Huntsville gazette., 1885-01-31

! cameron
From the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Showing Why the Disputed Territory Is
Not Open for MISUNDERSTANDING Tel
ler's Opinion.
WASHINGTON, D. c., January g.
| The recent inquiry in the Senate relative
to the Oklahoma lands could we'll be an
/ swered in the report of Senator Cameron,
from the Committee on Indian Affairs,
made just year ago. This report says:
/ The country known as "Oklahoma" cov-
! ers a portion of the lands ceded to the
| United States by the treaties of
| 1866, with the Greek and Seminole
nations of Indians, respectively, the
| unassigned portions of which extend
| from the Canadian River on the south to
the Cimarron River on the north, and
! from the country of the Cheyennes and
Arapahoes on the west to the country oc-
cupied by the Iowas, Kickapoos and Pot
| tawatomieS on the east. The third arti-
Gle of the treaty of 1860 with the Creeks
| provides that: In compliance with the
desire of the United States to To-
cate other Indians and freedmen
thereon, the Greeks hereby cede and
convey to the United States, to be sold
to and used as homes for such other civ
ilized Indians as the United States may
choose to settle thereon, the west half Of
their entire domain, to be divided by
line running north and south. The third
article of the treaty of 1866 with the
Seminoies provides that in compliance
with the desire of the United States to
locate other Indians and freedmen
thereon, the Seminoles cede and convey
to the United States their lands. These
respective articles not only show the
object and
PURPOSE OF THE CEssIoN,
but they fix the status of the land and ex-
plicitly define the purpose for which ced-
ed and the manner of its disposition. In
a letter to the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, dated April %, 1879, the Secre-
tary of the Interior says: ''By the inter-
course act of June so, 1884, this tract of
territory, with others, was declared In
dian country, and for it's government the
base was enacted of the present inter-
course laws, as embodied in the revised
statutes, sections Pill and 2l57. Since
| that period, although the boundary of the
Indian country has been varied under the
! operation of numerous laws, the whole
| Indian Territory has been regarded as
Indian country, subject to no State or
| Territorial laws, and excepted from ju-
dcial process except under special en-
actments providing for limited and re-
stricted jurisdiction for the purposes of
statutes, attached to the Western District
of Arkansas.
LEGAL STATUS.
%One of the lands or general laws of
the United States have been extended to
any part of the Indian Territory, except
as to crimes and punishments, and other
| provisions regulating the intercourse
acts This being the condition of things,
it is clear that no authorized settlement
| could be mad> by any person in the Ter
ritory, except under the provisions of the
| intercourse laws, such persons having
first obtained the permission provided for
| in those statutes.
at may be further stated that no part
of said Territory remains free from appro-
priation, either to a direct trust assumed
by treaty, or by reservations thereon un-
| der executive order, except that portion
! still claimed by the State of Texas, lying
between the Red River and the North
| Fork of the same"
1t will be seen by this letter from the
Secretary of the Interior, that the present
legal status of the oklahoma Lands"
is that they are reserved by treaty stlpu-
lation for the purpose OF settling In
dians and freedmen thereon. The TACT
that no other disposition of them can be
made except in violation OF treaty stipu-
lations was, in the opinion Of the COM
/ q, olNi tr,f in
| the PRAYER Of the petitions for the open
ing of the lands to settlement 1t may be
proper in this connection to state that
the freedmen referred to in the several
treaties Of 1866 are held by the interior
department to be such persons of African
! descent as were formerly held as slaves
/ by the several tribes or nations in the In.
/ dian Territory"
\ NOT SUBJECT TO ENTRY.
The Secretary Of the Interior says none
| Of the land or general laws Of the United
| States have been extended to any part
of the Indian Territory, except as to
crimes and punishments and other pro-
| visions regulated by the intercourse
acts. This being the case, no portion
4 of the lands within the Indian Territory
| is subject to entry under the land laws OF
| of the United States, and no portion
| thereof can be made subject to such
entry by the action of the executive in
the present status of said lands. Those
lands were acquired by treaties with the
various Indian nations or tribes in that
Territory in 1866, to be held for Indian
purposes, and to some extent for the set
i tlement Of the former slaves OF some OF
said nations or portions thereof. The
Commissioner of Indian Affairs says none
of the Indians in the Indian Territory,
while they maintain their present status,
are subject to entry under the land laws
of the United States, and none can be
made subject to entry by the action of
the Executive.