OCR Text |
Show ' As to the 77 other freedmen claimants whosenameadonot an. v. ear onthe " Wallace roll," it was aecertsioe,l rhut the wirea nnd cl>ildren of eoo,e of tlkem are on neiol roll. and aa the a r r r~tnne cotfb uCherokco iutredur liats without ~oudificatiun\ ruuld involve the declaration not only that tha parties named are intruders, but also that the other members of their family, some of whom ose known to he on the " Wallare ' roll," are likewise intruder8 and liable to removal, it was recommended that these 17 names, a list of which was furnished, be suspended from the intruder lists until the atatus oftheir familiea can be ascertained by some proper inveetigation. The Deoartment.. An-zust 3..1 895.. a-nn.ro ved the findiuzs and awsrds of the board of appraisers with the modifioatians recommended by this office, aud August 23,1895, a co.vv"o f somnchof the -D B-p ersin the ease RB was deemed sufficientt o g.iv ethe Cherokee authorities the informat,ion necessary to enable them to tender the amounts awarded to the persons entitled to receive them was transmitted to the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation in aeoordaoce with the instructions contained in Department letter of Augnat 13,1895. By a letter dated December 19, 1895, Agent Wisdom transmitted a report by the treasurer of the Cherokee Nation showiug that the appraised value of their improvements had bee,n by lilm tendered to intruders, in accordance with an act of the national council dated September 20,1895, imposing on him that duty. From that report, and papers accompanying it, it appears that of the 88 intruders to whom awards had been made 49 had aoceptedlpayment and 39 had declined to accept. In some cases where the intruder refused to accept the amount offered he sigued a statement aclu~owledgiugt he tender and setting forth his refusal to accept the amount, while in other cases this sta!ement is signed by the treasurer of the Nation, before witnesses, or b~ or before the assistant treasurer of the Nation. Agent Wisdom's letter and the accompanying papers relating to the payment and tender of the amounts awarded by the appraisers were transmit,ted to the Department with office report of April 1,1896, to be submitted to Congress. Before the 1st of January, 1896, to which time Congress had sns-pended any steps for the removal of intruders, measures were iutro-duced in the two Houses of Congress looking to a further postponement of removals, and no steps were taken pending the consideration of the question by Congress. The result of this consideration was the follow-ing provision inserted iu the Indian appropriation act approved June 10,1896 (29 Stat. L., 339), which gives to the Commissio~a~p pointed to negotiate with the Five Civilized Tribes, under the a&t of March 3,1893 (27 Stat. L., 645), certain duties in connection with the question of disputed claims to citizenship in those tribes: That said commission ie further authorized and direoted to proceed at once to hear and determine the application of all persons who may apply to them for citizenship in any of said nationa, and after such hearingthey shall determine the right of snah applicant to be so admitted snd enrolled: Provided, kotuet:~T, hat ssuoh application shall be made to anoh oommissioners wit,hin three months after the passage of this act. The said commission shall decide all soch appplieatious within ninety days after the same shall be made. That in determining &I1 snoh applications said commission shall respect all laws of the several uationa or tribes, not inconsistent with the laws of the United States, and 8.11 treaties with either of said nations or tribes, and shall m96-6 ' .., . . ~ . |