United States Statutes at Large/Volume 5/27th Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 187
Chap. CLXXXVII.—An Act to provide for the satisfaction of claims arising under the fourteenth and nineteenth articles of the treaty of Dancing Rabbit creek, concluded in September, one thousand eight hundred and thirty.
Acts of 3d March 1837, ch. 39, and 22d Feb. 1838, ch. 13, so far as not repealed or modified by this act, revived.
1845, ch. 72.
Vol. ix. p. 114.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act approved on the third of March, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, entitled “An act for the appointment of commissioners to adjust the claims to reservations of land under the fourteenth article of the treaty of eighteen hundred and thirty, with the Choctaw Indians: and also, the act approved on the twenty-second day of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, entitled “An act to amend an act entitled ‘An act for the appointment of commissioners to adjust the claims to reservations of land under the fourteenth article of the treaty of eighteen hundred and thirty, with the Choctaw Indians,’ so far as the same are not repealed or modified by the provisions of this act,” be, and the same are hereby, revived and continued in force until the powers conferred by this act shall be fully executed, subject, nevertheless, to repeal or modification by any act of Congress.Powers, &c. of commissioners extended. And all the powers and duties of the commissioners are hereby extended to claims arising under the nineteenth article of the said treaty, and under the supplement to the said treaty, to be examined in the same manner and with the same effect as in cases arising under the fourteenth article of the said treaty:Proviso. Provided, That the salary of said Commissioners shall not exceed the rate of two thousand five hundred dollars per annum.
Commissioners may issue subpœnas, &c.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That subpœnas for the attendance of witnesses before the said commissioners, and process to compel such attendance may be issued by the said commissioners, or any two of them, under their seals in the same manner and with the same effect as if issued by courts of record, and may be executed by the marshal of any district, or by any sheriff, deputy sheriffMarshals, &c. may execute process, &c.―their fees. or other peace officer designated by the said commissioners, who shall receive for such services the same fees as are allowed in the district court of the United States for the district in which the same shall be rendered for similar services, to be paid, on the certificate of the commissioners, out of the contingent fund appropriated by the fourth section of the1838, ch. 13.
Proviso.
1837, ch. 39. act secondly above recited, which was approved on the twenty-second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, and which is revived by this act: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to revive such portion of the act approved the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, referred to in the first section of this act, as provides for the employment and pay of the district attorney of either of the districts of the State of Mississippi.
Conditions, upon proof of the performance of which, any Choctaw shall be entitled to a patent.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That when the said commissioners shall have ascertained that any Choctaw has complied or offered to comply with all the requisites of the fourteenth article of the said treaty, to entitle him to any reservation under that article, which requisites are as follows, to wit: that said Choctaw Indian did signify his or her intention to the agent, in person, or by some person duly authorized and especially directed, by said Indian, to signify the intention of said Indian to become a citizen of the State, within six months from the date of the ratification of the said treaty, and had his or her name, within the time of six months aforesaid, enrolled on the register of the Indian agent aforesaid, for that purpose; or shall prove, to the entire satisfaction of the said commissioners and to the Secretary of War, that he or she did signify his or her intention, within the term of six months from the date of the ratification of the treaty aforesaid, if his or her name was not enrolled in the register of the agent aforesaid, but was omitted by said agent; and, secondly, that said Indian did, at the date of making said treaty, to wit, on the twenty-seventh day of September, eighteen hundred and thirty, have and own an improvement in the then Choctaw country; and that, having and owning an improvement, at the place and time aforesaid, did reside upon that identical improvement, or a part of it, for the term of five years continuously, next after the ratification of said treaty, to wit, from the twenty-fourth of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-one, to the twenty-fourth of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, unless it shall be made to appear that such improvement was, before the twenty-fourth day of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, disposed of by the United States, and that the reservee was dispossessed by means of such disposition; and, thirdly, that it shall be made to appear, to the entire satisfaction of said commissioners, and to the Secretary of War, that said Indian did not receive any other grant of land under the provisions of any other article of said treaty; and, fourthly, that it shall be made to appear, in like manner, that said Indian did not remove to the Choctaw country west of the Mississippi river, but he or she had continued to reside within the limits of the country ceded by the Choctaw Indians to the United States by said treaty of twenty-seventh September, in the year eighteen hundred and thirty, it shall be the duty of said commissioners, if all and each of the above requisites shall be made clearly to appear to their satisfaction, and the Secretary of War shall concur therein, to proceed to ascertain the quantity of land to which said Indian, by virtue of the fourteenth article of said treaty, is entitled to, which, when ascertained, shall be located for said Indian, according to sectional lines, so as to embrace the improvement, or a part of it, owned by said Indian at the date of said treaty; and it shall be the duty of the President of the United States to issue a patent to said Indian for said land, if he or she be living, and if not, to his or her heirs and legal representatives;Quantity due to each child of said Indian to be ascertained in like manner, &c.
If U. S. have disposed of land to which any Indian was entitled, &c., the commissioners shall allow other land. and in like manner shall the commissioners aforesaid ascertain the quantity of land granted by said article to each child of said Indian, according to the limitations contained in said article, and locate said quantity, for said children, contiguous to and adjoining the improvement of the parent of such child or children; and the President shall shall issue a patent for each tract of land thus located, to said Indian child, if living, and if not, to the heirs and legal representatives of such Indian child. But if the United States shall have disposed of any tract of land, to which any Indian was entitled, under the provisions of said fourteenth article of said treaty, so that it is now impossible to give said Indian the quantity to which he was entitled, including his improvements, as aforesaid, or any part of it, or to his children, on the adjoining lands, the said commissioners shall thereupon estimate the quantity to which each Indian is entitled, and allow him or her, for the same, a quantity of land equal to that allowed, to be taken out of any of the public lands in the States of Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas, subject to entry at private sale;Certificates for the land, how to be given.
Post, p. 777.
Commissioners shall ascertain the Choctaws who relinquished reservations under the 19th article, &c. and determine, &c. and certificates to that effect shall be delivered, under the direction of the Secretary of War, through such agent as he may select, not more than one half of which shall be delivered to said Indian until after his removal to the Choctaw territory west of the Mississippi river. The said commissioners shall also ascertain the Choctaws, if any, who relinquished or offered to relinquish any reservations to which he was entitled under the nineteenth article of the said treaty, or whose reservations under that article had been sold by the United States; and shall also determine the quantity to which such claimant was entitled; and the quantity of land which should be allowed him on extinguishment of such claim, at the rate of two fifths of an acre for every acre of the land to which said claimant was entitled, said land having been estimated under this article at fifty cents per acre: Provided, nevertheless,Proviso. That no claim shall be considered or allowed by said commissioners, for or in the name or behalf of any Indian claimant whose name does not appear upon the lists or registers of claimants made by Major Armstrong, special agent for that purpose, in conjunction with the three chiefs of the three Choctaw districts, and returned to the Department of War in January, eighteen hundred and thirty-two, and who does not appear from those registers to be entitled to a reservation under said nineteenth article.
Commissioners to report their proceedings, &c. to the President, when.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners, within two years from the time of their entering upon the duties of their offices, and as often as shall be required by the President of the United States, shall report to him their proceedings in the premises, with a full and perfect list of names of all the Choctaws whom they shall have determined to be entitled to reservations under this act; the quantity of land to which each shall be so entitled, the number of claims which can be located according to the provisions of the fourth section of this act, and such as cannot be located according to the provisions of the fourth Powers, &c. of the commissioners, when to cease.section of this act; and the powers and duties of the said commissioners shall cease at the expiration of two years from the time of the first organization of the board; and their proceedings may be terminated by the President at any time previous to the expiration of the said two years.
Commissioners to determine claims under the supplement to the treaty.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners to be appointed under this act shall also ascertain and determine the quantity of land to which any Choctaw or other person named in the supplement to the said treaty of Dancing Rabbit creek was entitled by virtue thereof, and which such person has by any means been prevented from receiving.
Upon approval by the Presid’t, &c., certificates shall be delivered to claimant, if a Choctaw.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That if the President of the United States shall approve and confirm the determination of the commissioners heretofore appointed to investigate the claims existing under the fourteenth article of the said treaty of Dancing Rabbit creek, in any case, he shall cause to be delivered to the claimant, if he be a Choctaw Indian, his legal representatives or heirs, certificates, as provided by the fourth section of this act, for the quantity of land to which such claimant shall appear, by such determination, to have been entitled, in full satisfaction and discharge of such claim:Proviso. Provided, Such determination was made by adhering, in every instance, to the requisites contained in the fourth section of this act:Proviso. And provided, also, That said claims, nor either of them, cannot now be located, according to the provisions of the fourth section of this act.
Accounts to be kept of the certificates, &c. and amount retained from distribution to the States.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That distinct accounts shall be kept of the certificates issued in satisfaction of the claims provided for by this act, and of all expenses attending the execution of the same; and the amount thereof shall be retained and withheld from any distribution to the States.
Claims of white men with Indian families.
Patents to be issued, how.Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to authorize the said commissioners to adjudicate any claim which may be presented by a white man who may have had, or now has, an Indian wife or family; and any patent to land, which shall issue on any Indian claim, under the provisions of the treaty aforesaid, shall be issued to the Indian to whom the claim was allowed, if living, and if dead, to his or her heirs and legal representatives, any act of Congress, or usage, or custom, to the contrary notwithstanding.
No claim to be allowed, if assigned previous to the expiration of the five years from its ratification.Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That no claim shall be allowed, under the fourteenth article of said treaty, if the said commissioners shall be satisfied, by such proof as they may prescribe, that said claim had been, previous to the expiration of five years from the ratification of said treaty, assigned, either in whole or in part; and in case of a partial assignment, or assignment for an assignment thereof, the same shall be allowed so far only as the original Indian claimant was, at that date, the bona fide proprietor thereof.
Claims not presented within one year, forever barred.Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That all claims under either of the articles of said treaty mentioned above, or the supplemental articles thereof, which shall not be duly presented to said commissioners for allowance within one year after the final passage of this act, shall be thereafter for ever barred.
Approved, August 23, 1842.