Collection Feature: Chickasaw Land Allotment Patent
On August 17, 1904, Thomas K. Whitthorne applied for an land allotment patent. In this document he was recognized as Chickasaw by intermarriage, and was therefore eligible to obtain 150 acres of land, “more or less, as the case may be,” within the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, Indian Territory. The document bears red seals of the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations.
Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, Land Allotment to Thomas K Whitthorne, 1904.
Call number RH MS P 243, Kansas Collection. Click image to enlarge.
Allotment Patent No. 10533 was approved and signed by the secretary and clerk of the United States Department of the Interior on February 26, 1906. Then on November 29, 1905, the allotment patent was signed and sealed by the Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation, the Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, approving Thomas K. Whitthorne’s application.
Detail of Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, Land Allotment to Thomas K Whitthorne, 1904.
Call number RH MS P 243, Kansas Collection. Click image to enlarge.
The Chickasaw Nation is a federally recognized Native American nation, located in Oklahoma. They are one of the members of the Five Civilized Tribes. The Chickasaw Nation was created after the Chickasaw people were forcibly removed by the U.S. federal government to Indian Territory in the 1830s. Their removal was part of a larger effort by the federal government to relocate peoples from the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations. The removals became known as the “Trail of Tears”.
Meredith Huff
Operations and Stacks Manager, Public Services
Tags: Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation, Kansas Collection, land patent, Meredith Huff, Thomas K. Whitthorne
I have Patent from Choctaw and Chickasaw nations Indian Territory signed by principal chief Green Mc Curtaine and Douglas Johnston dated Oct. 2, 1907 in the town of Garvin. Can anyone tell me what is a patent? There is no legal description of any kind but it does list a numbered block. Just trying to figure out what this is exactly. Thank you, appreciate any information.
November 14th, 2018 at 7:01 pm
Thank you for your comment. Land patents are “the legal documents that transferred land ownership from the U.S. Government to individuals” according to the National Archives website (https://www.archives.gov/research/land). These patents are related to the Dawes Act or General Allotment Act of 1887. The National Archives website provides some background information about the legislation at https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/fed-indian-policy.
I will respond to you by email with some additional links to information about the act and how it related to the Choctaw and Chickasaw specifically. Thank you for reading the Spencer Research Library blog.
November 16th, 2018 at 11:47 am