Death did not stay the actions of the guardian; he became appointed administrator. As administrator he accounted for $11,424.30. He reported that $6,074.96 was the balance on hand of the estate. Of this sum $5,627.00 was divided into four equal parts for four heirs. However, the Government special agent Farrar contends that in three of these cases attorney fees of 25% each were charged. So finally, out of the estate of $11,424.00, $4,405.85 was placed in the hands of the heirs. How can some Oklahoma citizens clamor for withdrawal of Government supervision after reading this story?
A man named Jerry Bunce was guardian of an Indian boy (Choctaw) named Tonihka. Some of the inherited land of the boy had been sold by the guardian through the probate court, and there were in the possession of the guardian funds belonging to his ward amounting to $1100. The guardian bought a cow and calf for the ward; the boy slipped the calf away and sold it and with the proceeds bought him some clothes. The guardian employed an attorney and had the boy arrested charging him with larceny of the calf. Other attorneys were employed to defend the boy. The guardian paid the attorneys on both sides of the case $900 of the boy’s money—one side for prosecuting and the other side for an alleged defense; when the case came up for trial the attorney defending plead guilty for the boy, who was convicted without a word of evidence, and sent to the reform school. Bunce died, and his successor as guardian told my informant the above facts, and said that when he talked with the attorneys involved they treated the matter as a great joke.
In 1910 a full-blood Choctaw Indian named Simon Wakaya was found dead and charred in the ashes of his cabin. An investigation showed that he had been shot before the cabin was burned. This Indian had dealt in cattle and owned a small herd of stock in addition to his allotment. Two or three days after the death, there was filed in the county offices a bill of sale conveying all of his cattle to a man named Bill ——.[[26]] At the same time there was filed for probate in the county court, a will purporting to have been executed by Wakaya conveying his allotment to Henry ——.[[26]] A Government representative satisfied himself that the will was a forgery and induced a relative to contest the will. After a preliminary hearing occurred in the county court, the matter was appealed to the district court and full disclosure of all the facts was had.
The judge issued a bench warrant, charging them all with murder, perjury, forgery and arson. These men gave bond at the time and for two years they have been at liberty and have never been brought to trial. This last remark merely illustrates the apathy of the white people of this State in matters involving the welfare of the Indians. It is a fact demonstrated a hundred times a day in this State that the white population cares very little about the rights of the Indians and it is difficult to secure a conviction of white people for many felonies committed upon Indians. This is most frequently illustrated in the matter of forgeries in the securing of pretended deeds from unrestricted Indians. Upon failure to secure a deed the white man is not yet at the end of his resources, for he can still either forge a deed or get some Indian or freedman to impersonate the owner of the land and execute a conveyance, acknowledge it before a notary and have it recorded.
A full-blood Cherokee, now about twenty-six, was allotted valuable land in the vicinity of Bartlesville. She had no relatives, and at the age of four years she was taken into the family of a white man, but not formally adopted. When the allotments were made he was appointed her guardian. When she became of age he was discharged. During his guardianship about $4500.00 came into the guardian’s hands as guardian. Upon a final accounting he filed receipts for over $2,000 as having been paid to his ward, but which it is claimed he admitted really never was paid to her.
When this girl became of age a new oil lease was made with her for which a bonus of $8,000 was paid, which money went into the hands of the guardian and which it is alleged he likewise admitted he diverted to his own use. It is also claimed that approximately $2500 royalty has been received by the guardian for this girl. It is claimed that the guardian has admitted that he owed this girl approximately $20,000. The ward lived in the home of her guardian ostensibly as a servant. She is of weak mind and really an incompetent. In September, 1910, the guardian secured a divorce from his wife, and afterwards, it is claimed, continued to live with his ward.
As an illustration of the extremes to which these grafters sometimes resort, my attention was called to a case of an adult who had died and left a valuable property. In order to get large allowances from the estate padded expense accounts were put in for the burial robes, metallic caskets, etc., although the relatives who attended the burial stoutly insisted that only a box, and the cheapest clothes were used. In this instance, the grafters, knowing that an investigation was to be made, exhumed the body and placed same in a metallic casket, and carried off and destroyed the pine box in which the burial had originally been made!
Miss Barnard found a pauper child in an almshouse. Investigation proved that the guardian disposed of a valuable “oil allotment” for $50,000. Instead of using a part of this money for the child’s education, he appropriated it to his own use. A portion of the money was recovered and the child placed in an educational institution.
Indians about to become of age possessing valuable allotments, were taken to remote points—Denver, Minneapolis, etc. Henry Purchase was taken to St. Louis, and detained until he signed a deed to his property. Marcus Corey was found by Secret Service men in Southampton, England, and returned after much trouble to his parents. Marcus possessed property worth $40,000.
Cases are on record where Indians were poisoned, or confined in rooms in obscure hotels, until they signed away their property. The ignorant were easy prey to the grafters, as this newspaper clipping of 1913 attests: