Cato Sells

Cato Sells (October 6, 1859 – December 30, 1948) was a commissioner at the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1921.

Life and career He was born in Vinton, Iowa, on October 6, 1859. He lost his father when he was young. He entered Cornell College in 1875. In 1878 he read law with Charles Alvord Bishop and in 1880 was admitted to Iowa State Bar Association and began practice at La Porte City, Iowa.

In 1889 he moved to Vinton, Iowa, and served on the Iowa State Central Committee. In 1887 he was chairman of the committee and was a delegate to the 1888 Democratic National Convention. He was a delegate to the 1892 Democratic National Convention as secretary. In 1892 was he was elected as a trustee of the Iowa State College of Agriculture. In 1893 he was president of the Iowa Democratic State Convention.

He was a commissioner at the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1913 from 1921. In 1914 he banished books that taught anything concerning the Asian origins of Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

He died October 30, 1948, and was buried in the Cleburne Memorial Cemetery in Cleburne, Texas.

Legacy

Sells is the namesake of the town of Sells, Arizona.