Proclamation 327—Opening to Settlement Certain Lands Acquired from the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians

Whereas by a written agreement made on the ____ day of October, 1890, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes of Indians ceded, conveyed, transferred, relinquished, and surrendered all their claim, title, and interest in and to the lands described in article 2 of said agreement as follows, to wit:

Commencing at a point where the Washita River crosses the ninety-eighth degree of west longitude, as surveyed in the years 1858 and 1871; thence north on a line with said ninety-eighth degree to the point where it is crossed by the Red Fork of the Arkansas (sometimes called the Cimarron River); thence up said river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the north boundary of the country ceded to the United States by the treaty of June 14, 1866, with the Creek Nation of Indians; thence west on said north boundary and the north boundary of the country ceded to the United States by the treaty of March 21, 1866, with the Seminole Indians to the one hundredth degree of west longitude; thence south on the line of said one hundredth degree to the point where it strikes the North Fork of the Red River; thence down said North Fork of the Red River to a point where it strikes the north line of the Kiowa and Comanche Reservation; thence east along said boundary to a point where it strikes the Washita River; thence down said Washita River, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of beginning; and all other lands or tracts of country in the Indian Territory to which they have or may set up or allege any right, title, interest, or claim whatsoever.

Provided , That every member of said tribes shall have an allotment of 160 acres of land, as in said agreement provided, to be selected within the tract of country so ceded, except land in any part of said reservation now used or occupied for military, agency, school, school-farm, religious, or other public uses, or in sections 16 or 36 in each Congressional township, except, in cases where any Cheyenne or Arapahoe Indian has heretofore made improvements upon and now uses and occupies a part of said sections 16 and 36, such Indian may make his or her selection within the boundaries so prescribed so as to include his or her improvements; and except in that part of the lands by said agreement ceded, now occupied and claimed by the Wichita and affiliated bands of Indians described as follows, to wit:

Commencing at a point in the middle of the main channel of the Washita River where the ninety-eighth meridian of west longitude crosses the same; thence up the middle of the main channel of the said river to the line of 98 degrees 40' west longitude; thence up said line of 98 degrees 40' due north to the middle of the main channel of the main Canadian River; thence down the middle of the main Canadian River to where it crosses the ninety-eighth meridian; thence due south to the place of beginning.

And provided , That said sections 16 and 36 in each Congressional township in said reservation shall not become subject to homestead entry, but shall be held by the United States and finally sold for public-school purposes; and that when the allotments of lands shall have been selected and taken by the members of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes as aforesaid and approved by the Secretary of the Interior the title thereto shall be held in trust for the allottees, respectively, for the period of twenty-five years in the manner and to the extent provided for in the act of Congress approved February 8, 1887 (24 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 388); and

Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and confirming the said agreement with the Cheyenne and Arapahoe 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 opened 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 Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians have been made and approved in accordance with law and the provisions of the before-mentioned agreement with them; and

Whereas the lands acquired by the said agreement hereinbefore mentioned have been divided into counties by the Secretary of the Interior, as required by said last-mentioned act of Congress, before the same shall be opened to settlement, and lands have been reserved for county-seat purposes as therein required, as follows, to wit:

For County C, the south one-half of section 19, township 16 north, range 11 west; for County D, the north one-half of section 13, township 18 north, range 17 west; for County E, the south one-half of section 15, township 17 north, range 22 west; for County F, the south one-half of section 8, township 13 north, range 23 west; for County G, the north one-half of section 25, township 13 north, range 17 west; for County H, the south one-half of section 13, township 9 north, range 16 west; and

Whereas it is provided by act of Congress for temporary government of Oklahoma, approved May 2, 1890, section 23 (26 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 92), that there shall be reserved public highways 4 rods wide between each section of land in said Territory, the section lines being the center of said highways; but no deduction shall be made where cash payments are provided for in the amount to be paid for each quarter section of land by reason of such reservation; and

Whereas all the terms. conditions, and considerations required by said agreement made with said tribes of Indians and by the laws relating thereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement have been, as I hereby declare, 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 for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending June 30, 1892, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1891, and by other of the laws of the United States, and by said agreement, do hereby declare and make known that all of said lands hereinbefore described acquired from the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians by the agreement aforesaid, saving and excepting the lands allotted to the Indians as in said agreement provided, excepting also the lands hereinbefore described as occupied and claimed by the Wichita and affiliated bands of Indians, or otherwise reserved in pursuance of the provisions of said agreement and the said act of Congress ratifying the same, and other the laws relating thereto, will at the hour of 12 o'clock noon (central standard time), Tuesday, the 19th day of the present month of April, and not before, be opened to settlement under the terms of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained in said agreement, 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 Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indian Reservation, Oklahoma Territory, opened to settlement by proclamation of the President."

Each entry shall be in square form as nearly as applicable; and no other lands in the Territory of Oklahoma are opened to settlement under this proclamation, the agreement with the said Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians, or the act 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, and that 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 mentioned and included in this proclamation shall be, and the same are, attached to the Western land district, office at Kingfisher, and the Oklahoma land district, office at Oklahoma City, in said Territory of Oklahoma, as follows:

1. All of said lands lying north of the township line between townships 13 and 14 north are attached to the Western land district, the office of which is at Kingfisher, in said Territory.

2. All of said lands lying south of the township line between townships 13 and 14 north are attached to the Oklahoma land district. the office of which is at Oklahoma City, in the said Territory.

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 12th day of April, A. D. 1892, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and sixteenth.

BENJ. HARRISON

By the President:

JAMES G. BLAINE, Secretary of State.