The Dawes Commission Citizens And Intruders In Indian Territory 1901-1909

Description

The Dawes Commission: Citizens (Allottees) and Intruders in  Indian Territory (1901-1909)
An index of more than 17,000 persons whose    names appear in the more than 6,000 Cases (hearings) brought before the    Commission to settle disputes between Allottees and Intruders
Volume  totaling
792
pages. Book is in excellent  condition. Just what you need  for genealogy research. Per the publisher;
On February 8, 1887, Congress passed the Dawes Act, named for      its author, Senator Henry Dawes of Massachusetts. Also known as the General      Allotment Act, the law allowed for President Grover Cleveland (1893-1897) to      break up reservation land, which was held in common by the members of a      tribe, into small allotments to be parceled out to the Citizens of the Five      Nations. The General Allotment Act imposed private property ownership on the      American Indians by dividing their reservations into individual farms (the      allotment).
The Dawes Commission was responsible for activities      concerning the Five Nations in Indian Territory, Oklahoma. Its major      responsibility was to enforce the various treaties made between the Indian      Nations and the federal government and to enforce decisions made by the      Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and its arm, the Union Agency. This      Commission was also responsible for allotting tribal lands to eligible      citizens, placing them in possession of their allotment(s) and settling      disputes between the citizen allottee and intruders. The Commission was      headquartered in Muskogee, IT (future Oklahoma). While the Dawes rolls are a      major source of Indian citizen records, there is no central list of      non-citizen intruders. The fact is that Indian Territory (Oklahoma)      attracted thousands of whites and non-citizen Indians with the prospect of      obtaining surplus tribal lands or renting or leasing individual allotments.      This work incorporates both the intruders and the rightful allottees.
One of the most difficult tasks of the whole allotment      process was an obligation assumed by the officers of the Union Agency with      the police force. Often the trespassers were mere intruders claiming no      right but difficult to remove. Others were rejected citizenship claimants,      who refused to surrender the land they formerly occupied. More often they      were owners of occupancy titles purchased from a former claimant. There were      many involved contests between Indian “Citizens” claiming the right to the      same land. In 1893 the Dawes Commission inaugurated allotment, and in 1898      the Curtis Act initiated the end of tribal governments. As a result, Union      Agency assumed major new responsibilities, which included selling town site      lots and allotments, approving land and mineral leases, paying royalties,      enforcing probate rules, and overseeing guardians of minors.
The Union Agency established a hearing process that allowed      citizen allottees (the plaintiff) to challenge the renter intruder (the      defendant) as to the legality of the rent/lease agreement. Some 6,000      hearings were held over the course of nine years. The decisions made in      these 6,000 cases by the Dawes Commission are included in this book. From      these cases an index of more than 17,000 names have been developed. The      names of thousands of intruders are also included. An interesting feature of      Mr. Ernest’s book is the location index. All allottees and intruders are      grouped by town. The index brings families and relatives together.
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