Van Buren Press Crawford County, Arkansas November 26, 1881 NO MARRIAGE AT ALL Fort Smith Herald: It may be of interest to those who contemplate entering the state of matrimony, via the "Green", to know that there is no law, save the common law of marriage, governing the marriage of whites in the Indian Territory. The only laws of the United States or the Territory in existence in the Indian Territory, are those governing the marriage of Indians, or whites to Indians or vice versa. Hence, such a marriage as that of yesterday is about as much marriage as if a couple stood up together, and said "We're ours. Let's be man and wife." Some of the "green' uns" will come to grief, someday, when they are called upon to show their credentials as to what authority they have for living together as man and wife. We notice they skip out as soon as they have "jumped the broomstick". The next session of the legislature ought to pass a law making it a penitentiary offense for any person claiming official capacity to perform the marriage ceremony in Arkansas, going to the Indian Nation to perform such ceremony, contrary to the laws of Arkansas. The laws of the state have been notoriously violated by so-called preachers at Fort Smith, for a long time. Fran Alverson Warren e-mail: [email protected] 501-369-2703