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 43
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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
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Treasury of the United States. The members of the legislative assembly shall be entitled to receive four dollars each per day during their attendance at the sessions, and four dollars for each and every twenty miles traveled in going to and returning from said sessions, estimating the distance by the nearest traveled route. There shall be appropriated annually the sum of one thousand dollars, to be expended by the governor to defray the contingent expenses of the Territory. There shall also be appropriated an- nually a sufficient sum, to be expended by the secretary, and upon an estimate to be made by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, to defray the expenses of the legislative assembly, of the courts, the printing of the laws, and other incidental ex- penses ; and the secretary of the Territory shall annually account to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States for the man- ner in which the aforesaid sum shall have been expended.
Sec. 15. That the legislative assembly of the Territory of Oklahoma shall hold its first session at Guthrie, in said Territory, at such time as the governor thereof shall appoint and direct ; and at said first session, or as soon thereafter as they shall deem expedient, the governor and legislative assembly shall proceed to locate and establish the seat of government for said Territory at such place as they may deem eligible, which place, however, shall thereafter be subject to be changed by the said governor and legis- lative assembly.
Sec. 16. That a Delegate to the House of Representatives of the United States, to serve during each Congress of the United States, may be elected by the voters qualified to elect members of the legislative assembly, who shall be entitled to the same rights and privileges as are exercised and enjoyed by the Delegates from the several other Territories of the United States in the said House of Representatives. The first election shall be held at such time and place, and be conducted in such manner as the governor shall appoint and direct, after at least sixty days' notice, to be given by proclamation, and at all subsequent elections the time, place, and manner of holding elections shall be prescribed by law. The person having the greatest number of votes of the qualified electors, as hereinbefore provided, shall be declared by the governor elected, and a certificate thereof shall be accordingly given.
Sec. 17. That the provisions of title sixty-two of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to national banks, and all amendments thereto, shall have the same force and effect in the Territory of Oklahoma as elsewhere in the United States: Pro- vided, That persons otherwise qualified to act as directors shall not be required to have resided in said Territory for more than three months immediately preceding their election as such.
Sec. 18. That sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in each township in said Territory shall be, and the same are hereby, reserved for the purpose of being applied to public schools in the State or States hereafter to be erected out of the same. In all cases where sections sixteen and thirty-six, or either of them, are
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occupied by actual settlers prior to survey thereof, the county commissioners of the counties in which such sections are so occu- pied are authorized to locate other lands, to an equal amount, in sections or fractional sections, as the case may be, within their respective counties, in lieu of the sections so occupied.
All the lands embraced in that portion of the Territory of Oklahoma heretofore known as the Public Land Strip, shall be open to settlement under the provisions of the homestead laws of the United States, except section twenty-three, hundred and one of the Revised Statutes, which shall not apply; but all actual and bona fide settlers upon the occupants of the lands in said Public Land Strip at the time of the passage of this act shall be entitled to have preference to and hold the lands upon which they have settled under the homestead laws of the United States, by virtue of their settlement and occupancy of said lands, and they shall be credited with the time they have actually occupied their homesteads, re- spectively, not exceeding two years, on the time required under said laws to perfect title as homestead settlers.
The lands within said Territory of Oklahoma, acquired by cession of the Muscogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians, confirmed by act of Congress approved March first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and also the lands acquired in pursuance of an agree- ment with the Seminole Nation of Indians by re-lease and convey- ance, dated March sixteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, which may hereafter be open to settlement, shall be disposed of under the provisions of sections twelve, thirteen, and fourteen of the "Act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipu- lations with various Indian tribes, for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and for other purposes," approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and under section two of an "Act to ratify and confirm an agreement with the Muscogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes," approved March first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine: Provided, however, That each settler under and in accordance with the provisions of said acts shall, before receiving a patent for his homestead on the land hereafter opened to settlement as aforesaid, pay to the United States for the land so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre.
Whenever any of the other lands within the Territory of Okla- homa, now occupied by any Indian tribe, shall by operation of law or proclamation of the President of the United States, be open to settlement, they shall be disposed of to actual settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead law, except section twenty-three hundred and one of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which shall not apply: Provided, however, That each settler, under and in accordance with the provisions of said homestead laws, shall before receiving a patent for his homestead pay to the United States for the land so taken by him. in addition to the
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fees provided by law, a sum per acre equal to the amount which has been or may be paid by the United States to obtain a relin- quishment of the Indian title or interest therein, but in no case shall such payment be less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. The rights of honorably discharged soldiers and sailors in the late Civil war, as defined and described in sections twenty- three hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes of the United States, shall not be abridged except as to such payment. All tracts of land in Oklahoma Territory which have been set apart for school purposes, to educational societies, or missionary boards at work among the Indians, shall not be open for settlement, but are hereby granted to the respec- tive educational societies or missionary boards for whose use the same has been set apart. No part of the land embraced within the Territory hereby created shall inure to the use or benefit of any railroad corporation, except the rights of way and land for stations heretofore granted to certain railroad corporations. Nor shall any provision of this act or any act of any officer of the United States, done or performed under the provisions of this act or otherwise, invest any corporation owning or operating any railroad in the Indian Territory, or Territory created by this act, with any land or right to any land in either of said Territories, and this act shall not apply to or affect any land which, upon any condition on becoming a part of the public domain, would inure to the benefit of, or become the property of, any railroad cor- poration.
Sec. 19. That portion of the Territory of Oklahoma hereto- fore known as the Public Land Strip is hereby declared a public land district, and the President of the United States is hereby empowered to locate a land office in said district, at such place as he shall select, and to appoint in conformity with existing law a register and receiver of said land office. He may also, whenever lie shall deem it necessary, establish another additional land dis- trict within said Territory, locate a land office therein, and in like manner appoint a register and receiver thereof. And the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall, when directed by the President, cause the lands within the Territory to be properly surveyed and subdivided where the same has not already been done.
Sec. 20. That the procedure in applications, entries, contests, and adjudications in the Territory of Oklahoma shall be in form and manner prescribed under the homestead laws of the United States, and the general principles and provisions of the homestead laws, except as modified by the provisions of this act and the acts of Congress approved March first and second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, heretofore mentioned, shall be applicable to all entries made in said Territory, but no patent shall be issued to any person who is not a citizen of the United States at the time of making final proof.
All persons who shall settle on land in said Territory, under the
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provisions of the homestead laws of the United States, and of this act, shall be required to select the same in square form as nearly as may be; and no person who shall at the time be seized in fee simple of a hundred and sixty acres of land in any State or Territory, shall hereafter be entitled to enter land in said Terri- tory of Oklahoma. The provisions of sections twenty-three hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall, except so far as modified by this act, apply to all homestead settlements in said Territory.
Sec. 21. That any person, entitled by law to take a home- stead in said Territory of Oklahoma, who has already located and filed upon, or shall hereafter locate and file upon, a homestead within the limits described in the President's proclamation of April first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and under and in pursuance of the laws applicable to the settlement of the lands opened for settlement by such proclamation, and who has com- plied with all the laws relating to such homestead settlement, may receive a patent therefor at the expiration of twelve months from date of locating upon said homestead upon payment to the United States of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for the land embraced in such homestead.
Sec. 22. That the provisions of title thirty-two, chapter eight of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to "reserva- tion and sale of town sites on the public lands" shall apply to the lands open, or to be opened to settlement in the Territory of Oklahoma, except those opened to settlement by the proclama- tion of the President on the twenty-second day of April, eigliteen hundred and eighty-nine: Provided, That hereafter all surveys for town sites in said Territory shall contain reservations for parks (of substantially equal area if more than one park) and for schools and other public purposes, embracing in the aggregate not less than ten nor more than twenty acres; and patents for such reserva- tions, to be maintained for such purposes, shall be issued to the towns respectively when organized as municipalities: Provided further, That in case any lands in said Territory of Oklahoma, which may be occupied and filed upon as a homestead, under the provisions of law applicable to said Territory, by a person who is entitled to perfect his title thereto under such laws, are required for town site purposes, it shall be lawful for such person to apply to the Secretary of the Interior to purchase the lands embraced in said homestead or any part thereof for town-site purposes. He shall file with the application a plat of such proposed town-site, and if such plat shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, he shall issue a patent to such person for land embraced in said town site, upon the payment of the sum of ten dollars per acre for all the lands embraced in such town site, except the lands to be donated and maintained for public purposes as provided in this section. And the sums so received by the Secretary of the Interior shall be paid over to the proper authorities of the munici-
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palities when organized, to be used by them for school purposes only.
Sec. 23. That there shall be reserved public highways four rods wide between each section of land in said Territory, thie sec- tion lines being the center of said highways; but no deduction shall be made, where cash payments are provided for, in the amount to be paid for each quarter section of land by reason of such reserva- tion. But if the said highway shall be vacated by any competent authority, the title to the respective strips shall inure to the then owner of the tract of which it formed a part by the original survey.
Sec. 24. That it shall be unlawful for any person, for himself or any company, association, or corporation, to directly or indirectly procure any person to settle upon any lands open to settlement in the Territory of Oklahoma, with intent thereafter of acquiring title thereto; and any title thus acquired shall be void; and the parties to such fraudulent settlement shall severally be guilty of a mis- demeanor, and shall be punished upon indictment, by imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.
Sec. 25. That inasmuch as there is a controversy between the United States and the State of Texas as to the ownership of what is known as Greer County, it is hereby expressly provided that this act shall not be construed to apply to said Greer County until the title to the same has been adjudicated and determined to be in the United States; and in order to provide for a speedy and final judicial determination of the controversy aforesaid the Attorney- General of the United States is hereby authorized and directed to commence in the name and on behalf of the United States, and prosecute to a final determination, a proper suit in equity in the Supreme Court of the United States against the State of Texas, setting forth the title and claim of the United States to the tract of land lying between the North and South Forks of the Red River where the Indian Territory and the State of Texas adjoin, east of the one hundredth degree of longitude, and claimed by the State of Texas as within its boundary and a part of its land, and desig- nated on its map as Greer County, in order that the rightful title to said land may be finally determined, and the court, on the trial of the case may, in its discretion, so far as the ends of justice will warrant, consider any evidence heretofore taken and received by the Joint Boundary Commission under the act of Congress approved January thirty-first, eighteen hundred and eighty-five; and said case shall be advanced on the docket of said court, and proceeded with to its conclusion as rapidly as the nature and circumstances of the case permit.
Sec. 26. That the following sums, or so much thereof as may be necessary, are hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be disbursed under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in the same manner that
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similar appropriations are disbursed in the other Territories of the United States, namely :
To pay the expenses of the first legislative assembly of said Territory, including the printing of the session laws thereof, the sum of forty thousand dollars.
To pay the salaries of the governor, the judges of the supreme court, the secretary of the Territory, the marshal, the attorney, and other officers whose appointment is provided for in this act, for the remainder of the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, the sum of twenty thousand dollars.
To pay for the rent of buildings for the legislative and executive offices, and for the supreme and district courts; to provide jails, and support prisoners ; to pay mileage and per diem of jurors and witnesses; to provide books, records, and stationery for the execu- tive and judicial offices for the remainder of the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars.
To enable the governor to take a census of the inhabitants of said Territory, as required by law, the sum of five thousand dollars.
To be expended by the governor in temporary support and aid of common school education in said Territory, as soon as a system of public schools have been established by the legislative assembly, the sum of fifty thousand dollars.
Sec. 27. That the provisions of this act shall not be so con- strued as to invalidate or impair any legal claims or rights of per- sons occupying any portion of said Territory, under the laws of the United States, but such claims shall be adjudicated by the Land Department, or the courts, in accordance with their respective jurisdictions.
Sec. 28. That the Constitution and all the laws of the United States not locally inapplicable shall, except so far as modified by this act, have the same force and effect as elsewhere within the United States; and all acts and parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this act are as to their effect in said Territory of Oklahoma hereby repealed : Provided, That section eighteen hundred and fifty of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not apply to the Territory of Oklahoma.
Sec. 29. That all that part of the United States which is bounded on the north by the State of Kansas, on the east by the States of Arkansas and Missouri, and on the south by the State of Texas, and on the west and north by the Territory of Oklahoma as defined in the first section of this act, shall, for the purposes of this act, be known as the Indian Territory ; and the jurisdiction of the United States court established under and by virtue of an act entitled "An act to establish a United States court in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes," approved March first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, is hereby limited to and shall extend only over the Indian Territory as defined in this section; that the court established by said act shall, in addition to the jurisdiction con- ferred thereon by said act, have and exercise within the limits of
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the Indian Territory jurisdiction in all civil cases in the Indian Territory, except cases over which the tribal courts have exclusive jurisdiction ; and in all cases on contracts entered into by citizens of any tribe or nations with citizens of the United States in good faith and for valuable consideration, and in accordance with the laws of such tribe or nation, and such contracts shall be deemed valid and enforced by such courts; and in all cases over which jurisdiction is conferred by this act or may hereafter be conferred by act of Congress; and the provisions of this act hereinafter set forth shall apply to said Indian Territory only.
Sec. 30. That for the purpose of holding terms of said court, said Indian Territory is hereby divided into three divisions, to be known as the first, second, and third division. The first division shall consist of the country occupied by the Indian tribes in the Quapaw Indian Agency and all that part of the Cherokee country east of the ninety-sixth meridian and all the Creek country; and the place for holding said court therein shall be at Muskogee. The second division shall consist of the Choctaw country, and the place for holding said court therein shall be at South McAlester. The third division shall consist of the Chickasaw and Seminole coun- tries, and the place for holding said court therein shall be at Ard- more. That the Attorney-General of the United States may, if in his judgment it shall be necessary, appoint an assistant attorney for said court. And the clerk of said court shall appoint a deputy clerk in each of said divisions in which said clerk does not himself reside at the place in such division where the terms of said court are to be held. Such deputy clerk shall keep his office and reside at the place appointed for holding said court in the division of such residence, and shall keep the records of said court for such division, and in the absence of the clerk may exercise all the official powers of the clerk within the division for which he is appointed : Provided, That the appointment of such deputies shall be approved by said United States court in the Indian Territory, and may be annulled by said court at its pleasure, and the clerk shall be re- sponsible for the official acts and negligence of his respective deputies. The judge of said court shall hold at least two terms of said court each year in each of the divisions aforesaid, at such regular times as said judge shall fix and determine, and shall be paid his actual traveling expenses and subsistence while attending and holding court at places other than Muskogee. And jurors for each term of said court, in each division, shall be selected and sum- moned in the manner provided in said act, three jury commissioners to be selected by said court for each division, who shall possess all the qualifications and perform in said division all the duties re- quired of the jury commissioners provided for in said act. All prosecutions for crimes or offenses hereafter committed in said Indian Territory shall be cognizable within the division in whichi said crime or offense shall have been committed. And all civil suits shall be brought in the division in which the defendant or defendants reside or may be found; but if there be two or more
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defendants residing in different divisions, the action may be brought in any division in which either of the defendants resides or may be found. And all cases shall be tried in the division in which the process is returnable as herein provided, unless said judge shall direct such case to be removed to one of the other divisions: Pro- vided, however, That the judicial tribunals of the Indian nations shall retain exclusive jurisdiction in all civil and criminal cases arising in the country in which members of the nation by nativity or by adoption shall be the only parties; and as to all such cases the laws of the State of Arkansas extended over and put in force in said Indian Territory by this act shall not apply.
Sec. 31. That certain general laws of the State of Arkansas in force at the close of the session of the general assembly of that State of eighteen hundred and eighty-three, as published in eighteen hundred and eighty-four in the volume known as Mansfield's Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas, which are not locally inapplicable or in conflict with this act or with any law of Congress, relating to the subjects specially mentioned in this section, are hereby extended over and put in force in the Indian Territory until Congress shall otherwise provide, that is to say, the provisions of the said general statutes of Arkansas relating to administration, chapter one, and the United States court in the Indian Territory herein referred to shall have and exercise the powers of courts of probate under said laws; to public administrators, chapter two, and the United States marshal of the Indian Territory shall perform the duties imposed by said chapter on the sheriffs in said State; to arrest and bail, civil, chapter seven; to assignment for benefit of creditors, chapter eight; to attachments, chapter nine; to attorneys at law, chapter eleven ; to bills of exchange and promissory notes, chapter four- teen ; to civil rights, chapter eighteen; to common and statute law of England, chapter twenty; to contempts, chapter twenty-six; to municipal corporations, chapter twenty-nine, division one; to costs, chapter thirty; to descents and distributions, chapter forty-nine; to divorce, chapter fifty-two, and said court in the Indian Territory shall exercise the powers of the circuit courts of Arkansas under this chapter ; to dower, chapter fifty-two; to evidence, chapter fifty- nine; to execution, chapter sixty; to fces, chapter sixty-three; to forcible entry and detainer, chapter sixty-seven; to frauds, statute of, chapter sixty-eight; to fugitives from justice, chapter sixty- nine ; to gaming contracts, chapter seventy; to guardians, curators, and wards, chapter seventy-three, and said court in the Indian Ter- ritory shall appoint guardians and curators; to habeas corpus, chapter seventy-four; to injunction, chapter eighty-one; to insane persons and drunkards, chapter eighty-two, and said court in the Indian Territory shall exercise the powers of the probate courts of Arkansas under this chapter; to joint and several obligations and contracts, chapter eighty-seven ; to judgments and decrees, chapter eighty-eight; to judgments summary, chapter eighty-nine; to jury, chapter ninety ; to landlord and tenant, chapter ninety-two; to legal notices and advertisements, chapter ninety-four; to liens, chapter Vol. II-30
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