Claims of Loyal Shawnee Indians HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE SEVENTIETH CONGRESS CLAIMS OF LOYAL SHAWNEE INDIANS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, Friday, January 11, 1929. The subcommittee met in the committee room at 10.20 o'clock a. m., Hon. W. H. Sproul, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding. Present: Mr. Sproul and Mr. Cartwright. STATEMENTS OF CHARLES B. ROGERS AND JOSEPHUS C. TRIMBLE, ATTORNEYS FOR CLAIMANTS Mr. SPROUL. This is a hearing on H. R. 13748, referring to certain claims of the Loyal Shawnee Indians. Are the Absentee Shawnee Indians included in this bill? Mr. ROGERS. No, sir. They were included in the other bill, but not in this one. Mr. SPROUL. The bill will be inserted at this place. (The bill referred to is as follows:) [H. R. 13748, Seventieth Congress, first session] A BILL To carry into effect the twelfth article of the treaty between the United States and the Loyal Shawnee Indians proclaimed October 14, 1868 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $109,746.25, and the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to pay said sum to the Indians of the Loyal Shawnee Tribe, their heirs or legal representatives, in accordance with the official findings, arbitration award, and report of the Secretary of the Interior to Congress made in pursuance of the twelfth article of the treaty between the United States and the Loyal Shawnee Indians, proclaimed October 14, 1868 (Fifteenth Statute at Large, page 513); which claims are similar to but not included with those of the Shawnee Indians for whom an appropriation was made by act of December 22, 1927 (Public, Numbered 2, Seventieth Congress, first session): Provided, That out of said sum there shall be paid to the duly authorized attorney for said Indians, as evidenced by contracts executed by said Indian claimants or their then living heirs, during the years 1903, 1904, and 1905, 20 per centum of the above amount in full satisfaction of such contract or contracts: And provided further, That before payment of the amount hereby authorized to be appropriated the Indian beneficiaries or their legal representatives entitled to said awards shall execute in writing a receipt, release, and relinquishment of any and all claims arising under the twelfth article of said treaty which they may have against the United States, and which receipt, release, and relinquishment shall be approved by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Secretary of the Interior and which shall be binding when executed and approved on all parties thereto. A committee of five male adult members of the Loyal Shawnee Tribe, to be selected under direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, with its headquarters at Vinita, Oklahoma, shall execute a release on behalf of all beneficiaries having no legal representatives. 1 Mr. SPROUL. The committee has received a letter from the Secretary of the Interior in reference to this bill. It will be included in the record at this point. (The letter referred to is as follows:) Hon. SCOTT LEAVITT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D. C., December 6, 1928. Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. LEAVITT: Further reference is made to your letter of May 15, 1928, inclosing for a report a copy of H. R. 13748, "To carry into effect the twelfth article of the treaty between the United States and the Loyal Shawnee Indians proclaimed October 14, 1868." This bill is identical in purpose with H. R. 10077, on which an adverse report has already been made to your committee. H. R. 10077 authorized the appropriation of $139,919.65, while the present bill authorizes $109,746.25. In the report on H. R. 10077 attention was invited to H. R. 5218 (69th Cong., 1st sess.). It was stated that the prior legislation was introduced for the same purpose as that stated in the present bill. H. R. 5218 was passed by both Houses of Congress, but was not approved by the President. In the deficiency appropriation act (Pub. No. 2, 70th Cong., 1st sess.), the amount of $463,732.49 was appropriated to pay the Civil War claims of certain individual Shawnee Indians and 13 Delawares. It was believed at the time the report was made on H. R. 10077 that the Indians for whom the appropriation was authorized by that bill were included in the beneficiaries under the deficiency appropriation act, and an unfavorable report was made. The Director of the Bureau of the Budget further reported that the proposed legislation was in conflict with the financial program of the President. Since submitting a report on H. R. 10077 of the present Congress, evidence has been discovered in the Court of Claims which shows conclusively that the Indians proposed to be benefited by the instant bill are not the same as those benefited by H. R. 5218 and the above deficiency appropriation act. The report of this department on H. R. 5218 is published in the report of a hearing before a subcommittee of the Committee on Indian Affairs, House of Representatives (69th Cong., 1st sess.), on this bill held April 7 and 8, 1926. These claims had been before Congress at various times prior to the introduction of H. R. 5218. In a previous bill (H. R. 7324, 68th Cong., 1st sess.) it appears from the hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Indian Affairs of April 25, 1924, that some confusion existed as to just who were entitled to benefits under the bill, also as to the amount of the claim. On page 6 of the hearing on H. R. 7324 reference was made to the claims for which an appropriation was authorized herein. The amount of the claims is shown on pages 6, 7, and 8 of the hearing to be $109,746.25. The claims are those of individuals of the division of the Shawnee tribe known as Loyal Shawnees. They were incorporated with the Cherokee Nation and are now living with the Cherokees. As shown on page 6 of the hearing, the claims relating to the Absentee Shawnees were reported upon by Indian Agent Abbott, while those for whom the appropriation was made in the deficiency appropriation act were Loyal Absentee Shawnees and certain others whose claims were reported upon by Enoch Hoag, when he transmitted the reports of Agents John R. Pickering and Jonathan Richards. This is indicated on pages 8 and 9 in the hearing on H. R. 7324. From an examination of the list of claimants reported upon by Pickering and Richards and that submitted by Indian Agent Abbott, it is evident that the claimants are not the same, and it can not be found that any duplications exist in the two lists. From the above statement, it is believed that the claims for which an appropriation is authorized under H. R. 13748 are meritorious, and originated in the same manner and under the same circumstances as those for which an appropriation was made by the deficiency appropriation act above referred to. It is recommended that the bill receive your favorable consideration. The Director of the Bureau of the Budget has advised that this report is not in conflict with the financial program of the President. Very truly yours, ROY O. WEST. Mr. SPROUL. All right, Mr. Rogers. You may proceed to put in your evidence. Mr. ROGERS. In addition to making my statement I am prepared to furnish proof of my original connection with the claimants. I have my powers of attorney right here. I can also furnish proof of my services that I have rendered down to the presentation of this present bill. Mr. SPROUL. I hardly believe that that would be material. We are not questioning your authority to represent these claimants. Mr. ROGERS. I suppose you want to see the powers of attorney, and also my contracts with the claimants as attorney? Mr. SPROUL. If you consider them material in any way, you may offer them. Mr. ROGERS. Well, the bill reads: That out of said sum there shall be paid to the duly authorized attorney for said Indians, as evidenced by contracts executed by said Indian claimants or their then living heirs, during the years 1903, 1904, and 1905, 20 per centum of the above amount Mr. SPROUL. That will be a matter of proof for the department to require before paying fees. It won't be our function to determine who the attorneys are. Mr. ROGERS. Perhaps that is true. I haven't given a great deal of attention to this present bill. Mr. SPROUL. We are ready now for you to make your formal statement, Mr. Rogers. Mr. ROGERS. Inasmuch as Mr. Trimble has prepared these forms, I think I will let him go ahead with the formal statement; and I will furnish such facts as the committee want. I have been handling this case for 25 years. Mr. TRIMBLE. The purpose of this bill is to carry into effect the twelfth article of the treaty between the United States and the Shawnee Indians proclaimed October 14, 1868. The claimants, the loyal Shawnee Indians, present their several respective claims for the sums of money due them in payment for the destruction, loss, forcible taking, carrying, and driving away livestock, farm products, household goods, money and other personal property of divers descriptions and kinds belonging to, owned and possessed by, and the individual property of said loyal Shawnee Indians by United States citizens and soldiers at divers times and places in the year 1861 and until and including the year 1868. The said claims more fully appear in the list of claims found and allowed in the report of Shawnee Indian Agent J. B. Abbott, dated November 25, 1868. The said Abbott made this report at the direction of the Commisssioner of Indian Affairs, and he ascertained the amounts due said claimants on account of said losses sustained. Said report was transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior, and by him forwarded to the clerk of the Court of Claims and is now on file in the case of Johnson Blackfeather, No. 18210. We have that report of Mr. Abbott right here. I will give you a history of the claims. Under the treaty of 1854 the following language was used: The Shawnees acknowledge their dependence on the Government of the United States and invoke its protection and care. They will abstain from |