Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 May 1889 — A CHANCE FOR BOOMERS [ARTICLE]

A CHANCE FOR BOOMERS

PROSPECTIVE OPENING OF THE GREAT SIOUX RESERVATION. Instructions and Powers of the CommitI sioners Who Will Treat with the Sioux A Country of Remarkable Fertility No Free Lands. [Washington (D. C.) special.] , The instructions for the Sioux Commisj slon, which have been under preparation for ' some weeks by the Indian Department, have been given to the three Commisdoners at the Interior Department. It will now be strange if the stream Of emigration started in the direction of Oklahoma, only , to be checked and thrown backward at the discovery of the limited quantity of the Land available there, is not directed to the Northwest by the opening of the great Sioux Reservation in Dakota. This reservation, which is expected to be opened in the course of a month or two, comprises 9,300,030 acres of land. It is owned by the Sioux j tribe. The land to be purchased lies in the ! southern portion of Dakota and on the ; northern boundary line of Nebraska, Several ineffectual attempts have been | made in years gone by to negotiate with the ! Indians for this land. Last year a cornmis- ; sion was appointed to purchase the lands, 1 but the Sioux chieis refused to accept the j price offered—so cents per acre. Later In j the season the heads of several of the j Sioux tribes were called to Washington to i appear before the Secretary of the Interior 1 and state to him on what just grounds they would be willing to dispense with that part of their lands which is unused by them. The chiefs demanded $1.25 per acre and the immediate payment of the whole sum. They were assured by Secretary Vilas that they would be given proper consideration by the department and legislation recommended which would be so conditioned as to prohibit the taking of any of their lands without their consent. The law by which the consent of the Indians is to be obtained is almost exactly like that of last year, except in these three particulars: 1. In distributing cattle, farming implements and money to Indians who wish allotments, the cash payment is increased from S2O to SSO each. 2. The price paid for land settled in the old bill was 50 cents per acre; in this it is $1 for that taken the first three years, 75 cents for that taken tho next three years, and 50 cents for all that taken thereafter, with the proviso that tne Government shall buy all that remains after ten years. 3. The immediate appropriation to create a fund for the benefit of Indians, to be repaid out of proceeds of sales of land, is increased from $1,000,000 to $3,000,000. The sections numbered 16 and 36 of each township of the lands open to settlement, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, are to be reserved for the use and benefit of the public schools, as provided by the act organizing tho Territory of Dakota. The law provided an appropriation of $25,000, which sum shall be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior for procuring the assent of the Sioux Indians. The commission to procure this assent is composed of Gen. Grook, William Werner, and Charles Foster. The instructions to the commission differ little from the last, except that they are less in detail -and leave more to the discretion of the commission. The plan of tho Secretary has been to seek good men for Commissioners, and then leave them to work as much as possible in tlmir own way. The department.' is qu.te confident of the success es the in* tended negotiations, and that confidence ie generally shared by Northwestern men here. Tho Indians have already indicated their intention to accede to the provisions of the bill, and will probably unhesitatingly give their consent and allow the land to be opened to settlement, civilization, and prosperity. There is no free land in the Sioux Reservation and it will have no attraction for the improvident boomers who want to get a farm lor nothing. But tor the thrifty settler witn a little capital it offers the most promising location now open at Government price in the whole public domain. If the negotiations with the Sioux are as successful as they are almost certain to be - this region will be open to settlement nearly as soon as the Cherokee Strip and as early as many of the those disappointed in Oklahoma can conveniently reach there. It is accessible from Nebraska on th 9 south as wellas from Minnesota on the east without crossing the Indian country or encounter-"' ing any of the complicated delays and embarrassments incident to emigration to Oklahoma. Almost before the settlement of the reservation is to begin it will comp under the jurisdiction -of the new State Government of South Dakota and enjoy all the advantages of social order and material' well being such a Government is competent to guarantee.