red to the Indian Territory, the annuities due the tribe were of
course paid there; and that portion of the tribe which had fled
back to Dakota received nothing. Moreover, the Indian Bureau
issued an order forbidding any Ponca who should leave the In-
dian Territory to take with him any kind of property whatsoever,
under penalty of being arrested for stealing. As they could not
take their families on the long, hard journey to Dakota without
food or means of transportation, this order kept them imprisoned in
Indian Territory as effectually as a military guard could have done.
The Government employes in charge of them reported, mean-
while, that they had "made up their minds to live and die where
they are. * * * There exists a feeling of contentment in the tribe
that will make it very difficult for any one to induce them to leave
their present home," says a general press despatch, presumably
dictated by the Indian Bureau, and sent throughout the country
on July 15th.
It seems an insult to people's common-sense to suppose that
this statement would be believed, close on the heels of the general
order for the arrest of all fleeing Poncas who should dare to take
with them out of the Indian Territory one dollar's worth of prop-
erty. A very superfluous piece of legislation, surely, for a commu-
nity so " contented " that it would be " difficult for any one to
induce them to leave their homes."

THE LEGAL ASPECT OP THE CASE.
