USA > Oklahoma > A standard history of Oklahoma; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period, Vol. II > Part 34
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
All elections shall be conducted under the provisions of Chapter fifty-six of said Digest, entitled "Elections," so far as the same may be applicable; and all inhabitants of such cities and towns, without regard to race, shall be subject to all laws and ordinances of such city or town governments, and shall have equal rights, privileges and protection therein. Such city or town governments
800
HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
shall in no case have any authority to impose upon or levy and tax against any lands in said cities or towns, until after title is secured from the tribe; but all other property, including all improvements on town lots, which for the purposes of this act shall be deemed and considered personal property together with all occupations and privileges, shall be subject to taxation. And the councils of such cities and towns, for the support of the same and for school and other public purposes may provide by ordinance for the assessment, levy and collection annually of a tax upon such property, not to exceed in the aggregate of two per centum of the assessed value thereof, in manner provided in chapter one hundred and twenty- nine of said Digest, entitled "Revenue," and for such purposes may also impose a tax upon occupations and privileges.
Such councils may also establish and maintain free schools in such cities and towns under the provisions of sections sixty-two hun- dred and fifty-eight, to sixty-two hundred and seventy-six, inclusive of said Digest, and may exercise all the powers conferred upon spe- cial school districts in cities and towns in the State of Arkansas, by. the laws of said state when the same are not in conflict with the provisions of this act.
For the purposes of this section all the laws of said State of Arkansas herein referred to, so far as applicable, are hereby put in force in said territory ; and the United States Court therein shall have jurisdiction to enforce the same, and to punish any violation thereof, and the city or town council shall pass such ordinances as may be necessary for the purpose of making the laws extended over" them applicable to them and for carrying the same into effect : Pro- vided that nothing in this act or in the laws of the State of Arkansas, shall authorize or permit the sale, or exposure for sale of any intoxi- cating liquor in said territory, or the introduction thereof into said territory ; and it shall be the duty of the district attorneys in said territory and the officers of such municipalities to prosecute all vio- lators of the laws of the United States relating to the introduction of intoxicating liquors into said territory, or to their sale or exposure for sale therein: Provided, further, That owners and holders of leases or improvements in any city or town shall be privileged to transfer the same.
Sec. 14. Townsite Commissions .- That there shall be a cominis- sion in each town for each one of the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Cherokee tribes, to consist of one member to be appointed by the executive of the tribe, who shall not be interested in town property other than his home; one person to be appointed by the Secre- tary of the Interior, and one member to be selected by the town. And if the executive of the tribe or the town fail to select members as aforesaid, they may be selected and appointed by the Secretary of the Interior.
Said commissions shall cause to be surveyed and laid out town sites where towns with a present population of two hundred or more are located, conforming to the existing surveys so far as may be, with proper and necessary streets, alleys, and public grounds, includ-
801
HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
ing parks and cemeteries, giving to each town such territory as may be required for its present needs and reasonable prospective growth ; and shall prepare correct plats thereof and file one with the Secre- tary of the Interior, one with the clerk of the United States Court, one with the authorities of the tribe, and one with the town authori- ties. And all town lots shall be appraised by said commission at their true value, excluding improvements and separate appraise- ments shall be made of all improvements thereon, and no such ap- praisement shall be effective until approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and in case of disagreement by the members of such com- mission as to the value of any lot, said Secretary may fix the value thereof.
The owner of the improvements upon any town lot, other than fencing, tillage, or temporary buildings, may deposit in the United States Treasury, Saint Louis, Missouri, one-half of such appraised value; ten per centum within two months and fifteen per centum more within six months after the notice of appraisement and the remainder in three equal annual installments thereafter, depositing with the Secretary of the Interior one receipt for each payment, and one with the authorities of the tribe, and such deposit shall be deemed a tender to the tribe of the purchase money for such lot.
If the owner of such improvements on any lot fails to make de- posit of the purchase money as aforesaid, then such lot may be sold in the manner herein provided, for the sale of unimproved lots; and when the purchaser thereof has complied with the requirements herein for the purchase of improved lots he may, by petition, apply to the United States Court within whose jurisdiction the town is located for condemnation and appraisement of such improvements, and petitioner shall, after judgment, deposit the value so fixed with the clerk of the court : and thereupon the defendant shall be required to accept same in full payment for his improvements or remove same from the lot within such time as may be fixed by court.
All town lots not improved as aforesaid shall belong to the tribe, and shall be in like manner appraised, and, after approval by the Secretary of the Interior, and due notice, sold to the highest bidder at public auction by said commission, but not for less than their appraised value, unless ordered by the Secretary of the Interior ; And purchasers may in like manner make deposits of the purchase mnoncy with like effect, as in case of improved lots.
The inhabitants of any town, may, within one year after the completion of the survey thereof. make such deposit of ten dollars per acre for parks, cemeteries. and other public grounds, laid out by said commission with like effect as for improved lots; and such parks and public grounds shall not be used for any purpose until such deposits are madc.
The person authorized by the tribe or tribes may execute or deliver to any such purchaser, without expense to him, a deed con- veying to him the title to such lands or town lots; and thereafter the purchase money shall become the property of the tribe ; and all such moneys shall, when titles to all the lots in the towns belonging
1
802
HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
to any tribe have been perfected, be paid per capita to the members of the tribe; Provided, however, That in those townsites designated and laid out under the provisions of this act where coal leases are now being operated, and coal is being mined there shall be reserved from appraisement and sale all lots occupied by houses of miners actually engaged in mining, and only while they are so engaged, and in addition thereto a sufficient amount of land, to be determined by the appraisers, to furnish homes for the men actually engaged in working for the lessees operating said mines and a sufficient amount for all buildings and machinery for mining purposes ; And Provided, further, That when the lessees shall cease to operate said mines, then, and in that event, the lots of land so reserved shall be dis- posed of as provided for in this act.
Sec. 15. Excessive Holdings .- That it shall be unlawful for any person after the passage of this act, except as hereinafter provided, to claim, demand, or receive, for his own use, or for the use of any one else, and royalty or oil, coal, asphalt, or other mineral, or on any timber or lumber, or any other kind of property whatever, or any rents or any on any lands or property belonging to any one of said tribes or nations in said territory, or for any one to pay to any indi- vidual any such royalty or rents or any consideration therefor what- soever ; and all royalties and rents hereafter payable to the tribe shall be paid, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the tribe to which they belong; Provided, That where any citizen shall be in possession of only such amount of agricultural or grazing lands as would be his just and reasonable share of the lands of his nation or tribe and that to which his wife and minor children are entitled, he may continue to use the same or receive rents therefrom until allotment has been made to him; Pro- vided, further, That nothing herein contained shall impair the rights of any member of a tribe to dispose of any timber contained on his, lier or their allotment.
Sec. 16. Excessive Holder Guilty of Misdemeanor .- That it shall be unlawful for any citizen of said tribes to inclose or in any manner, by himself or through another directly or indirectly, to hold posses- sion of any greater amount of lands or other property belonging to any such nation or tribe than that which would be his approximate share of the lands belonging to such nation or tribe and that of his wife and his minor children as per allotment, herein provided; and any person found in any such possession of lands or other property in excess of his share and that of his family, as aforesaid or having the same in any manner inclosed, at the expiration of nine months after the passage of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a mis- demeanor.
Sec. 17. Excessive Holdings-Punished For .- That any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of the two sections above of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars and shall stand com- mitted of not less than one hundred dollars, and shall stand com-
.
803
HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
mitted until such fine and costs are paid (such commitment not to exceed one day for every two dollars of said fine and costs), and shall forfeit possession of any property in question, and each day on which such offense is committed or continues to exist shall be deemed a separate offense, And the United States district attorneys in said Territory are required to see that the provisions of said sec- tions are strictly enforced, and they shall at once proceed to dis- possess all persons of such excessive holdings of lands and to prose- cute them for so unlawfully holding the same.
Sec. 18. Payments to Be Made Direct to Indians .- That no payment of any moneys on any account whatever shall hereafter be made by the United States to any of the tribal governments or to any officer thereof for disbursement, but payments of all sums to mem- bers of said tribes shall be made under direction of the Secretary of the Interior by an officer appointed by him; and per capita payments shall be made direct to each individual in lawful money of the United States, and the same shall not be liable to the payment of any previously contracted obligation.
Sec. 19. Commission Authorized to Employ Help .- That the commission hereinbefore named shall have authority to employ with approval of the Secretary of the Interior, all assistance necessary for the prompt and efficient performance of all duties herein im- posed, including competent surveyors to make allotments, and to do any other needed work, and the Secretary of the Interior may detail competent clerks to aid them in the performance of their duties.
Sec. 20. Citizenship Rolls-Direction as to Making .- That in making rolls of the citizenship of the several tribes as required by law, the commission to the Five Civilized Tribes is authorized and directed to take the roll of the Cherokee citizens of eighteen hundred and eighty (not including freedmen) as the only roll intended to be confirmed by this and preceding acts of Congress, and to enroll all persons now living whose names are found in said roll, and all descendants born since the date of said roll to persons whose names are found thereon; and all persons who have been enrolled by the tribal authorities who have heretofore made permanent settlement in the Cherokee Nation whose parents, by reason of their Cherokee blood, have been lawfully admitted to citizenship by the tribal au- thorities, and who were minors when their parents were so ad- mitted; and they shall investigate the right of all other persons whose names are found on any other rolls and omit all such as may have been placed thereon by fraud or without authority of law, enrolling only such as may have lawful right thereto, and their descendants born since such rolls were made, with such inter- married white persons as may be entitled to citizenship under Cherokee laws.
It shall make a roll of Cherokee freedmen in strict compliance with the decree of the Court of Claims rendered the third day of February, eighteen hundred and ninety-six.
Said commission is authorized and directed to make correct rolls of the citizens by blood of all the other tribes, eliminating from the
804
HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
tribal rolls such names as may have been placed thereon by fraud or without authority of law, enrolling such only as may have lawful right thereto, and their descendants born since such rolls were made, with such intermarried white persons as may be entitled to Choc- taw and Chickasaw citizenship under the treaties and the laws of said tribes.
Said commission shall have authority to determine the identity of Choctaw Indians claiming rights in the Choctaw lands under article fourteen of the treaty between the United States and the Choctaw Nation concluded September twenty-seventh, eighteen hun- dred and thirty, and to that end they may administer oaths, examine witnesses, and perform all other acts necessary thereto, and make report to the Secretary of the Interior.
The roll of Creek freedmen made by J. W. Dunn, under authority of the United States, prior to March fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, is hereby confirmed, and said commission is directed to enroll all persons now living whose names are found on said rolls, and all descendants born since the date of said rolls, to persons whose names are found thereon, with such other persons of African descent as may have been rightfully admitted by the lawful authorities of the Creek Nation.
It shall make a correct roll of all Choctaw freedmen entitled to citizenship under the treaties and laws of the Choctaw Nation, and all their descendants born to them since the date of the treaty.
It shall make a correct roll of Chickasaw freedmen entitled to any rights or benefits under the treaty made in eighteen hundred and sixty-six between the United States and the Choctaw and Chick .. asaw tribes and their descendants born to them since the date of said treaty and forty acres of land, including their present residences and improvements, shall be allotted to each, to be selected, held, and used by them until their rights under said treaty shall be determined in such manner as shall be hereafter provided by Congress.
The several tribes may, by agreement, determine the right of persons who for any reason may claim citizenship in two or more tribes, and to allotment of lands and distribution of moneys belong- ing to each tribe; but if no such agrecmment be made, then such claimant shall be entitled to such rights in one tribe only, and may select in which tribe he will take such right, he shall be enrolled in the tribe with whom he has resided, and there be given such allot- ments and distributions, and not elsewhere.
No person shall be enrolled who has not heretofore removed to and in good faith settled in the nation in which he claims citizen- ship ; Provided, however, That nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to militate against any rights or privileges which the Mississippi Choctaws may have under the laws of or the treaties with the United States.
Said commission shall make such rolls descriptive of the persons thercon, so that they may be thereby identified, and it is authorized to take a census of cach of said tribes, or to adopt any other means, by them deemed necessary, to enable them to make such rolls. They
805
HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
shall have access to all rolls and records of the several tribes and the United States Court in Indian Territory, shall have jurisdiction to compel the officers of the tribal governments and custodians of such rolls and records to deliver same to said commission, and on their refusal or failure to do so, punish them as for contempt; as also to require all citizens of said tribes and persons who should be so enrolled to appear before said commission for enrollment, at such times and places as may be fixed by said commission, and to enforce obedience of all others concerned, so far as the same may be necessary to enable said commission to make rolls as herein re- quired, and to punishi anyone who may in any manner or by any means obstruct said work.
The rolls so made, when approved by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be final and the persons whose names are found thereon, with their descendants thereafter born to them, with such persons as may intermarry according to tribal laws, shall alone constitute the several tribes which they represent.
The members of said commission shall, in performing all duties required of them by law, have authority to administer oaths, examine witnesses, and send for persons and papers; and any person who shall willfully and knowingly make any false affidavit or oath to any material fact or matter before any member of said commission, or before any other officer authorized to administer oaths, to any affi- davit or other paper to be filled or oath taken before said commis- sion, shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and on conviction thereof shall be punished as for such offense.
Sec. 21. Allotment to Members of Another Tribe .- That where members of one tribe, under intercourse laws, usages, or customs, have made homes within the limits and on the lands of another tribe, they may retain and take allotment, embracing same under such agreement as may be made between such tribes respecting such settlers ; but if no such agreement be made the improvements so made shall be appraised, and the value thereof, including all damages incurred by such settler incident to enforce removal, shall be paid to him immediately upon removal, out of any funds belonging to the tribe, or such settler, if he so desires, may make private sale of his improvements to any citizen of the tribe owning the lands : Provided, That he shall not be paid for improvements made on lands in excess of that to which he, his wife, and minor children are enti- tled to under this act.
Sec. 22. Agricultural Leases-Certain Declared Void .- That all leases of agricultural or grazing land belonging to any tribe, made after the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, by the tribe or any member thereof, shall be absolutely void, and all such grazing leases made prior to said date shall terminate on the first day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and all such agricultural leases shall terminate January first, nineteen hundred : but this shall not prevent individuals from leasing their allotments when made to them as provided in this act, nor from occupying or
806
HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
renting the proportionate shares of the tribal lands until the allot- ments herein provided for are made.
Sec. 23. Directing Payment of Moneys .- That all moneys paid into the United States Treasury at Saint Louis, Missouri, under the provisions of this act shall be placed to the credit of the tribe to which they belong; and the assistant United States Treasurer shall give triplicate receipts therefor to the depositor.
Sec. 24. Appropriation .- That before any allotment shall be made of lands in the Cherokee Nation, there shall be segregated therefrom by the commission heretofore mentioned, in separate allot- ments, or otherwise, the one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres purchased by the Delaware tribe of Indians, from the Cherokee Nation under agreement of April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, subject to the judicial determination of the rights of said descendants and the Cherokee Nation under said agreement. That the Delaware Indians residing in the Cherokee Nation are hereby authorized and empowered to bring suit in the Court of Claims of the United States, within sixty days after the passage of this act, against the Cherokee Nation for the purpose of determin- ing the rights of said Delaware Indians, in and to the lands and funds of said Nations under their contract and agreement with the Cherokee Nation, dated April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty- seven ; or the Cherokee Nation may bring like suit against said Dela- ware Indians; and jurisdiction is conferred on said court to adjudi- cate and fully determine the same, with right of appeal to either party to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Sec. 25. Laws of Tribes Not to Be Enforced .- That on and after the passage of this act the laws of the various tribes or nations of Indians shall not be enforced at law or in equity by the courts of the United States in Indian Territory.
Sec. 26, Indian Inspector Located in Indian Territory .- That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to locate one Indian Inspector in Indian Territory, who may, under his authority and direction, perform any duties required of the Secretary of the Interior by law, relating to officials therein.
Sec. 27. Tribal Courts Abolished .- That on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, all tribal courts in Indian Territory shall be abolished, and no officer of said courts shall there- after have any authority whatever to do or perform any act thereto- fore authorized by any law in connection with said courts, or to receive any pay for same; and all civil and criminal causes then pending in any such court shall be transferred to the United States court in said Territory by filing with the clerk of the court the orig- inal papers in the suit; Provided, That this section shall not be in force as to the Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek tribes of Indians until the first day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.
Sec. 28. Submission of Atoka Agreement .- That the agreement made by the commission to the Five Civilized Tribes with commis- sions representing the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes of Indians on the twenty-third day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven,
807
HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
as herein amended, is hereby ratified and confirmed, and the same shall be of full force and effect if ratified before the first day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, by a majority of the whole number of votes cast by the members of said tribes at an election held for that purpose; and the executives of said tribes are hereby authorized and directed to make public proclamation that said agreement shall be voted on at the next general election, or at any special election to be called by such executives for the purpose of voting on said agreement; and at the election held for such pur- pose all male members of each of said tribes qualified to vote under his tribal laws shall have the right to vote at the election precinct most convenient to his residence, whether the same be within the bounds of his tribe or not; Provided, That no person whose right to citizenship in either of said tribes or nations is now contested in original or appellate proceedings before any United States court shall be permitted to vote at said election : Provided, further, That the votes cast in both said tribes or nations shall be forthwith returned duly certified by the precinct officers to the national secre- taries of said tribes or nations, and shall be presented by said national secretaries to a board of commissioners consisting of the Principal Chief and National Secretary of the Choctaw Nation, the Governor and National Secretary of the Chickasaw Nation, and a member of the commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, to be designated by the chairman of said commission; and said board shall meet without delay at Atoka, in the Indian Territory, and canvass and count said votes and make proclamation of the result; and if said agreement as amended be so ratified, the provisions of this act shall then only apply to said tribes where the same do not conflict with the provisions of said agreement; but the provisions of said agreement, if so ratified, shall not in any manner affect the provisions of section fourteen of this act, which said amended agreement is as follows :
ATOKA AGREEMENT
This agreement, by and between the Government of the United States, of the first part, entered into in its behalf by the commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, Henry L. Dawes, Frank C. Arm- strong, Archibald S. McKennon, Thomas B. Cabaniss, and Alexander B. Montgomery, duly appointed and authorized thereunto, and the governments of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes or nations of In- dians in the Indian Territory, respectively, of the second part, entered into in behalf of such Choctaw and Chickasaw governments, duly appointed and authorized thereunto, viz : Green McCurtain, J. S. Standley, N. B. Ainsworth, Ben Hampton, Wesley Anderson, Amos Henry, D. C. Garland, and A. S. Williams, in behalf of the Choctaw tribe or nation, and R. M. Harris, I. O. Lewis, Holmes Colbert, P. S. Moscly, M. V. Cheadle, R. L. Murray, William Perry, A. H. Colbert, and R. L. Boyd, in behalf of the Chickasaw Tribe or Nation.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.