The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1901-06-30
A HISTORICAL SKETCH or WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOM-
PLSHED BY THIS B0OYI
Complete Resume Of the Work Performed and Yet to Be
Done---mmense in its Magnitude--PerieCt in Its
Perfonmance---WiI Remain Monument
to its Promoters for all Time.
twrl.:sn FOR the AnnMoREIIE By c. B. DoUoLAg


Pleasant Porter, principal chief, @
l. Alexander, d. NJ Hodge, Ispsr.
,her, A. p MtKellop and Cub Nc
lntosh for the Greek nation, this last
reaty being ratified in May OF this
sear. The Cberokees also entered
nto treaty but, as before stated,
tailed TO ratiiy IL.
BY these treaties an estate con
,isting Of IS .574,4i6 acres Of land
valued az from 2jc to SO per acre
must be administered on, and 10 DC
his, the commission had 70 frsl
determine by judicial investigation
he rights OF almost s., 5,OcO persons to
citizenship.
The first step in the division OF
this estate wae to determine its
value, and 10 do this careful esti-
mate or sppraisement of all the
lands was necessary. This work is
being accomplished by putting in
the service a force Of 23O appraisers
divided into parties or camps Cf
ten men each. These parties are
equipped with wagons, tents, horses
pack animals. and all necessary sur.
veying instruments and camp equiv
age, and after more than twelve
m )nths service In the deld a con
plete and comprehensive record Of
he lands OF the entire territory is
now Deing fled in the headquarters
Office at Muskogee.
By act OF congress, towrs site prop
erty, cemeteries, railroad righ..oi-
ways, church and school sites, have
been reserved from allotment, and
the definite location Of these lands
and the acreage thus occupied hrs
been determined and properly desig
mated on the official land book now
being complied. In the Chickassw
and Choctaw nations alone more
than seventy towns with an area OF
from 40 to $500 acres each, together
with the cemetery reservations nave
oeen located and more than 20OO
miles Of right OF ways have been
mapped and segregated from allot-
ment.
The areas in the boundary line
townships aud along the meandered
streams have been determined by
the United States Geological survey
plats and these areas and lot mum.
! bers are transferred to the Office
records. In the southern portion of
the Choctaw nation. in what is
known as the timber belt 1t was
found impractical to operate with
the regulation camp outfit, and the
six camps in this section were
equipped with pack trains, Mexican
burros, and by establishing spur
camps good progress has been made
Expert timber estimators were
placed IN this part OF the territory
and careful estimate of the tim be r
and its value is included in the
weekly reports OF the various camps
From the total acreage OF the terri
tory thus determined the reserve
land not subiect 70 allotment will be
taken, the amount of each class
computed and Il value per acre
placed on each class. This value in
dollars will be divided into as many
parts as there are citizens OF the
Five Trioes, and when the amount
due each citizen is determined, a
patent for the same will be issued in
conformanco with the treaty stipula-
tions.
The work Of determining who are
citizens OF tie various tribes has
been exceedingly complicated by
the absence of any official recol d
and this hae necessitated judicial
inquiry into the genealogY Of prac.
tically all OF the applicants. These
inquiries are conducted in the same
manner as suits at law, the nations
being represented by counsel, the
applicants appearing with his wit.
nesses ard attorneys. a complete
stenographic transcript OF all pro
ceedings thus held is kept, and on
this record a judgment is found by
the commission. II has often hap
pened that the claimant or the ma
tion, dissatisfied with the decision
rendered have appealed TO the L. :
courts of the Territory, and where
the applicant has been denied
citizenship by the commission and
on appeal the courts have sustained
his application, he becomes what
ia termed a Court Citizen" and as
such 10 recorded on the role Much
OF the testimony in these citizenship
cases is given by full bloods through
Interpreters and the hearings aio
thus rendered long and tho records
voluminous. To expedite tho work