1883, herewith submit the following report.
Division No. 1. To be composed of what
is known as Red Rock and Salt Fork country, including the territory of,
and then to the south line of Kansas, and thence west, including all tributaries
of the Salt Fork, in the west line of the Comanche County Pool. Said division
to meet at the Red Rock crossing of the Arkansas City road, and Thomas Wilson
to be appointed as Captain of said division.
Division No. 2. To be composed of the
country lying south of division No. 1, and extend as far south as the division
between the Cimarron and the North Fork of the Canadian, and to commence
work at McClellen’s pasture, and, if necessary, to work on the North
Fork, east of the crossing of the Chisholm trail, and work west as far as
the west line of the Comanche County Pool. This division to meet where the
Arkansas City wagon road crosses the Skeleton Creek, and Howard Capper to
be appointed captain of said division.
Division No. 3. To be composed of the
country lying south of division No. 2, and as far south as the Washita River;
and to extend as far west as A. J. Day’s range. Said division to meet
at the Chisholm trail crossing of the North Fork of the Canadian, and H.
W. Timberlake to be appointed captain.
We also recommend that the captains of
the several divisions be empowered to discharge all parties not doing their
duty or refusing to obey orders, and that the said captains be authorized
to employ other men to fill vacancies, at the expense of the parties who
were represented by the parties discharged.
We also recommend that Marion Blair, A.
J. Day, W. E. Campbell, J. W. Carter, H. W. Timberlake, and J. W. Hamilton
be appointed as a committee to confer with the round-up committee appointed
by the stock meeting to be held at Medicine Lodge on the 28th and 29th of
the present month, and that the joint communities then decide upon a date
for the beginning of the spring round-up, together with such other recommendations
as they may desire to proffer; and that the report be published in the Caldwell,
Anthony, and Medicine Lodge papers. A. DRUMM, Chairman.
The President read a communication from
W. W. Cook, chairman of the Barbour County Stockmen’s Association,
inviting the stockmen of the Cherokee Strip, and all others, to attend their
meeting to be held at Medicine Lodge, March 28 and 29, 1883.
The committee on credentials reported
several new names for membership, which report was received and the members
admitted.
Mr. H. S. Lane, inspector at St. Louis,
reported 105 head picked up, which sold at an average of $75 per head.
The bill of Stoller & Reese, amounting
to $213.00, and of John Volz for $216.00, for expenses in recovering stolen
stock and prosecuting thieves, were referred to committee on finance.
The questions of continuing the reward
offered by the inspection committee for the conviction of stock thieves
was discussed by Messrs. Buzard, Snow, Heran, McDowell, and others—the
general feeling being that the reward ought to be increased.
Mr. Hodges asked leave to file paper for
consideration of the convention at the proper time concerning Oil Company
troubles. Paper was read and discussed.
Mr. Gore, representing the Company, supposed
to be the Pennsylvania Oil Company, stated that it was not a part of said
company, but was a private enterprise, and that they were willing to agree
to anything reasonable concerning the ranges.
Mr. Hewins thought the paper should go
to the committee on arbitration.
The following resolution was read and
adopted.
Resolved, That as the Kansas Legislature has adopted a railroad bill providing
for commissioners, the stockmen of Southwestern Kansas request that in the
appointment of said commissioners, the stock interests of the State shall
be taken into consideration; we, therefore, request that Hon. A. B. Mayhew,
of Sumner County, be appointed as a member of said commission.
THIRD DAY.
The convention was called to order at
11 o’clock a.m.
James W. Hamilton from the committee on
organization, reported that articles of incorporation had been adopted and
filed with the secretary of state as the Cherokee Live Stock Association,
that the board of directors for the first year were Ben S. Miller, A. Drumm,
John A. Blair, S. Tuttle of Caldwell; W. Payne of Medicine Lodge; and Charles
H. Eldred, of Carrolton, Illinois; and others. The committee also reported
a code of by-laws.
The report was read at length, and after
a warm discussion, adopted; and the convention adjourned until three o’clock
p.m.
At the three o’clock session seventy-three
stock men came forward and paid their membership fee of $10, after which
a meeting of the board of directors was called, the names passed upon, and
then adjourned until Friday morning.
Just at this point, we desire to say that
the new organization is a move in the right direction. Through it, the rights
of the smallest stockman in the Territory will be as fully protected as
those of the powerful combinations. In fact, it makes of all parties one
complete organization, wherein the weak will have a show for the capital
they may have invested.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, March 15, 1883.
CHARTER OF THE CHEROKEE STRIP LIVE STOCK ASSOCIATION.
We, the undersigned persons of competent
age, do hereby associate ourselves together for the purpose of forming a
private corporation under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Kansas,
the purpose of which is and shall be “the improvement of the breed
of domestic animals,” by the importation, grazing, breeding, sale,
barter, and exchange thereof.
The name of such corporation shall be
“The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association.”
SECOND. The purpose for which the corporation
is formed is the improvement of the breed of domestic animals by the importation,
grazing, breeding, sale, barter, and exchange thereof.
THREE. The principal office and place
of business of the corporation shall be at the city of Caldwell, in Sumner
County, Kansas, but its place or places of and for holding, breeding, grazing,
selling, bartering, and exchanging the domestic animals for the improvement
of the breed of which the corporation is as aforesaid organized shall be
wherever the same can be in the opinion of the directors or such other body
of the stockholders or members of such corporation as may be authorized
to act for the corporation most advantageously located.
FOURTH. The terms for which the corporation
is to exist shall be for forty years.
FIFTH. The number of the directors of
the corporation shall be nine, and the following named stockholders are
appointed directors for the first year, viz:
E. M. Hewins, whose residence is Cedarvale,
Kansas.
J. W. Hamilton, whose residence is Wellington,
Kansas.
A. J. Day, whose residence is Caldwell,
Kansas.
S. Tuttle, whose residence is Caldwell,
Kansas.
M. H. Bennett, whose residence is Caldwell,
Kansas.
Andrew Drumm, whose residence is Caldwell,
Kansas.
Ben S. Miller, whose residence is Caldwell,
Kansas.
E. W. Payne, whose residence is Medicine
Lodge, Kansas.
Chas. H. Eldred, whose residence is Carrollton,
Illinois.
Which said charter was on said date duly
transmitted, postage pre-paid to the Honorable Secretary of State at Topeka,
Kansas, and on said date the by-laws for the regulation of the business
of said corporation were by your said committee formulated, and that thereafter
to-wit: On the 8th day of March, 1883, the board of directors of said corporation,
met in pursuance of the provisions of said charter and in conformity of
law elected Ben S. Miller, one of said board of directors, president of
said corporation, and at the same time appointed John A. Blair as secretary
and M. H. Bennett as treasurer thereof, and duly ratified and accepted the
by-laws herein before referred to, wherefore we respectfully suggest that
our action in and about the matter aforesaid, be approved and accepted as
the fulfillment of the duties by you imposed upon us as your committee for
the purposes aforesaid, and that we be now discharged from further duty.
BY-LAWS OF THE CHEROKEE STRIP LIVE STOCK ASSOCIATION.
ARTICLE I.
SECTION 1. The name and style of the corporation
shall be “The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association.”
SECTION 2. The object of the Association
is to provide for and promote the improvement of the breed of domestic animals
by all lawful means, such as providing for the purchase, importation, barter,
sale, and exchange thereof, at such place or places, within or without the
territorial limits of this State, as shall be or seem to be, most conducive
to the advancement of the interests of the Association; in pursuance of
the purpose and object of which the same has been and is as aforesaid organized
inclusive of the right by which and on behalf, of said Association to purchase
any and all of whatsoever kind of domestic animals it, the said Association,
may see fit or desire to purchase, or in any lawful manner acquire, together
with the right to purchase or lease any or all parcels or tracts of land,
where-soever situated, as may be necessary for the holding, keeping, grazing,
breeding, handling, selling, bartering, or in any lawful manner whatsoever
exchanging any or all of any or all kinds of domestic animals so as aforesaid
purchased, imported, handled, bred, grazed, obtained by barter or exchange
by or on behalf of said Association.
All persons, corporations, or companies
who now occupy undisputed range in the Cherokee Strip, and who agree to
pay the assessments to which may be hereinafter levied upon them by authority
of persons empowered by the Association to make levies for any and all purposes,
may be eligible to membership in this Association upon the payment of the
membership fees, as hereinafter provided.
All corporations, stock associations,
or companies becoming members of this Association, shall do so in the name
of the corporation, stock association, or company by which they are known,
and in all elections or business which is to or may be decided by votes
of members of this Association, such member or representative of any and
all other corporations, stock associations, or companies being members of
this Association shall be entitled to one vote, and no more.
Any party holding an undisputed and prescribed
range, whether of one person, a company, corporation, or pool, shall be
entitled to one membership; that is to say, if one person holds a certain
prescribed range alone, he shall be entitled to one membership, and the
same rule as to corporations and companies if, for convenience, two or more
individuals hold each a prescribed range, and hold such range in common,
each of such ranges shall be entitled to one membership, and each membership
shall be entitled to one vote. Any person possessing the qualifications
hereinbefore mentioned, and desiring to become a member of this Association,
shall first pay to the treasurer the sum of ten dollars ($10), and take
said treasurer’s receipt therefor, and upon presentation of said receipt
to the secretary of this Association, and subscribing to the by-laws, shall
be entitled to a certificate of membership, which said certificate shall
thereupon be issued in the name of this Association; provided that persons
owning ranges or holding cattle contiguous to the range occupied by the
members of this Association in the Indian Territory, may be elected honorary
members of this Association upon the recommendation of the board of directors.
All transfer of ranges by purchase or
otherwise shall be recorded by the Secretary of this Association in a book
to be by him kept for that purpose.
All members of this Association are required
within thirty days from their admission to membership to furnish to the
secretary a plain and accurate description of the “marks and brands”
of all domestic animals owned or held by such member; which said description
of said marks and brands shall be plainly and fully recorded by said secretary
in a book to be by him kept for such purpose.
BOARD OF ARBITRATION.
A board of arbitration shall be appointed,
to consist of three members of the Association, such board to be appointed
by the directors and to hold their office during the pleasure of said board
of directors, who shall have power to settle all questions in dispute between
members of this Association, and from the decision of such board of arbitration
either party in interest may appeal to the board of directors by giving,
upon the rendition of said decision, immediate notice of his intention to
so appeal, and by entering into and undertaking to the opposite party in
such sum as said board of arbitrators shall deem sufficient credentials
for the payment of all costs and expenses necessarily incurred by reason
of such appeal. In the event of the decision of said arbitrators being affirmed
by said board of directors, thereupon the chairman of said board of arbitrators
shall immediately notify the board of directors of the pendency of such
appeal and state the time and place when and where said board of directors
shall meet to hear and determine the same; which time shall not be less
than ten nor more than sixty days from the time of taking such appeal, and
the time and place of sitting of said board of directors to hear said matter
shall be at such point as said board of arbitrators may direct; provided,
always, that in no event except by consent of parties shall the place of
the sitting of said board of directors for such purpose be other than at
the city of Caldwell, in Sumner County, Kansas, or at some well-known and
convenient ranch upon the grazing lands of the Association; and the chairman
of the board of arbitrators upon the giving an acceptance of the appeal
bond hereinbefore provided for, immediately notify the parties in interest
of the time when, and the place where, the board of directors shall be called
to meet to hear and determine and appeal; and the decision of said board
of directors shall be final.
The following are the names of members
of the Association so far as we have been able to obtain them.
Blair, Battin & Cooper, E. W. Payne,
for Comanche County Pool, T. F. Pryor & Co., S. T. Tuttle, S & Z
Tuttle, R. B. Clark, W. H. Harrelston, H. Hodgson & Co., John Myrtle,
McClellen Cattle Company, Johnstone & Horsmer [Johnsons & Hosmer],
G. A. Thompson, C. M. Crocker, Robert Eatock, Wm. Corzine, M. J. Lane, Hammers
Clark & Co., McGredy & Harlen, Walworth, Walton & Rhodes, D.
P. Robinson & Northrup, Windsor Bros., H. A. Todd, Wicks, Corbin &
Streeter, W. B. Helm, N. J. Thompson, Bates & Payne, E. W. Rannells,
S. P. Burress, W. W. Wicks, Dean & Broderick, Shattuck Bros. & Co.,
H. H. Campbell, Briggs & Wilson, John Love & Son, J. C. Weathers
& Sons, Ewell & Justis, A. M. Colson, W. S. & T. Snow, Dominion
Cattle Company, Theo Horsley & Co., Southern Kansas Border Live Stock
Company, J. W. Hamilton, manager, G. W. Miller (W. M. Vanhook in charge),
B. H. Campbell, Drury Warren, L. Musgrove, A. A. Wiley, Tomlin & Webb,
Geo. V. Collins, J. F. Conner & Co., Cobb & Hutton, A. J. &
C. P. Day, Moore & Rohrer, Carnegie & Fraser, M. K. Krider, Texas
Land and Cattle Company (limited), W. C. Quinlon, Ben Garland, Ballenger
& Schlupp, A. T. & T. P. Wilson, A. Mills, H. W. Timberlake &
Hall, Stewart & Hodges, Drumm & Snider, Williamson Blair & Co.,
Charles Collins, Ben S. Miller, Gregory, Eldred & Co., W. R. Terwilliger,
M. H. Bennett, Barfoot & Santer, Hewins & Titus, Sylvester Flitch,
D. A. Greever, Stoller & Rees, Crane & Larimer, Dickey Bros., McClain
& Foss, E. M. Ford & Co., Dornblazer & Dole, J. C. Pryor &
Co.
HONORARY MEMBERS: W. E. Campbell, L. C.
Bidwell.
It appears that “Pink Fouts”
of Willow Springs was hired by Windsor & Roberts to become manager of
their cattle interests. Hard to tell what happened to Major Gore. However,
he was in Arkansas City shortly after Fouts took over...
Arkansas City Traveler, March 21, 1883.
Messrs. Hays & Fouts have sold the
Willow Springs ranch to Roberts & Co. The latter will run the stage
station at the Spring, and in addition build a bridge across the stream
at that point for the accommodation of travel. Willow Springs is out of
our bailiwick, being directly south of Arkansas City. Still, we are glad
of the change, because it will make travel more convenient in the eastern
portion of the Strip. Caldwell Commercial.
Arkansas City Traveler, May 23, 1883.
Leland Hotel.
Among the arrivals at the Leland Hotel,
now under the management of Mr. A. W. Patterson, we find the following.
Jonathan Gore, Cherokee Nation.
J. H. Windsor, Titusville, Pennsylvania.
Arkansas City Traveler, May 30, 1883.
We call attention to the brands of the
Willow Springs horse, sheep, and cattle ranch, which appear this week.
Ad. WILLOW SPRINGS STOCK RANCH. Sheep,
Horses & Cattle, PINK FOUTS, MANAGER. Horse Brand: O I L on left hip.
Cattle brand: O I L on either side. Information given of strays of above
brand will be rewarded. P. O. Address, ARKANSAS CITY, KS. Ranch at Willow
Springs, Indian Territory.
Caldwell Journal, June 14, 1883.
The following stockmen are here in attendance
upon the Arbitration committee: T. H. Stevens, O. F. Casteen, C. C. Clark,
O. S. Northrup, of Anthony; Fin. Ewing, F. H. Shelly, M. Strong, of Medicine
Lodge; Charles W. Moore, M. J. Lane, Sam T. Ishmael, J. W. Carter, of Eagle
Chief; N. B. Roberts, J. H. Windsor, A. D. Windsor, of Titusville, Pennsylvania
(the two former are accompanied by their wives); John W. Blair, of Pond
Creek; Ben Garland, city; John Tucker, Wichita; W. J. Hodge and J. H. Tomlin,
Winfield; Capt. Nipp, C. M. Crocker, D. F. Fagins, Tipton Brothers, Arkansas
City; W. Wicks, Hunnewell; Pink Fouts, Willow Springs; and a number of others
whose names our reporter failed to obtain.
Arkansas City Traveler, June 27, 1883.
Dr. and Mrs. Roberts, and Col. and Mrs.
Windsor, and son, of Titusville, Pennsylvania, who have been spending several
days on their Territory ranche at Willow Spring, returned to this city Thursday
last and on Friday returned to their eastern home. Col. Windsor accompanied
them as far as Wichita, but has since returned to the city where he will
remain to look after business interests.
Arbitration cases with Windsor & Roberts
only being covered...
ARBITRATION CASES: WINDSOR & ROBERTS.
Arkansas City Traveler, June 27, 1883.
Board of Arbitrators.
The decisions of the Board of Arbitrators
of the Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association held last week at Caldwell
will be found in brief as follows.
Windsor & Roberts vs. Hodges &
Stewart, owing to the absence of the defendants, was continued.
John Love & Son vs. Standard Oil Co.,
P. Fouts, manager, was next heard. Plaintiff moved for a continuance. Motion
refused, and the Board decided that as plaintiff had no tax receipt, or
other evidence that they had range privileges, and there being nothing to
show that they had a range, therefore, plaintiffs had no rights before the
Board. The representatives of the defendants protested against the name
“Standard Oil Co.” It was therefore ordered by the Board that
the same should be changed to “Roberts & Windsor.”
M. Blair & Co. vs. Windsor Bros. was
continued.
Arkansas City Traveler, July 4, 1883.
Col. Windsor, of the Willow Springs, was
in our city several days of the past week.
Arkansas City Traveler, July 4, 1883.
Col. Windsor yesterday received a telegram
from Dallas, Texas, stating that the first of their two herds of 2,000 head
each crossed the Red River on the 30th ult., and requesting him to meet
them at Hunnewell.
Caldwell Journal, July 12, 1883.
BOARD OF ARBITRATION.
Second Session.
The Board met on the 5th day of July.
The first case, Windsor & Roberts vs. Hodges & Stewart, compromised.
Next in order was the continued case of
Blair, Battin & Cooper vs. Windsor Bros. The board decided that the
plaintiffs were entitled to all the lands in controversy.
The following cases were continued, until
next meeting of the Board.
Bridge & Wilson vs. Windsor Bros.
Mr. Chambers vs. Windsor & Roberts.
The following cases before the Board were
continued until its next meeting.
1. Windsor & Roberts vs. Beach &
Welch.
2. Windsor & Roberts vs. W. W. Wicks.
3. Windsor & Roberts vs. Estus &
Bros.
4. Windsor & Roberts vs. Tomlin &
Webb.
[Note: Caldwell paper referred to “Willow
Creek” and not “Willow Springs”...
Caldwell Journal, July 26, 1883.
Trouble on the Range.
Reports come to us to the effect that
parties have been killing sheep and driving stock off the range of Roberts
& Windsor, on Willow Creek, south of Arkansas City. Tuesday afternoon
Mr. Fouts, manager of the above firm, received a telegram stating that a
party of men had driven the stock off the range. If these reports are correct,
the Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association will be compelled to take some
action for their own protection, for the reason that if lawlessness of that
kind can go unpunished in one single instance, it will be but a very short
time before others will suffer, and the fact of being a member of the Association
will be no protection whatever.
It would seem now that the Strip is made
a part of the U. S. District of Kansas, there should be some way of punishing
those who commit depredations upon the property of persons occupying the
Strip in accordance with the laws and regulations of the United States and
the Cherokee Nation. If not, a range on the Strip is not worth a song, and
if any man undertake to hold one, he will have to do so through force. No
argument is necessary to show that if such a condition of affairs is brought
about, the Strip will become a strip of terror, where no man’s life
or property will be safe for a single moment.
Arkansas City Traveler, October 3, 1883.
W. B. Roberts, E. T. Roberts, and J. H.
Windsor, of Titusville, Pennsylvania, widely known throughout this section
as proprietors of the Willow Springs stock ranch, some eighteen miles south
of this city, were in the city yesterday, leaving in the afternoon for Willow
Springs.
Arkansas City Traveler, October 24, 1883.
Col. Windsor, of the cattle firm of Windsor
& Roberts, made his first visit to the Agency this week. His firm is
now holding on Preacher Creek, formerly the range of Gorten Bros.
More arbitration cases Windsor & Roberts...
Caldwell Journal, November 22, 1883.
Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association.
Proceedings of the Board of Directors.
The Board met in Caldwell on Tuesday,
November 13th, pursuant to adjournment, and met from day to day until Monday,
November 19th.
Present: Ben S. Miller, president, and
a full board.
The Board decided as to who were members
of the Association, and ordered certificates to be issued to all parties
who had paid the first assessment and held undisputed ranges on the Cherokee
Strip.
It was also ordered that the treasurer
refund the $10 fee paid him by parties not entitled to membership.
In the cases of Windsor & Roberts
vs. Estus Bros., and Windsor & Roberts vs. W. W. Wicks, the Board decided
as follows.
That the ranges of Estus Bros., and W.
W. Wicks shall commence at a point on the north line of the Ponca reservation
half way between Bodark and Deer Creek; thence running north, or nearly
so, to a point eleven miles north, and half way between Bodark and Deer
Creek; thence east to East Bodark, and down East Bodark on the west side
to where Miller’s branch empties into East Bodark; thence east to the
Ponca trail, and south along said trail to the Ponca reservation; thence
along the north line of the reservation to place of beginning; and that
the Black Dog trail shall be the dividing line between said Estus Bros.,
and W. W. Wicks.
L. Banks Wilson, W. B. Helm, and J. P.
Richmond were appointed a board of arbitrators to settle all disputes between
Windsor & Roberts and all other parties contesting, and disputing ranges
with them, and that all expenses of arbitration shall be paid by the parties
in interest, and the arbitrators to view the grounds.
Caldwell Journal, November 22, 1883.
Board of Arbitration.
In the case of Windsor & Roberts vs.
N. J. Thompson, the case was settled satisfactorily by the parties in dispute,
on the advice of the special board, consisting of Banks Wilson, Helm, and
Richmond.
Arkansas City Traveler, December 5, 1883.
S. T. Wood, an old timer in this country,
was in the city last week. He is now surveying the Windsor & Roberts
range in the Territory.
Arkansas City Traveler, January 30, 1884.
Capt. Nipp will fence his range in the
Territory this spring, and Mr. Love thinks of doing the same. Both these
ranges have been contested by Windsor & Roberts, yet Messrs. Nipp and
Love have assurance from Washington which prompts them to go ahead, regardless
of the stock association or the Cherokee Nation.
Arkansas City Republican, March 29, 1884.
A wood hauler would like to know by what
right or authority the oil company or any company can cut timber on an Indian
reservation and convert it to their own use in any way, and then forbid
the honest granter from hauling off the dead tops for fire wood? THE REPUBLICAN
has this to say: One man’s right in the territory is as good as another’s,
unless he is an officer of the law, a citizen of the Nation, or licensed
by the government, as trader, mail carrier, etc. The Department “recognizes”
the lease to cattle men for grazing purposes, but there is no law for it.
Arkansas City Traveler, April 9, 1884.
On last Wednesday night some parties at
present unknown cut about two miles of wire fence belonging to Windsor &
Roberts, in the Indian Territory, at the same time sawing off many of the
posts. Not satisfied with this work of destruction, the parties set fire
to a car load of barbed wire belonging to the above gentlemen, and destroyed
the entire lot—over 20,000 pounds. The wire was in the state on Pettit’s
place, we believe, and was purely the work of deviltry. If the perpetrators
can be found, they should be most summarily dealt with for such an outrage.
The penitentiary is too good for men who thus wantonly destroy private property.
Whatever grievance, fancied or real, they may have against a man or corporation,
it furnishes no excuse for burning up the property of such corporation.
Arkansas City Traveler, April 16, 1884.
Messrs. Windsor & Roberts are taking
active measures to ferret out the parties who cut their wire fence some
two weeks ago, and propose to make it warm for the guilty ones if they succeed
in catching them. There is a standing reward of $500 by the Cherokee Strip
Live Stock Association, which will be paid for each and every conviction
of wire cutting or otherwise destroying range property in the Territory.
As we said last week, the farmers along the line may have cause for grievance,
real or fancied, but to resort to willful destruction is a very poor recourse.
We are not certain but that a fence along the line will to a certain extent
be beneficial to the farmers, as we understand the oil company leave a gap
at every road into the Territory, and in no way interfere with the farmers
hauling wood from the nation, and offer free pasturage to the cattle of
farmers living along the line, thus saving them from the trouble of protecting
their fields from straying cattle. At all events, Messrs. Windsor &
Roberts are determined that the wire fence shall stand, and if opposition
is continued, it looks as though serious trouble might result. With no desire
to hastily champion either side’s cause, we submit to our farmer friends
that at present Messrs. Windsor & Roberts have the law on their side,
and that the proper way to remedy a wrong is through the courts—not
by placing themselves in the rank of criminals. We trust there will be no
further trouble.
Arkansas City Traveler, May 28, 1884.
Col. Windsor and Dr. Roberts were in the
city Monday, leaving in the afternoon for their ranch.
Arkansas City Traveler, June 25, 1884.
District Attorney Hallowell and W. P.
Hackney were in the city yesterday, prosecuting parties charged with stealing
posts from Windsor & Roberts.
Arkansas City Traveler, July 9, 1884.
The case against Charles Weathers and
others, charged with taking wire and posts from Windsor & Roberts, and
which was to have been heard in Wichita this afternoon, has been postponed
until the latter part of the month.
[Note: Nothing more appears about “Windsor
& Roberts” in the papers that I have covered. MAW]