ratification of this agreement any citizen may take any lands not already selected by another; but if lands so taken be in actual cultivation, having thereon improvements belonging to another citizen, such improvements shall be valued by the appraisement committee, and the amount paid to the owner thereof by the allottee, and the same shall be a lien upon the rents and profits of the land until paid: Provided, that the owner of improvements may remove the same if he desires.

§ 614. Confirming previous allotments.-[6]. All allotments made to Creek citizens by said commission prior to the ratification of this agreement, as to which there is no contest, and which do not include public property, and are not herein otherwise affected, are confirmed, and the same shall, as to appraisement and all things else, be governed by the provisions of this agreement; and said commission shall continue the work of allotment of Creek lands to citizens of the tribe as heretofore, conforming to provisions herein; and all controversies arising between citizens as to their right to select certain tracts of land shall be determined by said commission.*

§ 615. Restrictions upon alienation of allotted lands.[7]. Lands allotted to citizens hereunder shall not in any manner whatsoever, or at any time, be incumbered, taken, or sold to secure or satisfy any debt or obligation contracted or incurred prior to the date of the deed to the allottee therefor and such lands shall not be alienable by the allottee or his heirs at any time before the expiration of five years from the ratification of this agreement, except with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

Each citizen shall select from his allotment forty acres of

4 United States v. Ft. Smith & W. R. Co., 195 Fed. 211, 115 C. C. A. 163; Barnett v. Way, 29 Okl. 780, 119 Pac. 419; Sanders v. Sanders, 28 Okl. 59, 117 Pac. 338; Barnes v. Stonebraker, 28 Okl. 75, 113 Pac. 903; overruled in Rentie v. McCoy, 35 Okl. 77, 128 Pac. 244, as to alienability of lands; De Graffenreid v. Iowa Land & Trust Co., 20 Okl. 687, 95 Pac. 624.

land as a homestead, which shall be nontaxable and inalienable and free from any incumbrance whatever for twentyone years, for which he shall have a separate deed, conditioned as above: Provided, that selections of homesteads for minors, prisoners, convicts, incompetents, and aged and infirm persons, who cannot select for themselves, may be made in the manner herein provided for the selection of their allotments; and if, for any reason, such selection be not made for any citizen, it shall be the duty of said commission to make selection for him.

The homestead of each citizen shall remain, after the death of the allottee, for the use and support of children born to him after the ratification of this agreement, but if he have no such issue, then he may dispose of his homestead by will, free from limitation herein imposed, and if this be not done, the land shall descend to his heirs according to the laws of descent and distribution of the Creek Nation, free from such limitation."

§ 616. Each allottee to be placed in possession.— [8]. The Secretary of the Interior shall, through the United States Indian agent in said territory, immediately after the ratification of this agreement, put each citizen who has made selection of his allotment in unrestricted possession of his land and remove therefrom all persons objectionable to him; and when any citizen shall thereafter make selection of his allotment as herein provided, and receive certificate therefor, he shall be immediately thereupon so placed in possession of his land.

5 Tiger v. Western Inv. Co., 221 U. S. 286, 31 Sup. Ct. 578, 55 L. Ed. 738, reversing Western Inv. Co. v. Tiger, 21 Okl. 630, 96 Pac. 602: Reed v. Welty (D. C.) 197 Fed. 419; In re Lands of Five Civilized Tribes (D. C.) 199 Fed. 811; Bartlett v. United States (C. C. A.) 203 Fed. 410; Rentie v. McCoy, 35 Okl. 77, 128 Pac. 244; Stevens v. Elliott, 30 Okl. 41, 118 Pac. 407; Tate v. Gaines, 25 Okl. 141, 105 Pac. 193, 26 L. R. A. (N. S.) 106; Sharp v. Lancaster, 23 Okl. 349, 100 Pac. 578; McWilliams Inv. Co. v. Livingston, 22 Okl. 584, 98 Pac. 914. See, also, cases cited under preceding note.

of.-[9].

§ 617. Surplus tribal lands-Disposition When allotment of one hundred and sixty acres has been made to each citizen, the residue of lands, not herein reserved or otherwise disposed of, and all the funds arising under this agreement shall be used for the purpose of equalizing allotments, and if the same be insufficient therefor, the deficiency shall be supplied out of any other funds of the tribe, so that the allotments of all citizens may be made equal in value, as nearly as may be, in manner herein provided.

TOWNSITES

§ 618. Townsites.-[10]. All towns in the Creek Nation having a present population of two hundred or more shall, and all others may, be surveyed, laid out, and appraised under the provisions of an act of Congress entitled "An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and one, and for other purposes," approved May thirty-first, nineteen hundred, which said provisions are as follows:

"That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by him, to survey, lay out, and plat into town lots, streets, alleys, and parks, the sites of such towns and villages in the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Cherokee Nations, as may at that time have a population of two hundred or more, in such manner as will best subserve the then present needs and the reasonable prospective growth of such towns. The work of surveying, laying out, and platting such townsites shall be done by competent surveyors, who shall prepare five copies of the plat of each townsite which, when the survey is approved by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be filed as follows: One in the office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, one with the principal chief of the nation, one with the clerk of the court within the territorial juris

diction of which the town is located, one with the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, and one with the town authorities, if there be such. Where in his judgment the best interests of the public service require, the Secretary of the Interior may secure the surveying, laying out, and platting of townsites in any of said nations by contract.

"Hereafter the work of the respective townsite commissions provided for in the agreement with the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes ratified in section twenty-nine of the Act of June twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninetyeight, entitled 'An act for the protection of the people of the Indian Territory, and for other purposes,' shall begin as to any townsite immediately upon the approval of the survey by the Secretary of the Interior and not before.

"The Secretary of the Interior may in his discretion appoint a townsite commission consisting of three members for each of the Creek and Cherokee Nations, at least one of whom shall be a citizen of the tribe and shall be appointed upon the nomination of the principal chief of the tribe. Each commission, under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, shall appraise and sell for the benefit of the tribe the town lots in the nation for which it is appointed, acting in conformity with the provisions of any then existing act of Congress or agreement with the tribe approved by Congress. The agreement of any two members of the commission as to the true value of any lot shall constitute a determination thereof, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, and if no two members are able to agree the matter shall be determined by such Secretary.

"Where in his judgment the public interests will be thereby subserved, the Secretary of the Interior may appoint in the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek or Cherokee Nation, a separate townsite commission for any town, in which event as to that town such local commission may exercise the same authority and perform the same duties which

would otherwise devolve upon the commission for that nation. Every such local commission shall be appointed in the manner provided in the Act approved June twentyeighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, entitled 'An act for the protection of the people of the Indian Territory.'

"The Secretary of the Interior, where in his judgment the public interests will be thereby subserved, may permit the authorities of any town in any of said nations, at the expense of the town, to survey, lay out, and plat the site thereof, subject to his supervision and approval, as in other instances.

"As soon as the plat of any townsite is approved, the proper commission shall, with all reasonable dispatch and within a limited time, to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, proceed to make the appraisement of the lots and improvements, if any, thereon, and after the approval thereof by the Secretary of the Interior, shall, under the supervision of such Secretary, proceed to the disposition and sale of the lots in conformity with any then existing act of Congress or agreement with the tribe approved by Congress, and if the proper commission shall not complete such appraisement and sale within the time limited by the Secretary of the Interior, they shall receive no pay for such additional time as may be taken by them, unless the Secretary of the Interior for good cause shown shall expressly direct otherwise.

"The Secretary of the Interior may, for good cause, remove any member of any townsite commission, tribal or local, in any of said nations, and may fill the vacancy thereby made or any vacancy otherwise occurring in like manner as the place was originally filled.

"It shall not be required that the townsite limits established in the course of the platting and disposing of town lots and the corporate limits of the town, if incorporated, shall be identical or coextensive, but such townsite limits and corporate limits shall be so established as to best subserve the then present needs and the reasonable prospec