INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES. Vol. 1, Laws

Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington : Government Printing Office, 1904.

[Occupied by Kalapuya, Clakamas, Cow Creek, Lakmint, Mary’s Run, Molala, Nestucca, Rogue River, Santiam, Shasta, Tumwater, Umqua, Wapato, and Yamhill; area, 40 ¾ square miles; treaties of January 20, 1855, and December 31, 1855.]

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, June 30, 1857.

Sir: I have the honor to submit to you, herewith, a report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs recommending, and a report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office concurring in the recommendation that the lands embraced in townships 5 and 6 south, of range 8 west, and parts of townships 5 and 6 south, of range 7 west, Willamette district, Oregon, as indicated in the accompanying plat, be withdrawn from sale and entry, and established as an Indian reservation for the colonization of Indian tribes in Oregon, and particularly for the Williamette tribes, parties to treaty of January, 1855.

I respectfully recommend that the proposed reservation be established, and have accordingly prepared a form of indorsement on the plat of the same for your signature, in case the recommendation is approved.

The “Coast Reservation” alluded to in some of the accompanying papers was established by order of your predecessor, November, 1855.

Townships 5 and 6 south, of range 8 west, and parts of townships 5 and 6 south, of range 7 west, as indicated hereon by red lines, are hereby withdrawn from sale and entry and set apart as a reservation for Indian purposes till otherwise ordered.

I would respectfully ask that the President withdraw for eighteen months all that portion of the country in the State of Oregon, situated between the forty-second and forty-fourth parallels of latitude, and from one hundred and seventeen to one hundred and twenty degrees of longitude, excepting so much as may have been or may be granted for military or wagon-road purposes, with a view of selecting an Indian reservation, on which to consolidate Indians east of the Cascade Mountains in said State, excepting those who may select lands in severalty from the reservation or reservations on which they are now located, and the President instruct me to proceed at the earliest practical time to select such reservation.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS,
Washington, D. C., March 10, 1871.

SIR: I have the honor to report that I am in receipt of a letter bearing date the 8th instant, from A. B. Meacham, esq., superintendent of Indian affairs in the State of Oregon, asking that the portion of that State lying between the forty-second and forty-fourth parallels of north latitude and the one hundred and seventeenth and the one hundred and twentieth degrees of west longitude (excepting so much thereof as may have been or may hereafter be granted for military or wagon-road purposes) be withdrawn from market as public lands, for the space of eighteen months, with a view to the selection of a reservation upon which to collect all the Indians in that State east of the Cascade Mountains, except those who may select lands in severalty upon the reservation on which they are now located.

The suggestion of Superintendent Meacham is concurred in, and I respectfully recommend that the President be requested to issue an Executive order withdrawing the tract of country described from market as public lands, for the period and purpose above indicated, and that this office be authorized to instruct the superintendent to proceed to select such reservation without unnecessary delay.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. R. CLUM, Acting Commissioner.

The recommendation of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs contained in his accompanying report has my approval, and it is respectfully submitted to the President with the request that he direct the temporary withdrawal from market of the lands in Oregon as therein designated, with the exceptions stated, for the purpose of establishing a reservation for the Indians in that State.

I hereby direct the withdrawal of the lands referred to from market as public lands for the period of time and for the purpose indicated, as recommended by the Secretary of the Interior.

OFFICE INDIAN AFFAIRS,
Washington, September 4, 1872.

SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith a report, dated the 22d ultimo (and accompanying map), received from T. B. Odeneal, esq., superintendent Indian affairs for Oregon, reciting the action taken by him relative to the establishment of a proposed reservation on the headwaters of Malheur River, in that State, for the Snake or Piute Indians, under instructions contained in letter to him from this office, dated the 6th of July last.

Superintendent Odeneal defines the boundaries of the tract of country selected by him for the proposed reservation as follows:

“Beginning at the mouth of the North Fork of the Malheur River; thence up said North Fork, including the waters thereof, to Castle Rock; thence in a northwesterly direction to Strawberry Butte; thence to Soda Spring, on the Canyon City and Camp Harney road; thence down Silvies River to Malheur Lake; thence east to the South Fork of the Malheur River; thence down said South Fork, including the waters thereof, to the place of beginning (to be known as Malheur Reservation), including all lands within said boundaries, excepting so much thereof as may have been granted for military or wagon-road purposes.”

I respectfully recommend that the tract of country embraced within the foregoing limits be set apart and reserved as an Indian reservation, and that the President be requested to issue an Executive order accordingly.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, D. C., September 12, 1872.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a communication, dated the 4th instant, from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, inclosing a report (with map) of T. B. Odeneal, superintendent of Indian affairs for Oregon, and recommending that a reservation on the headwaters of the Malheur River, in the State of Oregon, the boundaries of which are set forth in the Commissioner“s letter, be established for the Snake or Piute Indians.

The recommendation of the Commissioner meets with the approval of this Department, and I respectfully request that the President direct the same to be carried into effect.

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,
W. H. SMITH, Acting Secretary.

Let the lands which are fully described in the accompanying letter of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs be set apart as a reservation for the Snake or Piute Indians, as recommended in the letter of the Secretary of the Interior of this date.

It is hereby ordered that the tract of country in Oregon embraced within the following-described boundaries, viz: Commencing at a point on the Malheur River where the range line between ranges 39 and 40 east of the Willamette meridian intersects the same; thence

north, on said range line, to a point due east of Strawberry Butte; thence west to Strawberry Butte; thence southeastwardly to Castle Rock; thence to the west bank of the North Fork of the Malheur River; thence down and with the said west bank to the Malheur River; thence along and with the Malheur River to the place of beginning, be, and the same hereby is, withdrawn from sale or settlement, except such lands within said boundaries as have passed or may pass to The Dalles Military Road Company, under act of Congress approved February 27, 1867 (vol. 14, p. 409), and to the Willamette Valley and Cascade Mountain Military Road Company, under act of Congress approved July 5, 1866 (vol. 14, p. 89), and the same set apart as an addition to the Malheur Indian Reservation, set apart by Executive order of September 12, 1872.

It is hereby ordered that the tract of country in Oregon lying within the following-described boundaries, viz: Beginning at a point on the right bank of the Malheur River where the range line between ranges 38 and 39 east of the Willamette meridian intersects the same; thence north on said range line to a point due east of the summit of Castle Rock; thence due west to the summit of Castle Rock; thence in a northwesterly direction to Strawberry Butte; thence to Soda Spring, on the Canyon City and Camp Harney road; thence down Silvies Creek to Malheur Lake; thence due east to the right bank of the South Fork of Malheur River; thence down said right bank of the South Fork to the Malheur River; thence down the right bank of the Malheur River to the place of beginning, except such lands within these limits as have passed or may pass to The Dalles Military Road on the north, and the Willamette Valley and Cascade Mountain Military Road on the south, be, and the same is hereby, withdrawn from sale and set apart for the use and occupancy of the Piute and Snake Indians, to be known as the Malheur Indian Reservation; and that portion of country set apart by Executive order of May 15, 1875, not embraced in the limits of the above-described tract of country, is hereby restored to the public domain.

The Executive order dated December 5, 1872, creating the “Fort Harney military reservation,” in Oregon, is hereby canceled, and the lands embraced therein and as shown on the accompanying plat are hereby made subject to the Executive order dated September 12, 1872, establishing the Malheur Indian Reservation. The Secretary of the Interior will cause the same to be noted in the General Land Office.

It is hereby ordered that all that part of the Malheur Indian Reservation, in the State of Oregon (set apart by Executive orders dated March 14, 1871, September 12, 1872, May 15, 1875, and January 28, 1876), lying and being south of the fourth standard parallel south, except a tract of 320 acres, being the north half of the late military post reserve of Camp Harney, as established by Executive order of December 5, 1872 (which order was canceled by Executive order dated July 23, 1880, whereby the lands embraced within said reserve were made and proclaimed subject to Executive order dated September 12,

1872, establishing the boundaries of the Malheur Indian Reservation), and all that part thereof lying and being north of said fourth standard parallel and west of the range line (when extended) between ranges 33 and 34 east of the Willamette meridian, be, and the same is hereby, restored to the public domain.

It is hereby ordered that the Malheur Indian Reservation, in the State of Oregon, except a tract of 320 acres described in an Executive order dated September 13, 1882, as “the north half of the late military post reserve of Camp Harney, as established by Executive order of December 5, 1872,” be, and the same is hereby, restored to the public domain, the same being no longer required for the purposes for which it was set apart.

It is hereby ordered that so much of the Malheur Indian Reservation, in the State of Oregon (originally reserved by Executive order of September 12, 1872), as has not heretofore been restored to the public domain, the same being situate in fractional sections 7, 8, 17, 18, and 19, township 22 south, range 32 ½ east, Willamette meridian, Oregon, area 317.65 acres, and comprising the north half of what is locally known as the old Camp Harney military reservation (announced by Executive order of December 5, 1872, which Executive order was subsequently canceled by Executive order of July 23, 1880), be, and the same is hereby, restored to the public domain.

[Occupied by Alsea, Coquille, Kusan, Kwatami, Rogue River, Skoton, Shasta, Sainstkea, Siuslaw, Tututin, Umpqua, and thirteen others; established by unratified treaty, August 11, 1855, and acts of March 3, 1875 (18 Stat., 446), and August 15, 1894 (28 Stat., 323).]

SIR: I herewith submit for your approval a proposed reservation for Indians on the coast of Oregon Territory, recommended by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and submitted to the Department by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, for the procurement of your order on the subject, in letter of the 10th September last.

Before submitting the matter to you I desire to have a more full report of the subject from the Indian Office, and the letter of the head of that bureau of the 29th ultimo (Report Book 9, page 54), having been received and considered, I see no objection to the conditional reservation asked for, “subject to future curtailment, if found proper,” or entire release thereof, should Congress not sanction the object rendering this withdrawal of the land from white settlement at this time advisable.

A plat marked A, and indicating the boundaries of the reservation, accompanies the papers, and has prepared thereon the necessary order for your signature, should you think fit to sanction the recommendation.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. McCLELLAND, Secretary.

The reservation of the land within denoted by blue-shaded lines is hereby made for the purposes indicated in letter of the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the 10th September last and letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 8th November, 1855.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, D. C., December 20, 1865.

SIR: Pursuant to a recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior of the 8th of November, 1855, the President of the United States, by an Executive order dated the 9th of that month set apart conditionally the tract of country on the coast of Oregon, extending from Cape Lookout on the north to a point below Cape Perpetua on the south, as exhibited in blue on the accompanying map, for an Indian reservation.

It is represented by the Oregon delegation in Congress that this reservation is unnecessarily large, and that by reason of its access to the harbor of Aquina Bay by the numerous settlers in the fertile and productive valley of the Willamette is prevented. They ask for a curtailment of this reservation, so as to secure to the inhabitants of the Willamette Valley the much-needed access to the coast, and for this purpose propose that a small and rugged portion of the reservation in the vicinity of Aquina Bay, not occupied or desired by the Indians, shall be released and thrown open to occupation and use by the whites.

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs is of the opinion that the interests of the citizens of Oregon will be promoted by the opening of a port of entry at Aquina Bay, and that their interest is paramount in importance to that of the Indians located in that vicinity. Concurring in the views expressed by the Hon. Messrs. Nesmith, Williams, and Henderson, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, I respectfully recommend that an order be made by you releasing from reservation for Indian purposes and restoring to public use the portion of the said reservation bounded on the accompanying map by double red lines, and described in the communication of the Oregon delegation as follows, viz: Commencing at a point two miles south of the Siletz Agency; thence west to the Pacific Ocean; thence south along said ocean to the mouth of the Alsea River; thence up said river to the eastern boundary of the reservation; thence north along said eastern boundary to a point due east of the place of beginning; thence west to the place of beginning.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAS. HARLAN, Secretary.

The recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior is approved, and the tract of land within described will be released from reservation and thrown open to occupancy and used by the citizens as other public land.

[Occupied by Cayuse, Umatilla, and Wallawalla tribes; area, 124 ¾ square miles; established by treaty June 9, 1855, and acts of August 5, 1882 (22 Stat., 297), March 3, 1885 (23 Stat., 341), and section 8, October 17, 1888 (25 Stat., 559).]

Whereas by the act of March 3, 1885 (23 Stat., 340), entitled “An act providing for allotment of lands in severalty to the Indians resid-

ing upon the Umatilla Reservation, in the State of Oregon, and granting patents therefor, and for other purposes,” it is provided that &3147;before any allotments are made, a Commission of three disinterested persons to be appointed by the President shall go upon said reservation and ascertain as near as may be the number of Indians who will remain on said reservation, and who shall be entitled to take lands in severalty thereon, and the amount of land required to make the allotments; and thereupon said Commission shall determine and set apart so much of said reservation as shall be necessary to supply agricultural lands for allotments in severalty, together with sufficient pasture and timber lands for their use, and six hundred and forty acres for an industrial farm and school, not exceeding one hundred and twenty thousand acres in the aggregate for all purposes; and the same shall be in as compact a form as possible. Said Commission shall report to the Secretary of the Interior the number and classes of persons entitled to allotments, as near as they may be able to, the metes and bounds of the tract by them selected for said Indians, and designate the particular tract selected for an industrial farm and school; and if the same shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, the said tract shall thereafter constitute the reservation for said Indians, and within which the allotments herein provided for shall be made;” and

Whereas in pursuance of this provision of law, a Commission was appointed by the President on August 13, 1887, which Commission proceeded under instructions to the said Umatilla Reservation, secured the consent of the Indians to the provisions of the law, took the required census of the Indians, and selected a tract for a diminished reservation containing in the aggregate 119,364 acres, of which, according to the census of the Indians on the reservation and the provisions of the law for making allotments, 74,800 acres were required for allotment to the Indians for agricultural purposes; and

Whereas upon surveying said lands, it was found and reported that the diminished reservation so selected by the commission and reported to the Department contained about 10,000 acres less of agricultural lands than was required to make allotments to the Indians as provided in the law; whereupon it became necessary to appoint a second Commission, to readjust the boundaries for the diminished reservation, so as to bring within their limits a sufficient quantity of agricultural land to meet the requirements of the law, which second Commission, appointed by the President on December 22, 1887, made its report, describing the metes and bounds of the tract of land selected and defined by it, which, upon examination of said report and the map accompanying it, was found to be a tract of land so irregular in its shape and outline, as would make it difficult for the Indians living upon it and the white settlers occupying lands adjoining it on the outside to know certainly and exactly the location of the boundaries of the diminished reservation; and in said report it is stated by the Commission that it was not able to include as much timber land as was thought to be necessary within the diminished reservation, without exceeding the limit of its area as fixed by the law, and that while the Indians are some better satisfied with the tract as selected and defined by it for the diminished reservation than they were with the tract selected and defined by the former Commission, there remained considerable dissatisfaction because certain mountain and timber lands lying in the eastern part of the existing reservation were not included within the boundaries of the tract selected for the diminished reservation; and,

Whereas in view of the facts as thus shown, it was deemed necessary by the Department to submit the matter to Congress and to request that the act of March 3, 1885, be so amended as to authorize and empower the Secretary of the Interior to select, prescribe and define a tract of land for the diminished reservation which will contain a sufficient quantity of land to meet the needs and desires of the Indians and

be in such regular shape in outline as that its boundaries may be certainly known; and

Whereas it is provided in the eighth section of the act of October 17, 1888 (Public No. 320), amending the act entitled “An act providing for allotment of lands in severalty to the Indians residing upon the Umatilla Reservation in the State of Oregon, and granting patents therefor, and for other purposes, approved March 3, 1885” (23 Stat., 341), that “o;the Secretary of the Interior shall set apart such further quantity of land of the existing Umatilla Reservation, in addition to the one hundred and twenty thousand acres thereof, required by said act to be selected, designated, and reserved for the uses and purposes of said Indians, as therein provided, as shall enable him to fix, define, and establish the metes and bounds of said reserved tract in a satisfactory manner, and to include therein such portions as he may deem advisable of certain lands in the eastern part of the reservation, which the Indians desire shall be reserved for them; and the said Secretary is authorized by order to establish such diminished reservation accordingly; and in all other respects said act shall continue and remain in force.”

Now, therefore, it is hereby ordered, that so much of the existing Umatilla Indian Reservation in the State of Oregon, as lies within the following-described metes and bounds, is hereby declared to be, and is, established as the diminished reservation required by the act of March 3, 1885, as amended by the act of October 17, 1888, to be selected and set apart to constitute the reservation for the confederated bands of Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Umatilla Indians for the purposes specified in the said act of March 3, 1885:

Beginning at the quarter-section corner of the west boundary of section 6, township 2 north, range 33 east; thence south on the township line to the southwest corner of section 31, township 1 north, range 33 east; thence west on the base line to the northwest corner of township 1 south, range 33 east; thence south on the township line to the southwest corner of section 6, township 1 south, range 33 east; thence east on said section line between sections 6 and 7, 5 and 8, 4 and 9, 3 and 10, 2 and 11, 1 and 12, to the southeast corner of section 1, township 1 south, range 33 east; thence north on the range line to the northeast corner of said township 1 south, range 33 east, on the base line; thence west on the base line to the southeast corner of township 1 north, range 33 east; thence north on the township line to the southwest corner of section 7, township 1 north, range 34 east; thence east on the section lines between sections 7 and 18, 8 and 17, 9 and 16, 10 and 15, 11 and 14, 12 and 13, township 1 north, range 34 east, and sections 7 and 18, 8 and 17, 9 and 16, 10 and 15, 11 and 14, township 1 north, range 35 east, to the present east boundary of the original Umatilla Reservation; thence north 20 degrees east along said boundary to the headwaters of the south fork of Wild Horse Creek or the northeast corner of the original Umatilla Reservation; thence down the middle of Wild Horse Creek to the point where said creek is intersected by the north line of section 32, township 4 north, range 35 east; thence west on a line between sections 29 and 32, 30 and 31, of township 4 north, range 35 east, and between sections 25 and 36 of township 4 north, range 34 east, to the northwest corner of section 36, township 4 north, range 34 east; thence south on the west boundary of said section 36 to the southwest corner thereof; thence west on the township line to the northwest corner of section 2, township 3 north, range 34 east; thence south on the west boundary of said section 2 to the southwest corner thereof; thence west on the section line to the quarter-section corner between sections 3 and 10 of said township 3 north, range 34 east; thence south through the middle of section 10 to the quarter-section corner on the south boundary thereof; thence west on the line between sections 10 and 15

and 9 and 16 to the northwest corner of section 16; thence south on the section line between sections 16 and 17, 20 and 21, to the quarter-section corner on the line between sections 20 and 21; thence west to the center of section 20; thence south to the quarter-section corner on the line between sections 20 and 29; thence west on the section line between sections 20 and 29, 19 and 30, to the northwest corner of section 30, in said township 3 north, range 34 east; thence south on the range line to the northwest corner of section 31 of said township; thence west between sections 25 and 36 of township 3 north, range 33 east, to the northwest corner of section 36; thence south on the section line to the southwest corner of section 36, township 3 north, range 33 east; thence west on the township line to the northwest corner of section 5, township 2 north, range 33 east; thence south between sections 5 and 6 to the quarter-section corner between sections 5 and 6; thence west through the middle of section 6 to the place of beginning.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
December 4, 1888.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Office of Indian Affairs, June 9, 1873.

The above diagram is intended to show a proposed reservation for the roaming Nez Percé Indians in the Wallowa Valley, in the State of Oregon. Said proposed reservation is indicated on the diagram by red lines, and is described as follows, viz:

Commencing at the right bank of the mouth of Grande Ronde River; thence up Snake River to a point due east of the southeast corner of township No. 1, south of the base line of the surveys in Oregon, in range No. 46 east of the Willamette meridian; thence from said point due west to the West Fork of the Wallowa River; thence down said West Fork to its junction with the Wallowa River; thence down said river to its confluence with the Grande Ronde River; thence down the last-named river to the place of beginning.

I respectfully recommend that the President be requested to order that the lands comprised within the above-described limits be withheld from entry and settlement as public lands, and that the same be set apart as an Indian reservation, as indicated in my report to the Department of this date.

Respectfully presented to the President, with the recommendation that he make the order above proposed by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

It is hereby ordered that the tract of country above described be withheld from entry and settlement as public lands, and that the same be set apart as a reservation for the roaming Nez Percé Indians, as recommended by the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian affairs.

It is hereby ordered that the order dated June 16, 1873, withdrawing from sale and settlement and setting apart the Wallowa Valley, in Oregon, described as follows: Commencing at the right bank of the mouth of Grand Ronde River; thence up Snake River to a point due east of the southeast corner of township No. 1 south of the base line of the surveys in Oregon, in range No. 46 east of the Willamette meridian; thence from said point due west to the west fork of the Wallowa River; thence down said west fork to its junction with the Wallowa River; thence down said river to its confluence with the Grande Ronde River; thence down the last-named river to the place of beginning, as an Indian reservation, is hereby revoked and annulled; and the said described tract of country is hereby restored to the public domain.

INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES

Vol. I, Laws (Compiled to December 1, 1902)

PART III.—EXECUTIVE ORDERS RELATING TO INDIAN RESERVES.
Arizona | California | Colorado | Idaho | Indian Territory | Iowa | Kansas | Michigan | Minnesota | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Mexico | North Dakota | Oklahoma | Oregon | South Dakota | Utah | Washington | Wisconsin | Wyoming

OREGON

Grande Ronde Reserve.

Malheur Reserve.

Siletz (originally known as Coast) Reserve.

Umatilla Reserve.

Wallowa Valley Reserve.