The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-06-09
Oklahoma Attorney, Who Fig
ures in the Present 1nves-
tigation, Secured Results
and the Indians Believe IN
His Ability.


bers of the Senate have given during
the lobby investigation there is but
one name that stands forth with real
individuaiistic prominence. F. McMur.
ray-a name which designates claims for
approximately three and one-half mil
millions of dollars, on which he desires
Congress to pass favorably.
Mr.. McMurray. whose claims of the
big amount of money as his attorney
fees for services to the Choctaw and
Chickasaw Indians in securing certain
lands to them are well known In official
circles came into his present flush OF
publicity through the testimony of Sem
ator Henry F. Ashurst of Arizona.
McNurrny IL Described.
Senator Ashurst, when asked for in
formation about lobbyists. said:
Exercising my ingenuity and my views
of practical affairs, l have reason to be-
lieve, and suspect and do believe. that
one person in this city at least is attempt
ing improperly 10 influence legislation
but il is not upon the tariff bill. I refer
| to a man named McMurray, who has ap-
peared before the Indian Committee sew
eral times and believe has been attempt
ing improperly to influence the action of
members of Congress with respect to pre-
venting the cancellation of a certain pre-
4
whereby, IL this legislation is not put
through, he would get fee of 50. 600.
\ ! might add that he is the smoothest lob
byist ever met. He could carry a bundle
of cells upstairs and never drop one
Never before was the lobbyist so highly
praised. By exercising his ingenuity ard
view of practical affairs, Mr. McMurray
and his associates of the firm of Mans
field. McMurray and Cornish. of McAles-
ter. have already collected one fee Of
$3.50. 900 for Kidding the tribal rolls OF the
ChoCtaw and Chickasaw Indians of the
| names of $500 interlopers who sought to
share in the rich farming. mineral and
timber lands owned by the Indians. Any
lawyer who can land a fee of $4,000 and
put himself in the way of another of
81, 500. 600 is worth taking a good look at.
]. +. McMurray, known to his friends
as Frank McMurray, Is just past fifty,
Of medium height and heavy set. HIS
square jaw explains his refusal to be
content with the small fees that the gov
eminent urged him to accept in lieu Of
the large contingent fees provided by
his contracts
Well Known TO Indians.
He personally knows two-thirds of the
members of the Choctaw and Chickasaw
tribes, and never forgets a face or the
name that goes with it. He has a won
acquaintance
that dates from the days when he went.
as a school-teacher from the Peabody
Normal Institute, at Nashville. Tenn, 10
Gainesville, Tex, where he was a neigh
Dor of Joe" Bailey, and where he be-
came superintendent of schools. He
studied law at night and was admitted
to the bar, letting go Immediately of his
s2o0O school superintendent's salary. His
elder brother demonstrated against Civ
10 nd ntta
a warning against THE starvation period
in the life of a young lawyer" Frank
McMurray replied:
IF YOU will keep the wolf away from
your door I'll look after mine"
McMurray went into the old Indian
Territory in 1897, when the Dawes COM
mission was breaking up into farms OF
equal area or value the rich tribal es-
tates of the five civilized tribes. giving |
an allotment to each person borne on the |
rolls.
In 1895 the Federal government con-
cluded the Atoka agreement with the |
Choctaws and Chickasaws. whereby |
Washington undertook before March T. |
1907. to sell off all the rich lands of the |
tribes. The wise Indians realized that as |
long as they held the valuable agricul- |
tural. mineral. and timber resources of |
their country. which was go miles long |
and 125 miles wide the Indians would be |
subject to the cOvetousness of the white |
men. Mansfield, McMurray & Cornish |
became counsel for the Choctaws and |
with an annual retainer OF
$4,000,
Indians Seek Aid.
When it became apparent that the
tribal property was to be converted into
money and distributed pro rata, feeling
developed against some 1000 persons who
were on the rolls without just cause.
For years the Indians had welcomed
"squaw men," or whites who married
Indian girls. The wealth of Chickasaw
and Choctaw madens made them rich
prey for a certain class of white men,
a contract was arranged with Mr.. Nc
Murray's firm whereby II undertook to
purge the rolls. 1t was agreed that
every person put off the rolls through
his exertions should represent $500 OF
property, and that the lawyers should
receive per cent on all the property
thus added to the tribal treasury. Many
of the persons whose tribal citizenship
was thus attacked were occupying land
on which houses, barns, school buildings,
and even graveyards had been estab-
lished. Mr.. McMurray obtained the
creation by Congress of a citizenship
court, and before this tribunal the law
years drove $500 persons from their In