The books CHEROKEE BY BLOOD are abstracts of the actual land board hearings in the early 1900s set up by the federal government. They invited anyone who could prove grandma/grandpa was Indian to appear before the board & they would get free land. Lawyers all over the south were offering to sign up anyone for $5 a head to prove that grandma was Indian. Of course, everyone was trying to get something free. The hearings got so out-of-hand that they were closed. Most people had no Indian ancestry. The original records are stored at Ft Worth TX branch archives & copies are at most of the other branch archives on film. Linda McCain Stansell