The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-17
LETTER EXPLAINS STATUS
 OF ALABAMA INDIAN LANDS
BY WALTER HARPER

provides thar the President of the United States shall cause the reserve belonging to the Creek Indians by virtue of the treaty, aforesaid, which remained unsold on April 1, 1887, to be sold at public auc- tion and that patents be issued to the purchasers thereof
 The act Of July 5 1898 6 Stat, 256), au- thorizes the President to issue patents to the last bonafde transferees of reser- vatons under the Creek treaty of 1882, provided that the persons applying for such patents adduce satisfactory proof to the commissioner of the general land office of the fairness of said preceding transfers or assignments.
 While patents have been issued in most cases to the purchasers of these Creek reserved lands there are a large number of such sales upon which patent has not issued. It will be observed that under the treaty it was made the duty of the land department to issue a patent to the pnr- chaser from the Indian, upon the comple- ton of payment and, but for the passage of the act of July ,, 1s3S supra, it is probable that patents would have issued long ago in most cases now pending. That act, giving the right to patent to the owner Of the land, rendered necessary an application from such owner, accom- panied by an abstract of title and other evidence of bona fide ownership, of
 
 consent that the patent issue in the name Of the original purchaser. The difficulty and expense attending the proof required by the act of 183S has resulted in most applications for patent being made under the treaty, and the act has served no pur- pose except to tie up these cases for nearly n years.
 repeal of the act of July g. 1888, or the enactment of a law authorizing the Issuance of patents. without awaiting applications therefor, to those shown by the records of this department to be en- tiled thereto, would. in my judgment, cover more than 90 per cent of pending cases under the Creek treaty A recent partial examination has disclosed less than 20 in which neither the government nor the Indian has received compensa ton foi the land. Patents issued as sug sested would, in my judgment, be as ef- fectual as if issued to those claiming the land, and would entail no expense to the latter.
 The treaty of October 20. 1892 C Stat, 3S1), amended by the treaty of October P, 1892 c Stat, 3S6), and the treaty of May 24, 1884 q Stat, 450), provides for tho reservation of lands for the Chicka- saw Indians in varying amounts, and for the sale of such reservations after the removal of the Chickasaw Indians to. lands to be found for them beyond the Mississippi river. It is also provided that tho eeded lands, not reserved. for indi- vidual Indians, should be sold for the benefit of the Chickasaw Nation. A land office was established at Pontotoc Miss and between 25,000 and 26,000 sales of lands were made under this act.
 It is believed that patents have been issued in nearly all of these cases, ex- cept upon those sales which were made near the time that the land office at Pom fffp of many of the papers on file in the gen eral land office does not disclose the req son why the patents were not issued ana 1t is believed that in most cases such patents could now be issued
 From consideration of the facts out lined above, I am of the opinion that the proposed appropriation by Congress might properly be made to ascertain the status of such tracts in the three former In dan reservations, named in the bill as have not been patented, as provided for in the treaties, and which cannot be patented on the present records in this department, and to ascertain which of said unpatented lands are in possession Of innocent holders, who have held the same by themselves or their predecessors for periods of from 60 to 75 years under an honest belief oe title, with the view that Congress might provide some ade- quate relief for such innocent holders, So that title could be conveyed to them after Q proper showing. Very respectfully.
 SAMUEL ADAMS,
 First Assistant Secretary.