Speech #520109960

I do not wish to go into the intruder question further than to read an extract from a letter written to me by the Indian agent at Union Agency. under date of June 1. 1892. in which he says: Those denominated intruders may be divided into. first. noncitizens who are refugees from justice in the States. many under assumed names to hide their identity. who had no regard for the laws of the States from which they fled. and have none for the Indian laws or rights. but who engage in whisky peddling. gambling. and various sharp practices to gain a dollar or two. This class is now comparatively small. and is not increasing in numbers. because their natural inclination leads to crime. and their arrest and imprisonment soon follows. The advent of the United States court in this Territory has made their business and residence insecure. and many of this class have sought more promising fields in the West. I think this extract settles the question as to the numerical proportion of the white people there who may be called refugees or criminals. The agent says this class is comparatively small and not increasing. In the Cherokee Nation. for instance. there are five or six thousand people who are called intruders. in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations there are. perhaps. acouple of thousand more.