The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-25

Senator H. L. Dawes, the Aloh' <,- S' -'iN Kennon and Captain kidd. soon alter their appointment organized "i'h 'he venerable Senator as Chairman, and In the summer of that year they proceeded to the Territory and began work. Their coming was an event or great interest to the people of the Territory and when a series of alleged inter- views. statements and speeches at tributed to the Commission began to appear in the local papers, aoVocatins all manner of radical changes, regard less of the rights or interests or those affected by the change, practcaiiy all of the inhabitants of the territory were arrayed against them 10 prevent the accomplishment of the purpose TOT which the commission was created. These alleged interviews and state ments were diligently circulated, ana not only did the Indians. thinking gov ernmental obliteration awaited them, chill the members with their reception, | but the white, or non-citizen element, | fearing for their lease rights, oostruct- | ed in every way possible the progress of the commission.
 To such an extent was this done that | in the Chickasaw Nation, where most | of the white settlers lived al that time, an organization known as the united States Citizens Protective League was formed, with a membership or o'ooo per sons, and with ninety-three local leagues or lodges, all operating under one general Executive Committee This organization having for its purpose the perpetuation of the lease system on the one side, and the Indian element on the other. presented at the close or the first years work obstacles which even | to this time have not been entirely overcome. That the successors to the original commissioners have had to meet snd contend with this same sem | timent was strongly evidenced In tho Cherokee Nation in May, 1901, when | that Nation by popular vote rejected | a treaty made by their representatives and the Commission and ratified by Congress.
 | The personnel of the commission since it's creation has undergone sev- | eral changes. In March. 1895, the membership was increased to hve' with Messrs Dawes, Mckennon, Arm strong. Montgomery and Cabiness con stituting its membership. Later the number was reduced to four, then to | three.
 It was four years after the commits | sion was created before any tangible results were effected, then, after re-
 peated efforts. conference was held at Atoka, in the Choctaw Nation, be- tween representatives of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations. Subsequent | treaties have been made with all the other nations. By these treaties an es- tate consisting of 19,574,416 acres of land. valued at from 25 cents to $50 per acre. must be administered on, and | to do this the Commission had to first determine by judicial investigation the fn al l.
 zenship The first step in the division
 of this estate was to determine its value, and to do this a careful estimate or aprpaisement of all the lands was necessary. This work was accomp-
 lished by putting in the field forde of 23O appraisers, divided into parties
 or camps of ten men each. These par
 ties were equipped with wagons. tents,
 horses and camp equipage, and after :, more than twelve months service in
 the field complete and comprehensive
 record of the lands of the entire terri
 tory is now being filed in the head quarters office at Muskogee.
 By act of Congress, townsite prop | erty cemeteries, railroad rights of
 way, church and school sites have
 been reserved from allotment, and the | definite location of these lands desig
 mated on the official land book now being compiled. In the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations more. than seventy l towns. with an area of from 40 to 2,500 acres each, together with the cemetery | reservations, have been located, and
 more than 2,000 miles of rights of way
 have been mapped and segregated from the allotment.
 The areas in the boundary line
 townships and along the meandered
 streams have been determined by the
 United States Geological Survey plats, and these area and lot numbers are
 transferred to the office records. In
 the southeastern portion of the Choc-
 taw 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 the sec | ton were equipped with pack trains. three Mexican burros, and by estab- fishing open camps, good progress has been made. Expert timber estimators
 were put in this part of the Territory and q careful estimate of the timber and it's value is included in the weekly reports of the various camps. From the total acreage of the Territory thus determined the reserve land not sub ject to allotment has been taken, the amount of each class computed. and a value per acre on each class. This
 value in dollars will be divided into as many parts there are citizens of the five tribes, and when the amount due
 each citizen Is determined a patent for
 the same will be issued in conformance
 with the treaty stipulations.
 The work of determining who are citizens of the various tribes has been
 exceedingly complicated by the ab-
 sence of any official record. and this
 has .necessitated a judicial inquiry into
 the genealogy of practically all the ap- plicants. These inquiries are conducted
 in the same manner as suits of law,
 the nations being represented by coun-
 sel. the applicants appearing with their 1 witnesses and attorneys. A complete
 stenographic transcript of all proceed
 ings thus held Is kept, and on this
 record a Judgment is found by the com
 mission. It has often happened that
 the claimant or the nation dissatisfied
 with the decision rendered has appeal
 ed to the United States courts of the
 Territory, and where the applicant
 has been denied citizenship by the com mission and on appeal the courts have
 sustained his application he becomes
 what is termed a vcourt citizen" and
 as such is recorded on the rolls. Much
 of the testimony in these citizenship
 cases is given by fullbloods through
 interpreters, and the hearings are thus rendered long and tedious, and the rec
 ords voluminous.
 To expedite the work of completing
 the citizenship rolls what Is known as enrolling parties have visited all sec tions of the Territory. these parties be-