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Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington : Government Printing Office, 1904.
Be it enacted, &c. * * *
That the right to locate, construct, own, equip, operate, use, and maintain a railway and telegraph and telephone line or lines into, in, or through the Indian Territory, together with the right to take and condemn lands for right of way, depot grounds, terminals, and other railway purposes, in or through any lands held by any Indian tribe or nation, person, individual, or municipality in said Territory, or in or through any lands in said Territory which have been or may hereafter be allotted in severalty to any individual Indian or other person under any law or treaty, whether the same have or have not been conveyed to the allottee, with full power of alienation, is hereby granted to any railway company organized under the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory, which shall comply with this Act.
That the right of way of any railway company shall not exceed one hundred feet in width except where there are heavy cuts and fills, when one hundred feet additional may be taken on each side of said right of way; but lands additional and adjacent to said right of way may be taken and condemned by any railway company for station grounds, buildings, depots, side tracks, turnouts, or other railroad purposes not exceeding two hundred feet in width by a length of two thousand feet. That additional lands not exceeding forty acres at any one place may be taken by any railway company when necessary for yards, roundhouses, turntables, machine shops, water stations, and other railroad purposes. And when necessary for a good and sufficient water supply in the operation of any railroad, any such railway company shall have the right to take and condemn additional lands for reservoirs for water stations, and for such purpose shall have the right to impound surface water or build dams across any creek, draw. canyon, or stream, and shall have the right to connect the same by pipe line with the railroad and take the necessary grounds for such purposes; and any railway company shall have the right to change or straighten its line, reduce its grades or curves, and locate new stations and to take the lands and right of way necessary therefor under the provision of this Act.
That before any railroad shall be constructed or any lands taken or condemned for any of the purposes set forth in the preceding
section, full compensation for such right of way and all land taken and all damage done or to be done by the construction of the railroad, or the taking of any lands for railroad purposes, shall be made to the individual owner, occupant, or allottee of such lands, and to the tribe or nation through or in which the same is situated: Provided, That correct maps of the said line of railroad in sections of twenty-five miles each and of any lands taken under this Act, shall be filed in the Department of the Interior, and shall also be filed with the United States Indian agent for Indian Territory, and with the principal chief or governor of any tribe or nation through which the lines of railroad may be located or in which said lines are situated.
In case of the failure of any railway company to make amicable settlement with any individual owner, occupant, allottee, tribe, or nation for any right of way or lands or improvements sought to be appropriated or condemned under this Act, all compensation and damages to be paid to the dissenting individual owner, occupant, allottee, tribe or nation by reason of the appropriation and condemnation of said right of way, lands, or improvements shall be determined by the appraisement of three disinterested referees, to be appointed by the judge of the United States court, or other court of jurisdiction in the district where such lands are situated, on application of the corporation or other person or party in interest. Such referees, before entering upon the duties of their appointment, shall each take and subscribe, before competent authority, an oath that he will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of his appointment, which oaths, duly certified, shall be returned with the award of the referees to the clerk of the court by which they were appointed. The referees shall also find in their report the names of the person and persons, tribe, or nation to whom the damages are payable and the interest of each person, tribe, or nation in the award of damages. Before such referees shall proceed with the assessment of damages for any right of way or other lands condemned under this act, twenty days’ notice of the time when the same shall be condemned shall be given to all persons interested, by publication in some newspaper in general circulation nearest said property in the district where said right of way or said lands are situated, or by ten days’ personal notice to each person owning or having any interest in said lands or right of way: Provided, That such notice to any tribe or nation may be served on the principal chief or governor of the tribe. If the referees can not agree, then any two of them are authorized to and shall make the award. Any party to the proceedings who is dissatisfied with the award of the referees shall have the right, within ten days after the making of the award, to appeal, by original petition, to the United States court, or other court of competent jurisdiction, sitting at the place nearest and most convenient to the property sought to be taken, where the question of the damages occasioned by the taking of the lands in controversy shall be tried de novo, and the judgment rendered by the court shall be final and conclusive, subject, however, to appeal as in other cases.
When the award of damages is filed with the clerk of the court by the referees, the railway company shall deposit the amount of such award with the clerk of the court, to abide the judgment thereof, and shall then have the right to enter upon and take possession of the property sought to be condemned: Provided, That when the said railway company is not satisfied with the award, it shall have the right, before commencing construction, to abandon any portion of said right of way and adopt a new location, subject, however, as to such new location, to all the provisions of this Act. Each of the referees shall receive for his compensation the sum of four dollars per day while actually engaged in the appraisement of the property and the hearing of any matter submitted to them under this Act. Witnesses shall receive the fees and mileage allowed by law to witness[es] in courts of record within the districts where such lands are located. Costs,
including compensation of the referees, shall be made part of the ward or judgment and be paid by the railway company: Provided, That if any party or person other than the railway company shall appeal from any award, and the judgment of the court does not award such appealing party or person more than the referees awarded, all cost occasioned by such appeal shall be paid by such appealing party or person.
That where a railroad is constructed under the provisions of this Act there shall be paid by the railway company to the Secretary of the Interior, for the benefit of the particular tribe or nation through whose lands any such railroad may be constructed, an annual charge of fifteen dollars per mile for each mile of road constructed, the same to be paid so long as said lands shall be owned and occupied by such nation or tribe, which payment shall be in addition to the compensation otherwise provided herein; and the grants herein are made upon the condition that Congress hereby reserves the right to regulate the charges for freight and passengers on said railways and messages on all telegraph and telephone lines until a State government or governments shall exist in said Territory within the limits of which any railway shall be located; and then such State government or governments shall be authorized to fix and regulate the cost of transportation of persons and freights within their respective limits by such railways; but congress expressly reserves the right to fix and regulate at all times the cost of such transportation by said railways whenever such transportation shall extend from one State into another, or shall extend into more than one State; and that the railway companies shall carry the mail at such prices as Congress may by law provide; and until such rate is fixed by law the Postmaster-General may fix the rate of compensation.
That any railway company authorized to construct, own, or operate a railroad in said Territory desiring to cross or unite its tracks with any other railroad upon the grounds of such other railway company shall, after fifteen days’ notice in writing to such other railroad company, make application in writing to the judge of the United States court for the district in which it is proposed to make such crossing or connection for the appointment of three disinterested referees to determine the necessity, place, manner, and time of such crossing or connection. The provisions of section three of this act with respect to the condemnation of right of way through tribal or individual lands shall, except as in this section otherwise provided, apply to proceedings to acquire the right to cross or connect with another railroad. Upon the hearing of any such application to cross or connect with any other railroad, either party or the referees may call and examine witnesses in regard to the matter, and said referees shall have the same power to administer oaths to witnesses that is now possessed by United States commissioners in said Territory, and said referees shall, after such hearing and a personal examination of the locality where a crossing or connection is desired, determine whether there is a necessity for such crossing or not, and if so, the place thereof, whether it shall be over or under the existing railroad, or at grade, and in other respects the manner of such crossing and the terms upon which the same shall be made and maintained: Provided, That no crossing shall be made through the yards or over the switches or side tracks of any existing railroad if a crossing can be effected at any other place that is practicable. If either party shall be dissatisfied with the terms of the order made by said referees it may appeal to the United States court of the Indian Territory for the district wherein such crossing or connection is sought to be made in the same manner as as appeals are allowed from a judgment of a United States commissioner to said court, and said appeal and all subsequent proceedings shall only affect the amount of compensation, if any, and other terms of crossing fixed
by said referees, but shall not delay the making of said crossing or connection: Provided, That the corporation desiring such crossing or connection shall deposit with the clerk of the court the amount of compensation, if any is fixed by said referees, and shall execute and file with said clerk a bond of sufficient security, to be approved by the court or a judge thereof in vacation, to pay all damages and comply with all terms that may be adjudged by the court. Any railway company which shall violate or evade any of the provisions of this section shall forfeit for every such offense, to the person, company, or corporation injured thereby, three times the actual damages sustained by the party aggrieved.
That when in any case two or more railroads crossing each other at a common grade shall, by a system of interlocking or automatic signals, or by any works or fixtures to be erected by them, render it safe for engines and trains to pass over such crossings without stopping, and such interlocking or automatic signals or works or fixtures shall be approved by the Interstate Commerce Commissioners, then, in that case, it is hereby made lawful for the engines and trains of such railroad or railroads to pass over such crossing without stopping, any law or the provision of any law to the contrary notwithstanding; and when two or more railroads cross each other at a common grade, either of such roads may apply to the Interstate Commerce Commissioners for permission to introduce upon both of said railroads some system of interlocking or automatic signals or works or fixtures rendering it safe for engines and trains to pass over such crossings without stopping, and it shall be the duty of said Interstate Commerce Commissioners, if the system of works and fixtures which it is proposed to erect by said company are, in the opinion of the Commission, sufficient and proper, to grant such permission.
That any railroad company which has obtained permission to introduce a system of interlocking or automatic signals at its crossing at a common grade with any other railroad, as provided in the last section, may, after thirty days’ notice, in writing, to such other railroad company, introduce and erect such interlocking or automatic signals or fixtures; and if such railroad company, after such notification, refuses to join with the railroad company giving such notice in the construction of such works or fixtures, it shall be lawful for said company to enter upon the right of way and tracks of such second company, in such manner as to not unnecessarily impede the operation of such road, and erect such works and fixtures, and may recover in any action at law from such second company one-half of the total cost of erecting and maintaining such interlocking or automatic signals or works or fixtures on both of said roads.
That all mortgages executed by any railway company conveying any portion of its railway, with its franchises, that may be constructed in said Indian Territory, shall be recorded in the Department of the Interior, and the record thereof shall be evidence and notice of their execution, and shall convey all rights, franchises, and property of said company as therein expressed.
That Congress hereby reserves the right at any time to alter, amend, or repeal this Act, or any portion thereof.
That any railway company which has heretofore acquired, or may hereafter acquire, under any other Act of Congress, a railroad right of way in Indian Territory may, in the manner herein prescribed, obtain any or all of the benefits and advantages of this Act, and in such event shall become subject to all the requirements and responsibilities imposed by this Act upon railroad companies acquiring a right of way hereunder. And where the time for the completion of a railroad in Indian Territory under any Act granting a right of way therefor has expired, or shall hereafter expire, in advance of the construction of
such railroad, or of any part thereof, the Secretary of the Interior may, upon good cause shown, extend the time for the completion of such railroad, or of any part thereof, for a time not exceeding two years from the date of such extension.
That an Act entitled “An Act to provide for the acquiring of rights of way by railroad companies through Indian reservations, Indian lands, and Indian allotments, and for other purposes,” approved March second, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, so far as it applies to the Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory, and all other Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed: Provided, That such repeal shall not affect any railroad company whose railroad is now actually being constructed, or any rights which have already accrued; but such railroads may be completed and such rights enforced in the manner provided by the laws under which such construction was commenced or under which such rights accrued: And provided further, That the provisions of this Act shall apply also to the Osages’ Reservation and other Indian reservations and allotted Indian lands in the Territory of Oklahoma, and all judicial proceedings herein authorized, may be commenced and prosecuted in the courts of said Oklahoma Territory which may now or hereafter exercise jurisdiction within said reservations or allotted lands. [February 28, 1902.]
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