THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL PORTLAND." SUNDAY MORNING OCTOBER U, t
-a L vynEk I mm J W
spaa- ew- it v-.i ' mil vnwii Y-"PJgS--W . bbbbbbbbbl
I N.VAWVlWftHEVWi November, and aim that time forty-seven wells have
V A . ff.WJHHM been lunk in the district. Two of these are gas pro-
77ews Urnson &ffaffa9ftbeJds.StHA
'N a "sxvayback" little log cabin, chinked
with red clay from nearby hills and set
well among trees that line tha banks of
the Arkansas river, lives the richest girl in
Oklahoma, and perhaps by this time the rich
est in the Southwest. When she reaches wom
anhood she may be among the wealthiest of
the nation.
Why, thin, does she live in a log cabin?
We), she is just a little negro girl of 12 years
and her home was the cabin of her parents
before oil, that magician of modem fortunes,
was discovered, a short time ago, on land that
she owns.
From oil wells already sunk on her "sec
tion" of land the income of Isabel Lewis,
daughter of a former slave, is nearly $200 a
day. Other wells being hurried to completion
will increase this to $650 a day, more than
$236,000 a year, representing an income on
about $5,000,000.
At present this little negro girl is abso
lutely ignorant of the value or power of
money. "I never knew there was so much
money in the world," she says. By the time
she reaches woman's estate her fortune may
be colossal. What will she do with it; has she
any cdnception of the responsibilities or the
possibilities connected with vast wealth?
Ir. the meantime the United States De
partment of the Interior, which has jurisdic
tion over the Creek tribe of Indians, through
whom the oil land came to Isabel, is seeing
that her income is not being spent without
judgment. ,
ttW SURE don't knew what I'll do with all that
I money," ah said, when asked la regard to what
X deposition an expected to make of her fortune
when it carhe into her control.
"My school teacher, aha aaya it will be millions of
dollars, I never heard of that much money before, and
that'a why I want to bo to school, ao that I oaa know
what to do with my money when I gets growed up."
Four or flvo months ago she was Just a barefoot pick
aninny In a calico drees that reached to her knee. To
day aha la as expensively dressed aa almoat any girt In
Oklahoma.
Isabel's parents have nj more conception than aha
of the responsibilities attaching to wealth. They are of
the care-free, happy-go-lucky type of the Southern col
ored parson.
How did this little negrrss .acquire such wealthT
Simply through oil that wonderful magician of Aladdin's-lamp
possibilities, that has lifted many a poor
person Into sudden affluence.
HER FATHLR ONCE A SLAVE
Back of her audden accession to fortune Ilea a story
that roaches tn the heights of sheer romance, and which,
perhaps, can only be duplicated In this country and ago
of astounding possibilities.
Years ago the father of Isabel Lewis was a slave
among tha Indians of the Creek Nation. When human
bondage was abolished by tha Civil War, the elder Lewis
found himself standing upon bis rights as a man.
Such rights, however, meant little to him. Never
theless, be took up, almost mechanically, such land
grants aa were made to his family later in the territory
of the Creek Nation, the former slaves of that tribe
having been treated aa members of It.
For years these grants wars considered as only Idle
firairl lands. The elder Lewis did not attempt to till
he acres given over to him by the government; ha was
content to dwell in his log cabin, to Ash In the adjar
oent river and "worry alone" as thousands of other set
tlers tn the Indian Territory did.
Among the allotments of land accorded his family
was a "section" of 160 acres accredited to his daughter
Isabel, now 11 years of age. It is this section that hss
recently developed such possibilities of wealth.
Only a few miles south of the point where the bound
ary lines of the Cherokee, Creek and Osage Nationa
converge Ilea the famous "Glenn Pool" probably tha
richest deposit of oil on the continent. The wells ao far
drilled have demonstrated that the pool underlies at
least eighty acres of Isabel s allotment.
Three wells owned by her are each producing 1000
barrels daflv, and could be made to double that output
If pumped to their capacity. It Is announced by the
lessees that seven more wells will be sunk at ones.
NO CONCEPTION OP WEALTH
If they prove to be as good as tha ones already
drilledand there la no reason to doubt it her royalty,
at one-eighth of the production, would, at the present
price of nil, give her a dally Income of MM, or $217,000 a
year, representing the annual Income on a capital of
nearly 15,000,000.
The child has as yet no conception of what her
wealth really means. No more have the Ignorant ne
groes of the neighborhood, although they have gath
ered from the conversation of the oil men who have
visited the family that the girl Is the possessor of more
than an unusual amount of money, and are beginning
to look upon her with a degree of awe.
Incomo atom the welU already drilled Is more than
sufficient to supply Isabel and her family with what
they now consider the luxurle of life, and their menus
of spending money will have to be Increased before they
will be at le to make a start on the Income which the
girl will have when she is of age. .-' ' J
If a visitor mentions yachts, automobiles and other
such extravagances of the ultra rich, only a blank look
Is brought to the face of this Oklahoma pickaninny.
Isabel Lewis is fortunate In that her affairs are reg
ulated by the United States Government. The fact that
the Interior Department exercises direct control over
them Insures that the money will not be spent frivo
lously as fsst as it comes In, anU cannot but make her
a very wealthy woman, even If the oil production should
not continue as good as at tha present Usee
s4e Lewis, wfa m ncome a
Two ftnot VoyjM -r avy
Isabel Lewis, however, is not the only negro girl in
Oklahoma with brilliant prospects. .One. of the others
la Josephine Morrison. ' . --'
So far there is only one producing well on Jose
phine Morrison's allotment, but its flow Is very nearlv
as good aa those on the Lewis place, and twenty wells
will be drilled as fast as the product can be taken care
of by the Standard on Company.
PROTECTED PROM WEALTH
The Morrison girl does not take her good fortune aa
philosophically aa does Isabel Lewis, but makes ex
travagant statements as to what she will do with the
money that la to be hers. As In the cases of all minors
among the Indian tribes, her money Is also safeguarded
by the officials of the Indian Department, and will be
carefully husbanded for her.
ATI of the land around the now famous "Glenn OH
Pool" of the Indian Territory la owned by Creek In
dians and their former slaves, who are not able to lease
or m any way dispose of It without the consent of the
Secretary of the Interior. The most fortunate of them
all are Mrs. R. J. Glenn and her daughters, Grace and
Maud, each of whom has 160 acres in the very heart of.
the district, and from whom the pool received Ha nn.ne.
Mrs. Glenn is possessed of one-eighth Indian blood,
bnt undr the law received as great a share In the divi
sion of the tribal lands as any full-blooded Creak. She
has a third daughter, fc'lma. whose allotment la Just
outside the oil Held. fourth child la a baby, only a
tea weeks old. -
Mrs. Glenn is a woman of refinement and culture, and
of remarkable beauty as well. The first well to tap
the "Glenn Pcol" was drilled on her allotment, and a
large number of them are now In active operation there,
producing sufficient oil to give her at present prices an
Income of $SM a day, or over $160,000 yearly. .
The greater part of the Indian Territory oil field lies
In the Cherokee Nation, to the norfS of the "Glenn
Pool," and. while no wells In that locality have ben
producing such fabulous quantities of oil, there are
many Cherokee Indian maidens whose allotments are
now yielding a big production. One very attractive
voung woman of Cherokee blood living near Colllns
vllle has had offers of marriage by the score, but has
refused them all. . , ,
The first well In the "Glenn Pool ' was drilled In last
ducers, three are dry and forty-two are producing from
M0 to 1500 barrels of high-grade oil per day. .
This la In the face of the faot that the wells have
been drilled only to the top of the principal oil sand,
which the first drilling showed to be about 100 feet
thick. Of the forty-two wells producing, over thirty
have been drilled tn the last three or four weeks.
Many amusing letters are received by ofliclsls of the
Dawes Commission and the Union Indian Agency from
Eatterners who have heard of the wealth yosseasea by
some of the Indian girls and are anxious to marry one
of them It doesn't matter much which one, so long aa
she hss money. Of course, all such communications go
at once to the waste basket.
WIPE SEEKERS NUMEROUS
Occasionally also a man comes to the Territory to
prosecute his search for an Indian wife in person. A
ease of that kind occurred at South McAlester only a
few weeks ago. The jaan was probably M years of age.
While standing on a street corner In the evening, he
got Into conversation with a dusky-skinned maiden, who
admitted that she had land and money to burn and that
a matrimonial alliance would not be displeasing to her.
The old man at once deckled that his search was
ended right there. Before the hour set for the cere
mony, however, he found that his promised bride was
nlt'.pether too dusky; that It was African and not In
dian blood that waa responsible, and that her stories
of wealth were all romances. After that he gave up
hla search and went home.
Many and devious are the meana which are
h nil anMitililnra and others to Set DOSSSI
allotments that are supposed to contain oil dapea
One notable case of the sort la that of 1 nomas aw
son. alias Samuel Ford, who la aervlng a ttfa seats
In the penitentiary for murder, while a das in eel as.
ators are trying to get hla allotment upon a to
Moreover, half a doxen other freedmen are trying to
Ford'a allotment canceled, so that they can file oa
and the courts are trying to determine WTVStaejr
prisoner really la Samuel Ford, and. If not. whs Sag
Ford Is.
Thomas Johnson, or Ford. Is a "state negro.
admits that he was reared In Kentucky, but says I
Kla mnltiav ra a a CVnek Woman. Hi lS On the 1
under the name of Samuel Ford. There waa undouMedM
a Samuel Ford legitimately on ine rous. uu
tion now is. whether Thomas Johnson is really the
fide Samuel. Pi
Soma von mwn when tha Indian roll WSS
........ -.4 . Abm,iiM. ik. .1 . m a of Samuel Ford
rax.ha.4 Tk. TnHlana In rhlria at tne roll asked WOOl
Samuel Ford was, and a man from Ford's town staled!
that he was on the ground.
He brought Johnson In. Identifying hlra as Si
r.. 1 w. mm Mn,4ln.lv nla.rl nn Ik. nsw I
Shortly after being enrolled Johnson killed Js
Bills. For that crime ne was arrestee, in is
to the Federal prison at iavenworm. j
ii a rn chutf nf nounsel for the Dawes
recently made a trip to Leavenworth to take thb I
mony or jonnson ana aiso mat 01 uron i jm
prisoners who Knew mm wnen ne uvea m us
tory. His case la still held under advisement
$ and i
WONDROUS FISH YARNS FROM FAR AND WIDE
The
their 7houf&st to i3?n&
WHEN the fishermen of the country pot
sway their reek and rods for the sea
son and father about oracklinp fires for
the usual aftermath of reminiscences
they will find some entirely new and unique tales
of the water over which to ponder.
Of course, no one ever denounces a fish yarn
as untrue. This samples of this season's crop given
here are submitted without comment.
'Voted
N
OT many persons have the lurk of a flaherman
oa the Arrow Lake, British Columbia, laat
summer. At the same' time he captured a M0-
oouna eeer ana s ten-nouna trout.
The fisherman was trolling for trout
deer swam past his boat The man managed to catch
hold of an old buck as he was going by, and, having no
gun, attempted to kill the animal with a clasp knife.
Struggling violently, the deer got away, and as it
swam off It carried the fisherman's line upon its horns.
Picking up his oar a. the man started in pursuit, but
waa unable to bring the deer to bay and kill It until
after about two hours of pursuit and fighting.
Mofit amactng. however, was the fact that then de
veloped. The flahllne was Still fastened snout the-deer's
horns, and hanging on the bosk waa a fine ten-pound
trout, that had sensed the halt as the deer dragged It
through the ' water. The fisherman bore borne In tri
umph both Ssh and animal.
The story of a big fish that went a-flshlng came
Cfrorn Wttshurr One afternoon a crowd of boys were
MSnlng In the river, when a gigantic sturgeon
hed In among them.
Yelling lustily, the beys started fur the shore, while
the flah, It Is declared, attempted to head them off. All
climbed safely oa a seat float, however, sxcapt William
Wllderaeim, aged IS years.
Before he could get out of water the flah seised him
by the right leg and was dragging hlra under water-
all the witnesses agree upon that statement when Jo
nah Miller, watchman on the float, attracted by the
boy's cries, ran to the spot and pulled him aboard.
The flah. however, clung on to the boy's leg until It
waa dragged half way out of water. Miller picked up a
baseball tat and kUled the sturgeon by beating it over
the heaJ.
Only after death could Its teeth be loosened from
the savage hold on the boy's leg. Almost six feet long,
the fleti weighed eighty-nine pounds.
It has not been fully determined whether the at
at (1 Sahara sheet Pittsburg develops man-eating ten
dencies in the flah that swim the Ohio river.
When Frank Roronaugh. of Plttiton Pa., waa ar
rested: bar Game Warden E. W. Campbell on a charge
af catching trout that were below the legal length of
x inches he made the successful defense that the sua.
was the real lawbreaker.
Several Cf the flah were measured
tlon of au tnah short of the legal length.
declared that when he caught them, they
Inches or more, each, but that they had shrunk t
exposure to tad sun.
A number of expert anglers testified that flah
when exposed to the sun, and upon such
tloe Ehret discharged the accused.
Over a year ago Tweed Isenberg. a
angler of Granville, Pa., made a similar defense.
charged with the same violation of law, and its
attracted widespread attention from fislsnntSSl
Captain J. T. Me Praia id. of New Orleans, broke)
world's basa-catching record laat summer by lassssgj
Pass Christian, with red 2nd line, a black bass, fesfl
V4 Inches long, which we., aed Set pounds.
To that time the record had been held by M
Llewellyn, of Chicago, who caught a S5-pound has
Catallna Island, California, A few years ago.
Almost as game as the tarpon, the black sea
affords regal sport Captain McDonald waa nearby
hours landing his record catch.
Even more startling and decidedly gruesome VS
catch made by Samuel Young, of New York, while
' lng from a etringpleoe of a North rtver pier.
His line grew suddenly tight and Young
hla feet, crying to his companion that he had
a big one.
When, a few moments later, the heavy oaten res)
the surface. Young found that his hook had fastened
the clothing of a drowned man.
CONFRONTED BY DEAD FRIEND
As the frightened flaherman peered down the swt
lng tide turned the dead face upward, and Young si
fared back with a cry of horror. He saw below I
the white face at his life-long friend, Ouatav Jonas
Young waa unaware that his friend had fllsapssa
from home a few days before, and was completely
nerved by the shock when his hook brought the h
to the surface.
Herbert Ingham, an Englishman who Uvea ta Sa
Manchester, Conn., concluded that he would eg
spending hla day off on a flaking expedition.
For halt he secured what he supposed was a eel
of wasps' nests, expecting that the eggs would gS
attractive to the Ash and lure them to capture.
The nests were placed In a bureau drawer. Wi
Ingham opened the drawer to take out the eggs, sen
days later, out same a swarm of yellow eatnsta, wl
stung him severely cat hla face and hands.
He spent the remainder of hla day off killing
Insects and reducing the Inflammation caused aF'-j
stings. ,M
Entirely unexpected sport and large catches
were enjoyed recently by farmers along the
Benson's creek, near Frankfort. Ky.
A few hours before, the flake stand at the
distillery brake, emptying more than la, DM
whlrky into the stream. It seemed that all
Rsfison'k creek became Intoxicated.
Thousands of the ush were resent pa
The
hand by uanuse along the beaks.
surface la flrevee. etgaagged
way and sported around In the most
They sismsa to be thoroughly
and to have lost all fear of tbelr
saa filrt a rich harvest
Nearly every man and soy la
i