That the reports of the situation regarding the Creek Indian uprising have been exaggerated there can be no doubt. It is true the Indians are restless, but so far no violence has been done, and it is questionable if a shot will be fired. It is problematical, however, as the Snake band is well organized, and if they should get whiskey, or some deputy marshal should become indiscreet, there might be some trouble. But so far a general uprising at the present time is out of the question. The presence of U. S. troops at Henrietta is bound to have a good effect, not that they will be needed to do any active fighting, but the Indians who have taken Crazy Snake’s words as gospel will be convinced that the President of the United States has not given Snake the authority to make Creek laws, as he has been claiming.

Probably the most important feature of the situation is the rumor regarding William A. Jones, Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington. Crazy Snake contends that when he was last in Washington he called upon Mr. Jones and prayed to him for relief from the unjust terms of the Curtis Act. He says that Mr. Jones told him to return home and that the Creeks might make their own laws as heretofore. Snake not only says this is true, but insists that he has signed letters from Jones to prove his assertion. The charge is a most serous one, if true, as it is in the direct contradiction to the law established by Congress, and will have more to do to keep the Indians dissatisfied than anything else.

Now Wholly Without Politics

Of course, there is some politics in the exaggeration of the reports sent out from this section. The present United States Marshal, Leo E. Bennett, bold and fearless man, has a bidder for his office. His enemies have been giving color to the reports and saying that another marshal would have made wholesale arrests from the start, and thereby put a stop to even the suspicion of an uprising. The fact of the mater, however, is that under recently adopted regulations by the department of Washington, Bennett has been powerless to act without permission from Washington. This permission came only Friday night. He immediately began to act. He is busy getting supplies and provision together and left Muskogee Saturday morning, with about twenty deputies to join the troops at Henrietta.

His mission is to fight, if necessary, but principally to convince the Indians that Snake has no authority from the government to make laws and that Snake and they are violating the laws of the United States when they attempt to enforce the laws of the Nation as Creeks.

Marshal Bennett, Indian Agent J. Blair Shoenfelt and J. W. Zevely of the Interior department, are in constant consultation. All agree that they do not anticipate serous trouble, but are ready to care for it should it come.

Indian Agent Not Hopeful

J. B. Shoenfelt, the United States Indian Agent, says: “Many of the reports which have been sent out have been greatly exaggerated, although there I no disguising the fact that the Indians are restless, particularly among the most ignorant. Some of the young bucks have said that they will not submit to the government’s plan of land allotment. At the same time they have the most intense feeling against the Missouri, Kansas & Texas road. They say that the road has no right to urn through their land and are threatening to burn brides and tear u racks. They also say they will murder Indians who have white tenants on their lands.

“The particular object of Marshal Bennett’s party and the soldiers is to arrest those who have been making threats. With the party will be Thomas A. Sanson, United States Commissioner, and J. A. Huckleberry, assistant United States Attorney. The offenders will be arrested and tried on the spot. The charge will be treason against the United States government. I expect the marshal’s party and soldiers will be out about a week or ten days.”

Whatever may be the justice or the injustice of the Curtis act, it is certain that this law is lately and entirely responsible for the threatened uprising among the Creek Indians. The Indians say the law is distasteful to them and furthermore that if the United States authorities attempt to cram its provisions down their throats bloodshed is bout to follow. The fulfillment of none of these threats is probably. The Curtis act was passed in 1898. Its principal point, so far as the Creeks and Cherokees are at present concerned, is that it abolishes all tribal laws of these tribes and says that all their members shall be governed by and be punished by the laws of the United States, just the same as any other citizen of the United States. It was at this the Creeks balked from the start, and two years ago, or directly after the passage of the act, there was in insignificant rebellion which was promptly suppressed. Ever since the Creeks have not been satisfied. They have been surly, and immediately began to organize to, at the proper time, rise and show the government that they were all powerful.

Crazy Snake The Agitator

In their midst, not far from Eufaula, lives the full-blood Chitto Harjo, or in English, Crazy Snake. He is an organizer. He is a power among his countrymen and his power for good or evil is apparently unlimited. The real chief o the tribe is Lah Tah Mekko. He it is who signs all official documents, both the leadership, the brainwork, comes from Crazy Snake. What he says goes. No sooner had the former uprising been put down than Crazy Snake began a plan of organization. He gathered about him the warriors who were dissatisfied and they took his name, “The Snake band.” Today he has about 800-armed men and most of them mounted. He appointed what is known to the whites as deputy sheriffs, but to the Indians as lighthorse. The lighthorse are those Indians who are supposed to keep order, but have in reality been riding the country doing Crazy Snake’s bidding and assisting in the organization.

The binding together of the Snake band went on quietly, although the United States authorities had a suspicion that something of the kind was in progress. Although these actions were reported at Washington, no authority was given to the act. It was not until last October that the Creeks showed their hand. On the morning of January 11 a notice against land lessees or renters was posted.

The effect of this notice was that the Creeks openly defied the Curtis act and openly stated that the Creeks were still governed by their own laws. It was in direct defiance to the plan of land allotment adopted by Congress. The Indian in peculiar, or human if you will. The government has said that the land shall be allotted to him in a certain way. The Creek says that if he wants fort acres of land worth, say $400, no one has the right to compel him to take another tract, worth twice as much, if he insists on having the first, which has probably been his home every since he could remember. He is quoted as saying: “It’s mine and the land of my forefathers, and no one—not even the Great Father, can make me take anything else.” He says he is right. The Curtis act says he is violating the law when he rebels The Lah Tah Mekko notice or proclamation saying that the Indian should own and control only his home place and that all adjacent property which he might be cultivating should be confiscated by the Nation was against the law and cause the authorities to act.

Dr. Leo E. Bennett, United States Marshal, sent word that whether the law was a good or bad one he was not called upon to say, but it was the law and must be obeyed; else he would take extreme measures to enforce it. The marshal’s warning was not heeded, as there were some attempts, to punish Creek offenders by the so-called Creek government.

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