Indian Affairs, and they came from the reservation together to a point how far from the reservation line [turning to witness]? Mr. PITZER. I do not know how many miles. The CHAIRMAN. Approximate the distance. The CHAIRMAN. Did you stop anywhere after leaving the reservation and before reaching Bartlesville? Mr. PITZER. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Under these circumstances, if the whisky was produced, it would seem fairly conclusive it was brought from the reservation and by a party of whom the Commissioner of Indian Affairs was one, and that would be relevant. Mr. GEORGE. Unless it was produced in bottles. Mr. BURKE. If I went to Kansas City and got a drink there, I do not think it would be conclusive I took the drink with me. The CHAIRMAN. Not at all. I said it would be incompetent to inquire along that line.. Mr. BURKE. I was wondering how far it was going to go. We may trace their actions for some distance beyond Bartlesville. The CHAIRMAN. It could be done if by so doing it could be shown that liquor was brought from the reservation by a party of which the commissioner was one and of which he probably had knowledge. These facts would have to be shown to make it of any value. Mr. BURKE. He could ask him if he had any liquor with him or whether he carried any with him from the reservation to Bartlesville. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Smith shows a good deal of skill in asking questions and I do not want to dictate to him, but only indicate the line the questions should follow. Proceed, Mr. Smith. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. At Bartlesville, was whisky produced by any of your party? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir; I had a drink in Bartlesville in the evening, probably 7 or 8 o'clock. 66 Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Relate the circumstances surrounding that. Mr. PITZER. As near as I can remember the conversation was with Mr. Kelsey. A remark was made that I looked tired. I said, Yes; I have been without sleep for over 34 hours, or rest, and I believe if I had a drink I would feel better; that I am going to stay here at the hotel and go to bed." The CHAIRMAN. Come to the point at once. Do you know whether there was any opportunity to obtain that liquor after you crossed the line from the reservation? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir; plenty. I got it in the hotel. The CHAIRMAN. Do you know whether the liquor was brought from the reservation or not? Mr. PITZER. I do not; no, sir. open. The hotel bar was running wide The CHAIRMAN. Do you know whether it was obtained from the hotel bar? Mr. PITZER. I do not; I did not ask any questions. The CHAIRMAN. When it was given to you was it taken from a bottle? Mr. PITZER. A small flask. The CHAIRMAN. Where was the flask taken from? Mr. PITZER. I could not say whether the commissioner brought it in the room or Mr. Kelsey. The CHAIRMAN. Do you know where they brought it from? Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Mr. Pitzer, when it was suggested you might need a drink, what did Mr. Kelsey do and say? Mr. PITZER. He said, "I think I can get some for you." Mr. EASBY-SMITH. And he went out of the room? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. And who came in the room next? Mr. PITZER. I think he and the commissioner came back in the room together. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. And who gave you the whisky? Mr. PITZER. I could not say; it has been so long I can not recollect which one. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. As to whether Mr. Kelsey or the commissioner? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Either one of the two? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. And if given by Mr. Kelsey it was in the presence of the commissioner? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Was this an ordinary flask, such as whisky is sold in, or was it a private flask? Mr. PITZER. I do not remember. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Where did you go from Bartlesville? Mr. PITZER. I stayed at Bartlesville until the next morning, and went back to the Osage country. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. To Pawhuska? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Did the commissioner go with you? Mr. PITZER. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Are you through with the Bartlesville incident? Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. The Chair would state that, in his judgment, it is no offense for either Mr. Pitzer or the commissioner to drink some liquor, and unless the testimony connects this liquor with the reservation, the Chair is of the opinion at this time that the Bartlesville incident has no value. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. When did you next see the commissioner? Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Where? Mr. PITZER. He came up there. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. To what place? Mr. PITZER. Pawhuska. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. To the reservation buildings? Mr. EASBY-SMITH. The agency at your house? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Will you state whether or not he brought any whisky there? Mr. PITZER. I would like to say, before answering that, what I mean by reservation-that inside of the town of Pawhuska, probably in the center of the city, are about 85 acres reserved for agency purposes, on which all the agency and school buildings are located. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Is that part of the reservation? Mr. PITZER. I presume it would be called; it is known as the Osage Agency Reservation. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Pawhuska itself is about the center of the Osage Reservation? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. And the town site, except for 100 acres, is not Indian country? Mr. PITZER. No, sir: the town site is not Indian country. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. But the 100 acres within the town site is reserved for the agency buildings? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Will you answer the question whether or not Mr. Valentine brought whisky into the agency buildings? Mr. PITZER. In answering that question I have to quote from the information given to me by Mrs. Pitzer. So far as I know of my own knowledge it will have to be hearsay. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. I expect to prove by this witness that when Mr. Valentine left he left a quart bottle of whisky there. I shall have to prove by another witness the circumstances under which it was left. As I say, I can not prove it all by the one witness. Mr. BURKE. The witness stated he would have to testify as to what Mrs. Pitzer told him. I do not think you ought to go into that. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. I am not going to ask him that, but he knows certain facts of his own knowledge which I desire to bring out. I will not attempt to bring out hearsay. At the time of Mr. Valentine's arrival in your house, so far as you know, was there any whisky in your house? Mr. PITZER. No, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. While Mr. Valentine was there did you see any whisky in the house? Mr. PITZER. No, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Immediately after he left did you see any whisky in the house? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. How much was it, and in what sort of a bottle? Mr. PITZER. Quart bottle, probably two-thirds filled. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Where was it? Mr. PITZER. In my residence-bedroom closet. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Have you any personal knowledge where it came from? Mr. PITZER. No, sir. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. Did you have any conversation with the commissioner concerning it? Mr. PITZER. No, sir. Mr. GEORGE. What bedroom was that? Mr. PITZER. The bedroom closet-the bedroom that had been set aside for the commissioner while he remained there over night. Mr. GEORGE. Had the commissioner occupied that room? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. 38362-No. 2-12- -2 Mr. GEORGE. How soon after the commissioner left that room did you see the bottle in the closet? I left the Mr. PITZER. Probably three or four days afterwards. next morning with the commissioner and drove across the northwestern part of the country to Chilocco School. Mr. GEORGE. Did anybody else occupy that room after the commissioner-immediately after the commissioner? Mr. PITZER. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Were there any visitors in your house between the time he left and the time you saw the whisky bottle? Mr. PITZER. I do not think so. Mr. BURKE. You were not there? Mr. PITZER. No, sir; I was not there. The CHAIRMAN. Proceed. Mr. EASBY-SMITH. I have no further questions with this witness. The CHAIRMAN. You stated you saw quite a few bottles of whisky in the mess tent on the reservation. Can not you give us a more definite idea of how many you saw? Mr. PITZER. Well, no. I did not pay much attention to it. I suppose I saw fully a dozen, maybe more. The CHAIRMAN. Had they been opened? Mr. PITZER. Some of them were opened; yes, sir. Some of them had not been opened. The CHAIRMAN. Where were they? Mr. PITZER. Sitting in the back of this mess tent, on a shelf. Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Was it a permanent shelf-a piece of furnitureor just some temporary boards fixed up? Mr. PITZER. Just boards fixed up temporarily as a shelf. The CHAIRMAN. Were there other drinking facilities, such as glasses? Mr. PITZER. Oh, yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. How many? Mr. PITZER. I could not say as to that-probably several dozen glasses. The CHAIRMAN. What character of glasses-such as are used for whisky drinking or for beer drinking? Mr. PITZER. I did not see any of the small whisky glasses. I saw beer glasses and, then, the large tumblers. The CHAIRMAN. Did you see any evidences of beer there? The CHAIRMAN. In connection with the mess tent, was there more than one room? Was there any closet or other place fixed off? Mr. PITZER. No. The CHAIRMAN. How large was this mess tent? Mr. PITZER. I should say it was a tent probably 18 or 25 feet, or 20 by 30. The CHAIRMAN. How large was the table that was in the center of it? Mr. PITZER. That was built around the poles of the tent, in a square shape. Mr. GEORGE. Center poles? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir; and then benches around the sides. Mr. GEORGE. Center poles at the end? Mr. PITZER. I do not think they were at the end; they were more in the center-probably each one was a fifth of the distance from each end. The CHAIRMAN. The table and seats around it were temporary structures, too? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. What were the half dozen or so of men doing whom you found awake when you got there? Mr. PITZER. Some of them were playing cards. The CHAIRMAN. At the tables? Mr. PITZER. At a little table or bench, whatever it was, on the side. The CHAIRMAN. How many were in the game? Mr. PITZER. I think there were four or five the time I saw them; I only spent a few moments there. The CHAIRMAN. Were the others who were awake and not engaged in the game looking on watching the game, or doing something else? Mr. PITZER. I do not know what they were doing-just passing backward and forward. The CHAIRMAN. Was there any bottle or liquor near the players? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. How near them? Mr. PITZER. Right in the mess tent. The CHAIRMAN. I mean, was it within reach of them where they were playing? Mr. PITZER. I could not say; I don't know. The CHAIRMAN. How long did they continue to play after you got there? Mr. PITZER. I payed very little attention to them; I probably saw them playing four or five minutes. The CHAIRMAN. What was the stake? What were they playing for? Mr. PITZER. I do not know. The CHAIRMAN. Did you see money? Mr. PITZER. Chips. The CHAIRMAN. Did you know the value of them? Mr. PITZER. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. From the appearances, as you saw them, was it vour opinion they had been up all night playing? Mr. PITZER. They had been up all night; they had not gone to bed, the ones I saw. The CHAIRMAN. Did they go to bed before you left? Mr. PITZER. I do not know whether they did or not. The CHAIRMAN. Is the name of the man you spoke of Fanchot or Franchot? Mr. PITZER. Franchot. The CHAIRMAN. You say Franchot showed evidences of having been drinking quite a good deal? Mr. PITZER. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. How were the others in that regard? Mr. PITZER. I saw no intoxication. |