Whereas, the political connection heretofore existing between
the Choctaw and the Chickasaw tribes of Indians, has given rise
to unhappy and injurious dissensions and controversies among them,
which render necessary a re-adjustment of their relations to each
other and to the United States: and
Whereas the United States desire that the Choctaw Indians shall
relinquish all claim to any territory west of the one hundredth
degree of west longitude, and also to make provision for the permanent
settlement within the Choctaw country, of the Wichita and certain
other tribes or bands of Indians, for which purpose the Choctaws
and Chickasaws are willing to lease, on reasonable terms, to the
United States, that portion of their common territory which is
west of the ninety-eighth degree of west longitude: and
Whereas, the Choctaws contend, that, by a just and fair construction
of the treaty of September 27, 1830, they are, of right, entitled
to the net proceeds of the lands ceded by them to the United States,
under said treaty, and have proposed that the question of their
right to the same, together with the whole subject-matter of their
unsettled claims, whether national or individual, against the
United States, arising under the various provisions of said treaty,
shall be referred to the Senate of the United States for final
adjudication and adjustment, and whereas, it is necessary for
the simplification and better understanding of the relations between
the United States and the Choctaw Indians, that all their subsisting
treaty stipulations be embodied in one comprehensive instrument:
Now, therefore, the United States of America, by their commissioner,
George W. Manypenny, the Choctaws, by their commissioners,
Peter P. Pitchlynn, Israel Folsom, Samuel Garland, and
Dickson W. Lewis, and the Chickasaws, by their commissioners,
Edmund Pickens and Sampson Folsom do hereby agree
and stipulate as follows, viz:
ARTICLE 1. The following shall constitute and remain the
boundaries of the Choctaw and Chickasaw country, viz: Beginning
at a point on the Arkansas River, one hundred paces east of old
Fort Smith, where the western boundary-line of the State of Arkansas
crosses the said river, and running thence due south to Red River;
thence up Red River to the point where the meridian of one hundred
degrees west longitude crosses the same; thence north along said
meridian to the main Canadian River; thence down said river to
its junction with the Arkansas River; thence down said river to
the place of beginning.
And pursuant to an act of Congress approved May 28, 1830, the
United States do hereby forever secure and guarantee the lands
embraced within the said limits, to the members of the Choctaw
and Chickasaw tribes, their heirs and successors, to be held in
common; so that each and every member of either tribe shall have
an equal, undivided interest in the whole: Provided, however,
No part thereof shall ever be sold without the consent of both
tribes, and that said land shall revert to the United States if
said Indians and their heirs become extinct or abandon the same.
ARTICLE 2. A district for the Chickasaws is hereby established,
bounded as follows, to wit: Beginning on the north bank of Red
River, at the mouth of Island Bayou, where it empties into Red
River, about twenty-six miles in a straight line, below the mouth
of False Wachitta; thence running a northwesterly course, along
the main channel of said bayou, to the junction of the three prongs
of said bayou, nearest the dividing ridge between Wachitta and
Low Blue Rivers, as laid down on Capt. R. L. Hunter's map;
thence northerly along the eastern prong of Island Bayou to its
source; thence due north to the Canadian River; thence west along
the main Canadian to the ninety-eighth degree of west longitude;
thence south to Red River; and thence down Red River to the beginning:
Provided, however, If the line running due north, from
the eastern source of Island Bayou, to the main Canadian shall
not include Allen's or Wa-pa-nacka Academy, within the
Chickasaw District, then, an offset shall be made from said line,
so as to leave said academy two miles within the Chickasaw district,
north, west and south from the lines of boundary.
ARTICLE 3. The remainder of the country held in common
by the Choctaws and Chickasaws, shall constitute the Choctaw district,
and their officers and people shall at all times have the right
of safe conduct and free passage through the Chickasaw district.
ARTICLE 4. The government and laws now in operation and
not incompatible with this instrument, shall be and remain in
full force and effect within the limits of the Chickasaw district,
until the Chickasaws shall adopt a constitution, and enact laws,
superseding, abrogating, or changing the same. And all judicial
proceedings within said district, commenced prior to the adoption
of a constitution and laws by the Chickasaws, shall be conducted
and determined according to existing laws.
ARTICLE 5. The members of either the Choctaw or the Chickasaw
tribe, shall have the right, freely, to settle within the jurisdiction
of the other, and shall thereupon be entitled to all the rights,
privileges, and immunities of citizens thereof; but no member
of either tribe shall be entitled to participate in the funds
belonging to the other tribe. Citizens of both tribes shall have
the right to institute and prosecute suits in the courts of either,
under such regulations as may, from time to time, be prescribed
by their respective legislatures.
ARTICLE 6. Any person duly charged with a criminal offence
against the laws of either the Choctaw or the Chickasaw tribe,
and escaping into the jurisdiction of the other, shall be promptly
surrendered, upon the demand of the proper authorities of the
tribe, within whose jurisdiction the offence shah be alleged to
have been committed.
ARTICLE 7. So far as may be compatible with the Constitution
of the United States and the laws made in pursuance thereof, regulating
trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, the Choctaws and
Chickasaws shall be secured in the unrestricted right of self-government,
and full jurisdiction, over persons and property, within their
respective limits; excepting, however, all persons, with their
property, who are not by birth, adoption, or otherwise citizens
or members of either the Choctaw or Chickasaw tribe, and all persons
not being citizens or members of either tribe, found within their
limits, shall be considered intruders, and be removed from, and
kept out of the same, by the United States agent, assisted if
necessary by the military, with the following exceptions, viz:
Such individuals as are now, or may be in the employment of the
Government, and their families; those peacefully travelling, or
temporarily sojourning in the country or trading therein, under
license from the proper authority of the United States, and such
as may be permitted by the Choctaws or Chickasaws, with the assent
of the United States agent, to reside within their limits, without
becoming citizens or members of either of said tribes.
ARTICLE 8. In consideration of the foregoing stipulations,
and immediately upon the ratification of this convention, there
shall be paid to the Choctaws, in such manner as their national
council shall direct, out of the national fund of the Chickasaws
held in trust by the United States, the sum of one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars.
ARTICLE 9. The Choctaw Indians do hereby absolutely and
forever quit-claim and relinquish to the United States all their
right, title, and interest in, and to any and all lands, west
of the one hundredth degree of west longitude; and the Choctaws
and Chickasaws do hereby lease to the United States all that portion
Of their common territory west of the ninety-eighth degree of
west longitude, for the permanent settlement of the Wichita and
such other tribes or bands of Indians as the Government may desire
to locate therein; excluding, however, all the Indians of New
Mexico, and also those whose usual ranges at present are north
of the Arkansas River, and whose permanent locations are north
of the Canadian River, but including those bands whose permanent
ranges are south of the Canadian, or between it and the Arkansas;
which
Indians shall be subject to the exclusive control of the United
States, under such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with
the rights and interests of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, as may
from time to time be prescribed by the President for their government:
Provided, however, The territory so leased shall remain
open to settlement by Choctaws and Chickasaws as heretofore.
ARTICLE 10. In consideration of the foregoing relinquishment
and lease, and as soon as practicable after the ratification of
this convention, the United States will pay to the Choctaws the
sum of six hundred thousand dollars, and to the Chickasaws the
sum of two hundred thousand dollars, in such manner as their general
councils shall respectively direct.
ARTICLE 11. The Government of the United States, not being
prepared to assent to the claim set up under the treaty of September
the twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty and so earnestly
contended for by the Choctaws as a rule of settlement, but justly
appreciating the sacrifices, faithful services, and general good
conduct of the Choctaw people, and being desirous that their rights
and claims against the United States shall receive a just, fair,
and liberal consideration, it is therefore stipulated that the
following questions be submitted for adjudication to the Senate
of the United States.
First. Whether the Choctaws are entitled to, or shall be
allowed, the proceeds of the sale of the lands ceded by them to
the United States, by the treaty of September the twenty-seventh,
eighteen hundred and thirty, deducting therefrom the cost of their
survey and sale, and all just and proper expenditures and payments
under the provisions of said treaty; and if so, what price per
acre shall be allowed to the Choctaws for the lands remaining
unsold, in order that a final settlement with them may be promptly
effected. Or,
Second. Whether the Choctaws shall be allowed a gross sum
in further and full satisfaction of all their claims national
and individual against the United States; and, if so, how much.
ARTICLE 12. In case the Senate shall award to the Choctaws
the net proceeds of the lands, ceded as aforesaid, the same shall
be received by them in full satisfaction of all their claims against
the United States, whether national or individual, arising under
any former treaty; and the Choctaws shall thereupon become liable
and bound to pay all such individual claims as may be adjudged
by the proper authorities of the tribe to be equitable and just
the settlement and payment to be made with the advice and under
the direction of the United States agent for the tribe; and so
much of the fund, awarded by the Senate to the Choctaws, as the
proper authorities thereof shall ascertain and determine to be
necessary for the payment of the just liabilities of the tribe,
shall on their requisition be paid over to them by the United
States. But should the Senate allow a gross sum, in further and
full satisfaction of all their claims, whether national or individual,
against the United States, the same shall be accepted by the Choctaws,
and they shall thereupon become liable for, and bound to pay,
all the individual claims as aforesaid; it being expressly understood
that the adjudication and decision of the Senate shall be final.
ARTICLE 13. The amounts secured by existing treaty stipulations
viz: permanent annuity of three thousand dollars, under the second
article of the treaty of eighteen hundred and five; six hundred
dollars per annum for the support of light-horse men under the
thirteenth article of the treaty of eighteen hundred and twenty;
permanent annuity of six thousand dollars for education; under
the second article of the treaty of eighteen hundred and twenty-five;
six hundred dollars per annum permanent provision for the support
of a blacksmith, under the sixth article of the treaty of eighteen
hundred and twenty; and three hundred and twenty dollars permanent
provision for iron and steel, under the ninth article of the treaty
of eighteen hundred and twenty-five shall continue to be paid
to, or expended for the benefit of, the Choctaws as heretofore;
or the same may be applied to such objects of general utility
as may, from time to time, be designated by the general council
of the tribe, with the approbation of the Government of the United
States. And the funds now held in trust by the United States for
the benefit of the Choctaws under former treaties, or otherwise,
shall continue to be so held; together with the sum of five hundred
thousand dollars out of the amount payable to them under articles
eighth and tenth of this agreement, and also whatever balance
shall remain, if any, of the amount that shall be allowed the
Choctaws, by the Senate, under the twelfth article hereof, after
satisfying the just liabilities of the tribe. The sums so to be
held in trust shall constitute a general Choctaw fund, yielding
an annual interest of not less than five per centum; no part of
which shall be paid out as annuity, but shall be regularly and
judiciously applied, under the direction of the general council
of the Choctaws, to the support of their government for purposes
of education, and such other objects as may be best calculated
to promote and advance the improvement, welfare, and happiness
of the Choctaw people and their descendants.
ARTICLE 14. The United States shall protect the Choctaws
and Chickasaws from domestic strife, from hostile invasion, and
from aggression by other Indians and white persons not subject
to their jurisdiction and laws; and for all injuries resulting
from such invasion or aggression, full indemnity is hereby guaranteed
to the party or parties injured, out of the Treasury of the United
States, upon the same principle and according to the same rules
upon which white persons are entitled to indemnity for injuries
or aggressions upon them, committed by Indians.
ARTICLE 15. The Choctaws and Chickasaws shall promptly
apprehend and deliver up all persons accused of any crime or offence
against the laws of the United States, or of any State thereof,
who may be found within their limits, on demand of any proper
officer of a State, or of the United States.
ARTICLE 16. All persons licensed by the United States to
trade with the Choctaws or Chickasaws shall be required to pay
to the respective tribes a moderate annual compensation for the
land and timber used by them; the amount of such compensation,
in each case, to be assessed by the proper authorities of said
tribe, subject to the approval of the United States agent.
ARTICLE 17. The United States shall have the right to establish
and maintain such military posts, post-roads, and Indian agencies,
as may be deemed necessary within the Choctaw and Chickasaw country,
but no greater quantity of land or timber shall be used for said
purposes, than shall be actually requisite; and if, in the establishment
or maintenance of such posts, post-roads, and agencies, the property
of any Choctaw or Chickasaw shall be taken, injured, or destroyed,
just and adequate compensation shall be made by the United States.
Only such persons as are, or may be in the employment of the United
States, or subject to the jurisdiction and laws of the Choctaws,
or Chickasaws, shall be permitted to farm or raise stock within
the limits of any of said military posts or Indian agencies. And
no offender against the laws of either of said tribes, shall be
permitted to take refuge therein.
ARTICLE 18. The United States, or any incorporated company,
shall have the right of way for railroads, or lines of telegraphs,
through the Choctaw and Chickasaw country; but for any property
taken or destroyed in the construction thereof, full compensation
shall be made to the party or parties injured, to be ascertained
and determined in such manner as the president of the United States
shall direct.
ARTICLE 19. The United States shall, as soon as practicable,
cause the eastern and western boundary lines of the tract of country
described in the 1st article of this convention, and the western
boundary of the Chickasaw district, as herein defined, to be run
and permanently marked.
ARTICLE 20. That this convention may conduce as far as
possible to the restoration and preservation of kind and friendly
feeling among the Choctaws and Chickasaws, a general amnesty of
all past offences, committed within their country, is hereby declared.
And in order that their relations to each other and to the United
States may hereafter be conducted in a harmonious and satisfactory
manner, there shall be but one agent for the two tribes.
ARTICLE 21. This convention shall supersede and take the
place of all former treaties between the United States and the
Choctaws, and also, of all treaty stipulations between the United
States and the Chickasaws, and between the Choctaws and Chickasaws,
inconsistent with this agreement, and shall take effect and be
obligatory upon the contracting parties, from the date hereof,
whenever the same shall be ratified by the respective councils
of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes, and by the President and
Senate of the United States.
ARTICLE 22. It is understood and agreed that the expenses
of the respective commissioners of the two tribes, signing these
articles of agreement and convention, in coming to, and returning
from this city, and while here, shall be paid by the United States.
In testimony whereof, the said George W. Manypenny, commissioner
on the part of the United States, and the said commissioners on
the part of the Choctaws and of the Chickasaws, have hereunto
set their hands and seals.
Done in triplicate at the city of Washington, on this twenty-second
day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and fifty-five.
George W. Manypenny, United States, Commissioner.
P. P. Pitchlynn,
Israel Folsom,
Sam'l Garland,
Dickson W. Lewis,
Choctaw Commissioners.
Edmund Pickens, his x mark,
Sampson Folsom,
Chickasaw Commissioners.
Executed in presence of
A. O. P. Nicholson,
James G. Berret,
Douglas H. Cooper, United States Indian agent.
And whereas the said treaty having been submitted to the general council of the Chickasaw tribe, the general council did, on the third day of October, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, assent to, ratify, and confirm the same, with the following amendment: "Add to the 19th article, By commissioners to be appointed by the contracting parties hereto" by an instrument in writing, in the words and figures following, to wit:-
Whereas articles of agreement and convention were made and concluded
on the twenty-second day of June, A. D. one thousand eight hundred
and fifty-five, by and between George W. Manypenny, commissioner
on the part of the United States; Peter P. Pitchlynn, Israel
Folsom, Samuel Garland, and Dickson W. Lewis, commissioners
on the part of the Choctaws; and Edmund Pickens, and Sampson
Folsom, commissioners on the part of the Chickasaws, at the
city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, the preamble
whereof is in the words and figures following, "to wit:"
Whereas, the political connection heretofore existing between
the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes of Indians, has given rise to
unhappy and injurious dissensions and controversies among them,
which render necessary a readjustment of their relations to each
other and to the United States; and whereas, the United States
desire that the Choctaw Indians shall relinquish all claim to
any territory west of the one hundredth degree of west longitude,
and also to make provision for the permanent settlement within
the Choctaw country of the Wichita and certain other tribes or
bands of Indians, for which purpose the Choctaws and Chickasaws
are willing to lease, on reasonable terms, to the United States,
that portion of their common territory which is west of the ninety-eighth
degree of west longitude; and whereas the Choctaws contend that,
by a just and fair construction of the treaty of September 27,
1830, they are of right entitled to the net proceeds of the lands
ceded by them to the United States, under said treaty, and have
proposed that the question of their right to the same, together
with the whole subject-matter of their unsettled claims, whether
national or individual, against the United States, arising under
the various provisions of said treaty, shall be referred to the
Senate of the United States for final adjudication and adjustment;
and whereas it is necessary, for the simplification and better
understanding of the relations between the United States and the
Choctaw Indians, that all their subsisting treaty stipulations
be embodied in one comprehensive instrument; and whereas, in the
twenty-first article thereof, it is, among other things, recited
that said agreement "shall take effect and be obligatory
upon the contracting parties from the date hereof, whenever the
same shall be ratified by the respective councils of the Choctaw
and Chickasaw tribes of Indians and by the President and Senate
of the United States."
Now, therefore, be it known, that the Chickasaws, in general council assembled, having duly considered said articles of agreement and convention, and each and every clause thereof, and being satisfied therewith, do, upon their part, hereby assent to, ratify, and confirm the same, as stipulated and required, with the following amendment: "Add to the nineteenth article, "By commissioners to be appointed by the contracting parties hereto."
Done and approved at Tishomingo, in the Chickasaw district of
the Choctaw nation, this third day of October, in the year of
our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Joel Kemp, President.
D. Colbert, F. C.
Passed the council Attest
Cyrus Harris, clerk of the council.
And whereas the Chickasaws, in general council assembled, did,
on the 13th day of December, A. D. 1855, recede from and rescind
the said amendment, and did ratify and confirm the said treaty,
and every part thereof, by an instrument in writing, in the words
and figures following, to wit:-
Whereas the Chickasaws, in general council assembled, after having
duly considered the stipulations contained in a certain convention
and agreement, made and entered into at the city of Washington,
on the 22d day of June, A. D. 1855, between George W. Manypenny,
commissioner on the part of the United States; Peter P. Pitchlynn,
Israel Folsom, Samuel Garland, and Dickson W. Lewis,
commissioners on the part of the Choctaws; Edmund Pickens
and Sampson Folsom, commissioners on the part of the Chickasaws,
did, on the third day of October, A. D. 1855, at Tisho-mingo,
in the Chickasaw district, Choctaw nation, assent to, ratify,
and confirm each and every part of said convention and agreement,
with the following amendment, viz: "Add to the 19th article,
By commissioners to be appointed by the contracting parties hereto.'"
And whereas, said amendment was not duly considered and concurred
in by the Choctaws in general council assembled; but said agreement
and convention, and every part thereof, was assented to, ratified,
and confirmed by said council without amendment. Now, therefore,
be it known, that the Chickasaws, in general council assembled,
having reconsidered said proposed amendment, do hereby recede
from, and rescind the same, hereby assenting to, ratifying, and
confirming said agreement and convention, and every part thereof.
Done and approved at the council-house at Tisho-mingo, Chickasaw district, Choctaw nation, this 13th day of December, A. D. 1855.
Approved December 13, 1855.
J. McCoy, President of the Council.
Dougherty Colbert, F. C.
Attest
Cyrus Harris, Secretary.
Signed in presence of
Jackson Frazier, Chief Chickasaw district, Choctaw
nation.
Douglas H. Cooper, United States Indian agent.
And whereas the said treaty having been submitted to the general
council of the Choctaw tribe, the said general council did, on
the 16th day of November, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and
fifty-five, consent to and ratify the same by an instrument in
the words and figures following, to wit:
Whereas articles of agreement and convention were made and concluded
on the twenty-second day of June, A. D. one thousand eight hundred
and fifty-five, by and between George W. Manypenny, commissioner
on the part of the United States; Peter P. Pitchlynn, Israel
Folsom, Samuel Garland, and Dickson W. Lewis, commissioners
on the part of the Choctaws; and Edmund Pickens and
Sampson Folsom, commissioners on the part of the Chickasaws,
at the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, the preamble
whereof is in the words and figures following, viz: "Whereas
the political connection heretofore existing between the Choctaw
and the Chickasaw tribes of Indians, has given rise to unhappy
and injurious dissensions and controversies among them, which
render necessary a readjustment of their relations to each other
and to the United States; and whereas the United States desire
that the Choctaw Indians shall relinquish all claim to any territory
west of the one hundredth degree of west longitude, and also to
make provision for the permanent settlement within the Choctaw
country, of the Wichita and certain other tribes or bands of Indians,
for which purpose the Choctaws and Chickasaws are willing to lease,
on reasonable terms, to the United States, that portion of their
common territory which is west of the ninety-eighth degree of
west longitude; and whereas, the Choctaws contend that, by a just
and fair construction of the treaty of September 27, 1830, they
are, of right, entitled to the net proceeds of the lands ceded
by them to the United States, under said treaty, and have proposed
that the question of their right to the same, together with the
whole subject-matter of their unsettled claims, whether national
or individual, against the United States arising under the various
provisions of said treaty, shall be referred to the Senate of
the United States, for final adjudication and adjustment; and
whereas it is necessary, for the simplification and better understanding
of the relations between the United States and the Choctaw Indians,
that all their subsisting treaty stipulations be embodied in one
comprehensive instrument;" and whereas, in the twenty-first
article thereof, it is, among other things, recited that said
agreement "shall take effect and be obligatory upon the contracting
(parties) from the date hereof, whenever the same shall be ratified
by the respective councils of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes
and by the President and Senate of the United States."
Now, therefore, be it known, that the Choctaws, in general council
assembled, having duly considered said articles of agreement and
convention, and each and every clause thereof, and being satisfied
therewith, do, upon their part, hereby assent to, ratify, and
confirm the same as stipulated and required.
Done and approved at the council-house, at Fort Towson, in the
Choctaw nation, this sixteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Tandy Walker, President of the Senate.
Kenned, M. Curtain, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Approved:
Geo. W. Harkins, Chief of Ahpuck District.
N. Cochnaner, Chief of Pushemataha District.
Adam Christy, Speaker, and Acting Chief of Moosholatubbee
District.
Signed in presence of
Douglas H. Cooper, U. S. Indian Agent for Choctaw Tribe.
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