A MEMORjAL asking f o r the removal of Benjiman F. Hackett us United States Marshal f o r the Central D i s t r i c t o f the jndian Terri to ry.

0

TO THE PRESjDENT OF THE UNj TED STATES:

Your memoria l i s t , the General Council of the Choc-

taw Nation, in regular s e s s i o n assembled, at Tushka Homrna, the

Capital of the Choctaw Nation, r e s p e c t f u l l y represents :

That i t i s composed of Senators and members of the House o f

Representat ives , e l e c t e d by the s u f f r a g e s of the Choctaw p e o p l e ;

That the ent i re Choctaw Nation, with the exception of a small

area, c emprises the Central Judic ia l D i s t r i c t of the jndian

Terri to ry;

That Benjiman F, Hackett i s the United States Marshal f o r

the Central Judic ia l D i s t r i c t of the jndian T e r r i t o r y ;

That the conduct o f United States Marshal Hackett , and

cer ta in of h i s subordinates throughout the Choctaw Nation, f o r

the past several months, and upon the o c cas i on o f the recent

assembling o f the General Council of the Choctaw Nation was and i s

such as t o convince the Choctaw peop le that he i s unworthy o f

the high o f f ice he holds . lie openly co-operated wi th one o f

the contending f a c t i o n s in the recent contes t f o r Pr inc ipal

Ch ie f , by permitt ing armed and lawless men to take and ho ld pos -

sess ion o f tfe Capitol bui ld inga and exclude therefrom

f o r an e n t i r e week, r egu lar ly e l e c t e d members o f Council and other

tf f i c e r s . When appealed to , he stated openly that he woul d no t

remove such armed and lawless men frcm the Cap i tol ?. bui ld ing

or oermi t i t to be done; thus causing an expensive and vexat ious

de lay , in the regular business o f the Counci l , of an ent i re week,

and n e c e s s i t a t i n g a d e t a i l o f United States troops t 0 dispel the

anarchy that p reva i l ed . A f t e r the Capitol bu i ld ing had been so

. -enr many cTSys, he approached the present held and c o n t r o l l e d i o i many acy , .

Princ ipal C h i e f , Hon. Green McCurtain, and asked him to mee the

contending candidate , Thomas W. Hunter, f o r a conference* He

came personally with Hunter to the hote l of Governor McCurtain

ana, in h is presence , Hunter made a p r o p o s i t i o n that he would

permit the Council to enter the Capitol bu i ld ing and count the

vote f o r Pr inc ipal C h i e f , wi thout i n t e r r u p t i o n i f his- (McCurtain)

would agree to d i v i d e the patronage inc ident t 0 the o f f i c e .

A f t e r the r e j e c t i o n o f the p r o p o s i t i o n by Governor McCurtain,

the same armed and lawless men held contro l o f the Capitol b u i l d -

ing as t h e r e t o f o r e , unt i l the United States troops a r r i ved

and c leared the building- and premises o f a l l armed men. A f t e r

the a r r i v a l of the troops Marshal Hackett man tain ed that the p o s -

sess ion o f the Capitol building should not be i n t e r f e r e d with,

and he and h i s deput ies r e t i r e d from the Capitol grounds on ly

a f t e r having been s p e c i f i c a l l y requested so to do, by the com-

m an d in g o f f i c e r ,

The Choc taws have ever reposed the greates t conf idence in

the government o f the Uni ted S ta tes , and r e s p e c t f o r iits repre -

s e n t a t i v e s , but they b e l i e v e Marshal Hackett t 0 be a b i t t e r

par t i san , pre judiced and u n f a i r , and not impelled by a des i re t o

f a i t h f u l l y and impar t ia l l y d ischarge the dut i es o f h i s hitfi o f -

f i c e . inasmuch as the Choctaw people are the wards of the gov -

ernment of the Unitred S ta tes , and c o n s t i t u t e a large proport ion

of thfls populat ion and own a large proport ion o f the property o f

t t e Central Judic ia l D i s t r i c t of Milne jndian T e r r i t o r y

with which Marshal Hackett i s connected , they f e e l i t not unreason,

able, t o ask that the representat ives of the government o f the

United States r e f ra in f r o * ths e x e r c i s e of t h e i r o f f i c i a l

power and i n f l u e n c e e i t h e r f o r o r against any of the f a c t i o n s

o f the Choctaw government. i-^i-nv and earnest ly request

We have, t h e r e f o r e , the r e s p e c t i u l l y

3 • f st-% j | ™ • • , v ^

that Benjiman F. Hackett, ; 6'e removed from the o f f i c e o f Uni ted 1 «f.- , . /

States Marshal f o r the Central D i s t r i c t o f the jndiajv

T e r r i t o r y ; and that man be appointed t o that h i^ i position.;

Who w i l l e x e r c i s e the ddt ied of h i ^ o d T f i c e , as th e r epresenta t ive ^ ' , j , > ' .

of the government o f the United Stages, f ai rly {^impartial 1 z i j I • y^J? ' j

with j u s t i c e to a l l . / / , 0'V / ^ j .

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