The President of the United States is hereby authorized, at any time within six months after the approval of this act and the acceptance of the same by the Cherokee Nation as herein provided, by proclamation, to open to settlement any or all of the lands not allotted or reserved in the manner provided in section 13 of the act of Congress approved March 2, 1889, 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, 1890, and for other purposes" (25 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 1005); and also subject to the provisions of the act of Congress approved May 2, 1890, entitled "An act to provide a temporary government for the Territory of Oklahoma, to enlarge the jurisdiction of the United States court in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes;" also subject to the second proviso of section 17, the whole of section 18, of the act of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current 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;" except as to so much of said acts and sections as may conflict with the provisions of this act. Each settler on the lands so to be opened to settlement as aforesaid shall before receiving a patent for his homestead pay to the United States for the lands so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, the sum of $2.50 per acre for any land east of 97-1/2° west longitude, the sum of $1.50 per acre for any land between 97-1/2° west longitude and 98-1/2° west longitude, and the sum of $1 per acre for any land west of 98-1/2° west longitude, and shall also pay interest upon the amount so to be paid for said land from the date of entry to the date of final payment therefor at the rate of 4 per cent per annum.
No person shall be permitted to occupy or enter upon any of the lands herein referred to except in the manner prescribed by the proclamation of the President opening the same to settlement, and any person otherwise occupying or entering upon any of said lands shall forfeit all right to acquire any of said lands. The Secretary of the Interior shall, under the direction of the President, prescribe rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this act, for the occupation and settlement of said lands, to be incorporated in the proclamation of the President, which shall be issued at least twenty days before the time fixed for the opening of said lands.
And whereas by a written agreement made on the 21st day of October, 1891, the Tonkawa tribe of Indians, in the Territory of Oklahoma, ceded, conveyed, and forever relinquished to the United States all their right, title, claim, and interest of every kind and character in and to the lands particularly described in Article I of the agreement: Provided, That the allotments of land to said Tonkawa tribe of Indians theretofore made or to be made under said agreement and the provisions of the general allotment act approved February 8, 1887, and an act amendatory thereof, approved February 28, 1891, shall be confirmed: And provided, That in all cases where the allottee has died since land has been set off and scheduled to such person the law of descent and partition in force in Oklahoma Territory shall apply thereto, any existing law to the contrary notwithstanding; and
Whereas by a certain other agreement with the Pawnee tribe of Indians, in said Territory, made on the 23d day of November, 1892, said tribe ceded, conveyed, released, relinquished, and surrendered to the United States all its title, claim, and interest of every kind and character in and to the lands particularly described in Article I of the agreement: Provided, That the allotments made or to be made to said Indians in the manner and subject to the conditions contained in said agreement shall be confirmed; and
Whereas it is provided in section 13 of the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and confirming said agreements with the Tonkawa Indians and the Pawnee Indians, specified in sections 11 and 12 of the same act, approved March 3, 1893, entitled "An act making appropriations for current and contingent expenses and fulfilling treaty stipulations with Indian tribes for fiscal year ending June 30, 1894"—
That the lands acquired by the agreements specified in the two preceding sections are hereby declared to be a part of the public domain. Sections 16 and 36 in each township, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, are hereby reserved from settlement for the use and benefit of public schools, as provided in section 10 relating to lands acquired from the Cherokee Nation of Indians; and the lands so acquired by the agreements specified in the two preceding sections not so reserved shall be opened to settlement by proclamation of the President at the same time and in the manner and subject to the same conditions and regulations provided in section 10 relating to the opening of the lands acquired from the Cherokee Nation of Indians; and each settler on the lands so to be opened as aforesaid shall before receiving a patent for his homestead pay to the United States for the lands so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, the sum of $2.50 per acre, and shall also pay interest upon the amount so to be paid for said land from the date of entry to the date of final payment at the rate of 4 per cent per annum.
And whereas the thirteenth section of the act approved March 2, 1889, the act approved May 2, 1890, and the second proviso of section 17 and the whole of section 18 of the act approved March 3, 1891, are referred to in the tenth section of the act approved March 3, 1893, and thereby made applicable in the disposal of the lands in the Cherokee Outlet hereinbefore mentioned, the provisions of which acts, so far as they affect the opening to settlement and the disposal of said lands, are more particularly set forth hereinafter in connection with the rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior for the occupation and settlement of the lands hereby opened according to said tenth section; and
Whereas the lands acquired by the three several agreements 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, to be entered under sections 2387 and 2388 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as therein required, as follows, to wit:
For County K, the southeast quarter of section 23 and the northeast quarter of section 26, township 28 north, range 2 east of the Indian meridian, excepting 4 acres reserved for the site of a court-house, to be designated by lot and block upon the official plat of survey of said reservation for county-seat purposes hereafter to be issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office; said reservation to be additional to the reservations for parks, schools, and other public purposes required to be made by section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890.
For County L, the southwest quarter of section 1 and the southeast quarter of section 2, township 25 north, range 6 west of the Indian meridian, excepting 4 acres reserved for the site of a court-house, to be designated by lot and block upon the official plat of survey of said reservation for county-seat purposes hereafter to be issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office; said reservation to be additional to the reservations for parks, schools, and other public purposes required to be made by section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890.