THE DISAPEARING ASSETTS OF THE BLACKFEET TRIBE
How the whites in Glacier and Pondera counties robbed the Blackfeet
The law passed by Congress in 1980 pointed to the state, county, corporation, company, and individual as the guilty parties in the Indian claims cases. The land base of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation established by the 1896 Agreement totaled 1,486,874 acres with 1,440,000 acres allotted to the Indians, 2,634 acres for school, agency, and township purposes, and 44,240 acres of tribal timber and grazing reserves.
Allotment itself was supposed to be completed by the Indians by the agreement of the Indians to establishing cattle ranch operations in the 1896 Agreement/Article Five. This is an exemption to the 1887 Indian Allotment Act for the Blackfeet Indians, and tribal sovereignty protection from the state tax and speculators on Indian property and treaty rights. There was no white man allowed to settle on the reservation except as a government employee or for school purposes or treaty purposes.
By 1920, one year after the incorporation of Glacier and Pondera Counties on the reservation in 1919, without the consent of the Indians, [the Blackfeet were denied the vote unless they gave up their treaty rights and converted their land to fee or in the language of the day “turned white”]. There were 760,000 acres of trust patents by living Indians, and 470,000 of deceased Indian lands administered by the Indian Bureau [the deceased Indian lands remain a claim today and cannot be extinguished by the Interior Department and await the tribal council request to regain title to these lands].
210,000 acres had already been stolen by whites, as the senate investigator indicated, “I charge that a conspiracy existed between Horace G. Wilson, former superintendent; former lease clerk, Stuart Hazlett, and land seeking white men, whereby it was arranged to give patent-in-fees to certain Indians [illiterate Indians and mentally disabled Indians] and taxes and liens were filed in county courts to extinguish Indian title [in 1979 Forest Gerard, BIA Assistant Secretary testified to Congress that the whites titles were “void” titles, and the lawyer for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Peter Taylor, told us in 1980 the white men’s titles were not worth the paper they were written on, but were only Interior Department land certificates, and which land claims Chairman Earl Old Person rejected in 1980 protecting the white men and BIA].
Most of these patents-in-fee were issued from the period of 1918-1921, when F.C. Campbell, H.G. Wilson and T.C. Powers acted as superintendents in rapid succession. The senate investigator reported “There is no doubt at all that scores of these patents were issued illegally to Indians incompetent in fact as well as in the eyes of the law. In nearly every case the issuance of the patent meant that the Indian was defrauded of his land. Three of these superintendents were dismissed from the Indian Service, one went to prison, and the others left hurriedly from Browning to avoid prosecution.”
Tribal possessions dissipated no accounting for Indian funds
The Indians were in a deplorable condition by 1921. The Blackfeet Tribal fund, starting with 1887, received $150,000 every year for 20 years in payment of the Sweet Grass Hills, and the sale of the strip of land that became Glacier Park to bring tribal revenues to a total of at least $3,000,000. Practically all of this money has been spent. Today [1904] the Blackfeet tribal fund is approximately $15,000. Intelligent members of the tribe are unable to get an accounting, although they have repeatedly inquired of various superintendents and even the Indian Bureau itself. Assistant Agency Superintendent Stone informed the investigator there was no record of tribal receipts and expenses on the books of the Blackfeet Agency. Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Washington D.C. reply for an accounting is a “model of evasion.” I believe that members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee will be interested in getting a plain statement of facts concerning the disposal of the huge Blackfeet tribal fund. The costs of the Blackfeet irrigation project were paid out of the tribal fund [over $1,000,000 over the protests of the Indians, who wanted their funds invested in cattle]. $7,000 was given to the Catholic Mission in 1922 raising the constitutional issue of appropriating tribal funds for secular purposes may be questioned [I hope these losses are paid for in the Cobell IIM and Tribal Accounting cases].
Disappearance of the tribal herd
The tribal herd estimated value of $400,000 vanished within 18 months and Mr. Forest Stone, assistant superintendent, testified there were no records, financial or otherwise, of the tribal herd at the agency. In 1896 the treaty commissioners recognized the success of the Blackfeet cattle ranchers in raising cattle for sale and increase of their herds estimated at 25,000 head. Agent Steell took measures to scatter the Indians cattle so they never recovered one fifth of them. The County Sheriff regularly came to the reservation to take Indian cattle, called “injun critters” by the local white stockmen for what he called “bad debts.” The senate investigator noted, “Nevertheless, the tribal herd was valued at $400,000 in 1919, and it is very apparent that agency officials are trying to conceal the facts about the tribal herd, and I believe the senate committee should subpoena all the records or demand an explanation if financial records have been destroyed. According to old time cowboy John Hall, there were 200,000 cattle on the reservation in 1886, 65,000 cattle on the reservation in the 1890’s and 41,000 cattle as late as 1912, but in 1915 there were less than 500 [Indian owned] cattle on the reservation. The Indians facetiously remarked there was only one bull for the cattle purchased by the agency to cover nearly 400 square miles, “that this bull must have had some racehorse blood.” The cattle went dry and were butchered for beef.” Hall said officials wouldn’t know which end of the horse to put the saddle on and were responsible for deaths of the cattle herd.
F.C. Campbell points the Indians to herding sheep for a living
Comrade Campbell, as he was known by the Indians, forced the Indians to shift their focus from cattle to sheep, although everyone agreed the reservation was ideal grazing lands for cattle and produced the best beef in the northwest on the finest grazing lands. Indians who oppose Campbell’s five year program of sheep raising contend that if the Indians were encouraged to take advantage of the natural conditions they could become successful and prosperous cattle ranchers once again. They assert Indians are natural stockmen and by temperament and training like beef cattle. These Indians point out that the livestock industry is a thriving industry and there is no valid reason why the Blackfeet ranchers should not be running many thousands of cattle on the reservation range, evidenced by white stockmen running their cattle on the reservation for ten cents an acre. Superintendent Campbell had then leased 900,000 acres of the reservation to sheep companies in his five year plan for ten cents an acre. These anti-Campbell Indians allege that livestock raising [cattle ranching] among the Indians has been discouraged because it is the deliberate policy of Superintendent Campbell to lease the Indians grazing lands to private sheep companies at a nominal figure [ten cents an acre].
Indians interests seem secondary
There is ample evidence that for a long period of years the head officials at the Blackfeet reservation have been more interested in advancing the interests of a few whites and favored mixed bloods than they have in conserving the property of the Indians. Case after case can be cited where the officials of the Blackfeet Agency have failed to take steps to safeguard the rights of the Indians under their charge. The superintendent aided the county commissioners in getting rights of way and damages waived or reduced payments in gravel pits for the railroad. The entire St. Mary valley was leased to the Great Northern Railroad for ten cents an acre to keep the Indians from opening tourist businesses next to Glacier Park and Hill’s hotels. The big sheep companies trespass on the Indian allotments and Campbell refuses to assess damages. The Hill hotels exploit the Indians for tourist’s entertainment and pass the hat for their pay and feed them from scraps of food scraped from the tourist’s dinner plates. It is a reflection on the Hill interests that they treat the Indians as beggars, and is disgraceful to Superintendent Campbell that he allows this condition to continue year after year. There are 1,200,000 acres of grazing lands on the reservation and Campbell has 900,000 acres leased to outside sheep companies for ten cents an acre. The prevailing rate for Montana range lease is 36 cents per acre for less desirable lands than the reservation.
Condition of the Indians 1904-2010
The Indians had $24,582 left out of $3,000,000 in ceded land funds, no cattle and were destitute once again. The white men “owned” the Blackfeet reservation, either by leasing 900,000 acres for ten cents or acquiring 500,000 acres in patent in fee lands up to 2010. Blackfeet Indians claims remain stonewalled by the tribal council in 2010. For 30 years from 1980 to 2008 Chairman Old Person stonewalled the Blackfeet claims and rejected the claims in 1980, 2001, and in 2008 when we were successful in getting the tribal council resolution to invite the senate committee to the reservation to investigate the claims of the Blackfeet Indians.
He ought to be removed as Blackfeet Chief for his traitorous acts and treason against the Blackfeet Tribe. I hope the traditional people take steps to strip him of his bogus chieftainship. He is a disgrace to the memory of our ancestors who literally gave their lives to preserve this reservation for us. He has given the idea roots that this is not the problem of the tribal council but instead called us a “bureau problem” and told the council they did not have to address the land frauds committed against our people.
But there are tribal claims for millions of dollars for trespass, rights of way and water rights claims at stake. The minerals and water rights to the stolen Blackfeet allotments, and the patent in fee lands now number over 500,000 acres and are growing each year. In the end we are all together whether it is tribal or allotted lands, minerals, and water rights. We are all together; there is no separation on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, except as to leaders who chose treason to nullify our rights and those land thieves.
How the whites in Glacier and Pondera counties robbed the Blackfeet
The law passed by Congress in 1980 pointed to the state, county, corporation, company, and individual as the guilty parties in the Indian claims cases. The land base of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation established by the 1896 Agreement totaled 1,486,874 acres with 1,440,000 acres allotted to the Indians, 2,634 acres for school, agency, and township purposes, and 44,240 acres of tribal timber and grazing reserves.
Allotment itself was supposed to be completed by the Indians by the agreement of the Indians to establishing cattle ranch operations in the 1896 Agreement/Article Five. This is an exemption to the 1887 Indian Allotment Act for the Blackfeet Indians, and tribal sovereignty protection from the state tax and speculators on Indian property and treaty rights. There was no white man allowed to settle on the reservation except as a government employee or for school purposes or treaty purposes.
By 1920, one year after the incorporation of Glacier and Pondera Counties on the reservation in 1919, without the consent of the Indians, [the Blackfeet were denied the vote unless they gave up their treaty rights and converted their land to fee or in the language of the day “turned white”]. There were 760,000 acres of trust patents by living Indians, and 470,000 of deceased Indian lands administered by the Indian Bureau [the deceased Indian lands remain a claim today and cannot be extinguished by the Interior Department and await the tribal council request to regain title to these lands].
210,000 acres had already been stolen by whites, as the senate investigator indicated, “I charge that a conspiracy existed between Horace G. Wilson, former superintendent; former lease clerk, Stuart Hazlett, and land seeking white men, whereby it was arranged to give patent-in-fees to certain Indians [illiterate Indians and mentally disabled Indians] and taxes and liens were filed in county courts to extinguish Indian title [in 1979 Forest Gerard, BIA Assistant Secretary testified to Congress that the whites titles were “void” titles, and the lawyer for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Peter Taylor, told us in 1980 the white men’s titles were not worth the paper they were written on, but were only Interior Department land certificates, and which land claims Chairman Earl Old Person rejected in 1980 protecting the white men and BIA].
Most of these patents-in-fee were issued from the period of 1918-1921, when F.C. Campbell, H.G. Wilson and T.C. Powers acted as superintendents in rapid succession. The senate investigator reported “There is no doubt at all that scores of these patents were issued illegally to Indians incompetent in fact as well as in the eyes of the law. In nearly every case the issuance of the patent meant that the Indian was defrauded of his land. Three of these superintendents were dismissed from the Indian Service, one went to prison, and the others left hurriedly from Browning to avoid prosecution.”
Tribal possessions dissipated no accounting for Indian funds
The Indians were in a deplorable condition by 1921. The Blackfeet Tribal fund, starting with 1887, received $150,000 every year for 20 years in payment of the Sweet Grass Hills, and the sale of the strip of land that became Glacier Park to bring tribal revenues to a total of at least $3,000,000. Practically all of this money has been spent. Today [1904] the Blackfeet tribal fund is approximately $15,000. Intelligent members of the tribe are unable to get an accounting, although they have repeatedly inquired of various superintendents and even the Indian Bureau itself. Assistant Agency Superintendent Stone informed the investigator there was no record of tribal receipts and expenses on the books of the Blackfeet Agency. Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Washington D.C. reply for an accounting is a “model of evasion.” I believe that members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee will be interested in getting a plain statement of facts concerning the disposal of the huge Blackfeet tribal fund. The costs of the Blackfeet irrigation project were paid out of the tribal fund [over $1,000,000 over the protests of the Indians, who wanted their funds invested in cattle]. $7,000 was given to the Catholic Mission in 1922 raising the constitutional issue of appropriating tribal funds for secular purposes may be questioned [I hope these losses are paid for in the Cobell IIM and Tribal Accounting cases].
Disappearance of the tribal herd
The tribal herd estimated value of $400,000 vanished within 18 months and Mr. Forest Stone, assistant superintendent, testified there were no records, financial or otherwise, of the tribal herd at the agency. In 1896 the treaty commissioners recognized the success of the Blackfeet cattle ranchers in raising cattle for sale and increase of their herds estimated at 25,000 head. Agent Steell took measures to scatter the Indians cattle so they never recovered one fifth of them. The County Sheriff regularly came to the reservation to take Indian cattle, called “injun critters” by the local white stockmen for what he called “bad debts.” The senate investigator noted, “Nevertheless, the tribal herd was valued at $400,000 in 1919, and it is very apparent that agency officials are trying to conceal the facts about the tribal herd, and I believe the senate committee should subpoena all the records or demand an explanation if financial records have been destroyed. According to old time cowboy John Hall, there were 200,000 cattle on the reservation in 1886, 65,000 cattle on the reservation in the 1890’s and 41,000 cattle as late as 1912, but in 1915 there were less than 500 [Indian owned] cattle on the reservation. The Indians facetiously remarked there was only one bull for the cattle purchased by the agency to cover nearly 400 square miles, “that this bull must have had some racehorse blood.” The cattle went dry and were butchered for beef.” Hall said officials wouldn’t know which end of the horse to put the saddle on and were responsible for deaths of the cattle herd.
F.C. Campbell points the Indians to herding sheep for a living
Comrade Campbell, as he was known by the Indians, forced the Indians to shift their focus from cattle to sheep, although everyone agreed the reservation was ideal grazing lands for cattle and produced the best beef in the northwest on the finest grazing lands. Indians who oppose Campbell’s five year program of sheep raising contend that if the Indians were encouraged to take advantage of the natural conditions they could become successful and prosperous cattle ranchers once again. They assert Indians are natural stockmen and by temperament and training like beef cattle. These Indians point out that the livestock industry is a thriving industry and there is no valid reason why the Blackfeet ranchers should not be running many thousands of cattle on the reservation range, evidenced by white stockmen running their cattle on the reservation for ten cents an acre. Superintendent Campbell had then leased 900,000 acres of the reservation to sheep companies in his five year plan for ten cents an acre. These anti-Campbell Indians allege that livestock raising [cattle ranching] among the Indians has been discouraged because it is the deliberate policy of Superintendent Campbell to lease the Indians grazing lands to private sheep companies at a nominal figure [ten cents an acre].
Indians interests seem secondary
There is ample evidence that for a long period of years the head officials at the Blackfeet reservation have been more interested in advancing the interests of a few whites and favored mixed bloods than they have in conserving the property of the Indians. Case after case can be cited where the officials of the Blackfeet Agency have failed to take steps to safeguard the rights of the Indians under their charge. The superintendent aided the county commissioners in getting rights of way and damages waived or reduced payments in gravel pits for the railroad. The entire St. Mary valley was leased to the Great Northern Railroad for ten cents an acre to keep the Indians from opening tourist businesses next to Glacier Park and Hill’s hotels. The big sheep companies trespass on the Indian allotments and Campbell refuses to assess damages. The Hill hotels exploit the Indians for tourist’s entertainment and pass the hat for their pay and feed them from scraps of food scraped from the tourist’s dinner plates. It is a reflection on the Hill interests that they treat the Indians as beggars, and is disgraceful to Superintendent Campbell that he allows this condition to continue year after year. There are 1,200,000 acres of grazing lands on the reservation and Campbell has 900,000 acres leased to outside sheep companies for ten cents an acre. The prevailing rate for Montana range lease is 36 cents per acre for less desirable lands than the reservation.
Condition of the Indians 1904-2010
The Indians had $24,582 left out of $3,000,000 in ceded land funds, no cattle and were destitute once again. The white men “owned” the Blackfeet reservation, either by leasing 900,000 acres for ten cents or acquiring 500,000 acres in patent in fee lands up to 2010. Blackfeet Indians claims remain stonewalled by the tribal council in 2010. For 30 years from 1980 to 2008 Chairman Old Person stonewalled the Blackfeet claims and rejected the claims in 1980, 2001, and in 2008 when we were successful in getting the tribal council resolution to invite the senate committee to the reservation to investigate the claims of the Blackfeet Indians.
He ought to be removed as Blackfeet Chief for his traitorous acts and treason against the Blackfeet Tribe. I hope the traditional people take steps to strip him of his bogus chieftainship. He is a disgrace to the memory of our ancestors who literally gave their lives to preserve this reservation for us. He has given the idea roots that this is not the problem of the tribal council but instead called us a “bureau problem” and told the council they did not have to address the land frauds committed against our people.
But there are tribal claims for millions of dollars for trespass, rights of way and water rights claims at stake. The minerals and water rights to the stolen Blackfeet allotments, and the patent in fee lands now number over 500,000 acres and are growing each year. In the end we are all together whether it is tribal or allotted lands, minerals, and water rights. We are all together; there is no separation on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, except as to leaders who chose treason to nullify our rights and those land thieves.
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