The Hartford Herald

A RARE CHANCE
For Pale-face Fortune Hunters—
Pretty Indian Maidens With
Landed Possessions.

KANSAS CITY, MO., April 12.—Thos. Bixby, President of the Dawes Commission to the five civilized tribes, says that the stories of an abundance of handsome Indian maidens, who are eligible for matrimony, are in the main correct.

'There are probably 3,000 young women in the Indian Territory,' said Mr. Bixby, 'who will soon come into possession of land worth probably $5,000 to each heiress. More than this, many of these young women are beautiful. Among these, with only a small portion of Indian blood, there are some of the most beautiful women that I have ever seen. I cannot say this, however, of all of them, or even the majority of them. The full-bloods are slovenly and ugly. Many of the half-breeds are too much like them.

'One of the most beautiful women that I have seen was Bettie Crabtree, who was one-sixteenth Indian. She was married to a cashier in a bank at Muskogee and became Mrs. Winston. She was educated and had traveled considerably. She was, however, unusual. Nevertheless there are many of those who have only a small fraction of Indian blood in their veins, who are fine looking women. In order to become a partner of the wealth of one of these Indian heiresses a man must become a member of the Choctaw or Chickasaw tribes. In becoming a member of any one of these tribes, the white man places himself under obligations to obey all laws and customs of the tribe. There is, however, one impediment in the way of the fortune hunter, who would marry a Chickasaw heiress. He must pay a wedding fee of $1,000 to the tribe. But it's easy to become a Choctaw. That costs only $150. When a man marries one of the Indians he becomes a member of the tribe and is entitled to his share of the land which is allotted to the individual members of the tribe. This does not interfere with the share that goes to his wife, so that when the allotment is worth $5,000 to each individual, there would be $10,000 to the family.'