That whenever any of the lands acquired by either of the * * * foregoing agreements respecting lands in the Indian or Oklahoma Territory shall by operation of law or proclamation of the President of the United States be opened to settlement they shall be disposed of to actual settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead and town-site laws, except section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which shall not apply: Provided, however, That each settler on said lands shall before making a final proof and receiving a certificate of entry pay to the United States for the land so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, and within five years from the date of the first original entry, the sum of $1.50 per acre, one-half of which shall be paid within two years; but the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors as defined and described in sections 2304 and 2305 of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be abridged except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid; and all the lands in Oklahoma are hereby declared to be agricultural lands, and proof of their nonmineral character shall not be required as a condition precedent to final entry.
And whereas allotments of land in severalty to said Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians have been made and approved in accordance with law and the provisions of the before-mentioned agreement with them; and
Whereas the lands acquired by the said agreement hereinbefore mentioned have been divided into counties by the Secretary of the Interior, as required by said last-mentioned act of Congress, before the same shall be opened to settlement, and lands have been reserved for county-seat purposes as therein required, as follows, to wit:
For County C, the south one-half of section 19, township 16 north, range 11 west; for County D, the north one-half of section 13, township 18 north, range 17 west; for County E, the south one-half of section 15, township 17 north, range 22 west; for County F, the south one-half of section 8, township 13 north, range 23 west; for County G, the north one-half of section 25, township 13 north, range 17 west; for County H, the south one-half of section 13, township 9 north, range 16 west; and
Whereas it is provided by act of Congress for temporary government of Oklahoma, approved May 2, 1890, section 23 (26 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 92), that there shall be reserved public highways 4 rods wide between each section of land in said Territory, the section lines being the center of said highways; but no deduction shall be made where cash payments are provided for in the amount to be paid for each quarter section of land by reason of such reservation; and
Whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by said agreement made with said tribes of Indians and by the laws relating thereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement have been, as I hereby declare, complied with:
Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned, also 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 year ending June 30, 1892, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1891, and by other of the laws of the United States, and by said agreement, do hereby declare and make known that all of said lands hereinbefore described acquired from the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians by the agreement aforesaid, saving and excepting the lands allotted to the Indians as in said agreement provided, excepting also the lands hereinbefore described as occupied and claimed by the Wichita and affiliated bands of Indians, or otherwise reserved in pursuance of the provisions of said agreement and the said act of Congress ratifying the same, and other the laws relating thereto, will at the hour of 12 o'clock noon (central standard time), Tuesday, the 19th day of the present month of April, and not before, be opened to settlement under the terms of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained in said agreement, the statutes above specified, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto.
The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenience particularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Schedule of lands within the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indian Reservation, Oklahoma Territory, opened to settlement by proclamation of the President."
Each entry shall be in square form as nearly as applicable; and no other lands in the Territory of Oklahoma are opened to settlement under this proclamation, the agreement with the said Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians, or the act ratifying the same.
Notice, moreover, is hereby given that it is by law enacted that until said lands are opened to settlement by proclamation no person shall be permitted to enter upon and occupy the same, and no person violating this provision shall be permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire any right thereto, and that the officers of the United States will be required to enforce this provision.