The Cherokee Commission, (also known as the Jerome Commission) was a three-person bi-partisan body created by 23rd President Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901, served 1889–1893), to operate under the direction of the United States Secretary of the Interior, of the President's Cabinet, as empowered by Section 14 of the Indian Appropriations Act of March 2, 1889, passed by the United States Congress and signed by President Grover Cleveland. Section 15 of the same Act empowered the President of the United States to open land for settlement. The Commission's purpose was to legally acquire land already occupied by the Cherokee Nation and other tribes in the new Oklahoma Territory for non-indigenous homestead acreage.
Eleven agreements involving nineteen different tribes were signed over during the period of May 1890 through November 1892. The tribes resisted and protested land cession. Not all of the residents understood the terms of the agreements. The Commission tried to dissuade tribes from retaining the services of outside law attorneys. Not all language interpreters were literate. Agreement terms varied by tribe. As negotiations with the Cherokee Nation snagged, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Territories recommended bypassing further negotiations and annexing outright the land segment of the Cherokee Outlet.
The Commission continued to function until August 1893. Additional lawsuits, further U.S. Supreme Court rulings, further investigations and mandated compensation for irregularities ensued for another 110 years of controversy through the end of the 20th century. The U.S. Congress failed to respond to a legal protest from the Tonkawa tribe, or to an Indian Rights Association investigation that condemned the Jerome Commission / Cherokee Commission's actions with the Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples. Commission attempts to negotiate signed agreements produced no results with the Osage, Kaw, Otoe and Ponca groups.
The 1887 Dawes ActJohansen, Pritzker (2007) p. 278 empowered the President of the United States to survey commonly held tribal lands and allot the land to individual tribal members, with the individual land patents to be held in trust as non-taxable by the federal government for 25 years.
Indian Appropriations Act
On March 2, 1889, the then 22nd President Grover Cleveland (1837–1908, served 1885–1889 & 1893–1897), two days before he left office (for an interim of four years), signed the Indian Appropriations Act into law. Section 14 of the Act authorized the President to appoint a three-person bi-partisan commission to negotiate with the Cherokee and other tribes in the Indian Territory for cession of their lands to the United States and its federal government. President Cleveland's successor of opposing Republican Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901, served 1889–1893), became the 23rd President on March 4th (the then traditional Inauguration Day before constitutional amendment in 1937). The body was officially named the Cherokee Commission (a.k.a. Jerome Commission), and its existence ended four years later in August 1893.Hagan (2003) p. 235Hagan (2003) p. 13 Section 15 of the same Act empowered the President to open land for settlement. On May 2, 1890, 14 months into his term of office, President Harrison signed into law, the Oklahoma Organic Act of 1890, passed earlier by the U.S. Congress, creating the new Oklahoma Territory.
On July 1, 1889, the Commission received its initial funding, authorized by the American Congress. Food, transportation and lodging expenses were all compensated, plus $5 per diem. The appointed commissioners received an additional $10 per diem while they were actually in service at meetings, conferences and investigations, etc. Congress appropriated an additional $20,000 for the Commission to continue its work. In 1892, Congress appropriated another $15,000 for the Commission.Hagan (2003) p. 182 March 1893, Commission got $15,000 additional appropriation.Hagan (2003) p. 223
Commission organization
The Cherokee Commission was to operate under the direction of the then U.S. Secretary of the Interior, John Willock Noble (1831–1912), served 1889–1893), and his Democratic / Progressive successor, Michael Hoke Smith (1855–1931, served 1893–1896), when President Cleveland returned to the White House four years later as 24th President after the brief Republican / Harrison interlude. (Cleveland's new Interior Secretary Smith had been the former Governor of Georgia and their U.S. Senator).
Harrison administration Secretary Noble's initial directive to the Commission was to offer $1.25 per acre, but to adjust that amount if the situation favored it.Hagan (2003) p. 20 Lucius Fairchild (1831–1896), of Wisconsin was appointed by Harrison and Noble as their first choice as Chairman of the Commission.Hagan (2003) p. 19 But Fairchild submitted his resignation to President Harrison after the committee's first endeavor failed in negotiations with the Cherokee leaders.Hagan (2003) p. 38Hagan (2003) p. 37 Angus Cameron (1826–1897), of Wisconsin was then selected by the Chief Executive to replace Fairchild to serve as the second Chairman of the Commission, but he too resigned after only three weeks.
David H. Jerome (1829–1896), former Governor of Michigan was then requested to help and appointed to fill the chairmanship vacancy becoming its third head in just a few months, but during the next four years settling in to became the public face of the body, reflected in its subsequent informal nickname of the "Jerome Commission".Hagan (2003) p. 42 The lone Democrat and second appointee on the Commission during the Harrison presidential term was Judge Alfred M. Wilson of Arkansas.Hagan (2003) p. 18
John F. Hartranft (1830–1889), recipient of the famous congressional Medal of Honor and the former Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, became the initial third person on the committee. Unfortunately Governor Hartranft died shortly afterwards on October 17, 1889.Hagan (2003) p. 28 President Harrison then appointed his friend Warren G. Sayre of the President's home state of Indiana to replace Hartranft.Hagan (2003) p. 34
Tribal agreements with the Commission
Iowa – May 20, 1890 The Iowa tribe is believed to have originated in Wisconsin. To avoid white settlers on their lands, the tribe moved to Iowa and Missouri, but later ceded their land and relocated to the Kansas-Nebraska border. In 1878, the full-bloods of the tribe moved to Indian Territory.
In the August 1890 Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior, submitted by Indian Agent Col. S.L. Patrick, the total Iowa reservation population was counted at 102.Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1890) p. 199 Reservation acreage was reported as , west of the Sac and Fox reservation with comparable land. The population had members who were conversant in the English language, and some wore what was termed "citizens' clothes". Income was estimated at $50 per capita annually.Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1890) p. 200
Lucius Fairchild and the Commission approached the Iowa on October 18, 1889, and were rebuffed.Hagan (2003) pp. 29–30 In May 1890, the Commission under David H. Jerome returned for negotiations, notifying the tribe of an October cessation to cattle grazing leases. Jerome told them the President was offering individual homesteads, and offering to take the resulting surplus land off their hands. Chief William Tohee stood firm that the Iowa preferred to keep their entire reservation for future generations. Jerome warned that failure to acquiesce would force the government to employ the Dawes Act. The Iowa felt that allotment and money was not good for the tribe, and they were still awaiting past government monies owed them. Many Iowa expressed concern about their children's forced assimilation in white schools, and were distrusting of the government. The Commission reiterated the threat of forced Congressional allotments. Jefferson White Cloud announced that the Iowa would sign the agreement.Hagan (2003) pp. 44–48
On May 20, 1890, at the Iowa Village on their reservation, the tribe signed the Agreement with the Iowa (1890) to cede all their land, in return for $60,000 (less than 27 cents per acre) divided per capita and paid in five installments, spread out over a 25-year period. The allotment was per person. Land patents to the individual land allotted were to be held in a tax-free trust for the benefit of the allottees, for a period of twenty-five years. The allotments were to be selected by the individual tribal members within 60 days of government agents initiating the process. If any member failed to make the selection within that time frame, the selection would be made for them by the special agent. Article IX of the agreement addressed the frail situation with Chief William Tohee and his wife Maggie. Due to his blindness and advanced age, the childless couple were to be paid $350 for their care and well-being. Tribal member Kirwan Murray acted as interpreter. Congress ratified the agreement on February 13, 1891.Deloria, DeMaille (1999) pp. 319–322
In 1929, the United States Court of Claims rendered a judgment that the tribe had been underpaid, due to irregularities. The tribe was awarded $254,632,59.
Sac and Fox – June 12, 1890 The Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma. also called Sauk and Fox, were moved to Indian Territory as a result of Article 6, in the Treaty with the Sauk and Foxes (1867). In the August 1890 Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior, submitted by Indian Agent Col. S.L. Patrick, the total Sac and Fox reservation population was counted at 515. Reservation acreage was reported as , juxtaposed between the Cimarron, North Fork and Canadian rivers. It was in use as grazing, farming and orchards. Living conditions were reported as tipis or bark houses, with their main clothing being blankets. The Fox and Sac National Council was credited with uplifting the morality of the tribe by prohibiting polygamy, and requiring lawful marriages.
The Commission under Lucius Fairchild first met Moses Keokuk and the Sac and Fox in October 1889. Fairchild offered the tribe its choice of land for the allotments, and $1.25 per acre for surplus land.Hagan (2003) p. 30 When Jerome assumed the Chairmanship, the Commission returned for negotiations on May 28, 1890. Principal chief Maskosatoe was in attendance, but Keokuk, who spoke no English, led the tribal negotiations through an interpreter. Keokuk inquired about the allotment acreage and how much land the Commission wanted them to cede. Jerome cited the Dawes Act allotment directive of to heads of household, for single persons over 18 years of age, and for persons under 18 years of age. Keokuk countered with per person and a cession at $2.00 per acre. Jerome balked at the suggestion. Keokuk and the Sac and Fox National Council forced the Commission to agree to per person, regardless of age or marital status. The twist was that the Commission required land patents for only half the per person acreage to be held in trust for 25 years, with the other half held in trust for only 5 years. The deal would allow tribal members to sell half their acreage after 5 years.Hagan (2003) pp. 51–52