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{
    "localId": "7268707",
    "label": "Letter from George Cortelyou, Secretary to the President to Secretary of the Interior E. A. Hitchcock",
    "core": "doc",
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    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7268707"
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{
    "id": "7268707",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7268707",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Letter from George Cortelyou, Secretary to the President to Secretary of the Interior E. A. Hitchcock",
    "description": "This item includes a letter that encloses correspondence from Robert Owen, Attorney for the Eastern Cherokees, Senator Cockrell, and Senator Quay regarding a contract executed by T.M. Buffington, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7268707",
    "collections": [
        "Papers of Ethan Allen Hitchcock",
        "Communications with the Executive Department"
    ],
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{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7268707",
    "naId": 7268707,
    "levelOfDescription": "item",
    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 19,
            "logicalDate": "1903-01-19",
            "month": 1,
            "year": 1903
        }
    ],
    "recordType": "description",
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{
    "seq": 3,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/7/2687/7268707/content/arcmedia/dc-metro/HITCH/ud-8300-b/Box-1/6850597/HD1-70708975_2010_004.jpg",
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    "ocrText": "-3-\nThe Pres ident.\nThe Presidant\nSmith, Springer and Thurston, on November lst., 1902, of which the\ntefore\nthe\nSolloitor\nGeneral\nCouncil was kept in ignorance.\n1903\nThis contract was afterwards submitted to the Secretary of the\nInterior for approval. The Eastern Cherokees protested against\nit showing that Chief Buffington was forbidden by the Cherokee\nlaw to involve the Nation in a law suit or contract except when\nexpressly authorized by the National Council, also showing that\nthe authority to bring suit in this particular case or to contract\nwith ett torneys in relation thereto had been refused by the Nation-\nal Council. We showed moreover that Chief Buffington had in April,\nhearing\n1901, made a contract in this very case after President McKinley\nhad disapproved an Act proposing to give the Chief such authority.\nn Upon your request given General M. .C. Butler in December last\nGeneral\nand\nthe Secretary of the Interior permitted us to present to him our\nthe\nprotest against the Springer contract and he declined to approve\nthe Springer contract. At that hearing, on or about December the\n18th. 1902, we advised the Secretary of the Interior that the House\nof Representatives had requested an opinion of the Department of\nour\nJustice and that we would argue the law of the case in that De-\ntionl\nCouneil\npartment .\nWe are informed and believethe Secretary suggested to the Attor-\nney General that an answer to the House Resolution was inexpedient\nbecause the case should be sent to the Courts.\nYour request of the Attorney General for an opinion and a precis\nof the case, with the suggestion that you desired exact justice\nshould be done our people, was of vital importance to our rights."
}