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Sallie A. Vaughn and
Cora M. Stotts, Mississippi Choctaw
Sallie A. Vaughn Et
Al., M. C. P. No. 396.
Cora M. Stotts Et Al., M. C. P. Xo. 393.
June 20, 1900. Application made to
commission at Colbert, Ind. T., for the
enrollment of Sallie A. Vaughn and her minor
children, Martha T. Vaughn, William Wesley
Vaughn, Oscar Roy Vaughn, James Bennett
Vaughn and applicant's two minor sisters,
Carrie B. Oldham and Clemmie P. Oldham.
June 20, 1900. Application made to
commission at Colbert. Ind. T., for the
enrollment of Cora M. Stotts and her minor
children, Ruthie Leet Stotts and Everett V.
Stotts, as Mississippi Choctaw Indians,
claiming under the fourteenth article of the
treaty of 1830.
As the act of May 31, 1900, prohibited the
commission from receiving, considering, or
making any record of the application of any
person (except fourteenth article,
Mississippi Choctaws) who was not a
recognized and enrolled citizen of the
nations, application for the enrollment of
claimants as Mississippi Choctaws was the
only application claimants could submit that
would enable them to make a record of their
cases before the commission.
The evidence taken at the time the
applications were submitted is clear upon
the following points: Sallie A. Vaughn, 38
years old, daughter of Mary Oldham, one-half
blood Choctaw, and granddaughter of Henry
Latham, a full-blood Choctaw and member of
the tribe in Mississippi in 1830. Claimant
had resided in the nations 12 years
continuously; held land and improved it the
same as all enrolled Choctaws and had been
recognized by the Choctaws and Chickasaws as
entitled to full rights. When asked by the
commission:
Q. Since you have not applied for
enrollment, why have you made these
improvements?-
A. Because I was a Choctaw and had a right
here, and they advised me to hold my place
(meaning the Choctaw Indians).
She further testified that she had two
cousins, Walton and Jim Patterson, on the
final rolls. An examination of the 1896 roll
disclosed the name of Walton Patterson
opposite No. 1034, page 156, and the name of
Jim Patterson opposite No. 10250, page 260.
She further testified that this was the
first application she had ever made, because
her father, who was a white man, had
prevented her from going before the
commission, who considered it to be a
disgrace to be an Indian.
Cora M. Stotts, 23 years old, daughter of
Mary Oldham, had lived in the nations 15
years and possessed identically the same
qualifications as her sister, Sallie A.
Vaughn.
July 25, 1902. The commission rendered its
decision denying claimants enrollment,
first, because their names did not appear on
the 1800 roll, and, second, because they had
not established that they or their ancestors
had taken land under the fourteenth article
of the treaty of 1830 and had notified the
Indian agent and had same recorded.
August 25, 1902. The Secretary approved the
decision of the commission.
Statement By Counsel
These claimants are Choctaw Indians.
Their residence in the nations is longer
than the average residence of those on the
final rolls. Their relatives are on the
final rolls. Had the "Curtis Act" been
carried out they would undoubtedly have been
enrolled, but a subsequent act, construed
technically by the commission, has excluded
them. They were prevented from being
enrolled as Choctaw Indians by blood solely
because their names did not appear on the
1896 tribal roll. Counsel respectfully
submit that their enrollment on the 1896
roll of the Choctaw Indians by the Indian
authorities could not add to their rights,
for they were members of the tribes by blood
and residence, as held by the Assistant
Attorney General in the Long case, and
reason and justice demands their enrollment.
Those thus entitled are: Sallie A. Vaughn,
Martha T. Vaughn. William Wesley Vaughn,
Oscar Roy Vaughn, James Bennett Vaughn,
Carrie B. Oldham, Clemmie P. Oldham, Cora M.
Stotts, Ruthie Lee Stotts, and Everett V.
Stotts.
Respectfully submitted.
Walter S. Field.
Notes About the Book:
Source: Five Civilized Tribes In Oklahoma, Reports of the Department of the
Interior and Evidentiary Papers in support of S. 7625, a Bill for the Relief of
Certain Members of the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma, Sixty-second Congress,
Third Session, Published 1913, by the Department of the Interior, United States.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing
has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual
output.
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