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 246 INDIAN TERRITORY be scalded, and sown in a hotbed ; they will germinate in the open ground, but the plants will not acquire much size the first year. The roots should be taken up at the first frost and kept in a dry place where they will not freeze ; the next spring they are to be divided and set out when the soil has become warm. INDIAN TERRITORY, an unorganized por- tion of the United States, situated between lat. 33 35' and 37 N., and Ion. 94 20' and 103 W. ; length E. and W. along the N. bor- der 470 m., and 8. of lat. 36 30' about 310 m. ; breadth W. of the 100th meridian 35 m., and E. of that line about 210 m.; area, 68,991 sq. m. It is bounded N. by Colorado and Kansas, E. by Missouri and Arkansas, S. by Texas, from which E. of the 100th meridian it is separated by the Red river, and W. by Texas and New Mexico. The inhabitants are not regularly enumerated in the census of 1870, but the su- perintendent, from inquiries made through the agents of the Indian office, states the popula- tion at 68,152, of whom 2,407 were whites, 6,378 colored, and 59,367 Indians. Of the In- dians, 24,967 were on reservations or at agen- cies, and 34,400 were nomadic. Besides a con- siderable portion still unassigned, the territory contains 17 Indian reservations. The Chero- kees occupy .an area of 5,960 sq. m. in the northeast, E. of the 96th meridian, and border- ing on Kansas and Arkansas ; they also own a strip about 50 m. wide along the Kansas bor- der from the Arkansas river W. to the 100th meridian, about 8,500 sq. m. The Ohoctaw reservation, 10,450 sq. m., is in the southeast, bordering on Arkansas and Texas. Joining this on the west, and separated from Texas by the Red river, is the Ohickasaw reservation, 6,840 sq. m. The Creeks occupy 5,024 sq. m. in the E. central part of the territory, border- ing on the Cherokees and Choctaws. S. W. of the Creeks is the Seminole reservation, 312| sq. m., and N. of this the reservation of the Sacs and Foxes, 756 sq. m. W. of the Seminole res- ervation is a tract of 900 sq. m. upon which are settled the citizen Pottawattamies and the Absentee Shawnees. The Osage reservation, 2,345 sq. m., is W. of that of the Cherokees, and is bounded N. by Kansas and S. W. by the Ar- kansas river. N. W. of the Osages, and bound- ed N. by Kansas and W. by the Arkansas, is the reservation of the Kaws, 156 sq. m., to which they were removed from Kansas in the summer of 1873. In the S. W. part of the ter- ritory, and bounded E. by the Chickasaws, are the Kiowas, Comanches, and Apaches, occupy- ing 5,546 sq. m.; and N. of these are the Ara- pahoes and Cheyennes, with 6,205 sq. m. The Qnapaws, the confederated Peorias, Kaskas- kias, Weas, Piankeshaws, and Miamies, the Ot- tawas, the Shawnees, the Wyandots, and the Senecas severally have reservations, with an aggregate area of 297 sq. nl, in the N. E. cor- ner of the territory, E. of the Neosho river. The affiliated bands of Wichitas, Keechies, Wacoes, Tawacanies, Caddoes, lonies, Dela- wares, and Penetethka Comanches are gathered at an agency on the Washita river W. of the Creek country, but they have no reservation. The Modocs (remnant of Captain Jack's band) and about 400 Kickapoos and Pottawattamies (from the border of Texas and Mexico) were removed to the Indian territory in the latter part of 1873. The former were placed tempo- rarily on the Shawnee reservation, and the lat- ter were settled on a tract on the Kansas bor- der W. of the Arkansas river. The surface has a general declination toward the east, but the only considerable elevations are the Wichita mountains in the southwest, and a continuation of the Ozark and Washita mountains from Ar- kansas in the east. Otherwise the E. portion of the territory and that S. of the Canadian river spreads out into undulatory plains, while the N. W. portion consists of elevated prairies. It is watered by innumerable streams, tributaries of the Arkansas and Red rivers. The former flows from Kansas in a S. E. direction through the N. E. corner of the territory into Arkan- sas, and is navigable in high stages of water to Fort Gibson in the Cherokee country. On the east its principal tributaries are the Verdigris, the Neosho, and the Illinois, which have a S. course. On the west the two principal branch- es are the Canadian and the Red fork. The Canadian river rises by two forks in New Mex- ico, which flow E., the S. fork first through the N. W. projection of Texas, traverse nearly the whole length of the territory, and uniting join the Arkansas near the E. border. The Red fork enters the territory from Kansas un- der the name of the Cimarron, and flowing S. E. joins the main stream N. of the Canadian. N. of the Red fork and having the same general direction is the Salt fork or Little Arkansas. The chief tributary of Red river is the Washita, which rises in N. W. Texas, and flowing S. E. joins the main stream near the S. E. angle of the Chickasaw country. Other affluents of Red river, commencing at the east, are the Kimishi, Boggy creek, Blue river, Mud creek, Beaver creek, Cache creek, and the North fork. Red river is navigable by small steamers in or- dinary stages of water along nearly the whole S. border. In the west and northwest are ex- tensive deposits of gypsum, and in the Chero- kee country are found coal, iron, good brick clay, marble in places, and yellow sandstone suitable for building purposes. The climate is mild and salubrious, but generally dry. The mean annual temperature in the S. E. is 60 ; in the N. W. 55. The annual rainfall, which in the S. E. extremity of the territory is 52 in., decreases to 35 in. in the central region, and is less than 20 in. in the N. W. corner. The Wichita range is intersected by many fertile valleys abounding in wood, water, and grass, and generally the country S. of the Canadian is interspersed with prairie and timbered land, possessing a fertile soil overgrown with nutri- tious grasses. The N. E. portion of the terri- tory is well wooded, and while there is consid-