Proclamation 311—Opening to Settlement Lands Acquired from the Sac and Fox Nation of Indians, Oklahoma Territory

Whereas by a written agreement made on the 12th day of June, 1890, the Sac and Fox Nation of Indians, in the Territory of Oklahoma, ceded and conveyed to the United States of America all title or interest of said Indians in and to the lands particularly described in Article I of the agreement, except the quarter section of land on which the Sac and Fox Agency is located, and provided that the section of land now designated and set apart near the Sac and Fox Agency for a school and farm shall not be subject either to allotment or to homestead entry; that every citizen of said nation shall have an allotment of land in quantity as therein stated, to be selected within the tract of country so ceded, except in sections 16 and 36 in each Congressional township, and except the agency quarter section and section set apart for school and farm, as above mentioned, or other lands selected in lieu thereof; that when the allotments to the citizens of the Sac and Fox Nation are made the Secretary of the Interior shall cause trust patents to issue therefor in the name of the allottees, and that as soon as such allotments are so made and approved by the Department of the Interior, and the patents provided for are issued, then the residue of said tract of country shall, as far as said Sac and Fox Nation is concerned, become public lands of the United States, and, under such restrictions as may be imposed by law, be subject to white settlement; and

Whereas by a certain other agreement with the Iowa tribe of Indians residing on the Iowa Reservation, in said Territory, made on the 20th day of May, 1890, said tribe surrendered and relinquished to the United States all their title and interest in and to the lands of said Indians in said Territory, and particularly described in Article I of said agreement, and provided that each and every member of said tribe shall have an allotment of 80 acres of land upon said reservation, and upon the approval of such allotments by the Secretary of the Interior that trust patents shall be issued therefor, and that there shall be excepted from the operation of said agreement a tract of land not exceeding 10 acres, in a square form, including the church and schoolhouse and graveyard at or near the Iowa village, which shall belong to said Iowa tribe of Indians in common, subject to the conditions and limitations in said agreement expressed; that the chief of the Iowas may select an additional 10 acres, in a square form, for the use of said tribe in said reservation, conforming in boundaries to the legal subdivisions of land therein, which shall be held by said tribe in common, subject to the conditions and limitations as expressed in relation thereto; and

Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress approved February 13, 1891 (26 U. S. Statutes at Large, pp. 758,759), section 7, accepting, ratifying, and confirming said agreements with the Sac and Fox Nation of Indians and the Iowa tribe of Indians--

That whenever any of the lands acquired by the agreements in this act ratified and confirmed shall by operation of law or proclamation of the President of the United States be open to settlement they shall be disposed of to actual settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead laws, except section 2301, which shall not apply:Provided, however, That each settler under and in accordance with the provisions of said homestead laws shall before receiving a patent for his homestead pay to the United States for the land so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, the sum of $1.25 for each acre thereof; and such person, having complied with all the laws relating to such homestead settlement, may at his option receive a patent therefor at the expiration of twelve months from date of settlement upon said homestead; and any person otherwise qualified who has attempted to but for any cause failed to secure a title in fee to a homestead under existing law, or who made entry under what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law, shall be qualified to make a homestead entry upon any of said lands.

And whereas by a certain other agreement with the Citizen band of Pottawatomie Indians, in said Territory, made on the 25th day of June, 1890, the said band of Indians ceded and absolutely surrendered to the United States all their title and interest in and to the lands in said Territory, and particularly described in Article I of said agreement, and provided that all allotments of land theretofore made, or then being made, or to be made, to members of said Citizen band of Pottawatomie Indians under the provisions of the general allotment act approved February 8, 1887, shall be confirmed; that in all allotments to be thereafter made no person shall have the right to select his or her allotment in sections 16 and 36 in any Congressional township, nor upon any land heretofore set apart in said tract of country for any use by the United States, or for schools, school-farm, or religious purposes; nor shall said sections 16 and 36 be subject to homestead entry, but shall be kept and used for school purposes; nor shall any lands set apart for any use of the United States, or for school, school-farm, or religious purposes, be Subject to homestead entry, but shall be held by the United States for such purposes so long as the United States shall see fit to use them; and further, that the south half of section 7 and the north half of section 18, in township 6 north, range 5 east, theretofore set apart by a written agreement between said band of Indians and certain Catholic fathers for religious, school, and farm purposes, shall not be subject to allotment or homestead entry, but shall be held by the United States for the Sacred Heart Mission, the name under which said association of fathers are conducting the church, school, and farm on said lands; and

Whereas by a certain agreement with the Absentee Shawnee Indians, in said Territory, made on the 26th day of June, 1890, said last-named Indians ceded, relinquished, and surrendered to the United States all their title and interest in and to the lands in said Territory, and particularly described in Article I of said agreement, provided that all allotments of lands theretofore made, or then being made, or to be made, to said Absentee Shawnees under the provisions of the general allotment act approved February 8, 1887, shall be confirmed; that in all allotments to be thereafter made no person shall have the right to select his or her allotment in sections 16 and 36 in any Congressional township, nor in any land heretofore set apart in said tract of country for any use by the United States, or for school, school-farm, or religious purposes; nor shall said sections 16 and 36 be subject to homestead entry, but shall be held by the United States for such purposes so long as the United States shall see fit to use them; and

Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and confirming said agreements with the Citizen band of Pottawatomie Indians and the Absentee Shawnee Indians, approved March 3, 1891 (26 U. S. Statutes at Large, pp. 989-1044), section 16--

That whenever any of the lands acquired by either of the * * * foregoing agreements respecting lands in the Indian or Oklahoma Territory shall by operation of law or proclamation of the President of the United States be open to settlement they shall be disposed of to actual settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead and town-site laws, except section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which shall not apply: Provided, however, That each settler on said lands shall before making a final proof and receiving a certificate of entry pay to the United States for the land so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, and within five years from the date of the first original entry, the sum of $1.50 per acre, one-half of which shall be paid within two years; but the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors as defined and described in sections 2304 and 2305 of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be abridged except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid; and all the lands in Oklahoma are hereby declared to be agricultural lands, and proof of their nonmineral character shall not be required as a condition precedent to final entry.

And whereas allotments of land in severalty to said Sac and Fox Nation, said Iowa tribe, said Citizen band of Pottawatomies, and said Absentee Shawnee Indians have been made and approved, and provisional patents issued therefor, in accordance with law and the provisions of the before-mentioned agreements with them respectively, and an additional 10 acres of land has been selected for the use of said Iowa tribe, to be held by said tribe in common, in accordance with the provisions of supplemental Article XII of the agreement with them; and

Whereas the lands acquired by the four several agreements hereinbefore mentioned have been divided into counties by the Secretary of the Interior, as required by said last-mentioned act of Congress before the saint shall be open to settlement, and lands have been reserved for county-seat purposes, as therein required; and

Whereas it is provided by act of Congress for temporary government of Oklahoma, approved May 2, 1890, that there shall be reserved public highways 4 rods wide between each section of land in said Territory, the section lines being the centers of said highways, but no deduction shall be made from cash payments from each quarter section by reason thereof; and

Whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by said several agreements made respectively with said tribes of Indians herein-before mentioned, and of the laws relating thereto, precedent to opening said several tracts of land to settlement, have been, as I hereby declare, provided for, paid, and complied with:

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned, also an act of Congress entitled "An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending June 30, 1890, and for other purposes," approved March 2, 1889, and by other the laws of the United States, and by said several agreements, do hereby declare and make known that all of the lands acquired from the Sac and Fox Nation of Indians, the Iowa tribe of Indians, the Citizen band of Pottawatomie Indians, and the Absentee Shawnee Indians by the four several agreements aforesaid, saving and excepting the lands allotted to the Indians as in said agreements provided, or otherwise reserved in pursuance of the provisions of said agreements and the said acts of Congress ratifying the same and other the laws relating thereto, will, at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon (central standard time), Tuesday, the 22d day of this the present month of September, and not before, be opened to settlement, under the terms of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained in said agreements, the statutes above specified, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto.

The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater Convenience particularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Schedule of lands within the Sac and Fox, Iowa, Pottawatomie (and Absentee Shawnee) reservations, in Oklahoma Territory, opened to settlement by Proclamation of the President dated September 18, 1891," and which schedule is made a part hereof.

Each entry shall be in square form as nearly as practicable; and no other lands in the Territory of Oklahoma are opened to settlement under this Proclamation or the agreements ratifying the same.

Notice, moreover, is hereby given that it is by law enacted that until said lands are opened to settlement by proclamation no person shall be Permitted to enter upon and occupy the same, and no person violating this Provision shall be permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire any right thereto. The officers of the United States will be required to enforce this provision.

And further notice is hereby given that it has been duly ordered that the lands in the Territory of Oklahoma mentioned and included in this proclamation be, and the same are, attached to the Eastern and Oklahoma land districts in said Territory, severally, as follows:

1. All that portion of the Territory of Oklahoma commencing at the southwest corner of township 14 north, range 1 east; thence east on town line between townships 13 and 14 to the west boundary of the Creek country; thence north on said boundary line to the middle of main channel of the Cimarron River; thence up the Cimarron River, following the main channel thereof, to the Indian meridian; thence south on said meridian line to the place of beginning, is attached to the Eastern land district in Oklahoma Territory, the office of which is now located at Guthrie.

2. All that portion of said Territory commencing at the northwest corner of township 13 north, range 1 east; thence south on Indian meridian to the North Fork of the Canadian River; thence west up said river to the west boundary of the Pottawatomie Indian Reservation, according to Morrill's survey; thence south, following the line as run by O. T. Morrill under his contract of September 3, 1872, to the middle of the main channel of the Canadian River; thence east down the main channel of said river to the west boundary of the Seminole Indian Reservation; thence north with said west boundary to the North Fork of the Canadian River; thence east down said North Fork to the west boundary of the Creek Nation; thence north with said west boundary to its intersection with the line between townships 13 and 14 north of the Indian base; thence west on town line between townships 13 and 14 north to the place of beginning, is attached to the Oklahoma land district in said Territory, the office of which is now located at Oklahoma City.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 18th day of September A.D. 1891, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and sixteenth.

BENJ. HARRISON

By the President:

WILLIAM F. WHARTON, Acting Secretary of State.