Establishment of Commission

An act of Congress of March 3, 1893, authorized the establishment of a commission to negotiate agreements with each of the Five Civilized Tribes that would abolish the tribal governments and permit the allotment of land to individual tribal members. Former Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts was appointed chairman of the commission on November 1, 1893 and it was commonly referred to thereafter as the Dawes Commission. It reported to and received its instructions from the Secretary of Interior.

Senator Dawes and the other commissioners visited Indian Territory (basically what is now the eastern half of Oklahoma) many times to meet with tribal leaders but had no success convincing them to negotiate agreements. In 1895 Congress authorized a survey of Indian Territory and in 1896 the Dawes Commission was authorized to add names to existing tribal rolls as a preliminary step to allotment. The Commission received more than 7500 applications for enrollment and traveled throughout Indian Territory conducting hearings.

Having failed to convince the tribal leaders to negotiate, the Commission was authorized by an act of Congress of June 28, 1898, to proceed with enrollment and allotment without tribal consent. This act, generally know as the Curtis Act, also provided for the termination of the tribal governments. By 1902, each of the tribes had negotiated and ratified an agreement which modified the terms of the Curtis Act and became the basis for enrollment and allotment.

The headquarters of the Dawes Commission was generally at Muskogee in the Creek Nation and land offices were opened within each tribal nation. Numerous field parties were sent out to survey and appraise land and investigate applications for enrollment. The Commission held hearings to settle contested allotments and prepared patents and deeds for allotted land. The Dawes Commission was abolished by an act of Congress of March 3, 1905 and replaced by a single Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes who supervised the large staff involved with the completion of enrollment and allotment. Tams Bixby, who had been appointed to the Commission in 1897 and often served as acting chairman when Senator Dawes was too ill to serve, was appointed as the Commissioner. On July 1, 1907, J. George Wright replaced Bixby as Commissioner and retained the responsibilities of his former position of Indian Inspector for Indian Territory which included supervision of the Union Agency.

An act of Congress of August 1, 1914, abolished the position of Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes and made the Superintendent of the newly created Five Civilized Tribes Agency responsible for any unfinished business of the Commissioner. The records of the Dawes Commission and the Commissioner became the property of the Five Civilized Tribes Agency under the terms of the act and were heavily used by the agency staff to manage the affairs of individual Indian allottees.

Some of the records of the Dawes Commission are still in the custody of the Muskogee Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Others have been deposited with the Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City under an act of Congress of March 27, 1934.

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