AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
For the Farm, Garden, and Household. 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, MOST USEFUL, AND MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF M A N WASHINGTON. 
1 Volume XL.— No. 4. 
NEW YORK, APRIL, 1881. 
New Series—No. 411, 
Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
According to Webster, “a Squatter is one 
who squats or sits close.” This term has an¬ 
other meaning, which appears to be alto¬ 
gether peculiar to the United States. A per¬ 
son who settles on wild land, particularly on 
Government land, without a title, is, in the 
eves of the law, and of people in general—a 
Squatter. That he “sits close” is a well- 
established fact, often too well known to the 
Indian, who regards the Squatter as one only 
to be expelled from the land he has pilfered, 
by tomahawk and fire-brand, or perchance, 
and rarely, by the slow hand of justice and 
law. The continual pushing of the red 
man from one place to another, is called 
“ the progress of civilization,” and too often 
(this gives a dignity to dishonest dealings with 
the native .American. We say that, in the 
struggle for existence, the fittest will, and 
ought to survive ; but it is entirely forgotten 
that the general order in the grand scheme 
of development is for one race to cease to ex¬ 
ist by growing into one that is higher. A 
savage people may cease to exist by becoming 
civilized. It is not our purpose to eulogize 
the Indian ; he does not deserve it. The white 
settler, who has had his whole family butch¬ 
ered, and his buildings burned before his 
eyes, would not believe our words, because 
it is easier for him to think “ the only good 
Indian is a dead Indian.” We may not ex¬ 
pect another general Indian war—the copper- 
colored race is too weak in comparative num¬ 
bers for this ; but our troubles with them are 
not at an end. The pledges that have been 
broken with them, and the faithless promises 
made, are stains upon our national character. 
In the hands of an entirely great Nation, the 
treatment should have been far different, 
and the results more satisfactory to all. 
The artist has given us, in the engraving, a 
scene which is more in keeping with the 
highest dealings of man with man. The 
Squatter has made his home within the do¬ 
main reserved for the exclusive use of a 
tribe of Indians, and in which they are living 
in tranquility, and following the arts of 
peace. The chief has reported the action of 
the intruder to the Indian agent, and the re¬ 
sult is the legal ejectment of the white man 
from the land upon which he has squatted. 
The dishonorable act of usurpation is reward¬ 
ed with an unconditional ejectment. This 
is the proper method of adjusting such claims. 
COPYRIGHT. 1881, BY ORANGE JUDD COMPANY. 
Entf.'USD Post Office at New Yore - N. Y., as Second Class Matter. 
