Thanks! I'm trying to read up on all the American history I missed out on, and this is very useful. - Heather http://surgery.uchicago.edu/hblair/ On Sun, 8 May 2005, James Johnston wrote: > When the US Gov't signed the "Dancing Rabbit Creek Treaty" with the Coctaws > in the early 1830s (I think--could be 1820s late) in Mississippi (or maybe it > was Alabama, I'm not going to look it up tonight) the USG gave warrants or > certificates to individual members of the Choctaw who didn't want to go with > the tribe to OK, which were redeemable with US G land anywhere. These land > warrants were fungible, ie they could be sold and anyone could redeem them. > So white people bought these certificates and used them to redeem Gov't land > that they were buying in Searcy County and elsewhere. I would note that > there were middlemen who bought the certificates from the Choctaw and sold > them on. Maybe the Choctaw Certificates were sold several times before they > were actually redeemed. With land selling at a dollar or a dollar and a > quarter, if one could get a 160 acre certificate for $75, he could do well > and save some money. (I have no idea how much Choctaw Certificates were > selling for.) > > JJJ > > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > >