Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 25.djvu/802

 FIFTIETH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 317. 1889. 757 CHAP. 317.-An act to ratif andMarch 1, 1889. Creek) Nation of Indians in theyIndiahOT;inrii1t<;·Iy,a§rid€g$Ii)llfe?lp1ii1;o£g;ScOg€8 (Or W` Whereas it is provided by section eight of the act of March third, ·°·¤’°**?“°¤* Wim eighteen hundred and eighty-five, entitled "An act making appro- Cgi-igiiiiiiSDS' priations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian De- V°1·”·*’· *”"· partment, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and for other purposes," "that the President is hereby authorized to open negotiations with the Creeks, Seminoles, and Cherokees for the purpose of opening to settlement under the homestead laws the unassigned lands in said Indian Territory ceded by them respectively, to the United States by the several treaties of August e eventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, March twenty- v01. 14,pp. 785, ms, first, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and July nineteenth, eighteen 79** hundred and sixty-six; and for that purpose the sum of nve thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not othervirise aippropriate ; his action hereunder to be reported to Congress;’ an Whereas William F. Vilas, Secretary of the Interior, by and under the direction of the President of the United States, on the part of the United States, and the Muscogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians, rep- resented by Pleasant Porter, David M. Hodge, and Es arhecher, dele- A gates and representatives thereto duly authorized and) empowered by the rincipa chief and national council of the said Muscogee (or Creek) Nation, did, on the nineteenth day of January, anno Domini . eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, enter into and conclude articles of cession and agreement, which said cession and agreement is in words as follows: p Articles of cession and agreement made and concluded at the city mgf*°*°“ °’ °8’°°‘ of Washington on the nineteenth day of January in the year of our ` Lord eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, by and between the United States of America, represented by William F. Vilas, Secretary of the Interior, by and under direction of the President of the United States, and the Muscogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians, represented by Pleasant Porter, David M. Hodge, and Esparhecher, delegates and representatives thereunto duly authorized and empowered by the principal chief and national council of the said Muscogee (or Creek) ation; \Vhereas by a treaty of cession made and concluded by and between. the said parties on the fourteenth day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-six. the said Muscogee (or Creek) Nation, in compliance with the desire of the United States to locate other Indians and freedmen thereon, ceded and conveyed to the United States. to be sold to and used as homes for such other civilized Indians as the United States might choose to settle thereon, the west half of their entire domain, to be divided by a line running north and south, which should be surveved as provided in the eighth article of the said treaty; the eastern half of the lands of the said Muscogee (or Creek) Nation to be retained by them as a home; · And whereas but a portion of said lands so ceded for such use has been sold to Indians or assigned to their use, and the United States now desire that all of said ceded lands maybe entirely freed from any limitation in respect to the use and enjoyment thereof and all claims of the said Muscogee (or Creek) Nation to such lands may be surrendered and extinguished  well as all other claims of whatsoever nature to any territory except the aforesaid eastern half of their domain; Now, therefore, these articles of cession and agreement by and between the said contracting parties, witness: