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Theodore Roosevelt Signed Documents Regarding Nat

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Theodore Roosevelt Signed Documents Regarding Nat
<B>Theodore Roosevelt Signed Documents Regarding Native Americans</B></I> Typed endorsement signed, "T. Roosevelt," as 26th U.S. President (The White House, February 3, 1908), "F.E. Leupp," as Commissioner of the Office of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior, and "Jesse Wilson," as Assistant Secretary of the Interior. All have signed on the verso of the second page of a typed document signed, "William C. Rogers," as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, and, "William W. Hastings," of Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma, two pages, 8 1/2" x14", separate sheets. They all signed on the "Contract Employing William W. Hastings, Esq. As Attorney For The Cherokee Nation." Muskogee, Oklahoma, January 4, 1908. Roosevelt signs at the end of the statement, in full: "Approved in accordance with the provisions of Section 28 of the Act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat.L., 137), provided that it may be terminated at any time in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior." File holes and lightly creased at upper margin, lightly soiled. Lightly chipped at front page. With two signed, related documents and the original file wrapper, stamped "Office of Indian Affairs/Received January 20 1908." The Cherokee were one of the five Civilized Tribes (Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek and the Seminole tribes) that had been forced into Oklahoma in the 1830s and ruled themselves as an independent nation. When the Oklahoma Land Rush brought thousands of white settlers to unassigned Indian lands in 1889 and oil was discovered in 1890, the Cherokee attempted to protect their lands from exploitation. But, backed by the Dawes Commission of 1906 and a Supreme Court decision, the sovereignty of the Cherokee and other tribes was dissolved; mineral and petroleum rights were lost and Indians were granted American citizenship, paving the way for statehood in Oklahoma on November 16, 1907. Limited tribal government continued, and Indian leaders felt the need to protect themselves legally by hiring attorneys as evidenced by this document. The Act of April 26, 1906, to which President Roosevelt acknowledges by his signature presented in this lot, was passed "to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory." Section 28 provides that "no payment or expenditure of any money...shall be of any validity until approved by the President of the United States." Frances Ellington Leupp (1849-1918) was also a writer for the <I>Nation</B></I> and the <I>Evening Post.</B></I> He wrote a Roosevelt biography, <I>The Man Roosevelt,</B></I> 1904, and was a champion of Indian rights. <I>Accompanied by COA from PSA/DNA.</B></I>