§151 — Title 16 Conservation | U.S. Code

Summary

The Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes give up and transfer up to 640 acres near the village of Sulphur to the United States. The Secretary of the Interior will choose the exact land to include the natural springs there and as much of Sulphur, Rock, and Buckhorn Creeks and nearby land as needed, while trying not to interfere with the planned town site. The United States will own and control the land fully, but it may not be laid out or sold for town-site purposes while the two tribal governments still exist. The U.S. will pay $20 per acre from public funds to the credit of the two tribes; when the tribal governments end, that money will be divided per person among tribe members, excluding freedmen. Until Congress says otherwise, the Secretary may make rules to regulate the water and allow temporary use or occupation of the land. No one may live on or run a business there except under those rules, and U.S. laws about liquor in Indian country apply. The Government is not required to spend money on improvements except as stated here, and the plan is that the land and any improvements will later be transferred to whatever Territorial or State authority exists at that time.

Title 16, §151

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes absolutely and unqualifiedly relinquish, cede, and convey unto the United States a tract or tracts of land at and in the vicinity of the village of Sulphur, in the Chickasaw Nation, of not exceeding six hundred and forty acres, to be selected, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and to embrace all the natural springs in and about said village, and so much of Sulphur Creek, Rock Creek, Buckhorn Creek, and the lands adjacent to said natural springs and creeks as may be deemed necessary by the Secretary of the Interior for the proper utilization and control of said springs and the waters of said creeks, which lands shall be so selected as to cause the least interference with the contemplated town site at that place consistent with the purposes for which said cession is made. The ceded lands shall be held, owned, and controlled by the United States absolutely and without any restriction, save that no part thereof shall be platted or disposed of for town-site purposes during the existence of the two tribal governments. There shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of the two tribes, from the unappropriated public moneys of the United States, $20 per acre for each acre so selected, which shall be in full compensation for the lands so ceded, and such moneys shall, upon the dissolution of the tribal governments, be divided per capita among the members of the tribes, freedmen excepted, as are other funds of the tribes. Until otherwise provided by law, the Secretary of the Interior may, under rules prescribed for that purpose, regulate and control the use of the water of said springs and creeks and the temporary use and occupation of the lands so ceded. No person shall occupy any portion of the lands so ceded, or carry on any business thereon, except as provided in said rules, and until otherwise provided by Congress the laws of the United States relating to the introduction, possession, sale, and giving away of liquors or intoxicants of any kind within the Indian country or Indian reservations shall be applicable to the lands so ceded. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed or held to commit the Government of the United States to any expenditure of money upon said lands or the improvements thereof, except as provided herein, it being the intention of this provision that in the future the lands and improvements herein mentioned shall be conveyed by the United States to such Territorial or State organization as may exist at the time when such conveyance is made.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section is from section 64 of act

July 1, 1902, which was part of an agreement between the United States and the Choctaw and Chicasaw tribes of Indians, ratified by and included in that Act. The following provisions contained in this section as originally enacted were omitted as temporary and executed: A provision that the selection of lands by the Secretary of the Interior should be within four months after the ratification of the agreement aforesaid; a provision, following the words of the present section reading “the two tribal governments” for the disposition of such other lands as might be embraced in a town site at that point; a provision that the deposit in the Treasury to the credit of the two tribes should be within ninety days after the selection of the land; and a provision for the appraisal of and reimbursement for all improvements lawfully upon the lands selected. A provision of the original text that the land should remain within the jurisdiction of the United States court for the southern district of the Indian Territory was changed to read as set out herein by virtue of section 13 and 14 of the Oklahoma Enabling Act of

June 16, 1906, and the Executive Proclamation of Nov. 16, 1907, declaring the admission of Oklahoma to the Union.

Amendments

1948—Act June 25, 1948, struck out sentence placing lands within jurisdiction of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Platt National Park designation repealed and areas formerly known as Platt National Park made an integral part of Chickasaw National Recreation Area by Pub. L. 94–235, § 5. See section 460hh–4 of this title.

Effective Date

of 1948 Amendment section 38 of act June 25, 1948, provided that the amendment made by that act is effective Sept. 1, 1948.

Repeals

Pub. L. 94–235, § 5, repealed act June 29, 1906, No. 42, 34 Stat. 837, cited as a credit to this section, under which the Sulphur Springs Indian Reservation had been renamed Platt National Park, in honor of Orville Hitchcock Platt, former Senator from Connecticut “and for many years a member of the Committee on Indian Affairs, in recognition of his distinguished services to the Indians and to the country.”

§151 Acquisition; Payment