On December 7, 1907, the subcommittee of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the United States Senate to investigate the affairs of the Mexican Kicking Kickapoo Indians, Ordered, That the letters, affidavits, and other exhibits offered and made a part of the records of the hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Indian Affairs from February 8, 1907, to March 5, 1907, and of a subcommittee of the Committee on Indian Affairs from November 1, 1907, to December 7, 1907, be published as an Appendix to the hearings of the subcommittees and made a part of the record thereof. APPENDIX. [Senate resolution No. 79, Fifty-ninth Congress, first session.] In the Senate of the United States, February 14, 1906.-Considered and agreed to. Mr. Penrose submitted the following resolution: Resolved, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and hereby is, directed to report to the Senate of the United States the reason, if any he has, why he has not issued, as provided by an act of Congress approved March third, nineteen hundred and five, patents in fee simple to Okemah and his wife Thithequa, Wahnahkethehah, Noten, Tahpahthea, Shuckequah, and Neconopit, members of the Kickapoo tribe, heretofore allotted in the Territory of Oklahoma for land so allotted to them in said Territory. That the said Secretary be directed to further report why he has withheld payment to the Kickapoo Indians residing in the Republic of Mexico of the funds received by him for said Indians as the proceeds of the leases upon their individual lands in the Territory of Oklahoma. He is further directed to transmit to the Senate all correspondence between his office or the bureaus thereof and his agents pertaining to investigations of the removal of the said Kickapoo Indians to the Republic of Mexico and their present condition in said Republic, together with all reports of inspectors or other officers of the Interior Department pertaining to said subjects, and the testimony taken by such officers or agents. He is further directed to transmit to the Senate all reports of investigations made by inspectors of his Department into the conduct and business transactions of ex-special United States Agent Martin J. Bentley, detailed in charge of the Kicking Mexican Kickapoo Indians in Oklahoma during his entire term of service. [H. R. 15331, Fifty-ninth Congress, first session.] In the Senate of the United States. March 6, 1906.-Referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and ordered to be printed. AMENDMENT Intended to be proposed by Mr. Clapp (by request) to the bill (H. R. 15331) making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seven, and for other purposes, viz: Insert the following: That so much of the act of March third, nineteen hundred and five (Thirty-third Statutes at Large, page one thousand and forty-eight), as reads as follows, "That the Secretary of the Interior be, and is hereby, authorized and directed to issue patents in fee to Okemah and his wife Thithequa, Wahnahkethehah, Noten, Tahpahthea, Shuckequah, and Neconopit, members of the Kickapoo tribe heretofore allotted in the Territory of Oklahoma for lands so allotted to them, in said Territory, and all restrictions as to sale, incumbrance, or taxation of said land are hereby removed," be, and hereby is, repealed. STATEMENT OF MARTIN J. BENTLEY. The resolution which was agreed to in the United States Senate, directing the Secretary of the Interior to advise the Senate why he had not issued patents to the Kickapoo Indians, as directed by the act of March 3, 1905, relates to seven Kickapoo Indians who voluntarily put their land into a pool, to be sold and to provide a fund with which to purchase a home for all the Kickapoos in Mexico. Those seven particular allotments were selected for this purpose by the Kickapoos because some of them were valuable on account of being near the city of Shawnee, and others were the allotments of aged and childless persons. These lands were to be taken and disposed of; each of the allottees was to at first receive some small sum of money, and after the land had been purchased, and a tract satisfactory to them, if any money remained, after deducting the necessary expenses incurred in the transaction, any balance should be paid to the Indians according to their several interests. It is contended by the Department that the Indians were not paid a sufficient sum for these lands, when, as a matter of fact, the agreement with the Indians was made in good faith and has been carried out as far as possible, and the only reason that the entire deal has not been consummated has been that the Department of the Interior has not done as the law directed, and has thrown insurmountable obstacles in the way of lands being acquired in Mexico by sending its agents there to prejudice the Government against permitting the Indians to acquire lands in that country. The property that the Kickapoos have elected to own in Mexico, and on which to establish their permanent homes, is a tract of land containing 238,000 acres, and now grazes 10,000 head of white-faced cattle, and out of the herds ranging upon this land fine beef cattle may be taken at any season of the year. The tract of land is an enormous basin, and is beyond question the choicest grazing land in the entire Republic. Is surrounded by mountains, which practically fence it, some of them rising to an elevation of nearly 9,000 feet. Beyond these mountains lie the great desert wastes of Mexico, so designated not because the lands are barren of vegetation, but because no surface water is found. These lands abound with black-tail deer, and will probably for centuries to come be an ideal hunting ground. It has been demonstrated that this species of deer practically live without water. The enormous yucca with its bloom stem, though like yucca flamentosa, but a thousand times larger, is full of moisture and blooms almost constantly, and while it kills and poisons the cattle kind it does not poison the deer, because he is of the bovine species that has no gall. The plan proposed is that the cattle on this large ranch shall not only furnish the Indians a large Fart of their subsistence, but will yield a revenue sufficient to provide their other limited necessities, and that when their estate in the United States is finally disposed of that enough of their funds be invested in bonds of the Republic of Mexico, so that the interest on these bonds will forever pay the taxes on their estate there. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Office of INDIAN AFFAIRS, Hon. M. S. QUAY, Washington, August 9, 1901. DEAR SIR: Your favor of the 7th instant, inclosing communication from Mr. Martin J. Bentley, of Shawnee, is at hand. After consultation with the Secretary, and upon looking over conditions at Shawnee, we have decided to change the situation at that place, and to place the Indians under the charge of the bonded superintendent of the school. While I am willing to concede that Mr. Bentley has done a great deal of good among these Indians, I think the time has arrived when the position of agent can be dispensed with. Nothing in Mr. Bentley's conduct of affairs has influenced this I return communication from Mr. Bentley. With kind regards, I am, yours, truly, course. W. A. JONES, Commissioner. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, M. J. BENTLEY, Esq., SIR: The office acknowledges receipt of your letter dated December 1, 1900, wherein you state that eight or ten aged and infirm Indians are bent on returning to Mexico where their children reside, and from whom they have been separated for twenty-five years. You state that the lands of these Indians are under lease for sums sufficient to support them if permitted to go to Mexico; that they are supplied with ample funds and no aid from the Government. In reply you are advised that this Office knows of no law that would prevent or hinder the peaceable departure of the Indians you refer to from their present homes. The Office assumes no responsibility whatsoever in the matter. Very respectfully, t W. A. JONES, Commissioner. |