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January 15, 1885, General Augur telegraphs that Colonel Hatch is beyond reach of telegraph; that intruders claim to be advised by lawyers and some members of Congress to resist removal; that Colonel Hatch will have about 350 cavalry, and that the troops from Fort Reno were delayed by a severe snow-storm.

On the 16th of January General Augur, in reply to a telegram of the same date on the subject, reports that Camp Russell is situated on the Cimaron, nearly opposite the mouth of Ephraim Creek, and the principal camp of the intruders is reported to be about 15 miles northeast of Camp Russell, on the Stillwater.

January 10, General Augur forwards copy of a letter from Col. Edward Hatch, Ninth Cavalry, who invites attention to the necessity of urging Congressional action in regard to lands in Oklahoma, which he says should either be declared open for settlement or laws should been acted enjoining penalties for invasion of the Territory; else the Government will be compelled to keep a large force at great expense in Oklahoma, to guard every thoroughfare, river, and water-course during the coming year, as, granting that the force now moving to expel the armed intruders is ample to enforce the orders for their removal, it will be entirely insufficient to arrest the movement sure to take place in the spring from the hordes coming from Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas; an estimate from reliable sources placing the number who will attempt the settlement of Indian lands in the Territory at not less than twenty thousand people, &c.

This report is also accompanied by a detailed report from Lieutenant Day, Ninth Cavalry, showing his attempts to induce a peaceable surrender of the intruders located at Stillwater, Ind. T.

January 19, General Augur reports by telegraph the whereabouts of Colonel Hatch and the troops in the Indian Territory; that the number of boomers has increased to 375 and is constantly increasing, and that there is no doubt they will fight. Should this be the case and they fire upon the troops, desires to know whether they are to be treated as public enemies and to be captured or killed, so that there can be no chance of a misunderstanding as to the orders on this point.

January 20, the Lieutenant-General, in accordance with instructions of the Secretary of War, informed General Augur, by telegraph, that the President's orders for the removal from the Indian Territory of the intruders therein were to be enforced. That it was hoped that this might be done without an armed conflict, but that the responsibility for any bloodshed must rest upon those who do not accept the warning of the proclamation of the President of July 1, 1884, and attempt with arms to resist the troops ordered to compel their removal. Also, that the military force should be increased, so that all intruders might see the hopelessness of resistance. Following the communication of these instructions, the Lieutenant-General directed General Augur to immediately re-enforce Colonel Hatch by the remaining companies of the Ninth Cavalry, and also to send him re-enforcements from the Terth, Twentieth, and Twenty-second Regiments of Infantry until the force he has now in hand shall be increased by 300 additional men.

January 21, General Augur acknowledges receipt of above instructions (of which he has furnished Colonel Hatch a copy), and reports that the additional troops will be sent to Caldwell as soon as transportation and supplies are ready for them, but that on account of the severe weather and snow it will be difficult to get troops from Elliott, and supplies. Desires to know if he can send troops from Fort Leavenworth, providing it will not interfere with the school.

By telegram of January 21 from this office, General Augur was authorized to send troops from Fort Leavenworth, providing it did not interfere with the school.

July 23, the commanding general, Division of the Missouri, repeats dispatch from the commanding general, Department of the Missouri, communicating information received from Colonel Hatch that Couch, the leader of the boomers, has notified him that they will fight; that their strength is 400, and that the United States troops are moving into position to cut off supplies and stop new arrivals.

Extracts from the annual reports of the commanding general, Department of the Missouri, relative to affairs in the Indian Territory, in connection with the Oklahoma invasion, for the years 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884.

1879.

INVASION OF INDIAN TERRITORY.

During last spring there was some excitement (much more in the East than here) about a proposed invasion of the Indian Territory for occupation and settlement. Misled by absurd notices and proclamations put forth by a man named Carpenter, a

good many honest and worthy people did begin to move south for the purpose of entering upon the lands in the Territory under the belief that they had a legal right to do so; but in every case, when properly notified that they would violate the law by such a movement, those of them who had entered the Territory returned, and those who had not reached the line turned back. There is no doubt that the whole excitement was created for certain local interests not worth while to set forth, and was stimulated by parties interested for purely speculative purposes. The whole affair faded out as soon as the purposes of the Government were known, and it was made manifest that the proceeding would be arrested by force if necessary. Some infantry force is still kept at points along the northern line of the Territory, but as there is no likelihood that further movements into the Territory will be made this winter, it is probable that this small force can be withdrawn for the winter very soon. It is, however, not improper to say that as the whole of the eastern portion of the Indian Territory constitutes one of the finest agricultural and pastoral districts of the country, is a most attractive region to the white emigrant, and is only sparsely occupied by tribes of Indians who make little use of its productive capacity, the Government must expect and in my opinion should be prepared to meet greater difficulty every year in preserving it to the occupation of the Indian tribes. This section will support, when properly cultivated, some millions of civilized people, and greatly add to the productive wealth of the country. That it is coveted by people desiring to emigrate from all parts of the West is beyond question, and it is equally certain that every means will be resorted to to acquire a foothold in it and its virtual possession by the whites. To illustrate its great area, and the very insignificant manner in which it is now occupied, I submit, inclosed, a tabular statement showing the area occupied by the Indians, who make little if any use of the soil, and a comparison in that respect with the populous States east of it. To hold it in secure and unmolested possession of the Indian tribes now there will require a larger force every year, and before long a continuous cordon of posts near together and entirely surrounding it. I merely set forth the situation as it is, that the Government may be prepared for increasing demands for the protection of the Indian Territory against emigration of the whites and a constantly increasing military force to that end.

1880.

THE INDIAN TERRITORY,

The condition of affairs in the Indian Territory remains practically as it was at the date of my last year's report.

The situation there is complicated by the fact that we have not only to secure safety against any Indian outbreaks or raids upon the settlements of Texas and Kansas, but also to protect the Territory against the invasion of white emigrants and settlers, who seem determined to possess such part of it as they consider open to pre emption claims.

In consequence of rumors, more or less reliable, concerning the intrusion of whites into the Indian Territory, with a view to locating and settling lands therein, which, it is claimed, are unsurveyed public lands subject to pre-emption under the laws, the President of the United States issued his proclamation forbidding such intrusion on the 12th of February, 1880, and the military forces in this department were ordered to execute it. Troops in sufficient numbers were accordingly stationed along the northern line of the Territory, with orders to turn back any parties of white men who might attempt to enter the Territory for purposes of settlement, and conduct them to the Kansas line. In case the same parties, or members of the same parties, entered the Territory with the same purpose a second time, they were to be arrested and held in custody by the military authorities until orders for their disposal were received from Washington. Subsequently the military authorities of this department were ordered to turn over persons thus arrested to the United States marshal at Fort Smith, Ark., for trial before the United States district court for the western district of Arkansas, in which is included the Indian Territory.

The troops at Fort Reno, Indian Territory, were also instructed to patrol constantly that district of the Indian Territory known as the Oklahoma District, which, as above stated, is claimed to be public land and subject to set lement as is any other unsurveyed public land in the United States.

Under this proclamation and order, Captain Payne, a citizen of Kansas, with a party of about twenty persons, was arrested in the Indian Territory, where he had gone, according to his own statement, to take up lands and settle. He and such of the other members of his party as had entered the Territory a second time were turned over to the United States marshal at Fort Smith, and were released on giving bail to appear for trial at the next session of the court. It is certain that Captain Payne and his followers fully believe in their right to make such settlement in the Oklahoma District, and they appear, and I doubt not are, anxious to test the question in

the United States courts. Whether or not they will re-enter the Territory pending the trial of their case before the United States court cannot now be said, but probably they will do so. Under the President's proclamation and the orders made in conformity thereto it will be necessary to rearrest them and repeat the same process. It is very desirable, therefore, that the question of their right to settle in the Indian Territory be passed upon as soon as practicable, and I trust that the United States court will settle the matter at its next session.

1881.

INDIAN TERRITORY.

At the date of my last report it was uncertain whether Payne, who had been indicted and was under bonds of the United States district court for invading unlawfully the Indian Territory with a band of so-called settlers, would, in his own critical position before the United States courts, again attempt to invade and locate in that Territory; but he began soon after to assemble a considerable following, numbering several hundred persons, along the southern line of Kansas, between Caldwell and Arkansas City, with the openly declared purpose, as announced by circulars over his own signature and notices in the newspapers, to force his way into the Indian Territory and occupy the district known as Oklahoma. Although there was no concealment of any kind on his part, or that of any one else, that his organization and its purposes were in absolute violation of the laws of the United States, and the proclamation of the President based thereon, yet he was permitted, for want of laws to cover the case, to organize a force of large dimensions and lead them down to the line of the Indian Territory, which he would undoubtedly have entered in violation of law and in the face of a certain outbreak of the Indians, which would have probably devastated the Kansas frontier and cost the lives of hundreds of innocent people, but for the presence and assured resistance of the cavalry forces of the United States which I had assembled along that line to prevent such an outrage. So persistent was Payne and his following that I was obliged to re-enforce considerably the first detachment of troops sent there, and to threaten any one who crossed the line into the Indian Territory that the animals, ridden or driven, should be killed the moment they crossed the line, and the men arrested and turned over to the United States courts. They marched to and fro along the line, keeping carefully within the State of Kansas, and finally encamped near Caldwell, where they remained during an extremely cold spell for three weeks, in the hope that the troops would finally return to their posts. Finding that there was no prospect that the troops would abandon their position, they finally, about the 6th of January, dispersed and scattered themselves among the settlements of Kansas, being compelled to it by extreme cold and suffering. Whatever may be Payne's object in all this, I think it certain that his followers firmly believed, through his representations and reasonably plausible legal authority, that they had the right to settle on these lands in the Indian Territory, and that their right to do so was obstructed unlawfully by the United States forces. It seems strange that such organizations can be openly made and everywhere announced to violate the laws of the United States at such fearful risk to exposed settlements, and that there should be neither law nor public sentiment to check it or to punish the criminals. Payne was afterwards tried for his invasion by the United States courts and sentenced under the law to pay a large fine, but as he is utterly impecunious, of course it never has been and never will be paid.

He is now engaged-although a sentenced criminal for the same act-in getting up another organization for precisely the same unlawful purpose, and no doubt will be so successful that troops must be again taken from their posts and legitimate duties to oppose his invasion by force. It would seem that in the light of these experiences some law should be passed to cover his case and that of others engaged in the same business. At present there are troops enough in that region to deal with all such attempts likely to be made, but it may well happen that pressing dangers or emergencies elsewhere may at some time leave us in such condition that the force in the Indian Territory will be entirely insufficient to protect it. Even now a great sensation has been occasioned by the reported discovery of silver in the Wichita Mountains, in the sonthern part of the Indian Territory, and it has already been necessary to use a considerable military force to prevent invasion in that quarter also. Whether there be really valuable discoveries of silver in those mountains or whether these sensational reports are merely parts of a concerted plan for invading the Indian Territory from bcth sides, is not yet known, but the resolute purpose of thousands of persons in this part of the country to occupy and possess the lands in the Indian Territory is unquestionable and must soon be met, if it be intended to prevent it, by much more stringent laws and heavier personal penalties than exist now.

It does not appear at all likely that we shall at present have any troubles with the Indians in the Territory except what arise from the chronic complaints about food, unless the Indians are driven to hostilities by extensive invasions of their lands by white intruders, with whom we can probably deal satisfactorily, unless the military force be diminished by the necessities of other parts of the country.

1882.

PAYNE INTRUSION.

The notorious "Captain Payne" again made an attempt with a small party to enter and occupy the Oklahoma District in the Indian Territory, but, as heretofore, he was arrested by the troops and taken to Fort Reno with several of his followers. Thence he was, at the request of the Interior Department, taken to Fort Smith, Ark., and turned over to the United States marshal for the western district of Arkansas for trial before the United States courts. He was, of course, released from custody and notified to appear at the next term of the court. He brought suit at once in the State courts of Arkansas against the officer who took him to Fort Smith, and laid his damages at an amount which his whole colony could not have made in fifty years. His history, in Connection with this oft-repeated and publicly-proclaimed violation of the laws of the United States, is contained in the following letter to division headquarters by me in June last :

"We shall no doubt soon have a repetition of the attempts of Payne and his followers to enter and occupy the Oklahoma District in the Indian Territory, necessarily followed by his arrest by the troops after long marches, his transportation to the line of the Indian Territory, either north or south, and then his release, without any consequence whatever to him.

"In a short time he will appear again on the southern line of Kansas, and the same process will be gone through with.

"These proceedings have been going on for some years. The Government is punished for them by heavy expense. The troops are punished by long and severe marches at all seasons of the year. The soldiers employed in this business are taken from the pos s in the vicinity of the Indians, where they are much needed, and have their horses worn and broken down so as to be in part unfitted some time after for the active service which may be imposed on them at any moment, and all this because a convicted criminal, once condemned and fined for this violation of law, persists repeating his crime. Being wholly impecunious, and the law imposing no other punishment in his case except a fine, which he is unable to pay, he is practically beyond the reach of law. He proclaims with all the publicity of newspapers and posters, his purpose to renew the offense for which he is now under conviction; assembles openly a considerable number of persons, at some point on the southern line of Kansas, and enters at once upon another violation of the law. This one man under sentence by the United States courts publicly enacts this performance about once a year, and the Government appears to have no remedy except to keep a company of cavalry simply to watch and to rearrest and remove him from the Territory. It would be easy to stop all this brazen outrage upon law and upon respect for the authority of the Government by simply confining Payne in the guard-house at the post in the Indian Territory nearest to which his arrest by the troops is made, and compelling him for a time to work for his living, a thing probably very unusual and painful to him; but I presume that process cannot be pursued under the law. Meantime Payne brings suit in the courts for $25,000 damages against me for my acts as department commander in having him ejected from the Indian Territory, proclaims his purpose publicly to repeat his invasion this autumn, and then repairs to Washington City, as is stated in the papers, to confer with the Interior and War Departments on the subject of his next attempt to invade and occupy the Indian Territory.

"These transactions would appear to be rather in the nature of a farce but for their effects. Few people in this region have any respect for laws or decisions of the courts in the matter of the Indian Territory when they see such performances going on constantly, and observe, as they cannot fail to do, that the Government appears to be powerless to punish any one for open and premeditated violation of the laws, and the proclamation of the President of the United States based thereon.

"Naturally, every loafer or outlaw in all this region, as indeed every ordinarily respectable citizen, can have but little belief in the power of the Government to protect the Indian Terri.ory by punishing this class of offenders against the law. Indeed it is reasonably plain that the only persons likely to be punished are the agents of the Government, military or civil, who are engaged under its orders in trying to prevent this violation of the laws and obligations of the United States.

"In order to attempt at least to put a stop to the continued repetition of proceedings which bring the Government and the laws into contempt, I am compelled to ask

further instructions as to the personal treatment of Payne if he be again arrested in the Indian Territory in the act of another violation of law. The present modes of procedure the only modes I am authorized to pursue-are manifestly ineffective, and have come to be considered a sort of a farce in this part of the country, and furnish the people a source of mirth rather than of warning to respect the laws of the United States and the orders and proclamations of the President."

I sincerely trust that some law will be enacted to cover Payne's case at as early a date as possible. The only proceedings we can take against him have been taken, and manifestly without avail.

1883.

INDIAN TERRITORY.

No doubt small difficulties and quarrels, and perhaps occasional violence, will arise between the Indians and stock-men who overrun that region, but nothing of a very serious character is likely to result.

Payne and his parties of so-called colonists are persistent in their efforts to enter and occupy the Oklahoma District, but so far they have been readily and promptly ejected by the troops. The whole history of Payne's operations is a farce, in which the Government is, of course, at a disadvantage. There is no punishment for Payne and his followers, the law only providing a fine for such transactions-a sort of punishment easily borne by the impecunious crowd which follows this business of intrusion into the Indian Territory. It should seem that some adequate punishment for these offenders should be provided. As matters stand, the whole affair is simply a series of processions to and from the Kansas line, for the general amusement of the people of this region. Of course, by keeping enough troops in the field we can drive all these parties out, but it is both an expensive and insufficient method of dealing with the question.

1884.

INDIAN TERRITORY.

Payne, notorious in previous years for his attempts to form settlements within that portion of the Indian Territory known as Oklahoma, succeeded again this year in collecting five or six hundred men, women, and children, and encamped them within the Indian Territory, a few miles south of Hunnewell, Kans. His men were armed and avowed their intention of going to Oklahoma. Failing to heed the proclamation of the President, warning them against an invasion of the Indian Territory, the President directed the use of the troops to remove them. On August 7 the commander of the District of Oklahoma arrested Payne and his party, and after returning the women and children, and most of the men, to Kansas, sent Payne with a number of old offenders to Fort Smith, Ark., where they were turned over to the marshal of the United States court at that point on September 8. It is understood that Payne was there released upon his own recognizance of a thousand dollars and turned loose; at all events he was back at Hunne well organizing another expedition for the Indian Territory before the troops who took him to Fort Smith could return.

I am informed, reliably, "that he has something of a following near Hunnewell, and is daily making violent speeches in the neighboring towns, advising burning the country and bushwhacking all who may oppose him." A few days ago he paraded quito a party with banners inscribed, "On to Oklahoma!" "Oklahoma forever!" "We go this time to stay!"

Of course, if he again invades the Territory he will again be arrested and turned over to the civil authorities, again to be released, and again to return, and, organizing another party, repeat what would be but a ridiculous farce, were it not that it engenders a contemptuous disregard of law, imposes exceptional and unpleasant duties upon the troops, and upon the Government great expense.

The orders of the War Department for the destruction of unauthorized fences in Oklahoma have been carried out.

A proclamation by the President of the United States of America.

Whereas it has become known to me that certain evil-disposed persons have, within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States, begun and set on foot preparations for an organized and forcible possession of and settlement upon the lands of what is known as the Indian Territory, west of the State of Arkansas, which Territory is designated, recognized, and described by the treaties and laws of the United States and by the executive authorities as Indian country, and as such is only subject to occu

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