The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-05-13
COUNTY Lines
TO Be DRAWN
Indian Territory Distracted by
Last Congress
STEP IN ITS PROGRESS
Many Bloody Fights are Avert
ed by Congress
STEP IN ITS PROGRESS

Muskogee, I. T. May ITO all intents
and purposes the Indian Territory now
has its county lines and county seats es-
tablished. Congress performed that task
at its last session. The bill approved
on February IS, 1t was a very smooth
piece of work and few people yet realize
the situation. One of the most serious
problems to solve in the formation of a
new territory or state is the establish
ment of county seats and county lines.
Usually the task is left to the new terri
tory or state. More blood has been shed
over county seat and county line fights
In the west than over any other one
thing. Congress decided to prevent this.
if possible. in opening up the Indian Ter
ritory, and it has virtually settled the
matter without any friction. This may
be due, possibly. to the fact that the
people were not aware of it, but 1t has
been done so smoothly that all danger is
past.
Those interested in the matter knew j.
would not do to come straight out and
pass a law establishing, in so many
words. county seats and county lines, so
they clothed the bill in deceptive Ian
guage. They made it read: AN act pro-
viding for record Of deeds and other con-
veyances and instruments of writing in
Indian Territory, and for other purposes"
The bill provides:
That chapter q Of the digest of the
statutes of Arkansas, known as Man
fields Digest of harafeH avfpndpn
TO the Indian Territory, so far as the
came may be applicable and not incon-
sistent with any law of congress-; pro-
yided that the clerk or deputy clerk of
the United States court of each of the
courts of said territory shall be ex-ofi-
clio recorder for his district and perform
the duties required of recorder in the
chapter aforesaid, and use the seal of
said court in cases requiring a seal, and
keep the records of such Office of said
clerk or deputy clerk.
That the said cler kor deputy clerk of
such court shall receive as compensa-
ton as such ex-officio recorder for his
district all fees received by him for re-
cording instruments provided for in this
act amounting TO 81, 500 per annum or less;
and all fees so received by him as afore-
said amounting to more than 800 shall
be accounted to the department of jus
tice. TO be applied to the permanent
school fund of the district in which the
court is located
That wherever in said chapter the wor1
county" occurs, there shall be substi-
tuted therefore the word district" and
whenever the word state" or State of
Arkansas occur there shall be substi-
tuted therefor the words Indian Terri
tory" and whenever the words clerk
or recorder" occur there shall be sub
stituted the words clerk or deputy clerk
OF the United States court
The bill then establishes twenty-five
recording" districts and describes them
by meets and bounds Recording dis
tricts" is simply a mild term for "coun-
ty'' The deputy clerk of the United
States district is located in the town
which congress intended for the county
seat. Thus the recording districts are
nothing less than county seats. Under
the present status of affairs about the
only county offices necessary now is
recording office All the other work is
handled by federal officers But at the
country develops and conditions change.
making more county officers necessary.
they will be established at the record
ing towns. The people will get used
to their counties and county seats by
easy stages.
Until the act was passed there was no
way to put an instrument on record
Mortgages, bonds. leases. covenants and
bills OF sale could not be filed. Under
u. I,a,- &c Tayr
to the business interests of the terri
tory. A recording Office here is similar to
the recorders office in Missouri or the
Register of deeds Office in Kansas.
Congress outwitted some very smooth
lobbyist when it got the recording bill
passed. For several years Washington
lobbyists have been coming out of this
country annually and trying to work up
"a county and a county seat business
They would go to the various towns and
present their scheme of dividing the ter
ritory into counties. They would agree
TO see that one particular town in each
of the proposed counties was TO be made
the county seat for a certain consider
alton. If the town refused TO put up
they would then threaten TO make some
adjoining town the county seat. Some
of them collected considerable money on
such schemes; while others took the con-
tract on = contingent fee. 1t was these
lobbyist that held the work back in con-
gress for two or three years. Finally IN
der the pretext of only establishing re
cording districts a bin was pushed
through which virtually settles the coun-
ty lines and county seat question. The
scheme would have been too apparent had
congress given each district name. So
instead it gave such a number. The TWEEN
ty-fve districts are numbered from l to
. consequently. Later on they viii be
named.
It has been suggested that the districts
or counties named after the famous old
Indian chiefs who have presided over the
different tribes in this country. The peo-
PIE will likely be consulted when the
names are selected
As above stated the five nations are CIT,
zap into twenty-five districts and in the
Cherokee nation the districts begin with
sNo. and so 10 s.
Second-Ninita. recording town WEIGH
BlueJacket. Alton, Big Cabin. Fairland.
Grove Centralia and Chelsea.
Third-Nowata, recording: Ruby, Law
ton, Lenapah. BartleviIle. Ochelta and
watova-
Fourth-0aremore. recording town; Ta-
lala. Pomona. oolagah. Vera. Hillside
Catoova, owasso. and North Tulsa.
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