Interior may prescribe and also the amount of such fund to which they are severally entitled, their respective shares; and second, so much of said fund as is not paid. out upon claims satisfactorily established as aforesaid shall be distributed per capita among the members of said Chickasaw Nation, and all claims of beneficiaries and their respective heirs for participation in said incompetent fund not presented within the period aforesaid shall be, and the same are hereby, barred.

CHAP. 795.-An act changing place for holding court in the central division of the Indian Territory from Cameron to Poteau, and for other purposes.

June 6, 1900.

31 Stat., 657.

tory.

1895, Mar. 1,

Vol. 28, p.

694.

1897, June 7,

c. 3. Central judicial district.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- Indian Territives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subdivision three, of chapter one hundred c. 145. and forty-five, of the United States Statutes at Large, approved March first, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, entitled "An Act to provide for the appointment of additional judges of the United States court in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes," which said subdivision reads as follows: "The central district shall consist of all the Choctaw country, and the places of holding court in said district shall be at South McAlester, Atoka, Antlers, and Cameron," be amended by striking out of said subdivision the word "Cameron" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "Poteau," so that said subdivision when amended shall read as follows: "The central district shall consist of all the Choctaw country, and the terms of places of holding court in said district shall be at South held." McAlester, Atoka, Antlers, and Poteau."

1902, ch. 276.

court, where

Pending causes trans

SEC. 2. That all suits, prosecutions and processes, recognizances, bail bonds, and other proceedings of what- ferred. ever nature pending in or returnable to said court at Cameron are hereby transferred to and shall be made returnable and have force in said court at Poteau. Approved June 6, 1900.

CHAP. 802.--An act to provide for the use of timber and stone for domestic and industrial purposes in the Indian Territory.

June 6, 1900. 31 Stat., 660.

tory.

Timber stone.

and

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- Indian Terri tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations for the procurement of timber and stone for such domestic and industrial rules for procurement. purposes, including the construction, maintenance, and

of.

repair of railroads and other highways, to be used only in the Indian Territory, as in his judgment he shall deem necessary and proper, from lands belonging to either of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians, and to fix the full value thereof to be paid therefor, and collect the same for the benefit of said tribes; and every person -destruction who unlawfully cuts, or aids, or is employed in unlawfully cutting, or wantonly destroys, or procures to be wantonly destroyed, any timber standing upon the land transporta of either of said tribes, or sells or transports any of such timber or stone outside of the Indian Territory, contrary to the regulations prescribed by the Secretary, shall pay a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or be inprisoned not more than twelve months, or both, in the discretion of the court trying the same. Approved June 6, 1900.

tion of.

-penalty.

June 2, 1900.

31 Stat., 250.

Seminole In

dians.

with, as to

rolls of

zens, etc.

CHAP. 610.-An act to ratify an agreement between the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes and the Seminole tribe of Indians.

Whereas an agreement was made by Henry L. Dawes, Agreement Tams Bixby, Archibald S. McKennon, and Thomas B. citi- Needles, the commission of the United States to the Five Civilized Tribes, and John F. Brown and K. N. Kinkehee, commissioners on the part of the Seminole tribe of Indians, on the seventh day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, as follows:

I'reamble.

Commission

ers.

Who may be enrolled.

"This agreement by and between the Government of the United States of the first part, entered into in its behalf by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, Henry L. Dawes, Tams Bixby, Archibald S. McKennon, and Thomas B. Needles, duly appointed and authorized thereunto, and the Seminole tribe of Indians, in Indian Territory, of the second part, entered into in behalf of said tribe by John F. Brown and K. N. Kinkehee, commissioners duly appointed and authorized thereunto, witnesseth:

"First. That the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, in making the rolls of Seminole citizens, pursuant to the Act of Congress approved June twentyeighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, shall place on said rolls the names of all children born to Seminole citizens up to and including the thirty-first day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and the names Rolls to be of all Seminole citizens then living; and the rolls so made, when approved by the Secretary of the Interior, as provided by said Act of Congress, shall constitute the final rolls of Seminole citizens, upon which the allotment of lands and distribution of money and other property belonging to the Seminole Indians shall be made, and to no other persons.

final.

Laws of de

scent.

"Second. If any member of the Seminole tribe of Indians shall die after the thirty-first day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, the lands, money, and other property to which he would be entitled if living, shall descend to his heirs who are Seminole citizens, according to the laws of descent and distribution of the State of Arkansas, and be allotted and distributed to them accordingly: Provided, That in all cases where Proviso. such property would descend to the parents under said etc. laws the same shall first go to the mother instead of the father, and then to the brothers and sisters, and their heirs, instead of the father.

"Third. This agreement to be ratified by the general council of the Seminole Nation and by the Congress of the United States.

"In witness whereof the said commissioners hereunto affix their names, at Muskogee, Indian Territory, this seventh day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine. HENRY L. DAWES, "TAMS BIXBY,

"ARCHIBALD S. MCKENNON,

"THOMAS B. NEEDLES,

"Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes.

Therefore,

"JOHN F. BROWN,

"K. N. KINKEHEE,

"Seminole Commissioners."

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatires of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the same be, and is hereby, ratified and con

-to parents,

Signatures.

Ratification.

firmed, and all laws and parts of laws inconsistent there- Repeal. with are hereby repealed.

Approved, June 2, 1900.

CHAP. 798.-An act to authorize the Seneca Telephone Company June 6, 1900. to construct and maintain lines in the Indian Territory.

31 Stat., 658.

phone Co. may

in Indian Ter

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatires of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Seneca Telephone Company, organized, Seneca Teleand incorporated under the laws of the State of Mis- construct lines souri, is hereby authorized and empowered to construct ritory. and maintain telephone lines from Seneca, in the State of Missouri, to the Quapaw Agency, and to Wyandotte, Grand River, Fairland, Oseuma, Afton, and Vinita, in the Indian Territory, subject to the rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, Proviso. That cities and towns into or through which such tele- control. phone lines may be constructed shall have the power to regulate the manner of construction therein, and the said

Municipal

Tolls.

company shall be subject to such municipal and Territorial taxation as may be provided for by law.

SEC. 2. That Congress hereby expressly reserves the right to regulate the tolls or charges of said telephone lines constructed in the Indian Territory by said com

pany.

Approved, June 6, 1900.

June 6, 1900.

31 Stat., 672.

with Coman

Apache Indians

CHAP. 813.-An act to ratify an agreement with the Indians of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in Idaho, and making appropriations to carry the same into effect.

Agreement SEC. 6. Whereas David H. Jerome, Alfred M. Wilson, che. Kiowa, and and Warren G. Sayre, duly appointed Commissioners on of Oklahoma. the part of the United States, did, on the sixth day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, conclude an agreement with the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache tribes of Indians in Oklahoma, formerly a part of the Indian Territory, which said agreement is in the words and figures as follows:

Court of

Claims to de

of Choctaws

saws.

"Articles of agreement made and entered into at Fort Sill, in the Indian Territory, on the twenty-first day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, by and between David H. Jerome, Alfred M. Wilson, and Warren G. Sayre, Commissioners on the part of the United States, and the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache tribes of Indians in the Indian Territory.

That as the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations claim to termine claims have some right, title, and interest in and to the lands and Chicka- ceded by the foregoing treaty as soon as the same are abandoned by said Comanche, Kiowa and Apache tribes of Indians, jurisdiction be, and is hereby, conferred upon the United States Court of Claims to hear and determine the said claim of the Chickasaws and the Choctaws, and to render a judgment thereon, it being the intention of this act to allow said Court of Claims jurisdiction, so that the rights, legal and equitable, of the United States and the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations, and the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache tribes of Indians in the premises shall be fully considered and determined, and to try and determine all questions that may arise on behalf of either party in the hearing of said claim; and the Attorney-General is hereby directed to appear in behalf of the Government of the United States; and either of the parties to said action shall have the right to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States: Provided, That such appeal shall be taken within sixty days after the rendition of the judgment objected to, and that the said courts shall give such causes precedence: And provided further, That nothing in this act shall be accepted or con

Appeal.

Provisos.

Time for taking.

be construed

strued as a confession that the United States admit that, Claim not to the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations have any claim to as admitted, or interest in said lands or any part thereof.

etc.

Procedure.

Claim barred

That said action shall be presented by a single petition making the United States party defendant, and shall set forth all the facts on which the said Choctaw and Chickasaw nations claim title to said land; and said petition may be verified by the authorized delegates, agents, or attorneys of said Indians upon their information and belief as to the existence of such facts, and no other statement or verification shall be necessary: Provided, That if said Choctaw and Chickasaw nations do not bring their action by failure to within ninety days from the approval of this act, or bring action. should they dismiss said suit, and the same shall not be reinstated, their claim shall be forever barred: And provided further, That, in the event it shall be adjudged in the final judgment or decree rendered in said action that, Disposal of fund on judgsaid Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations have any right, ment for Choctitle, or interest in or to said lands for which they should Chickasaws. be compensated by the United States, then said sum of one million five hundred thousand ($1,500,000) dollars shall be subject to such legislation as Congress may deem

proper.

Approved, June 6, 1900.

taws and

Feb. 18, 1901.

31 Stat., 794.

tory.

to corporations ble.

CHAP. 379.--An act to put in force in the Indian Territory certain provisions of the laws of Arkansas relating to corporations, and to make said provisions applicable to said Territory. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- Indian Territives of the United States of America in Congress as- Laws of Arsembled, That section five hundred and four and the kansas relating succeeding sections down to and including section five made applicahundred and nine, section nine hundred and sixty, and the succeeding sections down to and including section one thousand and thirty-five, of the laws of Arkansas, as published in eighteen hundred and eighty-four in the volume known as Mansfield's Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas be, and the same are hereby, extended over and put in force in the Indian Territory, so far as they may be applicable and not in conflict with any law of Congress applicable to said Territory heretofore passed.

66

SEC. 2. That wherever in said sections the word county "occurs there shall be substituted there for the words "judicial district," and where the words "county court occur the words "United States courts" shall be substituted therefor; wherever the words "State" or "State of Arkansas" occur there shall be substituted therefor the words "Indian Territory;" wherever the words "secretary of state" occur there shall be substituted therefor the words "clerk of the United States court of appeals for the Indian Territory," and said

Substitution of terms.