Land Allotments in the Twin Territories and THE SWAN is out!!

 

By Kristy McCaffrey

The Dawes Act (the General Allotment Act) was passed in 1887 and authorized the U.S. President to break up Indian reservation land into small allotments. The purpose of the Dawes Act, and subsequent extensions, was to protect American Indian property rights, particularly during the land rushes of the 1890s that occurred in the Twin Territories, which encompassed Oklahoma and Indian Territories.

In 1896, the Dawes Commission received congressional approval to compile rolls of tribal members in the Five Nations (the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles) who would be eligible to receive allotments, allowing it to add individuals who maintained they had not been included on the various tribal census rolls.

In 1897, the Atoka Agreement called for an equitable distribution of Choctaw and Chickasaw tribal land among the members, except for lands set aside for schools and townsites and land reserved because of coal and asphalt deposits. Homesteads of 160 acres would be inalienable for a period of twenty-one years, and the surplus land could be sold, one-fourth in the first year, one-half in the second year, and the remainder by the fifth year after allotment.

In my new novel, The Swan, a group of women must stand against those who would take advantage of Chickasaw orphans and their allotments. The Swan is Book 11 in my Wings of the West series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Twin Territories
November 1899

Dr. Anna Ryan has been spurned by the Dallas medical community for the simple reason of being a woman. Wanting more than a rural practice alongside her mother, also a doctor, Anna accepts an invitation from a mentor to join a private hospital for disabled children in Oklahoma City. But when she falls in with a band of women attempting to protect the rights of Chickasaw orphans, she’ll need more than her medical training to survive.

Malcolm Hardy has skirted the line between lawlessness and justice since escaping the mean streak of his father and his no-good half-siblings a decade ago. In Oklahoma Territory he created enough distance from his family name to find a quiet purpose to his days. But then Anna Ryan walks back into his life, and his hard-won peace is in jeopardy.

The last time Malcolm saw Anna, she had been a determined girl he couldn’t help but admire. Now she was a compelling woman searching for answers that could lead straight to him. But one thing was clear—Anna’s life path was on a trajectory for the remarkable while Malcolm’s was not. Surrendering to temptation would only end in heartbreak.

The Swan is an emotional story of a woman finding her true calling and a hero moving forward after a difficult past. It has light steam and a heartfelt and poignant ending.

An excerpt from The Swan

(Malcolm Hardy is meeting with Cash Wright, an old friend and a Lighthorseman - the Chickasaw police force.)

“Who would’ve thought back when we worked for Kellogg that you’d end up a respectable lawman,” Malcolm said.

“And you’re respectable?” Cash’s tone was tinged with irony.

“I’m trying,” Malcolm answered honestly, proud of the fruits of working hard. “Ever hear from Ambrose?”

“No. You?”

“Not in some time.”

“You gave him and Bessie a chance,” Cash said. “He wouldn’t have squandered it.”

Malcolm couldn’t disagree. Ambrose was the son of a black Chickasaw freedman—released from slavery after the Civil War—but had struggled with citizenship since the Chickasaw refused recognition. It had sometimes lit a tension between Ambrose and Cash, both men paying for the actions of their forefathers. Guilt by association rather than true differences.

Then Ambrose had fallen in love with a Ponca woman, and Kellogg’s true nature and ambitions had come to light in his machinations of acquiring allotted Ponca land. It had been a testament to the friendship between the three of them that they’d managed to thwart their boss and give Ambrose and Bessie a life with the Ponca.

“I’ve seen Delmont,” Malcolm said, mentioning the final cog that connected them all.

Cash’s face stilled, the surprise obvious. “Where?”

“Conleyville.”

“The hell you say.”

“Why?” Malcolm asked.

“I’m on my way there. I’ve got business, and also to see my mother.”

That caught Malcolm off-guard. “Drusilla lives in Conleyville?” He had met Cash’s mother once in Tishomingo shortly after he and Cash had quit Kellogg’s outfit and come south.

“Outside of town,” Cash said, “in the Arbuckles. I don’t like her living out there alone, but she prefers the wilderness.” He took a gulp of coffee. “Is Delmont still with Kellogg?”

“I think so. He’s got something going on, and knowing him it must be related to land.”

Cash raised his brows. “In Conleyville? It’s Chickasaw territory, and he’s not Chickasaw.”

“That we know of.” But Malcolm’s response was etched in sarcasm. Both he and Cash knew that if Webb could lie about his ancestry, he wouldn’t hesitate.

Cash’s voice was quiet and contemplative as he said, “He’s after the allotments.”

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