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Show OOM&fISSIONEE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 125 BALE Or COAL AND ASPHAW LANDS, CHOCTAW AND CHICKASAW NATIONS. The act of April 21,1904, provides as follows for the sale of nnleased segregated coal and asphalt lands: Ail unleased lands which are by section fifty-nine of an act entitled "An act to ratify and confirm an agreement with the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes of Indians, and for other purposes," approved July first, nineteen hundred and two, directed to "be sold at public auction for cash," and ail other nnieased lands and deposits of like character in said nations segregated under any act of Congress, shall, instead, be sold under direction of the Secretary of the Interior in tracts not exceeding nine hundred and sixty acres to each person, after due advertisement, upon sealed proposals, under regulations to be pre-scribed by the Secretary of the Interior and approved by the President, with authority to reject any or all proposals: Provided, That the President shail appoint a commission of three persons, one on the recommendation of the principal chief of the Choctaw Nation, who shali be a Choctaw by blood, and one upon the recommendation of the governor of the Chickasaw Nation, who shali he a Chickasaw by blood, which commission shall have a right to he present at the time of the opening of bids and be heard in relation to the acceptance or rejection thereof. All expenses, inclusive of necessary clerical help in the Department of the Interior, connected with and incident to such sale shali be paid from the funds of the Choctaw and Chickasaw trihes on deposit in the Treasury of the United States: Prouided, That all leased lands shali he withheld from sale until the further direction of Congress. These sales are wholly under the jurisdiction of this Office, subject to the approval of the Department. The Secretary of the Interior, acting under the authority vested in him by section 58 of the Choctaw-Chickasaw Supplemental Agree-ment (act of July 1,1902), " by written order segregated and reserved from allotment " 445,052.23 acres of land in the Choctaw and Chicka-saw nations, found to be "principally valuable because of their de-posits of coal and asphalt." Of these lands, 111,750 acres are wv-ered by .leases existing at the date of the ratification of the supple-mental agreement, September 25, 1902, and 333,302.23 acres are un-leased. The unleased lands were divided into six districts. Bids for the purchase of these lands were opened in this Office at 2 o'clock p. m., eastern time, on the following dates: c i s Dis trict No. I. ...................................... 0 3,1904 Wilburton-Stigler Distrlct No. 2 ................................ Dec. 5,1904 Howe-Potean Distrlct No. 3 .................................... Feb. 6,1905 Mecurtain-Massey District No. 4 ................................ Apr. 3,1905 Lehigh-more District No. 5 --..-....--.--.--.....-..-7--..-.- June 5,1905 District No. 6 ......... 1 ....................................... Ang. 7,1905 Notice of the time and place of sale of the lands in each district was published extensively in many of tt~e leading newspapers throughout the country. Circulars descriptive of the lands and de-posits of the different districts were prepared by Joseph A. Taff, under the supervision of the Director of the Geological Survey. |