In our efforts to assist
researchers determine the origins of their ancestors we are providing a series
of maps from the 1896 survey of Indian Territory that was instrumental in the
Dawes Allotment process.
These maps will provide a visual aid for the researcher when they extract the place of residence of their Dawes Enrollee ancestors.
It is also beneficial to researchers to learn of the surrounding areas and communities where their ancestors lived, worked, worshipped and survived following their enslavement among the Five Slaveholding Tribes known as the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek (Muscogee) and Seminole Nations.
According to the book written by Kent Carter there was a great deal of competition for having the Dawes Commission locating Land Offices in a particular town. Many of the businessmen felt that the influx of hundreds and thousands of people coming into their town would allow them to make large sums of money.
Kirby Purdom, the treasurer of the Bank of the Chickasaw Nation, wrote Tams Bixby that the new hotel being built in Tishomingo could accommodate "the huge crowds that were expected when the land office opened." Tams Bixby's brother, George was suspected as an investor in the hotel, clearly creating a potential conflict of interest for Tams Bixby.
Source: Kent Carter; The Dawes Commission p 137