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CHAPTER XXV
THE DAWES COMMISSION
The next important step
was the creation of the Dawes Commission. The disturbing
presence of the white intruders hastened the movement
for allotment and citizenship, and in 1896 the decision
of citizenship claims was taken out of the control
of the Indian courts and vested with the Dawes Commission.
The survey of the Indian Territory had begun.1
"The meaning of such survey," said Agent
Wisdom in September, 1895, "is too plain
to be disregarded, and it is justly considered as
the initial step, solemn and authoritative, toward
the overthrow of their present communal holdings."
The end of the peculiar civil government of the Indians
was approaching. By successive enactments the jurisdiction
of the Indian courts had been steadily narrowed, and
the authority of the federal courts proportionately
extended; the right to determine Indian citizenship
had been taken from the Indians and vested in a government
commission; the lands of the five tribes was surveyed
and sectionized by government surveyors; by the Curtis
act the entire control of tribal revenues had been
taken from a resident supervising inspector, the tribal
courts were abolished, allotments were made compulsory,
and authority given to incorporate white men's towns
in the Indian tribes.
Such in brief is a statement of the
successive steps taken in bringing the Indians to
citizenship during the last decade of the nineteenth
century. The history of these developments is mainly
an account of the Dawes Commission2 and
its work under the direction of Congress. A volume
would hardly contain the records of this commission,
and this chapter must deal only with the important
features of its work, especially its labors in preparing
the Indians for the condition of statehood.
[Footnotes]
1The initial point of land
survey of Oklahoma and Indian Territory was a mile
south of old Fort Arbuckle. A sandstone pillar five
feet high and a foot or more square was placed to
mark the spot. On one face were carved the letters
"I. P." (Indian Principal), on the opposite
the date 1870. In that year the surveyors began their
work, laying off the meridian from Red river to Kansas,
and the base line from Arkansas to the Panhandle.
From these lines the townships and range lines of
the entire state were run, but the survey in old Indian
Territory was not completed until late in the '90's.
2A commission appointed by
President Cleveland, under an act of Congress
of March 3, 1893, and consisting of Henry L. Dawes
of Massachusetts, chairman (1893-1903); Archibald
S. McKennon of Arkansas (1893--98), and Meredith
H. Kidd, of Indiana (1893-95). It was increased
to five members in 1895 and reduced to four in 1898.
In addition to those named, it has included Frank
C. Armstrong of the District of Columbia (1895-98),
Thomas B. Cananiss of Georgia (1895-97), Alexander
B. Montgomery of Kentucky (1895-97), Tams Bixby
of Minnesota (1807-1905), Thomas B. Needles
of Illinois (1897-1905), Clifton R. Breckenridge
of Arkansas (1898-1905), and William E. Standley
of Kansas (1903--04). On the death of Mr. Dawes,
in February, 1903, Mr. Bixby was appointed
chairman. The work of the commission being finished,
it expired by law July 1, 1905. As the Indian government
did not dissolve until March 4, 1906, all the remaining
power of the commission were vested in the secretary
of the interior during the interim and administered
by a "commissioner to the five civilized tribes."
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In the creation of the
Dawes Commission in 1893, its objects were defined
to be:
The extinguishment of tribal titles
to any lands within that Territory, now held by any
and all of such nations or tribes, either by cession
of the same or some part thereof to the United States,
or by the allotment and division of the same in severalty
among the Indians of such nations or tribes, respectively,
as may be entitled to the same, or by such other method
as may be agreed upon between the several nations
and tribes aforesaid, or each of them with the United
States with a view to such an adjustment upon the
basis of justice and equity as may, with the consent
of the said nations of Indians, so far as may be necessary,
be requisite and suitable to enable the ultimate creation
of a state or states of the Union, which shall embrace
the lands within said Indian Territory.
The labors of the commission during
the first ten years of its existence were described
in its tenth annual report, which is quoted:
"For the first five years—namely,
from 1893, the year the commission was created, until
1898, when the Curtis Act was passed—this body
was clothed with only negotiating power, except a
limited function under the act of June 10, 1896, relating
to determination of citizenship rights.
"The object of Congress from the
beginning has been the dissolution of the tribal governments,
the extinguishment of the communal or tribal title
to the land, the vesting of possession and title in
severalty among the citizens of the tribes, and the
assimilation of the peoples and institutions of this
Territory to our prevailing American standard.
"It was evident at the end of the
first five years that the accomplishment of the foregoing
object by negotiation alone was practically impossible.
The Indians (so called, for most of them by a century
and a quarter of intermarriage have far more Saxon
than Indian blood) would never surrender by consent
what they did not want to give up at all. The commission,
as then constituted, was able to bring to the discussion
neither inducements nor force. Some of the tribal
members held passionately to their institutions from
custom and patriotism, and others held with equal
tenacity because of the disadvantage and privileges
they enjoyed. It was almost worth a man's life at
that time to advocate a change.
"Under these conditions Congress
was in 1898 fairly confronted with the alternative
of either abandoning its policy and abolishing the
commission, or else of converting the commission from
merely a negotiating body into also an executive and
semi-judicial body, and of proceeding with the work
under the constitutional power of Congress, and largely
at least, regardless of the will of the tribes. A
strenuous effort was made to prevent the adoption
of the latter course. So pronounced was the opposition
and so severe were the criticisms heaped upon the
commission that at one time there seemed to be no
doubt of success for those who favored this policy.
But in what may be deemed a fortunate hour it was
decided not to act without giving a chance to the
special representatives of the government to be heard,
both in their own defense and with respect to what
course should be adopted. This led to such a revelation
of slander, corruption and oppression that Congress
immediately passed the Curtis Act, and it has been
followed by prompt appropriations for its execution,
amounting now to nearly $1,000,000.
"That act undertook, not to let
anybody
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and everybody come forward and take
public land, but to administer upon five great estates,
aggregating 20,000,000 acres. It ordered these estates
to be partitioned among the individual heirs upon
the principle of equal value; and it could hardly
have done less, and at our expense, under the stipulations
of treaties.
"Nor was it a disposition of wild
lands, or of land of uniform value. It related to
vast tracts, covered by the homes and other improvements
of a great population, threaded in ever direction
with railroads, filled with villages and large towns
of the most modern character, and without a wigwam
or a blanket Indian within the limits of the Territory.
It was a vast and difficult undertaking; and no previous
disposition of either lands or tribes afforded precedents
for guidance.
"Manifestly two indispensable duties
lay at the very beginning of the business—first,
to determine who were the bona fide citizens or heirs
entitled to inherit these properties; and, second,
to take an inventory of the properties to be divided.
"When these two tasks had been
performed as to any tribe, then only was it possible
to begin the intelligent and equitable division of
its estate. There was practically nothing to go upon
in either instance, and the whole work had to be done
from the beginning.
"In determining the heirs, the
commission has heard and passed upon the individual
applications of more than 200,000 claimants; and of
this number some 128,000 have been so disposed of
since the passage of the Curtis Act. All of these
cases had to be made matters of record, many of them
involving hundreds and some of them thousands of pages
of evidence and pleading; and of the total number
more than half have been rejected as not entitled
to share in the properties of the tribes.
"In valuing the properties for
distribution, every forty acres has had to be located,
classed and platted, making some 500,000 separate
items of property to be so treated; and it has been
necessary to locate by careful surveys the homes and
improvements of the people upon many millions of acres
in order to get their correct land numbers and thus
enable them to secure the lands they wish and retain
possession of their homes as required by law. They
had settled and lived for nearly three-quarters of
a century with no regard for survey lines, and with
no records such as we have in the states and in the
other territories."
"The Atoka agreement," as
it has been generally known, has had an important
place in the history of the dissolution of tribal
government because it was the first practical agreement
between the Dawes Commission and one of the civilized
tribes, in accordance with which the final solution
of the severalty and citizenship problem was worked
out. The Atoka agreement had been negotiated between
the commission and the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes,
April 23, 1897, and the ratification of the agreement
was appended to the Curtis Act of June 28, 1898.
The first and principal consideration
in the agreement provided "That all lands within
the Indian Territory belonging to the Choctaw and
Chickasaw Indians shall be allotted to the members
of said tribes so as to give to each member of these
tribes as far as possible a fair and equal share thereof,
considering the character and fertility of the soil
and the location and value of the lands."
It was provided that the allotted lands
should remain untaxable for the period of
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twenty-one years, provided the title
remained with the original allottee; that the allottee's
homestead of 160 acres could not be alienated for
a period of twenty-one years from date of patents,
but that the remainder of the allotments might be
sold, one-fourth in one year, one-fourth in three
years, and the balance in five years from the date
of patent.3
The principal features of the Curtis
Act were:
1st. The enlargement and extension
of the jurisdiction of the United States courts for
the Indian Territory so as to include all causes of
action irrespective of the parties, and so as to give
those courts jurisdiction to try certain suits by
or against the several tribes.
2d. The conferring of jurisdiction
for police purposes on the courts and municipal authorities
of Fort Smith, Arkansas, over a certain portion of
the Choctaw Nation lying between the corporate limits
of Fort Smith and the Arkansas and Poteau rivers and
extending up the Poteau river to the mouth of Mill
creek.
3d. The making of the enrollment
of the tribes by the Dawes Commission conclusive as
to the membership of each tribe. This provision was
designed to determine definitely the membership of
the tribes and dispose of all claims to citizenship.
4th. The allotment of lands in
severalty to the members of the tribes by the Dawes
Commission, so far as the use and occupancy of the
lands were concerned, reserving all minerals for the
benefit of the tribes.
5th. The leasing by the secretary
of the interior of the mineral lands of the different
tribes under regulations to be prescribed by him.
6th. Providing for the incorporation
of towns and cities in the Territory under the provisions
of the Arkansas statutes.4
7th. Provident for the surveying
and laying out of townsites and sale of town lots
within the Territory.
8th. Providing for the payment
of all rents and royalties due the tribes into the
treasury of the United States to the credit of the
tribes, and prohibiting the collection of the same
by individuals of the tribes, but permitting the leasing
by individuals of their allotments, except as to minerals.
9th. Prohibiting the payment
of any moneys on any account whatever to the
[Footnotes]
3In its eighth annual report
(1901) the commission said the Atoka agreement "is
inadequate and ambiguous, and affairs within those
tribes may not be satisfactorily administered under
its provision. It is essential that a date be fixed
for closing the rolls, that some legislation touching
upon the rights and benefits of Mississippi Choctaws
and other matters of somewhat less importance be had
if the work of the government is to proceed satisfactorily."
To remedy these conditions a supplemental agreement
was had with the Choctaws and Chickasaws and ratified
by Congress by act approved July 1, 1902.
4The subject of townsites
was among the first considered by the Dawes Commission.
In November, 1895, it reported the existence, along
the railroad lines, of many considerable towns, with
costly business blocks, residences and good improvements.
But owing to the fact that none of the white citizens
could gain permanent title to the lands which the
buildings were located, a feeling of insecurity and
lack of permanence hindered the progress that might
have marked these towns under better conditions. The
commission then explained the mode of acquiring temporary
title on these townsites. "Generally these towns
rest on the following unsubstantial [insubstantial]
arrangement with the national authorities. A citizen
Indian is first authorized by the laws of the nation
to inclose [enclose] for his own exclusive use any
unoccupied territory. He, having first enclosed a
prospective townsite, leases town lots at a ground
rental, or quitclaims his title for a gross sum to
the incoming builder, sometimes covenanting that if
he ever gets a better title it shall inure to his
grantee. Millions of dollars have been expended in
the laying out of streets and building of necessary
structures in these towns by those who have no other
title than this, hardly more as against the holder
of the fee than a tenenatcy at sufferance."
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tribal governments for disbursement;
providing that the payment of all sums to members
of the tribes shall be made by a disbursing officer
of the government, under the direction of the secretary
of the interior.
10th. Directing the enrollment
of the freedmen of the Chickasaw Nation and the allotment
of land to them.
11th. Declaring all grazing leases
made prior to January 1, 1898, to be terminated on
April 1, 1899, and all farming leases made prior to
January 1, 1898, to be terminated on January 1, 1990,
and all leases made subsequently to January 1, 1898,
to be null and void.
12th. Authorizing the segregation
of 157,600 acres of lands in the Cherokee Nation for
the Delawares, subject to adjudication of the rights
of the Delawares.
13th. Prohibiting the enforcement
of the laws of the various tribes by the United States
courts in Indian Territory.
14th. Authorizing an Indian inspector
in Indian Territory, to perform any duties required
by law of the secretary of the interior relating to
affairs therein.
15th. The abolition of all tribal courts
in the Territory, and prohibition of all officers
of said courts, after July 1, 1898, from performing
any act theretofore authorized by law in connection
with those courts, and directing the transfer of all
civil and criminal cases then pending in the tribal
courts to the proper United States court in the Territory.
This provision did not affect the Creek court until
October 1, 1898, and under other provisions of the
same act did not affect the tribal courts of the Choctaws
and Chickasaws at all.5
Even with the Curtis Act legislation,
by
[Footnotes]
5The Curtis Act June 23,
1898.
Sec. 3. That said courts
[U. S. District Courts] are hereby given jurisdiction
in their respective districts to try cases against
those who may claim to hold as members of a tribe
and whose membership is denied by the tribe, but who
continue to hold said lands and tenements notwithstanding
the objection of the tribe; and if it be found upon
trial that the same are held unlawfully against the
tribe by those claiming to be members thereof, and
the membership and right are disallowed by the commission
to the Five [Civilized] Tribes, or the Untied States
court, and the judgment has become final, then said
court shall cause the parties charged with unlawfully
holding said possessions to be removed from the same
and cause the lands and tenements to be restored to
the person or persons or nation or tribe of Indians
entitled to the possession of the same. . . .
Sec. 11. That when the
roll of citizenship of any one of said nations or
tribes is fully completed provided by law, and the
survey of the lands of said nation or tribe is also
completed, the commission heretofore appointed under
acts of Congress, and known as the "Dawes Commission,"
shall proceed to allot the exclusive use and occupancy
of the surface of all the lands of said nation or
tribe susceptible of allotment among the citizens
thereof, as shown by said roll, giving to each, so
far as possible, his fair and equal share thereof,
considering the nature and fertility of the soil,
location, and value of same; but all oil, coal, asphalt,
and mineral deposits in the lands of any tribe are
reserved to such tribe, and no allotment of such lands
shall carry the title to such oil, coal, asphalt,
or mineral deposits; and all townsites shall be reserved
to the several tribes, and shall be set apart by the
commission heretofore mentioned as incapable of allotment.
There shall also be reserved from allotment a sufficient
amount of lands now occupied by churches, schools,
parsonages, charitable institutions, and other public
buildings for their present actual and necessary use,
and no more, not to exceed five acres for each school
and one acre for each church and each parsonage, and
for such new schools as may be needed; also sufficient
land for burial grounds where necessary. When such
allotment of the lands of the tribe has been by them
completed, said commission shall make full report
thereof to the secretary of the interior for his approval.
. . .
Sec. 14. That the inhabitants of any
city or town in said Territory having two hundred
or more residents therein may proceed, by petition
to the United States court in the district in which
such city or town is located, to have the same incorporation
as provided in chapter twenty-nine of Mansfield's
Digest of the Statute of Arkansas, if not already
incorporater thereunder; and the clerk of said court
shall record all papers and perform all the acts required
of the recorder of
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which court jurisdiction was transferred
to United States courts, and practically the entire
fiscal and civil affairs of the tribes vested with
federal officials, the completion of the work of the
commission was subject to tedious delays. The Cherokees
held out longest, the agreement between the commission
and this tribe not being perfected until 1902. The
question of citizenship presented extreme difficulties,
and only recently have
[Footnotes]
the county, or the clerk of the county court, or the
secretary of state, necessary for the incorporation
of any city or town as provided in Mansfield's Digest,
and such city or town government, when so authorized
and organized, shall possess all the powers and exercise
all the rights of similar municipalities in said state
of Arkansas. All male inhabitants of such cities and
towns over the age of twenty-one years, who are citizens
of the United States or of either of said tribes,
who have resided therein more than six months next
before any election held under this act, shall be
qualified voters at such elections. That mayor of
such cities and towns, in addition to their other
powers, shall have the same jurisdiction in all civil
and criminal cases arising within the corporate limits
of such cities and towns as, and coextensive with,
United States commissioners in the Indian Territory,
and may charge, collect, and retain the same fees
as such commissioners now collect and account for
to the United States; and the marshal or other executive
officer of such city or town may execute all processes
issued in the exercise of the jurisdiction hereby
conferred, and charge and collect the same fees for
similar services as are allowed to constables under
the laws now in force in said Territory.
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 shall in no
case have any authority to impose upon or levy any
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 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 hundred and fifty-eight
to sixty-two hundred and seventy-six, inclusive, of
said digest, and may exercise all the powers conferred
upon special 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 provision
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
councils 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:
Provided, 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 nay intoxicating
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 violators
of the laws of the United States relating to the introduction
of intoxicating liquors into the said Territory, or
to their sale, or exposure for sale, therein. . .
.
Sec. 21. That in making
rolls of 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 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 on 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 authorities, and who were minors when
their parents were admitted; and they shall investigate
the right of all other persons whose names are found
on any other rolls and omit
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the final rolls of citizens of the tribes
been completed. In the records of the commission might
be found the history of nearly every family of the
Territory that laid claim to a share in the allotment
of tribal lands and funds.
A fair judgment of the work of the Dawes
Commission cannot be attempted. The administration
of such a vast estate was a task never before undertaken
in the history of the world. The records are the most
voluminous ever made by a chancery
[Footnotes]
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 intermarried
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 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 Choctaw and Chickasaw
citizenship under the treaties and laws of said tribes.
Said commission shall have the 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
hundred 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 roll 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 Chickasaw
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 belonging
to each tribe; but if no such agreement be made, then
such claimant shall be entitled to such rights in
one tribe only, and may elect in which tribe he will
take such right; but if he fail or refuse to make
such selection in due time, he shall be enrolled in
the tribe with whom he has resided, and there be given
such allotment 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 citizenship.
Provided, however, That nothing contained
in this act shall be so construed as to militate against
any right 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 thereon, so that they may
be identified, and it is authorized to take a census
of each of said tribes, or to adopt any other means
by them deemed necessary to enable them to make such
rolls. They 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 to 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
required, and to punish anyone who may in any manner
or by any means obstruct said work.
The rolls so made, when approved b 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
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court. The problems involved were peculiar,
requiring tact, patience and almost endless negotiation.
Selfishness and greed had to be contended with, as
well as ignorance and stolid stubbornness of the Indian
race. As in all transactions with the Indian race
since white men settled this nation, there were instances
of individuals who were ready to take advantage of
the situation and turn their labors to personal profit.
Charges were made and in part substantiated by investigation
that the Indians were unfairly dealt with, that some
of the men entrusted with the equitable division of
the tribal estates allowed their own or other selfish
interests to guide their actions. But many of the
matters in question are now before the courts, and
a later historical inquiry must describe the true
situation. The practical labors of the commission
have ended, the Indians of the five tribes now live
each on his own allotment, and are citizens both of
the United States and of the State of Oklahoma. On
March 4, 1906, the tribal governments, under which
the Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws and Chickasaws
had lived for generations, were dissolved, the chiefs
and governors became citizens in the American sense,
and their people awaited the formation of a state
government to accept and share its responsibilities
and privileges.
A review of the situation of the Indians
of the five tribes is presented in the report of Secretary
of the Interior Garfield (February, 1908),
which is quoted in part:
"On June 30, 1905, the greater
part of the work coming within the jurisdiction of
the commissioner to the five civilized tribes had
been completed, thereby making the supervision of
a board of commissioners no longer necessary, and
in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress
approved March 3, 1905, the work was placed under
the immediate supervision of the secretary of the
interior, and the chairman of the commission to the
five civilized tribes was appointed commissioner to
the five civilized tribes to represent him in this
work.
"There were enrolled up to and
including March 4, 1907, a total of 101,311 citizens
and freedmen in the five civilized tribes, classified
as follows:
[Footnotes]
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 affidavit or
other papers to be filed or oath taken before said
commission, shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and
on conviction thereof shall be punished as for such
offense. . . .
Sec. 26. 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
the Indian Territory.
Sec. 27. 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 affairs therein.
Sec. 28. 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 thereafter have
any authority whatever to do or perform any act theretofore
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
original papers in the suit:
Provided, That this section shall not
be in force as to the Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek
tribes or nations until the first day of October,
eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.
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329
|
Full Bloods
|
Part Bloods
|
Intermarried
|
Freedmen
|
Total
|
| Choctaws |
8,319
|
10,716
|
1,586
|
5,994
|
26,615
|
| Chickasaws |
1,538
|
4,146
|
635
|
4,670
|
10,989
|
| Creeks |
6,812
|
5,083
|
......
|
6,803
|
18,698
|
| Cherokees |
6,601
|
*29,975
|
286
|
4,923
|
41,785
|
| Seminoles |
1,399
|
739
|
......
|
986
|
3,124
|
|
________
|
________
|
________
|
________
|
_______
|
|
Total
|
24,669
|
50,659
|
2,507
|
23,376
|
101,211
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
*Includes 197
registered Delawares
|
"Applications for
allotments were received during the year at the respective
land offices of the commissioner to the five civilized
tribes, located at Muskogee, Atoka and Ardmore, and
at the close of the year allotments had been made
to the majority of the citizens and freedmen of the
five civilized tribes. The allotment work consisted
principally of the making of allotments to minor children
enrolled under the act of Congress approved April
26, 1906, and to those citizens and freedmen previously
enrolled but who had not selected the entire amount
of land to which they were entitled.
"Copies of the final rolls of citizens
and freemen of the five civilized tribes are being
made, which will soon be printed in book form and
ready for sale.
"The enrollment work, with the
exception of those cases now pending in the courts,
having been completed, the work remained undisposed
of concerns largely the making of allotments to those
few persons for whom no selections have been made
and those to who it will be necessary to allot additional
land for the purpose of completing their allotments
to the full amount.
"The closing of the rolls marks
the beginning of the last period in the settlement
of the relations between these tribes and the national
government. The work of the allotting commissions
can now be completed, and there will be left only
the final disposition of the surplus lands and the
execution of such laws as Congress may enact relative
to the disposition of the tribal funds and the removal
of the property restrictions remaining upon certain
classes of Indians. Requests have been presented,
and doubtless efforts will be made to reopen some
if not all of these rolls, but it is to be hoped that
such action will not be taken. Without doubt there
are persons on the rolls who are not entitled to be
there, and there are persons not on the rolls whose
names should be there, but after the years of painstaking
inquiry and determinations made by the citizenship
court, by the commissioner to the five civilized tribes,
and finally by the secretary of the interior, it is
believed that the cases of injustice or mistake are
too few to justify and action that would surely result
in thousands of claims being presented for readjudication.
"The problems presented for immediate
consideration are those affecting the Indian lands.
There were approximately nineteen million acres in
the Indian Territory, all of which were until within
the last few years, not subject to alienation, and
hence not subject to taxation. From time to time certain
of these lands have, by act of Congress or by the
act of the secretary of the interior, been relieved
from these restrictions, sold, and subjected to taxation.
The land thus relieved approximately amounts to three
million acres.
"From these figures it is apparent
that there is not enough land subject to taxation
in the old Indian Territory portion of the State of
Oklahoma to support the county governments, townships,
and schools; but the question of removing restrictions
from these lands must not be considered solely with
a view of levying taxes. These lands are owned by
Indians many of whom are incapable of properly caring
for their property interests. It is the duty of the
govern-[ment]
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330
[govern]ment to see that the rights
of the incompetent and incapable ones are fully protected.
Under the enabling act the government definitely retains
the power that it formerly held over these Indians
and their lands, and the federal government must see
to it that no improper burden is placed upon these
people and no action taken that will permit their
property to be taken from them and they left penniless
to become public charges.
"Those Indians who are now capable
as the average white man of caring for their property
and performing all the duties of citizens should be
placed upon the same footing and given the same burdens
as the white man. In no other way can these men become
independent, self-supporting citizens. But for those
who are not so qualified, the government must continue
to act as guardian as far as their land is concerned.
The experience since the opening of this territory
to white settlement shows most clearly that it is
not safe to remove all restrictions. The dealings
of the white man in the Indian Territory, in the acquisition
of the valuable agricultural and oil lands, have shown
too many instances of unconscionable greed and dishonesty.
The agricultural lands in the Indian Territory are
wonderfully fertile, having increased many fold in
value during the past ten years. But, in addition
to this, the discovery of the deposits of oil and
coal has made certain sections of that country very
much more valuable and has tremendously increased
the desire of the white men to obtain control of these
sections. Thus far these oil and coal lands have been
handled under a system of leasing controlled by the
interior department.
"As between these two extreme views
there is a middle ground which will protect the Indian
and at the same time permit the development of the
country by throwing open many millions of acres to
sale and taxation. I therefore recommend the following
general plan for the removal of restrictions:
"First—By act of Congress
remove the restrictions from both homesteads and surplus
lands owned by citizens not of Indian blood and by
citizens of mixed blood whose quantum of Indian blood
is less than one-half; also remove the restrictions
from the surplus lands owned by all other citizens
of mixed blood.
"Second—Empower the secretary
of the interior to remove restrictions in individual
cases from homesteads owned by citizens of mixed blood
whose quantum of Indian blood is one-half or more,
and from homesteads or surplus lands owned by fullblood
citizens; provided, however, that no homestead shall
be reduced to less than eighty acres.
"The Power of the secretary to
remove restrictions should carry with it the power,
in cases where the facts warrant, to pass upon the
adequacy of the consideration and to provide for the
use or care of proceeds of sale for the purpose of
providing for the maintenance of the Indian or the
improvement of the homestead.
"The quantum of Indian blood and
age of persons should be determined by the entry upon
the approved citizenship rolls."
The recommendations of the secretary
as to the disposal of certain portions of the Indian
lands were enacted into law by and act approved May
27, 1908.6 The removal of restrictions
from about nine million acres in the old Indian Territory,
which took place on July 27, 1908, was hailed as a
"red letter day" for Oklahoma, and was
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331
the occasion of much celebration throughout
the state. The significance of the event, as viewed
at the time, may be best expressed by quoting the
following editorial:
"With the restrictions removed
from the alienation of some 9,000,000 acres of Indian
lands, the people of eastern Oklahoma begin to feel
that the shackles that have bound them for many years
are at last being removed.
"It means opportunity for development
of that section of the state, such as it has never
before known.
"No longer will its cities and
towns remain as pent-up Uticas, but will have an opportunity
to expand and prosper. Their environments will be
purchased by bona fide farmers, the soil will be tilled
and crops grown, and the prosperity of such communities
placed upon a firm foundation.
"That part of Oklahoma which was
once Indian Territory is to have a chance. County
governments that have been organized will be financed,
lands and property will be taxed as in other parts
of the state, schools will be organized where now
there are none, roads will be builded where none now
exist.
"Eastern Oklahoma now has an opportunity."7
[Footnotes]
6The act providing for the
removal of restrictions from the lands of part-blood
Indians, approved by the president May 27, 1908, contained
in substance the following provisions:
That from and after sixty days from
the date of this act the status of the lands allotted
heretofore or hereafter to allottees of the five civilized
tribes shall, as regards restrictions on alienation
or incumbrance [encumbrance], be as follows:
All lands, including homesteads, of said allottees
enrolled as inter-married whites, as freedmen, and
as mixed blood Indians having less than half Indian
blood, including minors, shall be free from all restrictions.
All lands, except homesteads, of said allottees enrolled
as mixed blood Indians having half or more that half
and less than three-quarters Indian blood shall be
free form all restrictions. All homesteads of said
allottees enrolled as mixed blood Indians having half
or more than half Indian blood, including minors of
such degrees of blood, and all allotted lands of enrolled
living full bloods, including minors of such degrees
of blood, shall not be subject to alienation, contract
to sell, power of attorney, or any other incumbrance
[encumbrance] prior to April twenty-sixth, nineteen
hundred and thirty-one, except that the secretary
of the interior may remove such restrictions, wholly
or in part, under such rules and regulations concerning
terms of sale and disposal of the proceeds for the
benefit of the respective Indians as he may prescribe.
. . .
Sec. 2. That all lands
other than homesteads allotted to members of the five
civilized tribes from which restrictions have not
been removed may be leased by the allottee, if an
adult, or by guardian or curator under order of the
proper probate court, if a minor or incompetent, for
a period not to exceed five years, with the privilege
of renewal. . . .
Sec. 3. That the rolls
of citizenship and of freedmen of the five civilized
tribes approved by the secretary of the interior shall
be conclusive evidence as to the quantum of Indian
blood of any enrolled citizen or freemen of said tribes,
and of no other persons, to determine questions arising
under this act, and the enrollment records of the
commissioner to the five civilized tribes shall hereafter
be conclusive evidence as to the age of said citizen
or freemen. . . .
Sec. 4. That all land
from which restrictions have been or shall be removed
shall be subject to taxation and all other civil burdens,
as though it were the property of other persons than
allottees of the five civilized tribes:
Provided, That allotted lands shall not be subjected
or held liable to any form of personal claim or demand
against the allottees arising or existing prior to
the removal of restrictions, other than contracts
heretofore expressly permitted by law.
Sec. 5. That any attempted
alienation or incumbrance [encumbrance] by deed, mortgage,
contact to sell, power of attorney, or other instrument
or method of incumbering [encumbering] real estate,
made before or after the approval of this act, which
affects the title of the land allotted to allottees
of the five civilized tribes prior to removal of restrictions
therefrom, and also any lease of such restricted land
made in violation to law before or after the approval
of this act shall be absolutely null and void.
Sec. 6. That persons and
property of minor allotees of the five civilized tribes
shall, except as otherwise specifically provided by
law, be subject to the jurisdiction of the probate
courts of the states of Oklahoma. . . .
7Perhaps some kindly critic
who has followed the fortunes of the Indian tribes
as described in the preceding chapters may see in
the following
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332
[Footnotes cont.]
quotations from the daily press an effective modern
instance that supports to some degree the severe criticism
once passed by de Tocqueville on the dealings
of our government with the Indians. No doubt the incidents
are exaggerated somewhat, but there is much substantial
truth in the assertions, and they prove the enormous
difficulties that have always beset the faithful administration
of Indian affairs, and show that with the absorption
of Indian Territory in an American commonwealth has
come a sort of moral laxness that must be purged away
by the state in the same way that the state has undertaken
to relieve itself of the criminal element that was
a heritage of the old regime. The article (dated July
27) follows:
" 'Stung by the grafting allottees',
is the way the land buyers tonight are summing up
the sequel to the removal of restrictions in eastern
Oklahoma, and, while the Indians and negroes are giving
the prospective buyers the laugh, they have proved
themselves past grand masters in the art of grafting
and have put a quietus to the much heralded sale of
lands by pooling their lands and doubling the price.
"While it was expected that in
the early hours of the morning thousands of acres
would change hands under the action of the government
in removing the shackles, a careful summing up tonight
shows that but 174 deeds have been filed in the Muskogee
county, when it was expected that today's result would
show in three figures.
"Land buyers made no effort to
conceal their surprise and chagrin this morning when
the facts of the various pools were promulgated. The
Indians, after living off the prospective buyers for
the past week, have become possessed of considerable
money, enough at least to hold out against the offers
of the buyers, who now face the ultimatum of paying
double or not at all.
"Reports of similar conditions
are coming in from other countries. With ten million
acres of land in forty counties released today the
land men have not been able to buy one-tenth of what
they expected. It developed that a great deal of the
land had been plastered with five-year leases to keep
other buyers off.
"It was charged today that buyers
had caused the arrest of many allottees on various
complaints last night in order to get them imprisoned
and this morning would go to jail and agree to pay
their fines and make their bonds if they would sell
their lands. One buyer lured six Negroes into a crap
game and then had them arrested and jailed for safe
keeping. Prosecutions, it was rumored, will probably
follow.
"Assistant Attorney General Russell
today issued a warning to people against buying lands
upon which government suits have been filed.
"The land is selling cheap. The
buyers are anxious to get it, but their anxiety lies
in the price, not the scarcity of the land. They are
choosing the best and buying it cheap. It is the belief
of many that this scramble is unnecessary and that
land will be just as cheap three weeks hence as it
is now.
"The buyers are taking no chances
on the negro and Indian allottees grafting them this
time. This is the sale that sticks. So most of them
have had their cappers out, using Negroes and Indians
for the work, and corralled the owners of the land
they want to buy, and they have, in one way and another,
kept them under guard ever since. One buyer has seven
rooms in a building right in the heart of the city
and he has had negroes corralled there three days.
They are furnished everything they want, the only
condition imposed that they do not leave the rooms
or allow anyone else to enter. Guards in the hallway
night and day see that this rule is obeyed. They made
deeds to their land at midnight.
"Two buyers found an old negro
woman who is land poor. They sent her to Kansas City
and found her a place as a housemaid and she is paid
$10 per week. The owner of the house gets her services
free. The land buyers are putting up the $10. She
is safe from other buyers and as she never before
saw $10 per week she will sell all her land and that
of her children and decide to live in Kansas City.
As soon as the land is bought the buyers will cut
off her pay and she will find herself without land
and without a job.
"Another buyer, more ambitious,
got fifteen negroes together and made an agreement
to buy their land. He bought tickets and sent them
all to St. Louis in charge of a young white man who
was to look after them, show them the sights and pay
for whatever they wanted on their vacation. At midnight
tonight deeds were to be taken on all their lands.
Everything went well until the bunch was steered up
against a negro minstrel show and during the excitement
the negroes became scattered and lost the man who
had them in charge.
"One firm in Muskogee has rented
a hotel and there are being entertained the land owners
that have made agreements to sell land to the firm.
Another firm has rented a large hall and is running
a night and day watermelon festival. They are dealing
principally in negro lands. It is no trouble to keep
the negroes there. Another firm has started a three
days' picnic in the country, but no one is invited
to attend except the people from whom they hope to
buy land.
"The buyers use negro and Indian
cappers to secure and bring the allottees in and boost
the sale along in every way. The capper gets a percentage
on every sale he helps put through in this way.
|
333
[Footnotes cont.]
The cappers watch the people they bring in and the
buyers watch the cappers to see that they do not give
them a crooked deal.
"Much of the money being paid for
the land is brought in from the outside. Nearly every
buying firm has someone who is putting up all the
money wanted with which to buy land. One walked into
an office with $30,000 and said: 'Buy land with this.'
He is getting the land.
"Advices from other towns indicate
that what is going on in Muskogee is being repeated
in practically every county in the old Indian Territory."
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