Remembering the Children of the Oil Fields

Today, is the opening day of the film Sarah's Oil. The film depicts the story of a young girl, Sarah Rector of Taft Oklahoma who was alloted 160 acres of land on account of her citizenship in the Creek Nation. To the surprise of many, her land contained oil and upon that discovery, she became a target of many who wanted access to her, and her land.

The film will undoubtedly create the interest of many about her life. However, Sarah's story is part of a larger story of other oil-field children, black chidren, all descendants of former slaves, held in bondage in the Creek Nation where they once lived.  Sarah's story is also the same as that of Dan Tucker, Sallie Hodge, Luther Manuel, twins Edith and Edna Durant, and siblings Herbert and Castella Sells.

Sarah's story is special because she lived to enjoy the fruit of her allotment. Luther Manuel died peniless it is said.  The Sells children were killed by a plot to obtain her land and it is not clear if anyone was ever punished for the crime. The fate of the other children of the oil fields has  yet to become widely known.

But their stories belong to all of us who descend from Oklahoma Freedmen. They obtained land allotments through the Dawes Allotment Act, that allotted lands to citizens of the Five Tribes, each of whom once brought enslaved people to Indian Territory. Before Oklahoma statehood the lands were allotted to those who could prove their ties to the Five Tribers. Over 20,000 people classified as Freedmen  received land their land.

As we all celebrate the success of the life of Sarah Rector, we also remember the other children of the oil fields, and let the legacy of Sarah Rector Campbell Crawford encourage others to explore this unique and critical missising chapter of Oklahoma's history.

Sarah Rector

Courtesy of Sarah Campbell

Luther Manuel Gravesite,
Cane Creek, Okmulgee Oklahoma
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Edith Durant Harrison
Can Creek Cemetery, Okmulgee Oklahoma
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Edna Durant Simmons
Cane Creek Cemetery, Okmulgee Oklahoma
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Herbert & Castella Sells
Blackjack Cemetery, Taft Oklahoma
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Renewed Interest in Sarah Rector's Story

 

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Image from Trailer for MGM Studios Film of Sarah's Oil

Exitement has arisen with the recent production of the film Sarah's Oil, released this coming weekend in movie theatres around the nation.

The story highlights the story of a young girl who was a Creek Nation citizen living in Taft Oklahoma. As a citizen, she received a land allotment of 160s acres, near the Cimarron River. To the surprise of many, her allotment contain an impressive amount of oil. Once that was discovered, her life was changed, as many people tried to obtain access to her land and her money. 

Fifteen years ago I wrote a blog article entitled Remembering Sarah Rector Creek Freedwoman.

                                             

First Blog Post About Sarah from 2010

Four years later, I had  the honor of being consulted by author Tonya Bolden in her book Searching for Sarah Rector. 

Blog post about Tonya Bolden's book about Sarah Rector

Last year I had the opportunity to visit the set as the filiming was going on. And I have also learned that my name also appears in the credits at the end of the film Two weeks ago there were two screenings of Sarah's Oil, one in Muskogee and the other in Kansas City which was a gala event attended by not only the actors, and director and others who made the film, but also the descendants of Sarah Rector were present - the erandchildren of Sarah Rector and her nieces as well.  

Over the years numerous people have claimed ties to Sarah unaware that she had living relatives. Several years ago, one of the nephews from the Rector family was able to address one young man who had made claims to Sarah's story and stating that she had been killed for her land - which is simply nnot true.  Thankfully, many of those making false claims have now faded and the true relatives have now been given the opportunity to share their stories of their ancestor, who showed resilience throughout her life, and who lived to make decisions about her own life and journey.

On a recent trip to the Arkansas/Oklahoma area in October, I had the chance to meet some of the family members from Sarah Rector's family. 

Some of Sarah Rector's Family Members
Fort Coffee, Oklahoma

This week I have also had two interviews about Sarah's Oil, one was on the Afro-Indians Table Talk on KBOB Radio in Tulsa and the other on the podcast Ancestors Footprints, hosted by Bernice Bennett.

Sarah Rector was a Creek Freedwoman, a citizen of the Muscoggee Creek Nation. Her story is part of a larger story of over 20,000 Freedmen in the land that became Oklahoma. Hopefully, the film about Sarah Rector will generate much more interest in the story of all of the Oklahoma Freedmen and how they were able to shape their lives on the western frontier.

Searching the Dawes Roll

 

Many have expressed the fact that they have been seeking the actual roll number of their ancestor on the Dawes Roll. For some it is a quick look-up with an Ancestry Account, or a quick click on the Oklahoma Historical Society database. But for some the search can be a challenge. Perhaps the ancestor had a common name---or a unique name that was possibly spelled in a unique way. And for some, there is the cousin who has the number, but who won't share it. But if the cousin won't share it,  you can still find it. Just dive into the database (the one from OHS is free) and you should find it. In many cases the cousin who won't share actually does not  have the number.  So, the solution is simple---examine the roll yourself! 

There are two published images of the Final Roll with slight differences. One is the Index to the Final Roll and the other is the Final Roll itself.

The Index

The Final Roll

 The Final Roll is the base roll used by the Five Tribes to process applications for citizenship, today. Those Five Tribes are Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole Nations. Both are useful and access to both can be found freely online. The Final Roll itself is a document that consists of over 600 pages of names of those who were identified as members of those respective nations.

Note - the Dawes Roll was not a roll reflecting people admitted to citizenship in the nations. The purpose of the Dawes Roll was to reflect the names of individuals who were eligible to receive land allotments.

The National Archives had digitized the Final Roll, and it would be worthwhile to take a look by page number for the nation and the category that interests  you. A indexed list of the categories found on the Dawes Roll is listed on Family Search.org, and it has been copied here for you.

Tribe	Pg.
Choctaws By Blood New Born Choctaws by Blood Minor Choctaws by Blood Choctaws by Marriage Choctaw Freedmen Minor Choctaw Freedmen Mississippi Choctaws New Born Miss. Choctaws Minor Mississippi Choctaws	1 91 101 107 117 151 155 164 165
Chickasaws By Blood New Born Chickasaws by Blood Minor Chickasaws by Blood Chickasaws by Marriage Chickasaw Freedmen	167 197 201 204 209
Cherokees By Blood Minor Cherokees by Blood Delaware Cherokees Cherokees by Marriage Cherokee Freedmen Minor Cherokee Freedmen	238 428 460 462 464 492
Creeks By Blood New Born Creeks by Blood Minor Creeks by Blood Creek Freedmen New Born Creek Freedmen Minor Creek Freedmen	497 559 568 572 607 613
Seminoles By Blood and Freedmen New Born Seminoles by Blood New Born Seminole Freedmen	616 633 635

It is wise to examine the data from the actual records that accompany the roll: Enrollment Cards, Application Jackets, and the Land Allotment Records.

The Four Treaties of 1866

 

Treaties of 1866 all signed in Fort Smith, Arkansas

Frequently, one hears many people make reference to the Treaty of 1866, and this is sometimes referred to as if there was one single treaty that covered all of the Five Tribes and their relation to the United States after the Civil War. All of the five tribes had signed treaties with the Confederates and all had units that had actually fought for the south during the Civil War.

As a result the Federal government told the Five Nations that all previous treaties were null and void and new treaties had to be signed with the United States, going forward. Three of the nations signed their owned individual treaty with the United States meanwhile, the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation signed the same treaty together.

. Of interest to the descendants of Freedmen from those nations - the people previously enslaved in those nations, one of the issues addressed in each of the treaties was the aboloshing black chattel slavery practiced in those tribes. 

Nation                                             Date Signed               Date Ratified

Seminole Nation                              March 21, 1866          July 19, 1866
Choctaw & Chickasaw Nations       April 28, 1866             June 28, 1866  
Cherokee Nation                              July 19, 1866             July 27, 1866

Creek Nation                                    June 14, 1866            July 19, 1866

Each treaty had their own language, addressing unique aspects of their relations with the Federal government. 


Portions of each treaty and the ending of slavery:
 
Cherokee Nation - Article 9 of the Cherokee Treaty of 1866 states:  
   Article 9 The Cherokee Nation having, voluntarily, in February, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, by an act of the national council, forever abolished slavery, hereby covenant and agree that never hereafter shall either slavery or involuntary servitude exist in their nation otherwise than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, in accordance with laws applicable to all the members of said tribe alike. They further agree that all freedmen who have been liberated by voluntary act of their former owners or by law, as well as all free colored persons who were in the country at the commencement of the rebellion, and are now residents therein, or who may return within six months, and their descendants, shall have all the rights of native Cherokees:  Provided, That owners of slaves so emancipated in the Cherokee Nation shall never receive any compensation or pay for the slaves so emancipated.

Choctaw & Chickasaw Nation - Article 3 of the treaty of 1866 states:
Article 2. The Choctaws and Chickasaws hereby covenant and agree that henceforth neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, otherwise than in punishment of crime whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, in accordance with laws applicable to all members of the particular nation, shall ever exist in said nations. 


Creek Nation - Article 2 of the Treaty of 1866 states:
The Creeks hereby covenant and agree that henceforth neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted in accordance with laws applicable to all members of said tribe, shall ever exist in said nation; and inasmuch as there are among the Creeks many persons of African descent, who have no interest in the soil, it is stipulated that hereafter these persons lawfully residing in said Creek country under their laws and usages, or who have been thus residing in said country, and may return within one year from the ratification of this treaty, and their descendants and such others of the same race as may be permitted by the laws of the said nation to settle within the limits of the jurisdiction of the Creek Nation as citizens [thereof,] shall have and enjoy all the rights and privileges of native citizens, including an equal interest in the soil and national funds, and the laws of the said nation shall be equally binding upon and give equal protection to all such persons, and all others, of whatsoever race or color, who may be adopted as citizens or members of said tribe.

Seminole Nation - Article 2 of the Treaty of 1866 states:
The Seminole Nation covenant that henceforth in said nation slavery shall not exist, nor involuntary servitude, except for and in punishment of crime, whereof the offending party shall first have been duly convicted in accordance with law, applicable to all the members of said nation. And inasmuch as there are among the Seminoles many persons of African descent and blood, who have no interest or property in the soil, and no recognized civil rights it is stipulated that hereafter these persons and their descendants, and such other of the same race as shall be permitted by said nation to settle there, shall have and enjoy all the rights of native citizens, and the laws of said nation shall be equally binding upon all persons of whatever race or color, who may be adopted as citizens or members of said tribe.

These are dates to remember, as they refer to the official time in which slavery ended in each nation. Many former slaveholders fought to keep their human chattel in bondage, and the years after the war were challenging to many of the freed people. However, by the mid 1880s a new life would take shape as the Freedmen of Indian Territory forged new lives on the Western Frontier.