WICKERSIAM’S LETTER
Continued from Page 3.
against the United States At
torney’s office, but is intended
to be a calm and fairly accur
ate statement of well known
public facts which surround the
Ketchikan Indians, and their
property rights, overwhelmed
by vice and crime, and who
need protection of the Govern
ment rather than its opposition
and combination with the or
ganized criminal elements,
which have so completely sub
merged them and their native
village.
Ihese Ketchikan Indians are
wards of the Government, their
submerged property is trust
property, held by Charles E.
Ingersoll, as townsite trustee,
for the Government and the
Ketchikan Indians.
During the last term of court
at Ketchikan, in October, I was
invited to meet the Ketchikan
Indians in the Salvation Army
Hall one evening, where these
matters were discussed, there
being about 30 natives present,
and I was asked to present
their protest against the con
ditions surounding them to the
Attorney General, and ask him
for assistance to correct them.
In pursuance to that request
from those ' natives, this com
munication is written to the
Attorney General of the Unit
ed States.
Character Of Ketchikan Indians
The general character of the
Indians at Ketchikan is well
illustrated in the letter of
William Spry, Commissioner
of the General Land Office,
dated January 20, 1923, a copy
of which is attached and mark
ed Exhibit 9, in which some 67
of them are given permission
to erect a Salvation Army Hall
on the Indian tide lands de
scribed therein. Since that per
mit was issued to them these
Indians, have erected a large,
well constructed and beauti
fully finished Hall on those
premises, and the remarkable
spectable is seen two or three
times a week of 30 or so of
these Indian men and women,
parading from their Hall to
the center of Ketchikan, with
the American flag flying over
them, and the Bible in their
hands, seeking to persuade the
jeering hoodlums, the criminal
element which has done them
so much injury, to reform and
become better American citizens.
Their Hall fronts the “Tender
loin and Red Light District,”
situated on Government lands,
tide and Indian lands. If the
officials of the Department of
Justice shall perform their
duties as well as these Ketchi
kan Indians, this plague spot
would soon be driven off the
Government lands at any rate.
Relief Asked From The Attor
ney General
In the name and at the re
quest of the Ketchikan Indians,
the Attorney General of the
United States is respectfully
requested:
1. To order the United States
Attorney for the First Division
of Alaska, and other officials
of the Department of Justice,
to abate the house of pros
titution and narcotic venders,
and cause to be closed and
destroyed all such houses now
situated on tide lands belong
ing to the United States, on
both sides of the mouth of
Ketchikan Creek, Ketchikan,
Alaska.
2. I o arrest, prosecute and
convict the inmates of these
houses, or to compel them to
leave and abandon the Gov
ernment property. If a private
party in Ketchikan should al
low such an accumulation of
organized crime on his prem
ises, he would be liable to
punishment for crime; it is
respectfully suggested to the
Attorney General of the Unit
ed States that there is no law
permitting the Government to
mainain houses of prostitution
and houses for the sale and
distribution of forbidden nar
cotic drugs and intoxicating
liquor on its premises, and
these lands belonging to and
under the control of the Unit
ed States ought not to be per
mitted to be used for such
criminal purposes, in violation
of the United States Statutes.
3. To cause all white persons
who are in possession and oc
cupancy of the tracts " of. In
dian lands above the tide lands,
by fraudulent purchase, or oth
erwise, in the Ketchikan In
dian village, to be . ejected*
therefrom, and that the Indian;
owners or their Indian heirs,',
as their rights were fixed at’
the date of the patent of Nov.
3, 1910, to Charles E. Ingersoll,
townsite trustee, be permitted
to occupy and reside on the
same, and have deeds made to
them by Ingersoll as such
trustee.
Since any suit or proceeding
in respect to the Indian lands
will require the active assist
ance of the Department of the
Interior, a copy of this letter,
but not the records, is forward
ed to the Honorable, the Secre
tary of the Interior, and a copy,
for his information, to the
Delegate from Alaska.
Respectfully,
(Signed)
JAMES WICKERSHAM.
REPLY OF ATTORNEY
GENERAL
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Washington, D. C.
January 7, 1925.
Hon. James Wickersham,
Attorney at law,
Juneau, Alaska.
Sir:
Receipt is acknowledged of
your letter of December 2, 1924,
relative to conditions at Ket
chikan, Alaska and the com
plaint of the Indians of that
place.
I want to thank you for the
information you have conveyed
to me in such a thorough and
pains-taking way, and I as
sure you that the various mat
ters mentioned in your letter
are receiving prompt and
thorough attention by the De
partment. You can assure the
Indians on whose behalf your
letter was written that the com
plaints they make are being
thoroughly investigated and
such action will be taken in
each instance as the law and
the facts may warrant to the
end that justice be done them.
Respectfully,
For the Attorney General,
IRA K. WELLS,
Assistant Attorney General.