Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 30.djvu/553

 514 FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 517. 1898., Azr¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ with Sec.  'That the agreement made by the Commission to the Five $£°3ii°1°i.¤a(§i.nf)r°°k Civilized Tribes with the commission representing the Muscogee (or Creek) tribe of Indians on the twenty-seventh day ot September, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, as herein amended, is hereb_y ratiiied and confirmed, and the same shall be of full force and effect if ratified before the iirst day of December, eighteen hundred_and_ ninety-eight, by a majority of the votes cast by the members of said tribe at an election to be held for that purpose; and the executive of said tribe IS authorized and directed to make public proclamation that said agreement shall be voted on at the next general election, to be called by such xi ¤°* *‘jm{°“‘“°* executive for the purpose of voting on said agreement; and if said ' °gT°°magreement as amended be so ratified, the provisions of this Act shall then only apply to said tribe where the same do not conflict with the provisions of said agreement; but the provisions of said agreement, if 4** P·*”· so ratified, shall not in any manner affect the provisions of section fourteen of this Act, which said amended agreement is as follows: 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, Frank C.Armstrong, Archibald S. McKean0n, Alexander B. Montgomery, and Tams Bixby, duly appointed and authorized thereunto, and the government of the Museogee or Creek Nation in the Indian Territory of the second part, entered into in behalf of such Muscogee or Creek government, by its commission, duly appointed and authorized thereunto, viz, Pleasant Porter, Joseph Mingo, David N. Hodge, George A. Alexander, Roland Brown, William A. Sapulpa, and Conchartie Micco, Witnesseth, That in consideration of the mutual undertakings herein contained, it is agreed as follows: lmG;neralallotmentof GENERAL ALLOTMENT OF LAND. 1. There shall be allotted out of the lands owned by the Muscogee or ‘ Creek Indians in the Indian Territory to each citizen of said nation one hundred and sixty acres of land. Each citizen shall have the right, so far as possible, to take his one hundred and sixty acres so as to include the improvements which belong to him, but such improvements shall not be estimated in the value fixed on his allotment, provided any citizen may take any land not already selected by another; but if such land, under actual cultivation, has on it any lawful improvements, he shall pay the owner of said improvements for same, the value to be . -se|ectio¤ rm- minor. lixed by the commission appraising the land. In the case of a minor child, allotment shall be selected for him by his father, mother, guard- ‘ ian, or the administrator having charge of his estate, preference being given in the order named, and shall not be sold during his minority. -pmnn»¤..ee. Allotments shall be selected for prisoners, convicts, and incompetents by some suitable person akin to them, and due care shall be taken that all persons entitled thereto shall have allotments made to them. A,.pn.i.n1,»:¤. 2. Each allotment shall be appraised at what would be its present value, if unimproved, considering the fertility of the soil and its location, but excluding the improvements, and each allottee shall be charged with the value of his allotment in the future distribution of any funds of the nation arising from any source whatever, so that each member of the nation shall be made equal in the distribution of the lands and --minin»¤¤nv¤1u¤¤i»¤- moneys belonging to the nation, provided that the minimum valuation to be placed upon any land in the said nation shall be one dollar and twenty-five cents ($1.25) per acre. Almlians to be rmt 3. In the appraisement of the said allotment, said nation may have a designated by the President of the United States, to make the appraisement. Appraisements and allotments shall be made under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and begin as soon as an authentinetr land pending cated roll of the citizens of the said nation has been made. All citizens °“""”““'· of said nation, from and after the passage of this Act, shall be entitled
 * ’"“‘*"· representative to cooperate with a commission, or a United States officer,