by Wilbur Bush
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Several years after the funding of Daviess County in 1893 and the founding of Millport, the first town in the county, the Strip Bill was passed. Daviess County was still in its forming stages. Indians roamed the virgin prairie, and the land was still opened to settlers and homesteaders. This new act divided a large strip of land into thirds by lines running north and south.
Our government and the Cherokee Indians had tried to come to terms on the purchase of their 6,000,000 acre plot of land. Several agreements had been reached at various times, but had always been amended. If the purchase was ever finalized, the government planned to make it available to homesteading.
The original bill between the Cherokees and the government set a cash settlement of $8,500,000. The U.S. Treasury didn’t feel it could make such a large lump sum cash payment and was seeking to find a workable solution to amend the original bill. They had decided to pay a cash payment of $500,000. The balance was to remain in the treasury at 5% interest to be payable in five years. The bill passed by the House didn’t agree to pay the Cherokees any money down. Our country, at the time of signing, would still owe the Cherokees $8,000,000 at 5% interest to be paid at any time in six years.
The land wouldn’t go to greedy land grabbers who already owned land and wanted more, but for those who didn’t already own a home or land. In the east third of the land division, no man could obtain more than 80 acres and he had to pay $2.50 per acre. In the middle third and the west third, a man could get 160 acres. In the middle third the price was $1.50 per acre while on the west third the price was $1 per acre.
At this time, the proposal was only approved by the House. It still had to be passed by the Senate and by the Cherokees. Three weeks later, the Senate passed the proposal with only a few minor amendments. Two months later, the Cherokees also agreed to its terms. The president signed the bill and it became law.