Federal Indian policy between 1870 and 1900 focused on breaking up reservations and granting allotments to individual Native Americans. In 1887, the U.S. Congress passed the Dawes Act, also known as the General Allotment Act. This law authorized the President to break up reservation land into small allotments. At that time, several tribes were exempt, including the Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. However, in 1893 President Cleveland appointed the Dawes Commission to negotiate with the Five Civilized Tribes—the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles—to begin dividing their lands and dismantling their governments.
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. But the result often did more harm than good. Some allotted land was unsuitable for farming, and those individuals who did want to take up agriculture often couldn’t afford to invest in the tools, animals, seed, and other supplies needed to begin.
To protect tribal members from land speculators, the government held most of the allotted land in trust, with a stipulation that it couldn’t be sold for twenty-five years. Since tribal land far surpassed the acreage needed for allotments, the government reserved the right to sell the “surplus” to white settlers. Many Indians leased their allotments and moved to urban areas where they later lost touch with tribal ways.
In 1896, the Dawes Commission received congressional approval to compile rolls of tribal members in the Five Nations 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. The commission thus effectively undermined the power of the tribes to determine their own membership and, in the case of the Choctaw and Chickasaw, hastened extensive court action and legal battles over rights to be enrolled. The Choctaw were particularly concerned that large numbers of individuals claiming to be Choctaw from Mississippi came forward to lay claims, thus complicating and delaying the final allotment process.
It wasn’t until 1897 that the commission successfully concluded an allotment agreement with the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes. The Atoka Agreement called for an equitable distribution of the tribal land base 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.
Read Chapter One and find vendor links at Kristy’s website.
The Swan is based on the idea of The Magnificent Seven, but instead of men, what if the seven were women?
Giveaway
One commenter will win an eBook of THE NIGHTHAWK, Wings of the West Book 10. What is your favorite western movie? Be sure to comment for a chance to WIN!
U.S. Deputy Marshal Benton McKay is undercover tracking the notorious train robbing Weaver gang when he’s forced to work with reporter Sophie Ryan.
Kristy McCaffrey writes award-winning historical western romances with grit and emotion, along with contemporary adventure stories packed with smoldering romance and spine-tingling suspense. Her work is filled with compelling heroes, determined heroines, and her trademark mysticism. She lives in the desert north of Phoenix with her husband and rescue bulldog, Jeb. Learn more about her books at her website, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Graphics courtesy of Deposit Photos. Book covers by Earthly Charms.
I don’t know if y’all remember my “attic saga” from a few months ago, but I wanted to tell you about a particular treasure I found. The attic floor was sagging from all the “stuff” that was stored up there—yes, it was all stuff I had kept, but in my defense a lot of it had come from other places: My mom’s and dad’s when they could no long live at home; my oldest sister when she had her stroke and had to go into a nursing home; and of course, the things I’d kept for my kids; and my OWN keepsakes! WHEW! That was a lot!
GIVEAWAY: 
