page_title: Cherokee Commission
section_title: Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock
hierarchical_section_title: Cherokee Commission / Tribal agreements with the Commission / Comanche, Kiowa and Apache – October 6–21, 1892 / Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of Lone Wolf the younger (c, 1843-1923, also Lone Wolf the Second, originally named Mamamy-day-te, Mamay-dat-ta or Mamadayte), converted to christianity in 1893 and member of the Elk Creek Baptist Church, tribal delegate in Washington and representer of his tribe in the opening of the reservation to homesteading in 1901.
context_page_description: The Cherokee Commission, was a three-person bi-partisan body created by President Benjamin Harrison to operate under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, as empowered by Section 14 of the Indian Appropriations Act of March 2, 1889. Section 15 of the same Act empowered the President to open land for settlement. The Commission's purpose was to legally acquire land occupied by the Cherokee Nation and other tribes in the Oklahoma Territory for non-indigenous homestead acreage.
  Eleven agreements involving nineteen tribes were signed over the period of May 1890 through November 1892. The tribes resisted cession. Not all understood the terms of the agreements. The Commission tried to dissuade tribes from retaining the services of attorneys. Not all interpreters were literate. Agreement terms varied by tribe. As negotiations with the Cherokee Nation snagged, the United States House Committee on Territories recommended bypassing negotiations and annexing the Cherokee Outlet.
  The Commission continued to function until August 1893. Lawsuits, Supreme Court rulings, investigations and mandated compensation for irregularities ensued through the end of the 20th Century.
context_section_description: Once the Commission laid claim to a sufficient number of signatures for passage, Lone Wolf  and other Kiowa alleged fraud. In October 1899, a petition of a majority of Kiowa males was presented to Congress questioning the validity of the agreement. Upon the onset of the allotment process, Lone Wolf filed a complaint with the Supreme Court in the District of Columbia, seeking an injunction against the Department of Interior. Former Congressman William Springer acted as the tribal attorney. The Indian Rights Association also became involved. The complaint alleged that the agreement was unconstitutional on the grounds that it conflicted with the Treaty of Medicine Lodge requirement of signatures of three-fourths of all tribal adult males.
  In the 1903 Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock decision, the Court ruled against Lone Wolf, stating that the Congress acted in good faith, and the judiciary branch of government should not question its motives. The Court ruled that Congress was within its plenary powers to abrogate treaties when it acts in the best interests of the tribes.
caption: Lone Wolf
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