The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-10-07

Won rs oTShhi1ou Va s''" ~"
Called Five Civilized TrIbes-Reguia-
ttons Under Which Purchases Must
be Made.
The recent Geographic information
coming from Ardmore, I. t., annou-
ncing the completion of the appraise-
ment of the Choctaw and ChickasaW
lands indicates the rapid approach of
the time when these lands will be allot-
ted and the two tribes, together with
the other Indian nations in the Indian
4 territory, will assume a new status in
their relations to the people of the Uni
ted States. 1t means that within a
comparatively short time the five civil
1ized tribes will cease to exist as an in
dependent factor and their identity,
like their lands, will be merged with
those of the whites.
This change of status Of the tribes
raises the question by what means
white home seekers may acquire pos
session of the surplus lands under the
we'll defined provisions of the statutes
enacted by congress. 1t is evident that
r1any persons have imbibed a strong
dose of transformation on this subject
Some are unded the impression that
lands in the Indian territory may be
acquired by somewhat similar methods
az those under which Oklahoma was
originally opened to white settlement,
afterward the Cherokee strip, and quite
recently the Kiowa, Comanche ana
Apache and the Wichita reservations
that is to say. either by the method de-
scribed as a horse race or that intro
duced with regard to the disposition Oh
the lands in the Kiowa and Wlchlta
reservations, popularity known as the
J lottery system, This is mistake.
The lands in the Indian territory, part
ar which are now nearly accessible and
the remainder of which will undoubted-
\ " he ready in the course of some
months. are on an entirely different
blame from the lands heretofore opened.
Their title is in the Indians, and the
United States government through lts
K commissioners, merely acts as an agent
for the five tribes.
Agreements providing for the dissolu-
tion Of the tribal governments and the
allotment Of the lands in severalty
have been made with the Seminoles, the
Creeks. the Choctaws and the Ch1cka-
saws and only the Cherokees, VINO
twice refused to confirm agreements to
this end, are outside of the fold, ana
subject to the provisions of the act Tor
the protection of the people of the lndl-
IAN territory" known as the curtis act.
m the case of the Choctaws and
Chickasaws, the provisions relating to
fhe allotments and alienation of their
lands are specifically set forth in the
4 agreement made with the ChoctaWs
and Chickasaws, April 90, 1897, as
amended by congress. These allot-
inents were directed to be made so as
4 III give each member of these tribes so
far as possible fair and equal snare
thereof q. e., the lands in common),
considering the character and fertility
ffffr soil and the location and value
Of the lands
Quoting the provisions of the act OF
congress confirming the treaty, all the
lands allotted shall be taXaple
while the title remains in the original
allottee, but not to exceed twenty-one
wears from date of patent and each al
slottee shall select from his allotment
homestead of one hundred and sixty
acres for which he shall have sepa-
rate patent, and which shall be ina
7lienable for twenty-one years from date
of patent. This provision shall also
anply to the Choctaw and ChickasaW
freedman to the extent of his allotment
ffortv acres). Selections for home
steads for minors to be made as prov1-
ssded herein in case of allotment, ana
the remainder of the lands allotted to
said members shall be alienable for a
price to be actually paid, and to in
clude no former indebtedness or obliba-
tion-one-fourth in three years and the
balance of said alienable lands IN hVe
wears from the date of the patent.
tThat all contracts looking to the
sale or incumbrance in any way OF the
land of an alottee, except the sale
hereinbefore provided, shall be null and
void No allottee shall lease his allot-
nent, or any portion thereof, for
s1ohger period than five years, and then
without the privilege of renewal EV-
erv lease which is not evidenced by
writing, setting out speclfcaiIy the
terms thereof, or which is not recorded
N the clerks office of the United States
court for the district in which the lana
is located within three months AFTER
the date of it's execution, shall be void,
ana the purchaser or lessee, shall &C
ulire no rights whatever by an entry
5Sor holding hereunder. And no such
laase or any sale shall be valid as
against the allottee unless providing to
him a reasonable compensation for the
lands sold or leased
Regarding the town sites in the Choc-
taw and Chickasaw nations the law
nrovides that when said towns are so
laid out. each lot on which permanent,
substantial and valuable improvements,
other than fences, tillage and Temporal
nv houses, have been made, shall be
valued by the commission provided for
the nation in which the town is located
~ the price fee-simple title to the
same would bring in the market at the
time the valuation is made, but not to
include in such value the improvements
thereon. The owner of the improve
ments on each lot shall have the right
to fuy one residence and one business
lot at fifty per centum of the appraised
value of such improved property, and
the remainder of such improved prop
erty at sixty-two and one-h half per CEN
ltum of the said market value within
sixty days from date of notice served
~, him that such lot is for sale. and if
Al.