The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-17

have been practically settled, and the femaining work is chiefly clerical. -~- There were 4S.74S applicants for land in the Choctaw reservation, but only 22,s5o were recognized as entitled to aIiotments with about 1000 babies born since March 1. 1s0l.
 The fullblooded !Choctaws Identified numbered 7.050: 5000 were of mixed blood, $500 were freedmen (descsn- dants of former slavosJ, 1.loo were white men married to Choctaw wo- men, and 2,700 are descendants of mem- bers of the tribe who were left in Mississippi at the time of the migra- ton. Cnly that number out of 2l,ssl were able to make good their claims. but in order that no injustice might be done congress appropriated . fund of 320,000 to assist poor people in se- curing Identification and to pay the expenses of those who were Identified and wished to remove to the territory and occupy their allotments. In 1908 the Indian bureau removed 2so, famt- lies from Mississippi. Alabama and Louisiana and located them near Fort Towson, on the Texas border of the Choctaw reservation. where they were supplied with seeds and imple- ments and furnished with subststence until their crops were ready for har- vest.
 The Choctaws and Chickasaws have . joint reservation, comprising ll,00O.ooo acres of land, of which 5,000,0O0 acres have already been allotted to the Choc- taws. the average allotment being 32o acres, and the average value of the al- lotment being s1,01s. As the land is al- lotted according to value and not area, there Is a great deal of difference in the size of the allotments Some are only 160 acres while others run as high as 4.800 to a single person. being chiefly grazing lands The Choctaw capital Is Tushkahoma. and their chief Is Green McCurtain. who lives at Kinta, new town of about 500 people. He has ob- structed the work of the commission more than any of the other chiefs and is now distributing deeds for their allotments to the members of his tribe contrary to the orders of Secretary Hitchcock. He defies the commission and the officers of the Indian bureau whenever he prefers to have his own way. He has had absolute control of the affairs of his nation for many years, and this dissolution of tribal re- lations deprives him of his influence and authority. which, of course. is not agreeable.
 All Choctaws must keep homesteads of forty ancs in perpetufty. All freed- man and squaw-men receiving allot- ments in the Choctaw reservation can
 sell at once without any restrictions, and a great many of them have already done so. Full -blooded Choctaws and Chickasaws also can sell one-foursh of the land allotted to them in twelve months after the date of their deed, another fourth at the end of three years, and after five years they can sell
 everything but their homesteads of forty acres.
 The Chickasaws have a Governor and a Legislature at the capital. Tishomin- go, which. under the treaty. will exer- else authority until March 4. 1906. Their Governor is Douglas H. Johnson, a highly educated college man of great wealth, who lives at Emet, and has had control of one of the largest ranches in America. But lllder the present dis tributien of the common estate, he gets title to no more than the humblest
 member or the youngest baby of his tribe.
 There are 1o,12o chickasaws. not in- cfuding 500 babies ehich have been
 born in time to get their share. Of these. only 1920 are full-bloods. $500
 are mixed bloods, 4,700 are freedmen and 600 are squawmen. The Chicka- saws came from Tennessee and had many more slaves than the other tribes. The 15,17S Creeks. who have been | recognized as entitled to allotments,
 will each receive $1,040 worth of land, ] the area varying according to the value, l from 50 cents to $6.50 per acre. The
 tribe consists of 6.600 full bloods, 3,250
 mixed bloods and $500 freedmen, with | 2,500 infants produced within the last | year. which is an average of one to
 every six members of the tribe, and
 suggests that perhaps the Creek ladies | ba ytR hah to tn | the commission. The entire reservation consists of 3,703,774 acres, of which all | but 640,000 have been allotted; 2S,9S2 | acres have been reserved for public purposes. There have been 110 reserva- tions for schools, churches and public
 buildings. Under the act of Congress
 the surplus land will be sold at auc
 tion for the benefit of the tribe, and the | proceeds divided pro rata in cash. | The Creeks are the only people who have always treated the descendants of | their slaves on an equal basis, and, in-
 deed, the negro members of the tribe
 have always exercised a powerful in
 fuence in its affairs. No squawmen | are recognized, however. Under the
 law. every full-blood and mixed blood
 Creek must keep a homestead of forty eight acres for twenty-on years. He
 can sell five years. or before with the
 permission of the Secretary of the In
 terior. The property of minors is con
 trolled by the courts, and may not even
 be leased by their parents the remain
 der of his allotment after or guar
 dians without permission. The freed
 men may sell their allotments at any 1 time without restriction or supervision 1 of any kind, and are already disposing
 of their land very rapidly to settlers l from the Northern States and are get 1 ting good rBices for 1t.
 Pleasant Porter, chief of the Creek
 Nation. lives at Muskogee. and is one
 of the richest men in the territory. He
 has handled the affairs of his people
 with great ability for many years. and when the territory is admitted to
 Statehood is expected to take a prom
 inent part in politics.