| OCR Text |
Show raised and fattened upon the reaervetion, and sold th. em. to the Government t o s up-ply the Indians with beef. '' " " The iniquity perpetrated on this reservation is so glaring, so publio, that it ia de-moralizing in its etfecta upon a, larger community. It is imputed fimt to Congress, aecond to the oonrta, third to the Interior Department.. * * I reoommend new inp- islation, and ths t in i t some other method he taken to oom-pensete olaimsuts and intruders than by aontinuing them and their herds within the boondaries of the reservation. This report was corroborative of statements made in a letter from 0. H. Eberle, dated Septeniber 18,1887. As already stated, Mr. Eberle was one of the original settlers who obtained title to certain swamp lands and was paid for his improvements. He is not wholly free from the odium attaching to the early settlers in the valley, and for that reason his testimony is the more valuable. He is no longer an occu-pant of lands within the reservation. He referred to certain parties who, under a technicality of law, are, and for years to come may be, permitted, to enjoy a valuable franchise or monopoly, and to amass wealth, with entire exemption from taxation on money invested, simply because they have not been paid for a few paltry improvements scat- . tererl over a wide range of territory, and said: l'lm arttorn of the Government is looked forward m ~ i r ah g reat clarl of rutarcsr, in reyard I,, flus whole wurrar. Thn Iodlau remrvsllon in Rouutl Valley has eruce its establlahment been under the oontrol of a corrupt ring of apeculstotors, who have grown fabulously rich on the spoils. The Indian agents have been virtually owned by thasa men. * " The plan of these parties has worked well thus far. They abtiainad title to the valley lands by the thousands of aorea for a mere song. They ham used nearly all of %he reservation for fifteen years without a dolls+s rent, and when s favorable ou-u ortunitv offers, thelaat aot of a well-matured d a n will be con-aummateh by getting an actbassed'by Congress similar to the act if March 3,1871 curtailing the reservation to a few hundred acres. restaring the hslanoe to the publio domain, &th the provision that occupants ba pe~mMed enter 640 a0108 each as . grazing lands at s anominelsum and, ss before, secure title to all of their vnst posses-sions by fraudolent entries throu-g h the dummies in their em-u lo-r . In the name of justice, in the name of thousands of worthy citizens who own no bud, I emphstitically and eernestly protest against the continuanee of this gig anti^ monou-o 1.-v of the Indian reservation hv these~ar t les . * The action of President Cleveland and his oabinet in regard to the wrongful occn-pasion of the public domain and the Indian reservation is a gnersnty that such abusea will he no longer tolerated, and that all Wrong8 will he righted when prop-erly understood. Deramber 14,1887, this Office made to the Department a full report of this matter, substantially as herein set out. In conclusion the oom-missioner said : I submit that a careful examination of the foregoing reoord will convince sny dis-iute~ r s tedn erson ths t this office. since the Dassa-ee of the sot of 1873 a t leaat,. ,h as amitted no opportunity and left no means untried to rid the reservation of all white settlers not havin-g absolute ri-g ht and title therein. The courts, however, have interfered, and by surprising deoieions have t h w d d any attempts that gave promise of ancows. Congress has failed to respond to repested calls for necessary legislation, and the War Department has apparently been thwarted by aounty oourts and sheriffi. |
