History:

Choctaw Cession

The United States government and the Choctaw Nation entered into land negotiations on September 15, 1830. The resulting Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was signed on September 30, 1830. In the treaty, the Choctaw Nation ceded their ancestral lands in Mississippi to the United States government in exchange for lands in present-day Oklahoma. Article fourteen of the treaty provided for land grants to those Choctaws who wished to remain in Mississippi and become United States citizens. The major stipulation of article fourteen was that heads of Choctaw families had to register with the tribal land agent within six months of the ratification of the treaty. If the head of a family registered within the allotted time, he was entitled to a section (640 acres) of land. Each child in the household over the age of ten received an adjoining half-section of land (320 acres), and each child under the age of ten received an adjoining quarter-section of land (160 acres).

On August 23, 1842, the United States Congress submitted bill S. 216 to President John Tyler for his signature. This act provided for the satisfaction of land claims by issuing patents or authorizing financial reimbursement for the extinguishing of claims arising from articles fourteen and nineteen of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. It also assured the continuation of bill S. 139, which provided for an appointment of a three-member Board of Choctaw Commissioners by the president and the senate to adjust these claims. Section three of bill S. 216 stated that the entire board or any two commissioners could issue subpoenas to witnesses. The subpoenas carried the same weight as if they had been issued by any court of record and could be executed by a district marshal, sheriff, deputy, or other peace officer.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection consists of an unsigned and undated list of nine land claimants from two Choctaw families. They had been determined by the Board of Choctaw Commissioners to be entitled to lands, referred to as reservations, under an August 23, 1842, act of Congress. The two heads of household listed in the document are "Mut. tubbe" and "Tobla Chubbee." Children in each family are also listed. The document ends with the statement that only five of the nine claimants could be located under the provisions of section three of the act. Townships and ranges are not specified.

 
Series Identification:

Series 1: Land-Claim List. ca. 1842. 1 folder.