Howard’s position has been no sinecure, and in addition to his other troubles, he was given a chief clerk who happened to be a disputatious person, who had caused trouble in California, and on arrival at White Earth became friendly with some of those who were opposing him. This tense situation was not brought to an end until vigorous protests were lodged by a number of us at Washington. The beginning of the great scandal at White Earth is interesting as well as dramatic. What I have to say in succeeding pages is not in the official language of the report made by Linnen and myself, but is drawn from departmental sources. I make this explanation, for I am well aware that what follows will sound to some readers as a page from Russian, or Turkish, history, rather than a leaf from the history of one of our own states in our own great and free country! The 24th of April, 1905, was set as the date on which the white, Norway and other valuable pine tracts would be allotted to the Indians of White Earth. The word was passed throughout the reservation, and the French-Canadians, who are there in considerable numbers and most of whom show very slight trace of Indian blood, were the first to appear. Educated mixed-blood Indians also arrived some days previous. A line was formed near the United States Government building door some time Saturday afternoon. The allotting was to begin Monday morning. It is interesting to note that first in the line was Margaret Lynch, a young white girl, whose father and mother were white people, and who, the Indians properly maintained, had no right to an allotment. The girl received allotment number one, for which her father refused $22,000 cash the next day. The Agent at this time was Simon Michelet. He was possessed of a violent temper, according to the sworn testimony of a policeman employed at the White Earth Agency for nearly ten years. Michelet was friendly with Gus H. Beaulieu, the Nichols-Chisolm Lumber Company and others who were equally interested in obtaining timber from the White Earth Indians. It was bad form, to say the least, for the United States Agent to use his office at this time to hold long conferences with the representatives of the lumber companies. What was said behind the closed doors no one knows, but what occurred at the time of the allotting sheds a little light on the situation. The chief clerk of agent Michelet was one J. T. Van Metre. As he resigned his position after the timber was allotted and entered the real estate business, this added another complication to the already confused affairs at White Earth. During the allotting of the pine timber there was such confusion, the line became broken and many people lost their places. My two investigations on the reservation, covering nearly seventeen weeks, lead me to believe that the most valuable tracts were selected in advance, and that the names of those who were to have them were entered on a list for use at the allotment.