The Harrison Gazette. The Gotebo Gazette. (Gotebo, Okla.), Vol. 7, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 13, 1907 Page: 4 of 10
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J
PORTER IS B J
THE PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF CREEK
INDIANS STRICKEN WITH
PARALYSIS.
demurrer IN M. K. & T. SUIT
whs di'ie of the most koteo indians
Government Saya Lands Are Not Sub*
ject to Claim
WASHINGTON: The government,
by filing a demurer, has made Its first
move in the suit by the * Missouri
Kansas & Texas Railroad company to
recover $61,287,800 worth of land In
the Indian Territory, or its equivalent
in cash, on account of an old land
grant.
This suit was started after the
United States supreme court decided
that Kansas, as trustee for the rail-
road, could not maintain suit to en-
force the land grant.
The grounds on which the govern
ment basis its'demurrer follow:
First—This suit is one which upon
Moty Tiger Will Succeed Porter as
Chief of the Creaks—Porter
Leaves an Estate Valued
at $100,000,
VINITA: General Pleasant Porter,
Ihe noted chief of the Creek Indian
nation, died here Tuesday morning. the face of the petition shows "that it
following a stroke of paralysis, aged belongs to that class known as equit-
07 /ears. Second Chief M\.ty Tiger able actions, henco not within the
will succeed General Porter as chief jurisdiction 0r the court of claims,
of the nation. i Second—The damage sought to be
' recovered do not arise out of any
MUSKOGEE: Pleasant Porter, contract expressed or implied with
chief of the Creeks, who died Tues- the goverment of the United States,
day morning at Vinita, left his home Third—That the acts of congress
in Muskogee for Crocker, Mo., where relied upon by the claimant do not
he was a defendant In a damage suit constitute a grant in present but
for $30,000 brought by A. P. Murphy, merely promise upon the part of the
former member of congress irom me government to convey the land con-
Sixteenth district, because he dis- templated thereby should the Indian
missed Murphy who had a contract as title thereto thereafter be extin-
national counsel for the Creeks. gulshed and said lands become sub-
lie was stricken on the train and ject to sale and disposal under tho
taken off at Vinita. A special train general land laws.
run from Muskogee to Wealaka, the ; Fourth—That such promise did not
country home of the dead chief, where partake of a contract, consequently is
the chief was interred beside members not a binding force upon the govern-
or his family who have gone before, ment, and congress was at liberty to
The funeral was under the direction make any other disposition of said
of the Masons and Elks, Chief Porter , lands It sp.w fit.
being a member of both orders. j Pifth_The Ian(Jg never have „b8.
Chief Porter was a remarkable man. come a part of the pub],c domain of
He was born aud reared in the Creek the Un)ted States>>. as that term isj
nation near Coweta. During the civil employed in the provision of the act.
war he espoused the cause of the Con- ,
federacy, enlisted as a private and j
rose to the rank of general.
When the war was over he returned
to his home. All was desolatfon. ,
Everything had been devastated in j
his absence. He commenced all over
again.
western Union and postal
will have a strong com-
petitor
mm union go. m 100,000 miles
REFUSED PAYMENT
Indians Believe Short Payment is Ef-
fort to Defraud
LAWTON: That the members of
He fenced and improved his j the Kiowa, Comanche, Wichita and
present farm at Wealaka and com-
menced to till the land. He stood for
progress in hi3 nation always and it
was due almost entirely to him that
the Creek school system was estab-
lished. He was elected a member of
the House of Kings as soon as ho
was old enough to become a member.
Caddo Indian tribes, numbering ac
cording to the 1906 annual report
3,774, have refused to accept their
semi-annual payment, such is the in-
formation brought to Lawton by the
Indians themselves.
In the past these Indians have
been receiving $r>0 each, which
In 1SS9 he was elected principal chief amounted to $168,700, which is
and re-elected in 1903.
Chief Porter was a well known fig-
ure in Washington. An intimate
friend of President McKinley, ad-
mired by Preesident Roosevelt and
referred to on the floor of the senate
as the "greatest living Indian," by
members in debate—"the peer of any
man here"—he acquired national ac-
quaintance and influence.
As chief of the Jreeks he drew
am unt due them, called their "grass
1 money." This fund is running low
and it has become necessary for the
government to cut this per capita pay-
ment. According to the announce-
ment which has reached the Indian
agency from Washington the payment
was, to be cut down to $30 to each In
dian.
The Indian agent held a council
Capital Stock is $5,000,000—Secure
Option on Many Miles of Tele-
phone Wire—Will Be Ready
for Business Soon
CHICAGO: The American Union
Telegraph company which promises
to bccome a strong competitor of the
Western Union and Postal Telegraph
companies in the telegraph business
of the country will open offices in
Chicago in two weeks, according to
L. K. Davis, president of the R:ck Is-
land construction company.
The capital strck of the new com-
pany will be $5,000,000. It will be in-
corporated under the law3 of New
Jersey or Maine, but the headquar-
ters of the company will be in Chi-
cago.
"The president aud secretary-treas-
urer will be Chicagoans and both are
prominent and reliable men," said
Mr. Davis today. "Wealthy capitalists
of New York, St. Louis and Chicago
are interested in the new company. I
will not give you their names now,
but in a few days I will do so.
"We have secured options on the
wires of four telephone companies
nnd 100 000 mile3 of telephone wires
are available for use now, in the
east, west and a large portion of the
south.
"We propose to construct, equip
and operate standard telegraph lines
broug1inut the United States, also to
lease and otherwise acquire local and
through telephone wire and use
them "Tor the transmission of our tel-
egraph business; end when neces-
rry we will construct now lines
leng fiie public highways aud cve.r
the rights of way of local and
through electric railway lines.
"By tbe use of our proposed new in-
struments we will be able to trans-
mit telegraph messages over local
and through telephone wires without
in tempting or in any way interfering
with the telephone service, th:roby
g"eatly increasing, the earning capac-
ity of the local and general telephone
companies and reducing the cosi of
operation a:id maintenance.
"We will adopt the eight-hour sys-
tem from the start and maintain it.
We will also pay for all overtime
cording to a just and equitable scale
t.~ be agreed upon. Fair and honor-
ab'e arbitration shall be adopted in
each cace to adiust any disputes that
mav arisfi between the American
Union Telegraph comnany and its
employes. Where women are compe-
tent to perform equal services re-
quired of mpn, their compensation
shall be equal.
e license
SUPREME COURT DECIDES IN RE-
GARD TO DIPLOMAS ISSUED
TO PHYSICIANS
GUTHRIE: The right of the ter-
ritory to revoke the license of a
practicing physician when it is shown
that he obtained his license from a
"diploma mill" was sustained by the
Oklahoma supreme court in an opin-
ion/ by Justice Hainer in the case of
Calvin D. Gulley vs. The Territory,
appealed from the district court of
Logan county.
Gulley was granted a license to
practice medicine by the territorial
board of health on February 11 1902,
upon a sworn statement that he was
a graduate of the Independent and
Metropolitan Medical college of Chi-
cago. The territory showed at the
trial that there is no such medical
college and that the Institution is
merely a "diploma mill" where any
pernor may secure a medical diploma
without examination by merely pay-
ing the validity of such licenses,
llainoi holds that the district.court
has exclusive Jurisdiction in deter-
mining the validity of such licenses
and that any license from a fraudu-
lent nodical college may be revoke 1.
US. TAFl
IN
SPEECH AT OKLAHOMA C1T
REPLIES TO ATTACK ON
CONSTITUTION
sills him ihe "6heat psstporeff
THI8 DECISION FAR REACHING
Sites a Speech Recently Made I
Ohio as in Line With His Oklaho-
ma City Talk—Endorses
Haskell
OKLAHOMA CITY: William i
Bryan, according to a promise mad
:o certain Oklahomans after the n
?ent visit of Secretary Taft, came an
•nade a reply to the attack of the sec
.etary of war upon the proposed cot
ititutlc-n of Oklahoma.
Preparations had been made for i
jrand parade through the streets bu
Vlr. Bryan's train was delayed am
when he arrived it was long past th'
lour set for his speaking and he wa
taken from the train and driven a
,>nce to Convention Hall where om
if the largest audiences ever gather
?d in Oklahoma City were awaitinj
to welcome him and hear his criM
cisms cf the speech of Secretary Tap
n which he advised the turnin;
iown of the constitution. Mr. Bryai
took up several most importanl
criticisms of Secretary Taft on tk
constitution and closed with an an
peal to democrats to support the en
tire ticket, naming C. N. Haskell cs
oecially.
In part Mr. Bryan said:
"Secretary Taft, in his speeet
made in this territory a few days ag#
advises the peple to reject the pr
posed constitution and postpone
of | ;tatehood until another enabling a(t
by i can be secured. At first blush one
MAY COST FARMERS $100,000
Objected to
Payne County Planters
by
with the Indians and they refused to
$2,000 a year salary, and spent more j accept anything if they could not get
than that amount on the needy of his news was communicated to the inter-
people. In late years he became j ior department officials at the capitol
wealthy. A week ago.in discussing ; and will probably delay the payment
his financial affairs he said that ho ! for two weeks.
believed his estate would be worth j The grass Amd is gradually growing
$110,000 clear of all settlements. This ]ow, nn(j it «s reported that the In-
estate will go to nis three children, j diane are beginning to become | Quarantine RuHng
Will Porter, Mrs. Jay P. Farnswcrth • alarmed about it. Short payment will
and Miss Leonore Porter. cause their credit -to diminish and an
Chief Porter was a nephew of ex- Indian without credit is in a bad fix. GUTHRIE: The people of Payne
Governor McCurtain, the war gov- I However, there will be a large j COUIltv- which was placed below ihe
ernor of Pennsylvania. His mother 1 amount of interest due the tribes j quarantine line by a recent ruling of
wa3 a daughter of Chief Okmulgee, j from the sale of the pasture land, i
His wife was a daughter of Judge from which they will soon begin to
derive a benefit.
The income from the Big Pasture In I
the past has been the "grass money"
received from the cattlemen for ren- \
tals of the land, but since the sale an.l 1
Keys of St. Louis.
Moty Tiger, a full blo:d Creek In-
dian, was elected second chief of the
Creeks at the time Porter was elected
chief. He succeeds to the ofice of
ranged for in the future.
principal chief. He assumed charge | settlement of the pasture the money
of the executive office Tuesday | will be deposited and the interest on
and immediately closed it until the i the same given out in the semi-an-
funeral ceremonies were over. He I nual payments. Of course, "grass
is a man of considerable force- of . money" is a thing of the past and a
character but lacks the culture of the j new system of payment wUl be ar-
Uead chief. ** ' i
While General Porter educated him-
self, he was :ne of the most widely
read men of Indian Territory and was
a thinker and philosopher. During
bis public life he has made many
oratorical effort-r that were classic in
the pathetic- realization of his dying
race.
CONCERN IN RANGE CONDITIONS
Stock Owners Will be Furnished
Vaccine Supplies
WASHINGTON": Evidence of the
government's concern over the im-
provement <:f range conditions in The
national forests is shown in the an-
nouncement ju-t mcda that stock own-
ers will be furnished free of charge
MUSKOGEE: W. T. Elliott, chief supplies of vaccine for the treatment
the Oklahoma live stock and sanitary
I commission, are comrlMnlng that the
I regulation will cost $100,000 a year.
Every farmer owning a single cow
J will suffer by reason of the regula-
I tifm. *hey declare
The placing of Payne county be-
I' low the quarantine line stops all
progress toward cleaning out infec-
; tious diseases am ng cattle of that
j county. Tiie western half of the
I countv had been rendered practically
' f-ee from infect'on by the work of
I the federal cattle inspectors. This
senron is the fir^L time cattle were
j "hipped from Stillwater to tfcl; na-
] tirp instrad of the quarantine divi-
"on of the Kansas City strck yard1?.
' This meant to the owners fr:m $3
i to $5 a head increase in the price.
Affects $1,0000,000 Worth of Indian
Territory Land
ARDMORE: The famous Folsom
Stfdham contest has been decided.
Secretary Garfield overruled all the
decisions of the commissioner of In-
dian affairs, the commission of the
five civilized tribes and his predeces
sor, Mr. Hitchcock. The decision af
fects the title to at least $10,000,000
w:rth of lands in the territory which
have been transferred to white citi
zens.
The case involved eighty acres
land adjoining this town, owned
Stidham. Being an intermarried c'ti- ; night suspect that the secretary's ad
zen, Stidham's case was held up. as vice was due to his personal interesi
were those of all intermarried citi- j n the next election. He might be aa
zens, until a late date before being ap- j cused of advising the postponement
proved by the secretary of the inter- j if statehood with a view to keepine
ior and, In the meantime, Folsom filed 'even electoral votes out of the dent
upon the land. ' ocratic column, but the more gener
Stidham vas approved as a citizen i ms view to take of the matter is that
and instituted contest proceedings I i-is advice resulted from his habit*
against Folsom. Before the contest I of thought.
was tried, Stidham, who was the "He is inclined to postpone every
owner of ail improvements on the j thing. He promises to acquire the
land, transferred his interest to a title of the great postponer. In a
white man. Secretary Garfield holds j speech made not long ago at Colum
that by executing a warranty deed j bus, O., he announced himself in favct
Stidham had abandoned his right to of tariff reforms but he would post
the land. I pone it until after the next election
If this decision stands,'it will cause He also made an elaborate argument
thousands of non-citizens who have in favor of the income tax, but he
purchased land from intermarried cit-
zeus and freedmen to loso their
money. The lands involved consist
mainly of the best lands of the Choc-
taw and Chickasaw nations, together
with many townsites and much of the
valuable oil district of the Cherokee
and Creek nations.
TELEGRAMS ARE DELAYED
special indian agent
of the division of accounts in the Un-
ion Indian agency here, has been ap-
pointed a special Indian agent at a
salary of $3,000 per year. There are
five of the special Indian ageuts in the
United States and they work under
the supervision of the commissioner
of Indian affairs, traveling from -:ne
Indian reservation to another and
looking after the business of the
various agencies and checking up
their accounts.
Elliott is a Missourian and has been
ia the government service several
years. He was in charge •: f an In-
dian school in Arizona when he was
sent to Muskogee. He will report for
dut? ?n Washington next month.
j of stock afflicted with black leg. tu-
i bercuVsis and other animal diseases.
I This arrangement has been for for-
| est service with Dr. A. D. Melvin,
chief of the bureau of animal indus-
Sha'^n-e Claims Oldest oVter
SHAWNEE: In J. A. Watson, 9*
years old. who has just registered
for the coming election, the first in
thp new state of Oklahoma, Shawne-0
claims the oldest vot^r In the state.
He is active and strong, sees well
without Bosses and has a keen mem-
ory and a large store of knowledge
pccumulated In h s long life. He has
b"<=n a participant in the campaigns
try. Stock men holding permits for ' which havp elected -?vnteen dlffer-
grazlng in the national forests will ( ent presld nts of the United States,
now be furnished with an effective
means of combating without cost all
of the most dangerous diseases to
which stock Is subject.
The vaccine can be --btained sim-
ply by ?pplying to the supervisor of
the forest uppn wh!"h the stock 19
grazing, who will at once forward the
approved request t the bureau of an-
imal industry where it will be filled
Full directions will be furnished foi
Its use.
\Vr?c'< Victim Identified
OKLAHOMA CITY: The unknown
T~n k'll"d in th.- Reek Inland wreck
at Waterloo. Ia.. cn whose body war
'•■Mind 0 bonk h^ok with the name of
Mr? Henry Coleman, was Henry
r>I^Tn,>n. a well Virrvn tinnner at
F1 Reno, who bad been visiting
friends at Charles City, Ia.
His wife has gone ti Waterloo to
claim <h« body.
Investigation to Be Made by Attorney
General
GUTHRIE: Word has been receiv-
ed at the attorney general's office
from O. A. Smith of Oklahoma City
secretary for Oklahoma of the strik
'ng Commercial Telegraphers, that af-
fidavits have been secured, showing
the closing of several Oklahoma tele-
graph offices entirely, delays cf from
twenty-four hours to four days in the
delivery of messages which were ac
cepted for wire transmission, and the
practicing of gross discriminations in
regard to the handling of business.
Thomas R. Clift, assistant attorney
general, who has had the matter in
charge, at once wrote to Mr. Smith
asking that the affidavits be sent on,
and assured him that an investigation
would be commenced as soon as they
were received.
HANGS nine HOURS BY finger
Lockjaw May Follow Oklahoman's
Painful Experience
DURANT: Hanging in the air and
susupecded by his finger for nine
hours is the experience of Ed Frazier.
23 years old, who lives with his par-
ents eight miles west of Durant
In jumping from the hsy mow In his
barn, a heavy gold ring on the mid
xe finger of Frazier's left hand
caught upon a nail, holding him sus
pended eight feet above the ground
from 12 o'clock at night to 9 o'clock
the next morning, when he was dis
covered bv his father and released.
During the ordeal Frazier suffered
great agony and was unconscious
mort of the time. The physician
states that there is very little chance
of saving the finger aud fears that
lockjaw may result.
A receiver ha3 been Eiked for by
the Moline Ekvator company of Mo-
line. Illinois, for the Loewen hotel cf
Enid. Tbe applicants claim the hotel
is Indebted to them in tbe amount of
$25,000.
would postpone it indefinitely. He«
agreed with the president in regard
to tho wisdom of an inheritance tax,
but that, too, he would postpone until
a ni re convenient season. He did
not seriously object to the valuation
of railroads, but he did not declare
for it Immediately. He is on his way
to the Phil'ppine3 to tell the Filipinos
that, while he thinks _v.-y ought to
have self-government after awhile, ho
wants it postponed for the present ft
is not strange, therefore, that he
Should yield to his ruling spirit ia
the matter of statehood and tell you
to put it off.
"But why does he advise you to re-
ject the constitution and postpone
statehood? Because he is opposed to
parts of the constitution. He sug-
gested several amendments which ho
would like to have adopted. Even IP
the amendments which he proposed
were good amendments and worthy
to be ad pted, it would not be neces-
sary to reject the constitution in or-
der to adopt them.
"He holds out the hope of another
enabling act but what assurance caw
be given that a republican congreiw
will act immediately to bring in a
democratic state just before a presf
dential election? You have bee*
struggling for statehood for some flf
teen years and now when it is within
your grasp he asks you to exchange
a certainty for the delusive promise
of another chance.
"P es he control congress to sucfc
an extent that he can guarantee im-
mediate action? The two senators
from his own state do not accept hi?
advice; his influence as presidea
tial eand'date cannot yet be meas-
ured. for not a single state has yet
instructed for him.
He speaks of the federal constitu-
tion as a model one and praises it •
unqualified terms, yet. when that cc
stitution was adopted it was so u*
■satisfactory that ten amendimento
wire adopted immediately afterward
Here these amendments were all
oroposod during the discussion whioli
orcceded the adoption of the constf-
tutlon, but the people said. 'Adopt
the constltuti n now and amend !♦
ifterward.' and this advice was fof
lowed. The country secured a consti-
tution and a governmrnt and the*
proceeded to adopt the amendm^ts
desired
. M
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Stewart, A. H. The Harrison Gazette. The Gotebo Gazette. (Gotebo, Okla.), Vol. 7, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 13, 1907, newspaper, September 13, 1907; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc184744/m1/4/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.