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Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington : Government Printing Office, 1913.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after sixty days from the date of this act the status of the lands allotted heretofore or hereafter to allottees of the Five Civilized Tribes shall, as regards restrictions on alienation or incumbrance,1 be as follows: All lands, including homesteads, of said allottees enrolled as intermarried whites, as freedmen, and as mixed-blood Indians having less than half Indian blood including minors shall be free from all restrictions. All lands, except homesteads, of said allottees enrolled as mixed-blood Indians having half or more than half and less than three-quarters Indian blood shall be free from all restrictions. All homesteads of said allottees enrolled as mixed-blood Indians having half or more than half Indian blood, including minors of such degrees of blood, and all allotted lands of enrolled full-bloods, and enrolled mixed-bloods of three-quarters or more Indian blood, including minors of such degrees of blood, shall not be subject to alienation, contract to sell, power of attorney, or any other incumbrance prior to April twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and thirty-one, except that the Secretary of the Interior may remove such restrictions, wholly or in part, under such rules and regulations concerning terms of sale and disposal of the proceeds for the benefit of the respective Indians as he may prescribe. The Secretary of the Interior shall not be prohibited by this act from continuing to remove restrictions as heretofore, and nothing herein shall be construed to impose restrictions removed from land by or under any law prior to the passage of this act. No restriction of alienation shall be construed to prevent the exercise of the right of eminent domain in condemning rights of way for public purposes over allotted lands, and for such purposes sections thirteen to twenty-three inclusive, of an act entitled “An act to grant the right of way through Oklahoma Territory and the Indian Territory to the Enid and Anadarko Railway Company, and for other purposes,” approved February twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and two (Thirty-second Statutes at Large, page forty-three), are hereby continued in force in the State of Oklahoma.
That all lands other than homesteads allotted to members of the Five Civilized Tribes from which restrictions have not been removed may be leased by the allottee if an adult, or by guardian or curator under order of the proper probate court if a minor or incompetent, for a period not to exceed five years, without the privilege of
renewal: Provided, That leases of restricted lands for oil, gas or other mining purposes, leases of restricted homesteads for more than one year, and leases of restricted lands for periods of more than five years, may be made, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, under rules and regulations provided by the Secretary of the Interior, and not otherwise: And provided further, That the jurisdiction of the probate courts of the State of Oklahoma over lands of minors and incompetents shall be subject to the foregoing provisions, and the term minor or minors, as used in this act, shall include all males under the age of twenty-one years and all females under the age of eighteen years.1
That the rolls of citizenship and of freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes approved by the Secretary of the Interior shall be conclusive evidence as to the quantum of Indian blood of any enrolled citizen or freedman of said tribes and of no other persons to determine questions arising under this act and the enrollment records of the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes shall hereafter be conclusive evidence as to the age of said citizen or freedman.2
That no oil, gas, or other mineral lease entered into by any of said allottees prior to the removal of restrictions requiring the approval of the Secretary of the Interior shall be rendered invalid by this act, but the same shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior as if this act had not been passed: Provided, That the owner or owners of any allotted land from which restrictions are removed by this act, or have been removed by previous acts of Congress, or by the Secretary of the Interior, or may hereafter be removed under and by authority of any act of Congress, shall have the power to cancel and annul any oil, gas, or mineral lease on said land whenever the owner or owners of said land and the owner or owners of the lease thereon agree in writing to terminate said lease and file with the Secretary of the Interior, or his designated agent, a true copy of the agreement in writing canceling said lease, which said agreement shall be executed and acknowledged by the parties thereto in the manner required by the laws of Oklahoma for the execution and acknowledgment of deeds, and the same shall be recorded in the county where the land is situate.3
That all land from which restrictions have been or shall be removed shall be subject to taxation and all other civil burdens as though it were the property of other persons than allottees of the Five Civilized Tribes: Provided, That allotted lands shall not be subjected or held liable, to any form of personal claim, or demand, against the allottees arising or existing prior to the removal of restrictions, other than contracts heretofore expressly permitted by law.4
That any attempted alienation or incumbrance by deed, mortgage, contract to sell, power of attorney, or other instrument or method of incumbering real estate, made before or after the approval of this act, which affects the title of the land allotted to allottees of the Five Civilized Tribes prior to removal of restrictions therefrom, and also any lease of such restricted land made in violation of law before or after the approval of this act shall be absolutely null and void.5
That the persons and property of minor allottees of the Five Civilized Tribes shall, except as otherwise specifically provided by
law, be subject to the jurisdiction of the probate courts of the State of Oklahoma. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby empowered, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by him, to appoint such local representatives within the State of Oklahoma who shall be citizens of that State or now domiciled therein as he may deem necessary to inquire into and investigate the conduct of guardians or curators having in charge the estates of such minors, and whenever such representative or representatives of the Secretary of the Interior shall be of opinion that the estate of any minor is not being properly cared for by the guardian or curator, or that the same is in any manner being dissipated or wasted or being permitted to deteriorate in value by reason of the negligence or carelessness or incompetency of the guardian or curator, said representative or representatives of the Secretary of the Interior shall have power and it shall be their duty to report said matter in full to the proper probate court and take the necessary steps to have such matter fully investigated, and go to the further extent of prosecuting any necessary remedy, either civil or criminal, or both, to preserve the property and protect the interests of said minor allottees; and it shall be the further duty of such representative or representatives to make full and complete reports to the Secretary of the Interior. All such reports, either to the Secretary of the Interior or to the proper probate court, shall become public records and subject to the inspection and examination of the public, and the necessary court fees shall be allowed against the estates of said minors. The probate courts may, in their discretion, appoint any such representative of the Secretary of the Interior as guardian or curator for such minors, without fee or charge.
And said representatives of the Secretary of the Interior are further authorized, and it is made their duty, to counsel and advise all allottees, adult or minor, having restricted lands of all of their legal rights with reference to their restricted lands, without charge, and to advise them in the preparation of all leases authorized by law to be made, and at the request of any allottee having restricted land he shall, without charge, except the necessary court and recording fees and expenses if any, in the name of the allottee, take such steps as may be necessary, including the bringing of any suit or suits and the prosecution and appeal thereof, to cancel and annul any deed, conveyance, mortgage, lease, contract to sell, power of attorney, or any other encumbrance of any kind or character, made or attempted to be made or executed in violation of this act or any other act of Congress, and to take all steps necessary to assist said allottees in acquiring and retaining possession of their restricted lands.
Supplemental to the funds appropriated and available for expenses connected with the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes, there is hereby appropriated, for the salaries and expenses arising under this section, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of ninety thousand dollars, to be available immediately, and until July first, nineteen hundred and nine, for expenditure under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That no restricted lands of living minors shall be sold or encumbered, except by leases authorized by law, by order of the court, or otherwise.
And there is hereby further appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be immediately available and available until expended as the Attorney General may direct, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, to be used in the payment of necessary expenses incident to any suits brought at the request of the Secretary of the Interior in the eastern judicial district of Oklahoma: Provided, That the sum of ten thousand dollars of the above amount, or so much thereof as may be necessary, may be expended in the prosecution of cases in the western judicial district of Oklahoma.
Any suit brought by the authority of the Secretary of the Interior against the vendee or mortgagee of a town lot, against whom the Secretary of the Interior may find upon investigation no fraud has been established, may be dismissed and the title quieted upon payment of the full balance due on the original appraisement of such lot: Provided, That such investigation must be concluded within six months after the passage of this act.
Nothing in this act shall be construed as a denial of the right of the United States to take such steps as may be necessary, including the bringing of any suit and the prosecution and appeal thereof, to acquire or retain possession of restricted Indian lands, or to remove cloud therefrom, or clear title to the same, in cases where deeds, leases, or contracts of any other kind or character whatsover have been or shall be made contrary to law with respect to such lands prior to the removal therefrom of restrictions upon the alienation thereof; such suits to be brought on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, without costs or charges to the allottees, the necessary expenses incurred in so doing to be defrayed from the money appropriated by this act.1
That no contest shall be instituted after sixty days from the date of the selection of any allotment hereafter made, nor after ninety days from the approval of this act in case of selections made prior thereto by or for any allottee of the Five Civilized Tribes, and, as early thereafter as practicable, deed or patent shall issue therefor.
That section twenty-three of an act entitled “An act to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes,” approved April twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and six, is hereby amended by adding at the end of said section, the words “or a judge of a county court of the State of Oklahoma.”2
That the death of any allottee of the Five Civilized Tribes shall operate to remove all restrictions upon the alienation of said allottee’s land: Provided, That no conveyance of any interest of any full-blood Indian heir in such land shall be valid unless approved by the court having jurisdiction of the settlement of the estate of said deceased allottee: Provided further, That if any member of the Five Civilized Tribes of one-half or more Indian blood shall die leaving issue surviving, born since March fourth, nineteen hundred and six, the homestead of such deceased allottee shall remain inalienable, unless restrictions against alienation are removed therefrom by the Secretary of the Interior in the manner provided in section one hereof, for the use and support of such issue, during their life or lives, until April twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and thirty-one; but if no such issue survive, then such allottee, if an adult, may dispose of his homestead by will free from all restrictions; if this be not done, or in the event the issue hereinbefore provided for die before April twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and thirty-one, the land shall then descend to the heirs, according to the laws of descent and distribution of the State of Oklahoma, free from all restrictions: Provided further, That the provisions of section twenty-three of the act of April twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and six, as amended by this act, are hereby made applicable to all wills executed under this section.3
That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to pay out of any moneys in the Treasury of the United States, belonging to the Choctaw or Chickasaw nations respectively, any and all outstanding general and school warrants duly signed by
the auditor of public accounts of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations, and drawn on the national treasurers thereof prior to January first, nineteen hundred and seven, with six per cent interest per annum from the respective dates of said warrants: Provided, That said warrants be presented to the United States Indian agent at the Union Agency, Muskogee, Oklahoma, within sixty days from the passage of this act, together with the affidavits of the respective holders of said warrants that they purchased the same in good faith for a valuable consideration, and had no reason to suspect fraud in the issuance of said warrants: Provided further, That such warrants remaining in the hands of the original payee shall be paid by said Secretary when it is shown that the services for which said warrants were issued were actually performed by said payee.
That all royalties arising on and after July first, nineteen hundred and eight, from mineral leases of allotted Seminole lands heretofore or hereafter made, which are subject to the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be paid to the United States Indian agent, Union Agency, for the benefit of the Indian lessor or his proper representative to whom such royalties shall thereafter belong; and no such lease shall be made after said date except with the allottee or owner of the land: Provided, That the interest of the Seminole Nation in leases or royalties arising thereunder on all allotted lands shall cease on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eight.
That all records pertaining to the allotment of lands of the Five Civilized Tribes shall be finally deposited in the office of the United States Indian agent, Union Agency, when and as the Secretary of the Interior shall determine such action shall be taken, and there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be immediately available as the Secretary of the Interior may direct, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary to enable the Secretary of the Interior to furnish the various counties of the State of Oklahoma certified copies of such portions of said records as affect title to lands in the respective counties.
That the second paragraph of section eleven of an act entitled “An act to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes,” approved April twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and six, is hereby amended to read as follows:
That every officer, member, or representative of the Five Civilized Tribes, respectively, or any other person having in his possession, custody, or control, any money or other property, including the books, documents, records, or any other papers, of any of said tribes, shall make full and true account and report thereof to the Secretary of the Interior, and shall pay all money of the tribe in his possession, custody, or control and shall deliver all other tribal properties so held by him to the Secretary of the Interior, and if any person shall willfully and fraudulently fail to account for all such money and property so held by him, or to pay and deliver the same as herein provided, prior to July thirty-first, nineteen hundred and eight, he shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by fine of not exceeding five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, according to the laws of the United States relating to such offense, and shall be liable in civil proceedings to be prosecuted in behalf of and in the name of the tribe or tribes in interest for the amount or value of the money or property so withheld.
That the provisions of section thirteen of the act of Congress approved April twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and six (Thirty-fourth Statutes at Large, page, one hundred and thirty-seven), shall not apply to town lots in town sites heretofore established, surveyed,
platted, and appraised under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, but nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize the conveyance of any interest in the coal or asphalt underlying said lots.
Approved, May 27, 1908.
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