the monument that
stood on the brow of that bluff must have been visible for many miles to
the keen vision of the Comanche who knew how to look for it."

The Indian Territory became the State of Oklahoma in 1907; the story of
the white man's peaceful invasion is one of absorbing interest; the
human spectacle of to-day is complex, even kaleidoscopic. In the
thirties and forties the government had established in the territory the
five civilized Indian nations, the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws,
Creeks, and Seminoles, each with its allotted boundaries, its native
government, its legislatures, and its courts. In many respects these
were foreign nations within our boundaries. Besides them, the Osage
Indians had their reservation in the north, and fragments of no less
than seventeen other tribes lived on assigned territory.

Gradually white men invaded the land, purchased holdings from the
Indian nations, built cities, established businesses of many kinds, ran
railroads in all directions. In time, the nations were abolished and
their remaining lands were divided up among the individuals composing
them; the Indians of these nations became American citizens; their negro
slaves, for they had been large slaveholders, received each his portion
of the divided land. Then came Oklahoma.

To-day there is only one Indian reservation in the State, that of the
Osages. Oil has been found on their land and they are the wealthiest
people in the world to-day, the average cash income of each exceeding
five thousand dollars a year. In a state with a total population of two
and a quarter millions live 336,000 Indians representing twenty-three
tribes and 110,000 negroes descended from slaves. There has been much
intermarrying between Indians and whites, and some between Indians and
blacks. Here is a mixture of races to baffle the keenest eye.

Elsewhere than in the Osage Reservation, wealth also has come to the
Indians. Many have very large incomes, large even for the rich of our
Eastern cities. Asphalt also has enriched many. Cotton is raised
extensively in the southern counties. Grazing on a large scale has
proved profitable. Many Indians own costly and luxurious homes, ride in
automobiles, and enter importantly into business, politics, and the
professions; these usually have more or less white blood. Many
full-bloods who have grown rich without effort possess finely furnished
bedrooms, and sleep on the floor in blankets; elaborate dining