Three Affidavits Relating to the Sale of Liquor to Native Americans in Oklahoma Territory. This item is unavailable.Three Affidavits Relating to the Sale of Liquor to Native Americans in Oklahoma Territory

Various Makers / 1862 - 1894 / Three Affidavits Relating to the Sale of Liquor to Native Americans in Oklahoma Territory (Bookshelf 6, 114975) 3 folded folio documents, partially printed, completed in manuscript. Overall condition if very good. All 3 documents docketed on verso. Caught Selling Whiskey to Native Americans in Oklahoma Territory Three legal documents executed in Oklahoma Territory in 1894 relating to illegal sales of whiskey to Native Americans. These three Oklahoma Territory documents (1893-94) present evidence of the federal ban on supplying alcohol to Native people, first codified in the Trade and Intercourse Acts (esp. 1834) and later in the U.S. Revised Statutes (e.g., 2139), which criminalized introducing or selling ardent spirits in Indian country. The policy was enforced by Indian agents, U.S. commissioners, and territorial courts and sought to curb exploitation, violence, and disorder linked to frontier liquor traffic and to assert federal control over Indian affairs. The present documents thus show how the prohibition was prosecuted locally via sworn complaints before U.S. commissioners and federal witness fees, specifically during Oklahoma s territorial transition when enforcement intensified against illicit whiskey traders. The first two affidavits are written on locally produced forms printed by the Guthrie Daily Leader, an Oklahoma newspaper published from 1893 to 1996. The third document, a voucher receipt, was printed by Hall & O'Donald Litho. Co. Printers, Topeka, Kansas. Affidavit recording the sworn statement by J.B. Lilly that on Oct. 1, 1894 at Lincoln County, one Tom Lincoln "in violation of the Revised statutes of the United States did unlawfully, willfully, maliciously and feloniously introduce & dispose of ardent spirits to the Indians without authority from the War Department." Signed by Lilly and by a commissioner of the court. Dated Oct. 9, 1894. Affidavit recording the sworn statement by W.H. Taylor that on April 10, 1893, at Pottawatomie County, one Charlie Starr did unlawfully "sell & disposed of whiskey to Indians under the charge of a Indian agent contrary to the statutes of the United States." Signed by W.H. Taylor on May 27, 1894. Voucher certifying J. Lilly was entitled to $1.50 in fees for serving as a witness for the United States in the charge against one Frank Wright for "selling whiskey to an Indian.".…