The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1903-02-17
Official Paper Of the City.
PROGRESS OF ALLOTMENT.

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been in operation here little
more than six weeks and the work
has settled down to steady grind
the speed Of which is not increaeed
nor diminished to any appreclaole
extent one day compared with
another. The rate is in the neigh
borhood Of two hundred and fifty
a week, or about one thousand q
month. The varied and multitu-
djnous cases that have arisen In
the course of the work has
developed rules and decisions
covering almost every conceivable
shade Of an exceedingly tangled
and complicated task. The com
mission as represented in the
force at work in the land office
here is progressing laboriously,
patiently and quite efficiently in
the stupendious undertaking that
no man even now can see an end
too. On an average daily about
20, 900 acres of land is set apart in
allotments, and the slow, constant
grind continues. When one has
finished filing another takes bis
place in front of one of the clerks
at the long, zizzag table in the al-
lotment division and the work pro-
ceeds in unbroken monotony.
Ninetenths Of the allottees obtain
a second ticket after the first filing
in order that they may again enter
later and file upon the fractions
that are almost invariably left.
These small parcels must neces-
sarily be selected in the cheap
fifty cents an acre lands among
the broken apd rocky sections
east of the river. AT the
present rate it is estimated that 1t
will require three or four years to
all OF the Cherokee nation. 1t has
been found in the work OF allot-
ting that only about half of the
citizens in the Cherokee nation
are now on the final roll. The roll
Of Cherokee citizens was made the
same as that Of September l, 1902
and allotment certificates are is
sued only to those whose names
appear upon some approved roll.
Many intermarried citizens have
lost their rights under the Chero-
kee law, which provides that in
citizens who, after the
death of the Cherokee husband or
wife, marry person having no
rights of citizenship by blood, or
aband don the Cherokee husband or
wife, as the case may be, forfeit
all right Of citizenship in the Cher
okee nation. For this reason it
was found necessary to call all OF
this class of citizens before the
commission TO show that they were
entitled to enrolment September
1. 1902. For this reason the roll
of intermarried citizens is the last
to be sent to the Secretary OF the
Interior TOR approval. Schedules
containing 1000 names are made
up by the Dawes commission and
forwarded to the Secretary of the
Interior for approval. Indians by
blood being on approval straight
cards went with them, and inter-
married citizens and freedmen
went last. Names to the number
of % ,015 have been returned from
Washington approved, and these
are fling now. There are now
/ ,OO6 freedmen on approved rolls,
and these are permitted to file.
There are now in the Interior De-
partment awaiting approval, l,S55
citizens by blood, 1.743 freedmen
and 1,150 citizens by intermar-
riage. These are not permitted to
file at this time but reservations
for them are being made. AS soon
as their names are returned from
Washington, they can file the same
as other citizens, but only reserva-
tions of their land on which they
have improvements will be made.
The appointment of Tams Bixby
to the Craftsmanship of the Dawes