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Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington : Government Printing Office, 1904.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, and they are hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of paying the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and fulfilling treaty stipulations with the various Indian tribes, namely:
That the Secretary of the Interior pay to the confederated Tribes of Wea, Peoria, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw Indians, per capita, all moneys now held in trust for them by the United States, and all interest due thereon to date of payment:Provided, That before such per capita payments shall be made the suit now pending in the court of Claims against said tribe by the Citizen, Wea, Peoria, Kankaskia and Piankeshaw Indians, under authority of the act of March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, shall be settled out of said funds in accordance with final judgment or decree, or compromise judgment or decree, that may be rendered in said suit: And provided further, That any bonds in which any of the funds of said confederated tribes are now invested, and which are held by the United States in trust, shall, upon the approval of this act, become the property of the United States.
And leases made by the members of the said Confederated tribes of Indians of mineral lands, for mining purposes, since the selection of their undivided allotments and subsequent to their becoming citizens of the United States, are declared to be valid for a period not to exceed twenty-five years; Provided that any lessee or person occupying lands under any lease may be removed therefrom and from the Indian Territory by the Secretary of the Interior, if in the judgment of the Secretary he is an improper person to reside or remain in such Territory.
That the Secretary of the Interior be, and is hereby, authorized in his discretion to sell to the Miami Town Company, a corporation created under the laws of the State of Kansas, for and on behalf of the Ottawa tribe of Indians, the north half of the southeast quarter of section twenty-five township twenty-eight north, range twenty-two east; also the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of said section; also
lots five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten in said section; also the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section thirty, township twenty-eight north, range twenty-three east; also lots eight, nine, ten, and eleven, in said section; also lots one, two, and three, in said section thirty-one township twenty-eight north, range twenty-three east; also lots one, two, and three, in section thirty-six, township twenty-eight north, range twenty-two east, situated in the Indian Territory, and containing five hundred and fifty-seven and ninety-five one-hundredths acres, more or less.
That said lands shall be sold to said company at not less than ten dollars per acre, and the proceeds of such sale shall be paid over under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, to the Ottawa Indians per capita, as per request of said Indians now on file in the Department of the interior.
That the said Miami Town Company shall, within ninety days from the approval of this act, file in the General land Office a plat of said land, showing the same to have been surveyed and divided into lots, blocks, streets, and alleys; and immediately upon filing of said map, and the payment of the said sum of ten dollars per acre, the Secretary of the Interior shall cause a patent to be issued to said company for the several tracts herein described.
That the last clause of the subdivision entitled “Pottawatomies” in the act entitled “An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfilling the treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and for other purposes,” being chapter three hundred and forty one, of volume twenty-three, of the Statutes at Large, be amended to read as follows:
That the claims of certain individual members of the Pottawatomie Nation of Indians, their heirs of legal representatives, for depredations committed by others upon their stock, timber, or other property reported to Congress under the tenth article of the treaty of August seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, be, and the same are hereby, referred to the Court of Claims for adjudication. And said court shall, in determining said cause, ascertain the amounts due and to whom due by reason of actual damage sustained.
“And all papers, reports, evidences, records, and proceedings relating in any way to said claims now on file or of record in the Department of the Interior, or any other Department or on file or of record in the office of the Secretary of the Senate, or the office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, shall be delivered to said court, and in considering the merits of the claims presented to the court all testimony and reports of special agents or other officers and other papers now on file or of record in the Departments or Congress, shall be considered by the court, and such value awarded thereto as in its judgment is right and proper.
That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to grant rights of way into and across the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho to canal, ditch, or reservoir companies for the purpose of enabling the citizens of Pocatello to thereby receive the water supply, contemplated by section ten (10) of an act to accept and ratify an agreement made with the Shoshone and Bannock Indians, and for other purposes, being chapter nine hundred and thirty-six, laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, and may also attach conditions as to the supply of surplus water to Indians on said Fort Hall Reservation as may be reasonable and prescribe rules and regulations for the same.
The following agreement, made by David H. Jerome, Alfred M. Wilson, and Warren G. Sayre, Commissioners on the part of the United States, with the Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians in Oklahoma on the twenty-fifth day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety, and now on file in the Department of the Interior , and signed by said commissioners on behalf of the United States, and by Alexander P. Peltier, Joseph Moose, Stephen Neg-a-hu-quit, John B. Hambago and others, on behalf of the said Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians, is hereby accepted, ratified and confirmed, to wit:
“Articles of agreement made and entered into at Shawnee Town, in the Indian Territory, on the twenty-fifth day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety, by and between David H. Jerome, Alfred M. Wilson, and Warren G. Sayre, Commissioners on the part of the United States, and the Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians, in the Indian Territory.
The Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians of the Indian Territory, in consideration of the fulfillment of the promises hereinafter made, hereby cede, relinquish, and forever and absolutely surrender to the United States all their claim, title and interest of every kind and character in and to the following described tract of country in the Indian Territory—according to Morrill’s survey, under contract of September third, eighteen hundred and seventy-two—to wit: Beginning at a point on the right bank of the north fork of the Canadian River, in section twenty-one, of township eleven north, range five east, where the western boundary line of the Seminole Reservation strikes said river; thence south with said boundary line to the left bank of the Canadian River; thence up said river along the left bank thereof, to a point on said left bank, in the northeast quarter of section thirty-six, township six north, range one west, thirty-nine chains and eighty-two links (by the meanders of the river west), from the point where the Indian meridian intersects said river, or thirty-eight chains and fifty-two links due west from said Indian meridian; thence north as run by O. T. Morrill, under his contract of September third, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, to a point on the right bank of the north fork of the Canadian River; thence down said river, along the right bank thereof, to the place of beginning, comprising the following, viz:
Fractional township five north, ranges on, two, three, four, and five east, north of the Canadian river. Fractional township six north, ranges one, three, four, and five east, north of the Canadian River. Township six north, range two east.
Townships seven, eight, and nine, ranges one, two, three, and four east. Fractional townships seven, eight, and nine north, range five east.
Townships ten and eleven north, range one east. Fractional township ten north, ranges two, three, and four east, south of the north fork of the Canadian River. Fractional township ten north, range five east. Fractional township eleven north, ranges two, three, four, and five east, south of the north fork of the Canadian River. Fractional township twelve north, ranges one and two east, south of North Fork of the Canadian River.
Also that portion of sections one, twelve, thirteen, twenty-four, and twenty-five, and section thirty-six, north of the Canadian River in township six north, range one west, lying east of the western boundary line of the said Pottawatomie Reservation as shown by the Morrill survey, and that portions of sections one, twelve, thirteen, twenty- four, twenty-five and thirty-six, in townships seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven north, range one west, laying east of the western boundary line aforesaid, and that portion of sections one and twelve south of the north fork of the Canadian River, and sections thirteen, twenty-four, twenty-five, and thirty-six, in township twelve north, range one west, lying east of the western boundary line
aforesaid, containing an area of five hundred and seventy-five thousand eight hundred and seventy and forty-two one hundredths, acres of land.
Whereas certain allotments of land have been heretofore made, and are now being made to members of said Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians, according to instructions from the Department of the Interior at Washington, under the act of Congress entitled, “An act to provide for the allotment of lands, in severalty, to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes,” approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and according to said instructions other allotments are to be made, it is further agreed that all such allotments so made shall be confirmed— all in process of being made shall be completed and confirmed, and all to be made shall be made under he same rules and regulations, as to persons, location and area, as those heretofore made, and when made shall be confirmed. When said allotments shall be so confirmed, and approved by the Secretary of the Interior, the title in each allottee shall be evidenced and protected in every particular, in the same manner and to the extent provided for in the above-mentioned act of Congress: Provided, That in allotments to be hereafter made, no person shall have the right to select his or her allotment in section sixteen and thirty-six in any Congressional township—nor upon any land heretofore set apart in said tract of country for any use by the United States, or for school, school farm, or religious purposes— nor shall said sections sixteen and thirty-six be subject to homestead entry but shall be kept and used for school purposes; not shall any lands set apart for any use of the United States, or for school, school farm or religious purposes, be subject to homestead entry—but shall be held by the United States for such purposes, so long as the United States shall see fit to use them: And provided further, That all such allotments shall be taken on or before February eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, when any right to allotment, in any one, shall be deemed waived and forever cease to exist.
And it is specially agreed that the south half of section seven and the north half of section eighteen in township six north, range five east, heretofore set apart by a written agreement between said Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians and certain Catholic Fathers, for religious, school, and farm purposes, shall not be subject to allotment or homestead entry, but shall be held by the United States for the Sacred Heart Mission, the name under which said association of Fathers are conducting the church, school, and farm on said land.
And in any lawful manner, to be provided by congress, shall be conveyed to said Fathers for the uses above expressed.
It is further agreed that the numbered entitled to take and who shall take allotments, including those who have already taken allotments, is fourteen hundred.
But if it shall be ascertained that a greater number than fourteen hundred shall be entitled to and shall take allotments hereunder, then there shall be deducted from the sum hereinafter agreed, to be paid to said Pottawatomie Indians the sum of one dollar for each acre of land allotted to those in excess of said number.
It is further agreed, as a further and only additional consideration for such relinquishment of all title, claim, and interest of every kind and character in [an] and to said lands, that the United States will pay to said Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians, in said tract of country, within four months after this agreement shall have ben ratified by Congress, the sum of one hundred and sixty thousand dollars for making homes and other improvements on the said allotments. And if it shall be ascertained that said Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians did purchase and pay the United States for the tract of country above described in accordance with the provisions of a treaty between the United States and siad Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians, proclaimied August seven, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and that the United States did retain and yet retains and shall continue to retain of said Indians’ funds the sum of one hundred and nineteen thousand seven hundred and ninety dollars and seventy-five cents on account of such purchase, then the United States agrees to pay to said Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians the additonal sum of one hundred and nineteen thousand seven hundred and ninety dollars and seventy-five cents.
All payments of money herein provided for shall be made per capita to said Indians.
This agrement shall have effect after it shall have been ratified by the congress of the United States.
In witness whereof, the day and year first above written, the said David H. Jerome, Alfred M. Wilson and Warren G. Sayre, have hereunto set their hands for and on behalf of the United States, and Alexander B. Peltier, Joseph Moose, John Anderson, Stephen Negahriquet, John B. Pambogo, Alexander Rhodd and Davis Hardin, the Business Committee of said Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians authorized by law and custom and by General council now and here present and in session, so to do have hereunto set their hands and the adult male members of said Band present representing in their families the number set opposite their names, respectfully [respectively] have hereunto set their hands.
The following agreement entered into on behalf of the United States with the Absentee Shawnee Indians, on the twenty-sixth day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety, and signed by said Commissioners on the part of the United States, and by White Turkey, Chief, and five others, on the part of said Absentee Shawnee Indians, is also hereby accepted, ratified and confirmed, to wit:
“Articles of agreement made and entered into at Shawnee Town in the Indian Territory, on the twenty-sixth day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety, by the between David H. Jerome, Warren G. Sayre and Alfred M. Wilson, Commissioners on the part of the United States and the Absentee Shawnees residing on what is commonly known as the Pottawatomie Reservation in the Indian Territory, represented by their Chiefs and head men or Counselors whose names are hereto subscribed.
The Absentee Shawnee Indians of the Indian Territory in consideration of the fulfillment of the promises hereinafter made, hereby cede, relinquish and surrender, forever and absolutely, to the United States, all their claim, title and interest of every kind and character in and to the following described tract of country in the Indian Territory, according to Morrill’s survey, under contract of September
third, eighteen hundred and seventy-two—to-wit: ‘Beginning at a point on the right bank of the north fork of the Canadian River, in section twenty-one, of township eleven north, range five east, where the western boundary line of the Seminole Reservation strikes said river; thence south with said boundary line to the left bank of the Canadian River; thence up said river, along the left bank thereof, to a point on said left bank in the northeast quarter of section thirty-six, township six north, range one west, thirty-nine chains and eighty-two links (by the meanders of the river west) from the point where the Indian meridian intersects said river, or thirty-eight chains and fifty-two links due west from said Indian meridian; thence north as run by O. T. Morrill, under his contract of September third, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, to a point on the right bank of the north fork of the Canadian River; thence down said river, along the right bank thereof, to place of beginning, comprising the following, viz:
Fractional township five north, ranges one, two, three, four, and five east, north of Canadian River. Fractional township six north, ranges one, three, four, and five east, north of the Canadian River. Township six north, range two east.
Townships seven, eight, and nine, ranges one, two, three, and four east. Fractional townships seven, eight, and nine north, range five east.
Townships ten and eleven north, range one east. Fractional township ten north, ranges two, three and four east, south of the north fork of the Canadian River. Fractional township ten north, range five east. Fractional township eleven north, ranges two, three, four, and five east, south of the north fork of the Canadian River. Fractional township twelve north, ranges one and two east, south of the north fork of the Canadian River.
Also that portion of sections one, twelve, thirteen, twenty-four, and twenty-five, and section thirty-six, north of the Canadian River in township six north, range one west, lying east of he western boundary line of the said Pottawatomie Reservation as shown by the Morrill survey, and that portion of sections one, twelve, thirteen, twenty-four, twenty-five, and thirty-six, in townships seven eight, nine, ten, and eleven north, range one west, lying east of the western boundary line aforesaid, and that portion of sections one and twelve south of the north fork of the Canadian River, and sections thirteen, twenty-four, twenty-five, and thirty-six in township twelve north, range one west, lying east of the western boundary line aforesaid containing an area of five hundred and seventy-five thousand eight hundred and seventy and forty-two on hundredths acres of land.’
Whereas certain allotments of land have been heretofore made, and are now being made to said Absentee Shawnees according to instructions from the Department of the Interior, at Washington, under Act of Congress entitled, ‘An Act to provide for the allotment of lands, in severalty, to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians and for other purposes,’ approved February 8, 1887, and according to said instructions other allotments are to be made, it is further agreed that all such allotments so made shall be confirmed—all in process of being made shall be completed and confirmed, and all to be made shall be made under the same rules and regulations, as to persons, locations and area, as those heretofore made, and when made shall be confirmed. When said allotments shall be so confirmed and approved by the Secretary of the Interior,
the title in each allottee shall be evidenced and protected in every particular, in the same manner and to the extent provided for in the above-mentioned Act of Congress. Provided, that in all allotments to be hereafter made, no person shall have the right to select his or her allotment in sections sixteen (16) and thirty-six (36) in any Congressional township—nor upon any land heretofore set apart in said tract of country for any use by the United States, or for school, school farm or religious purposes—nor shall said sections sixteen (16) and thirty-six (36) be subject to homestead entry, but shall be kept and used for school purposes; nor shall any lands set apart for any use of the United States, or for school, school farm or religious purposes, be subject to homestead entry—but shall be held by the United States for such purposes, so long as the United States shall see fit to so use them; and provided further, that all such allotments shall be taken on or before January 1st, 1891, after which time and up to February 8, 1891, the allotting agent then on said reservation shall make allotments to those Absentee Shawnees resident in said tract of country, who have failed or refused to take their allotments as aforesaid, and such allotment so made by such allotting agent shall have the same force and effect as if the selections were made by the Indians in person. After said date of February 8th, 1891, any right to allotment hereunder or by Act of Congress, shall be deemed waived and forever cease to exist.
It is further agreed that the number who are entitled to take allotments and who shall take allotments, including those who have already taken allotments, is six hundred and fifty (650). But if it shall be ascertained that a greater number than six hundred and fifty (650) shall be deducted from the sum hereinafter agreed to be paid to said Absentee Shawnees, the sum of one (1) dollar for each acre of land allotted to those in excess of said number.
It is further agreed, as a further and only additional consideration for such relinquishment of all title, claim and interest of every kind and character, in and to said lands, that the United States will pay to said Absentee Shawnees in said tract of country, as soon as may be after this agreement shall have been ratified by Congress, and under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the sum of sixty-five thousand ($65,000.00) dollars for making homes and other improvements on their said allotments. All payments of money herein provided for shall be made per capita to said Absentee Shawnees according to the list of all those to whom allotments shall be hereunder made, and the wives of allottees.
This agreement shall have effect after it shall have been ratified by the Congress of the United States.
In witness whereof, the day and year first above written, the said David H. Jerome, Alfred M. Wilson and Warren G. Sayre have hereunto set their hands for and on behalf of the United States, and chief White Turkey, Charley Starr, Elephant, Thomas Rock, William Little-axe and Jim Bullfrog, Head Men of the Absentee Shawnees and
Counselors of White Turkey, have hereunto set their hands on behalf the Absentee Shawnee Indians.a
That for the purpose of making the compensation to the said Indians, provided in said respective agreements with the Citizens Band of Pottawatomie Indians and the Absentee Shawnee Indians the sum of two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be immediately available.
That any of said Citizen Pottawatomie Indians who have not yet selected allotments may make such selections anywhere within the thirty-mile square tract of land in said agreement described, not already selected or occupied in quantities as therein provided, And provided further, That such selections may be made at any time within thirty days after the approval of this act, and not thereafter.
That full jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the Court of Claims, subject to an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States as in other cases, to hear and determine the question as to whether or not the said Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians did purchase and pay the United States for the tract of country in said above agreement described in accordance with the provisions of a treaty between the United States and the Pottawatomie Indians of Kansas, and proclaimed August seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty- eight; and whether or not the United States did retain and yet retains the sum of one hundred and seventeen thousand seven hundred and ninety dollars and seventy-five cents on account of said purchase, or otherwise, and to hear and determine all questions between said Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians and the United States, or between said Citizen Indians and the Prairie band of Pottawatomie Indians in Kansas relative to the credits and accounts of said Indians under the various treaties with the United States. The exercise of such jurisdiction shall not be barred by any lapse of time heretofore, nor shall the rights of said Indians be in any way impaired by any ruling or determination upon such question heretofore made. Suit may be instituted in said Court of Claims at any time within twelve months after the approval of this act, but not later, on behalf of said Citizen Band, the style of such suit to be “The Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians of Oklahoma Territory against the United States.” said suit to have preference upon the trial dockets of said Court. If it shall be found and determined that the said sum of one hundred and nineteen thousand seven hundred and ninety dollars and seventy- five cents, or any part thereof, or any sum, has been and is yet retained by the United States to which said Indians have a legal or equitable right or title, then the amount so found to be due shall be paid to said Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, less the fees for the services of the attorney or attorneys of said Citizen Band, in accordance with duly executed and approved contracts therefor, which amount shall be deducted and paid to said attorney or attorneys. That the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Treasury shall transmit to said Court of Claims, upon its request, certified copies of all records, documents, and papers that relate in any way to the accounts
of said Indians under the various treaties with said tribe, and shall furnish such excerpts and statements and accounts regarding the same as may be called for during the progress of said suit and in said suits all claims against the United States on behalf of either of said bands of Indians, or on behalf of one band against the other shall be tried and determined and judgment rendered as shall be found just and right.
The following agreement entered into by the Commissioners named below on the part of the United States, and the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Tribes of Indians on the — day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety, and now on file in the Interior Department, signed by the said Commissioners on the part of the United States, and by Left Hand, his mark, and five hundred and sixty-four others, on the part of the said Indians, is hereby accepted, ratified and confirmed, to wit:
“Articles of agreement made and entered into at Darlington, in the Indian Territory, on the — day of October, A. D. eighteen hundred and ninety, by and between David H. Jerome, Alfred M. Wilson, and Warren G. Sayre, commissioners on the part of the United States, and the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes of Indians, in the Indian Territory.
“The said Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes of Indians hereby cede, convey, transfer, relinquish, and surrender forever and absolutely, without any reservation whatever, express or implied, all their claim, title, and interest of every kind and character, in and to the lands embraced in the following described tract of country in the Indian Territory, to-wit: A tract of country west of the ninety-sixth degree of west longitude, bounded by the Arkansas River on the east, the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude (being the southern boundary line of the State of Kansas) on the north, and the Cimarron or Red Fork of the Arkansas River on the west and south.
“Subject to the allotment of land in severalty to the individual members of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes of Indians, as hereinafter provided for and subject to the conditions hereinafter imposed, for the considerations hereinafter mentioned the said Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians hereby cede, convey, transfer, relinquish, and surrender forever and absolutely, without any reservation whatever, express or implied, all their claim, title and interest, of every kind and character, in and to the lands embraced in the following described tract of country in the Indian Territory, to-wit:
Commencing at a point where the Washita River crosses the ninety-eighth degree of west longitude, as surveyed in the years eighteen hundred and fifty-eight and eighteen hundred and seventy-one; thence north on a line with said ninety-eighth degree to the point where it is crossed by the Red Fork of the Arkansas (sometimes called the Cimarron River); thence up said river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the north boundary of the country ceded to the United States by the treaty of June fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty six, with the Creek nation of Indians; thence west on said north boundary and the north boundary of the country ceded to the United States by the treaty of March twenty first, eighteen hundred and sixty six, with the Seminole Indians, to the one hundredth degree of west longitude; thence south on the line of said one hundredth degree to the point where it strikes the North Fork of the Red River; thence down said North Fork of the Red River to a point where it strikes the north line of the Kiowa and Comanche Reservation; thence east along said boundary to a point
where it strikes the Washita River; thence down said Washita River, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of beginning; and all other lands or tracts of country in the Indian Territory to which they have or may set up or allege any right, title, interest or claim whatsoever.
Out of the lands ceded, conveyed, transferred, relinquished, and surrendered by Article II hereof, and in part consideration for the cession of lands named in the preceding article, it is agreed by the United States that each member of the said Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes of Indians over the age of eighteen years shall have the right to select for himself or herself one hundred and sixty acres of land, to be held and owned in severalty, to conform to legal surveys in boundary; and that the father, or, if he be dead, the mother, if members of either of said tribes of Indians, shall have a right to select a like amount of land for each of his or her children under the age of eighteen years; and that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, or some one by him appointed for the purpose, shall select a like amount of land for each orphan child belonging to either of said tribes under the age of eighteen years.
“It is further agreed that the land in said reservation shall be classed as bottom land and grazing land; and, in making selection of lands to be allotted in severalty as aforesaid, each and every Indian herein provided for shall be required to take at least one-half in area, of his or her allotments, of grazing land. It is hereby further expressly agreed that no person shall have the right to make his or her selection of land in any part of said reservation that is now used or occupied for military, agency, school, school-farm, religious, or other public uses, or in sections sixteen and thirty-six in each Congressional township, except in cases where any Cheyenne or Arapahoe Indian has heretofore made improvements upon and now uses and occupies a part of said sections sixteen and thirty-six such Indian may make his or her selection within the boundaries so prescribed so as to include his or her improvements, or in that part thereof now occupied and claimed by the Wichita and affiliated bands of Indians described as follows, viz: Commencing at a point in the middle of the main channel of the Washita River, where the ninety-eight meridian of west longitude crosses the same, thence up the middle of the main channel of the said river to the line of ninety-eight degrees forty minutes due north to the middle of the main channel of the main Canadian River, thence down the middle of the main Canadian River to where it crosses the ninety-eighth meridian; thence due south to the place of beginning.
“It is further agreed that wherever in said reservation any Indian, entitled to take lands in severalty hereunder, has made improvements and now uses and occupies the land embracing such improvements, such Indian shall have the undisputed right to make his or her selection within the area above provided for allotments so as to include his or her said improvements.
“It is further agreed that sections sixteen and thirty-six in each Congressional township in said reservation shall not become subject to homestead entry, but shall be held by the United States and finally sold for public school purposes. It is hereby further agreed that wherever in said reservation any religious society or other organization is now occupying any portion of said reservation for religious or educational work among the Indian the land so occupied may be allotted and confirmed to such society or organization; not, however,
to exceed one hundred and sixty acres of land to any one society or organization so long as the same shall be so occupied and used, and such land shall not be subject to homestead entry.
“All allotments hereunder shall be selected within ninety days from the ratification of this agreement by the Congress of the United States, provided the Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, may extend the the time for making such selection, and should any Indian entitled to allotments hereunder fail or refuse to make his or her selection of land in that time, then the allotting agent in charge of the work of making such allotments shall, within the next thirty days after said time, make allotments to such Indians, which shall have the same force and effect as if the selection were made by the Indian.
When said allotments of land shall have been selected and taken as aforesaid, and approved by the Secretary of the Interior, the titles thereto shall be held in trust for the allottees, respectively, for the period of twenty-five years, in the manner and to the extent provided for in the act of Congress entitled ‘An act to provide for the allotment of land in severalty of Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes,’ approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven; and at the expiration of said period of twenty-five years the titles thereto shall be conveyed in fee simple to the allottees, or their heirs, free from all incumbrances.
“As a further and only additional consideration for the cession of territory and relinquishment of title, claim, and interest in and to lands as aforesaid the United States agrees to pay to the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes of Indians one million and five hundred thousand dollars as follows: Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash, to, be distributed per capita among the members of said tribes within sixty days after this agreement shall be ratified by the Congress of the United States; two hundred and fifty thousand to be paid out for said Indians under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and the remaining one million dollars to be retained in the Treasury of the United States placed to the credit of the said Indians, and, while so retained, to draw five per centum interest per annum, to be paid to said Indians per capita annually.
Nothing herein contained shall be held to affect in anyway any annuities due said Indians under existing laws, agreements or treaties.
“It is further agreed that wherever in said reservation any member of either of said tribes has in pursuance of any laws or under any rules or regulations of the Interior Department, taken an allotment, such an allotment, at the option of the allottee, shall be confirmed and governed by all the conditions attached to allotments taken under this agreement.
“This agreement shall have effect whenever it shall be ratified by the Congress of the United States.
“In witness whereof the said Commissioners on the part of the United States have hereunto set their hands, and the undersigned members of said tribes, for themselves and their tribes, set their hands the day and year first above written.
“DAVID H. JEROME,
“ALFRED M. WILSON,
“WARREN G. SAYRE,
“Commissioners.”
Left Hand, his X mark, and five hundred and sixty-four others.
That for the purpose of making the allotments provided for in said agreement, including the pay and expenses of the necessary special agent or agents hereby authorized to be appointed by the President for the purpose, and the necessary resurveys, there be, and hereby is, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary.
That for the purpose of carrying the provisions of foregoing agreement into effect there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars, of which amount the sum of one million dollars shall be placed in the Treasury to the credit of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians, parties to the foregoing agreement, to bear interest at the rate of five per centum per annum, which interest shall be paid to them per capita annually; the balance of five hundred thousand dollars to be expended as provided for in article seven of said agreement, to be immediately available.
And the sum of two million nine hundred and ninety-one thousand four hundred and fifty dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to pay the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations of Indians for all the right, title, interest, and claim which said nations of Indians may have in, and to certain lands now occupied by, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians under executive order; said lands lying south of the Canadian River, and now occupied by the said Cheyenne and Araphaoe Indians, said lands have been ceded in trust by article three of the treaty between the United States and said Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations of Indians, which was concluded April twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and proclaimed on the tenth day of August of the same year, and whereof there remains, after deducting allotments as provided by said agreement, a residue ascertained by survey to contain two million three hundred and ninety-three thousand one hundred and sixty acres: three-fourths of this appropriation to be paid to such person or persons as are or shall be duly authorized by the laws of said Choctaw Nation to receive the same, at such time and in such sums as directed and required by the legislative authority of said Choctaw Nation, and one-fourth of this appropriation to be paid to such person or persons as are or shall be duly authorized by the laws of said Chickasaw Nation to receive the same, at such times and in such sums as directed and required by the legislative authority of said Chickasaw Nation; this appropriation to be immediately available and to become operative upon the execution by the duly appointed delegates of said respective nations specially authorized thereto by law of releases and conveyances to the United States of all the right, title, interest, and claim of said respective nations of Indians in and to said land (not including Grier County, which is now in dispute), in manner and form satisfactory [the] to the President of the United States; and said releases and conveyances, when fully executed and delivered, shall operate to extinguish all claim of every kind and character of said Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations of Indians in and to the tract of country to which said releases and conveyances shall apply.
That whenever any of the lands acquired by either of the three foregoing agreements respecting lands in the Indian or Oklahoma Territory shall by operation of law or proclamation of the President of the United States be open to settlement they shall be disposed of to actual settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead and twon site laws (except section twenty-three hundred and one of the Revised States of the United States which shall not apply): Provided however, That each settler, on said lands shall before making a final proof and receiving a certificate of entry, pay to the United States for the land so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, and within five years from the date of the first original entry, the sum of one dollar and fifty cents per acre, one-half of which shall be paid within two years; But the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors as defined and described in Sections twenty-three hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be abridged except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid, and all the lands in Oklahoma are hereby declared to be agricultural lands, and proof of their non-mineral character shall not be required as a condition precedent to final entry.
That before any lands in Oklahoma are open to settlement it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to divide the same into counties which shall contain as near as possible not less than nine hundred square miles in each county. In establishing said county line the Secretary is hereby authorized to extend the lines of the counties already located so as to make the area of said counties equal, as near as may be, to the area of the counties provided for in this act. At the first election for county, officers the people of each county may vote for a name for each county, and the name which receives the greatest number of votes shall be the name of such county: Provided, further, That as soon as the county lines are designated by the Secretary, he shall reserve not to exceed one-half section of land in each county to be located near the center of said county, for county seat purposes to be entered under sections twenty-three hundred and eighty-seven and twenty-three and eighty-eight of the Revised Statues; Provided, That in addition to the jurisdiction granted to the probate courts and the judges thereof in Oklahoma Territory by Legislative enactments which enactments are hereby ratified, the Probate Judges of said Territory are hereby granted such jurisdiction in town site matters and under such regulations as are provided by the laws of the State of Kansas.
That the school lands reserved in the Territory of Oklahoma by this and former acts of Congress may be leased for a period not exceeding three years for the benefit of the school fund of said Territory by the Governor thereof, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior.
The following agreement entered into on the part of the United States by John V. Wright, Jared W. Daniels and Henry W. Andrews, Commissioners with the Coeur d’Alene Indians in Idaho Territory signed on the part of said Indians by Chief Andrew Seltice, and others which bears date March twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and now on file in the Interior Department, is hereby accepted, ratified, and confirmed and is in the following words, to-wit:
This agreement made pursuant to an item in the act of Congress entitled “An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending June thirtieth,
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and for other purposes,” approved May fifteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, by John V. Wright, Jared W. Daniels, and Henry W. Andrews, duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States and the Coeur d’Alene tribe of Indians now residing on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation, in the Territory of Idaho, by their chiefs, headmen, and other male adults, whose names are hereunto subscribed, they being duly authorized to act in the premises, witnesseth:
Whereas said Coeur d’Alene Indians were formerly possessed of a large and valuable tract of land lying in the Territories of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, and whereas said Indians have never ceded the same to the United States, but the same, with the exception of the present Coeur d’Alene Reservation, is held by the United States and settlers and owners deriving title from the United States, and whereas said Indians have received no compensation for said land from the United States: Therefore,
For the consideration hereinafter stated the said Coeur d’Alene Indians hereby cede, grant, relinguish, and quitclaim to the United States all right, title, and claim which they now have, or ever had, to all lands in said Territories and elsewhere, except the portion of land within the boundaries of their present reservation in the Territory of Idaho, known as the Coeur d’Alene Reservation.
The said Coeur d’Alene Indians agree and consent that the Upper and middle bands of Spokane Indians residing in and around Spokane Falls in the Territory of Washington, may be removed to the Coeur d’Alene Reservation and settled thereon in permanent homes on the terms and conditions contained in an agreement made and entered into by and between John V. Wright, Jared W. Daniels, and Henry W. Andrews, commissioners on the part of the United States and said Spokane Indians, concluded on the part of the United States and said Spokane Indians, concluded on the fifteenth day of March, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, at Spokane Falls, in the Territory of Washington.
And it is further agreed that the tribe or band of Indians known as Calespels, now residing in the Calespel Valley, Washington Territory, and any other bands of non-reservation Indians now belonging to the Colville Indian Agency, may be removed to the Coeur d’Alene Reservation by the United States, on such terms as may be mutually agreed on by the United States and any such tribes or bands.
In consideration of the foregoing cession and agreements, it is agreed that the Coeur d’Alene Reservation shall be held forever as Indian land and as homes for the Coeur d’Alene Indians, now residing on said reservation, and the Spokane or other Indians who may be removed to said reservation under this agreement, and their posterity: and no part of said reservation shall ever be sold, occupied, open to white settlement, or otherwise disposed of without the consent of the Indians residing on said reservation.
And it is further agreed that the United States will expend for the benefit of said Coeur d’Alene Indians the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, as follows: For the first year, thirty thousand dollars, and for each succeeding year for fifteen years, eight thousand dollars. As soon as possible after the ratification of this agreement by Congress, there shall be erected on said reservation a saw and grist mill, to be operated by steam, and an engineer and miller employed, the expenses of building said mill and paying the engineer and miller to be paid out of the funds herein provided. The remaining portion of said thirty thousand dollars, if any, and the other annual payments shall be expended in the purchase of such useful and necessary articles as shall best promote the progress, comfort, improvement, education, and civilization of said Coeur d’Alene Indians, parties hereto.
It is further agreed that if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that in any year in which payments are to be made as herein provided said Coeur d’Alene Indians are supplied with such useful and necessary articles and do not need the same, and that they will judiciously use the money, then said payment shall be made to them in cash.
It is further agreed that any money which shall not be used in the purchase of such necessary articles or paid over, as provided in article seven, shall be placed in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the said Coeur d’Alene Indians, parties hereto, and expended for their benefit, or paid over to them, as provided in the foregoing articles.
It is further agreed that in the purchase for distribution of said articles for the benefit of said Indians the wishes of said Indians shall be consulted as to what useful articles they may need, or whether they need any at all, and their wishes shall govern as far as it is just and proper.
It is further agreed that in the employment of engineers, millers, mechanics, and laborers of every kind, preference shall be given in all cases to Indians, parties hereto, qualified to perform the work and labor, and it shall be the duty of all millers, engineers, and mechanics to teach all Indians placed under their charge their trades and vocations.
It is further agreed that in addition to the amount heretofore provided for the benefit of said Coeur d’Alene Indians the United States, at its own expense, will furnish and employ for the benefit of said Indians on said reservation a competent physician, medicines, a blacksmith, and carpenter.
In order to protect the morals and property of the Indians, parties hereto, no female of the Coeur d’Alene tribe shall be allowed to marry any white man unless, before said marriage is solemnized, said white
man shall give such evidence of his character for morality and industry as shall satisfy the agent in charge, the minister in charge, and the chief of the tribe that he is a fit person to reside among the Indians; and it is further agreed that Stephen E. Liberty, Joseph Peavy, Patrick Nixon, and Julien Boutelier, white men who have married Indian women and with their families reside on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation, are permitted to remain thereon, they being subject, however, to all laws, rules, and regulations of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs applicable to Indian reservations.
It is further agreed and understood that in consideration of the amount expended in buildings and other improvements on said Coeur d’Alene Reservation for religious and educational purposes by the De Smet Mission, and valuable services in the education and moral training of children on said reservation, and in consideration that the Indians, parties hereto, have donated for said purposes one section of land on which is situated the boys’ school, one section on which is situated the girls’ school, and one section of timbered land for use of the schools, that said De Smet Mission and its successors may continue to hold and use said three sections of land and the buildings and improvements thereon so long as the same shall be used by said De Smet Mission and its successors for religious and educational purposes.
This agreement shall not be binding on either party until ratified by Congress.
In testimony whereof the said John V. Wright, Jared W. Daniels, and Henry W. Andrews, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and other adult Indians, on the part of the Indians, parties hereto, have hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals.
Done at De Smet Mission on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation, in the Territory of Idaho, on this the twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine.
That the following agreement entered into with the said Coeur d’Alene Indians by Benjamin Simpson, John H. Shupe, and Napoleon B. Humphrey, Commissioners on the part of the United States, signed by said Commissioners and by said Andrew Seltice, Chief, and others, on the part of said Indians, which agreement bears date September ninth, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and is now on file in the Interior Department, is hereby accepted, ratified, and confirmed, and is in the following words, to wit:
This agreement, made pursuant to an item of an Act of Congress, namely; Section 4 of the Indian appropriation act, approved March two, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, (25 Stat., 1002), by Benjamin Simpson, John H. Shupe, and Napoleon B. Humphrey, duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States, parties of the first part, and the Coeur d’Alene tribe of Indians, now residing on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation in the Territory of Idaho, by their chiefs, headmen, and other male adults whose names are hereunto subscribed, parties of the second part witnesseth:
For the consideration hereinafter named the said Coeur d’Alene Indians hereby cede, grant, relinquish, and quitclaim to the United States, all the right, title, and claim which they now have, or ever
had, to the following-described portion of their reservation, to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of the said reservation, thence running along the north boundary line north sixty-seven degrees twenty-nine minutes west to the head of the Spokane River; thence down the Spokane River to the northwest boundary corner of the said reservation; thence south along the Washington Territory line twelve miles; thence due east to the west shore of the Coeur d’Alene Lake; thence southerly along the west shore of the lake to a point due west of the mouth of the Coeur d’Alene River where it empties into the said lake; thence in a due east line until it interests with the eastern boundary line of the said reservation; thence northerly along the said east boundary line to the place of beginning.
And it is further agreed, in consideration of the above, that the United States will pay to the said Coeur d’Alene tribe of Indians the sum of five hundred thousand dollars, the same to be paid to the said Coeur d’Alene tribe of Indians upon the completion of all the provisions of this agreement.
It is further agreed that the payment of money aforesaid shall be made to the said tribe of Indians pro rata or share and share alike for each and every member of the said tribe as recognized by said tribe now living on said reservation.
It is further agreed and understood that this agreement shall not be binding on either party until the former agreement now existing between the United States by the duly-appointed commissioners and the said Coeur d’Alene tribe of Indians, bearing date March twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, shall be duly ratified by Congress; and in the event of the ratification of the aforesaid agreement of March twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty- seven, then this agreement to be and remain in full force and effect but not binding on either party until ratified by Congress. In witness whereof the said Benjamin Simpson, John H. Shupe, and Napoleon B. Humphrey, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and other adult male Indians, on the part of the Indians, parties hereto, have hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals.
Done at De Smet Mission, on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation, in the Territory of Idaho, this the 9th day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine.
That for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of said two agreements with said Coeur d’Alene Indians there are hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, in the manner and for the purpose as hereinafter specifically stated the following sums, to wit: For the first installment of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, as provided for in article six of the first of said agreements, thirty thousand dollars, to be expended for the building and erection on said Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation of a saw and grist mill, to be operated by steam, and for the payment of the wages of the engineer and miller to be employed in said mill, respectively, the remaining portion of said thirty thousand dollars, if any, to be expended in the purchase of such useful and necessary articles as shall best promote the progress, comfort, improvement, education, and civilization of said Coeur d’Alene Indians, all of said articles to be purchased, and said engineer and miller to be employed as near as may be in strict conformity with articles nine and ten of the first of said agreements. And for the
purpose of meeting the requirements of articles two and three of the second agreement aforesaid the sum of five hundred thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be paid by the United States to the said Coeur d’Alene tribe of Indians upon their compliance with all the provisions of the said second agreement hereinbefore recited, the same to be paid to the said tribe of Indians pro rata, or share and share alike, for each and every member of the said tribe as recognized by said tribe now living on said reservation.
That all lands so sold and released to the United States, as recited or described in both of said agreements, and not heretofore granted or reserved from entry or location, shall, on the passage of this act, be restored to the public domain, and shall be disposed of by the United States to actual settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead law, except section twenty-three hundred and one of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which shall not apply, and under the law relative to town sites or to locators or purchasers under the mineral laws of the United States: Provided, That each settler or purchaser under and in accordance with the provisions of said homestead act, shall pay to the United States, for the land so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, and within five years from the date of the first original entry, the sum of one dollar and fifty cents per acre, one-half of which shall be paid within two years; but the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors, as defined and described in sections twenty-three hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be abridged, except as to the said sum to be paid as aforesaid: Provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be surveyed for and patented to Frederick Post, upon his making final proof of all thereof before the register and receiver of the proper United States land office, and to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office and Secretary of the Interior, and paying therefor two dollars and fifty cents per acre and the cost of making such survey of such portion of said reservation as is recited in the agreement in word and figures as follows, to wit:
“Know all men by these presents that I, Andrew Seltice chief of the Coeur d’Alene Indians, did on the first day of June, A. D. eighteen hundred and seventy-one, with the consent of my people, when the country on both sides of the Spokane River belonged to me and my people, for a valuable consideration sell to Frederick Post the place now known as Post Falls, in Kootenai County, Idaho, to improve and use the same (water-power); said sale included all three of the river channels and islands, with enough land on the north and south shores for water-power and improvements; and have always protected the said Frederick Post, for eighteen years, in the rights there and then conveyed, and he has always done right with me and my people. We, the chiefs of the Coeur d’Alenes, have signed articles of agreement with the Government to sell the portion of the reservation joining Post Falls, in which we have excepted the above-prescribed rights, before conveyed to Frederick Post, and no Indian and no white man except Frederick Post have any rights on the above described lands and river channels; the said Frederick Post has fulfilled all of his agreements with me and my people by improving the water-power and building mills at great expense, and I hereby authorize him to build a house and take full possession of the above-described lands on the reservation side, so that when the treaty is confirmed he may have full possession and protection of the Government in the same.
“Given under my hand and seal this 16th day of Sept’r., A. D. 1889.
“ANDREW SELTICE.
his X mark.
The following agreement, entered into on behalf of the United States, by John V. Wright, Jared W. Daniels, and Charles F. Larrabee, Commissioners, on December fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, with the Indians of the Fort Berthold Agency, North Dakota, and now on file in the Interior Department, signed by said Commissioners on the part of the United States and by Pa-des-a-hish and others on the part of the Gros Ventres; and by Wo-ka-se and others for the Mandans and Kun-nukh-to-wite and others on the part of the Arickarees, and is in the following words, to wit:
“This agreement made pursuant to an item in the act of Congress entitled “An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and for other purposes,” approved May fifteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, by John V. Wright, Jared W. Daniels, and Charles F. Larrabee, duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States, and the Arickaree, Gros Ventre, and Mandan tribes of Indians, now residing on the Fort Berthold Reservation, in the Territory of Dakota, by the chiefs, headmen, and principal men, embracing a majority of all the adult male members of said tribes, Witnesseth that whereas it is the policy of the Government to reduce to proper size existing reservations when entirely out of proportion to the number of Indians existing thereon, with the consent of the Indians, and upon just and fair terms; and whereas the Indians of the several tribes, parties hereto, have vastly more land in their present reservation than they need or will ever make use of, and are desirous of disposing of a portion thereof in order to obtain the means necessary to enable them to become wholly self-supporting by the cultivation of the soil and other pursuits of husbandry:
Therefore, it is hereby agreed and covenanted by the parties to this instrument, as follows:
The Arickaree, Gros Ventre, and Mandan tribes of Indians, parties hereto, hereby cede, sell, and relinquish to the United States all their right, title, and interest in and to all that portion of the Fort Berthold Reservation, as laid down upon the official map of the Territory of Dakota, published by the General Land Office in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-five, lying north of the forty-eighth parallel of north latitude, and also all that portion lying west of a north and south line six miles west of the most westerly point of the big bend of the Missouri River, south of the forty-eighth parallel of north latitude.
In consideration of the foregoing cession and relinquishment the United States shall advance and expend, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, the sum of eighty thousand dollars ($80,000), annually, for the period of ten (10) years from and after the ratification of this agreement, for such purposes and in such manner as shall best promote the civilization and well-being of said Indians, and as hereinafter provided.
It is further agreed that the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the lands embraced within the diminished reservation, or such portion thereof as may be necessary, to be surveyed and, either through the agent, or such other person as he may designate, allot the same
in severalty to the Indians of the several tribes, parties hereto, in quantity as follows:
To each head of a family, one hundred and sixty acres.
To each single person over eighteen years of age, eighty acres.
To each orphan child under eighteen years of age, eighty acres.
To each other person under eighteen years of age, forty acres.
Provided, That all allotments made under the provisions of this agreement shall be selected by the Indians, heads of families selecting for their minor children, and the agent shall select for each orphan child, and in such manner as to embrace the improvements of the Indians making the selections, if they so desire.
That upon the approval of the allotments provided for in the foregoing article by the Secretary of the Interior, he shall cause patents to issue therefor, in the name of the allottees, which patents shall be of the legal effect and declare that the United States does and will hold the land thus allotted, for the period of twenty-five years in trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indian to whom such allotment shall have been made, or, in case of his decease, of his heirs, according to the laws of the Territory of Dakota, and that at the expiration of said period the United States will convey the same by patent to said Indian or his heirs as aforesaid in fee, discharged of said trust and free of all charge or incumbrance whatsoever. And if any conveyance shall be made of the lands set apart and allotted as herein provided, or any contract made touching the same before the expiration of the time above mentioned, such conveyance or contract shall be absolutely null and void.
Provided, That the laws of descent and partition in force in said Territory shall apply thereto after the first patents therefor have been executed and delivered.
That upon the completion of said allotments and the patenting of the lands to said allottees, each and every member of said tribes to whom allotments have been made shall have the benefit of and be subject to the laws of the Territory of Dakota in all offenses the penalty of which is death or imprisonment in the penitentiary; and said Territory shall not pass or enforce any law denying any such Indian the equal protection of the law.
That the residue of lands within said diminished reservation, after all allotments have been made as provided in Article III of this agreement, shall be held by the United States for the period of twenty-five (25) years, in trust, for the sole use and benefit of said tribes of Indians, and at the expiration of said period the United States will convey the same by patent to said tribes in common, in fee, discharged of said trust and free of all charge or incumbrances whatever: Provided, That from the residue of said lands thus held in trust allotments shall be made and patented to each child of said tribes who may be born prior to the expiration of the time during which it is provided that said lands shall be held in trust by the United States, in quantity and upon the same conditions, restrictions, and limitations as provided in Article IV touching patents to allottees therein mentioned; but such conditions, restrictions, and limitations shall not extend beyond the expiration of the period during which the lands owned by the Indians in common are held in trust by the United States.
It is further agreed that the sum of twelve thousand dollars ($12,000), or so much thereof as may be necessary, of the first installment of eighty thousand dollars provided for in Article II of this agreement, shall be expended in the removal of the agency buildings and property to a more suitable locality, in needed repairs, and in the erection of such new buildings as may be required: Provided, That in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior the removal of the agency from its present site is desirable. And the balance of said installment, and each subsequent annual installment, shall be expended, except as hereinafter provided, in the purchase of goods, provisions, agricultural and mechanical implements, in providing employees, in the education of Indian children, procuring medicine and medical attendance, in the care and support of the aged, sick, and infirm, and helpless orphans of said Indians, and in any other respect to promote their civilization, comfort, and improvement; and the wishes of said Indians shall be consulted, and govern, so far as practicable, in the expenditure of said money. And in the employment of farmers, artisans, and laborers preference shall in all cases be given to the Indians residing on the reservation who are properly qualified for such positions.
In order to assist the Indians in settling upon their individual allotments, and encourage them in their efforts at self-support, it is further agreed that each family and male Indian over eighteen years of age, when he shall in good faith commence the cultivation of his individual allotment with the intention of residing permanently thereon, shall be assisted in the erection of a comfortable house, and be provided with one cook-stove, one yoke of work oxen, one breaking plow, one stirring plow, one cow, one wagon, one axe, one hoe, one spade, one handrake, one scythe, and one pitch-fork; or, in lieu of any of said articles, such other useful and proper articles as they may require, in the discretion of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the cost thereof to be paid out of the funds advanced as per Article II of this agreement: Provided further, That whenever in the opinion of the President the annual installment of eighty thousand dollars provided for in the first article of this agreement shall be found to be in excess of the amount required to be expended in any one year in carrying out the provisions of this agreement so much thereof as may be in excess of such requirement shall be placed to the credit of said Indians in the Treasury of the United States and expended in continuing the benefits herein provided for when said annual installments shall have expired.
Hereafter no subsistence shall be furnished any adult male Indian (the aged, sick, and infirm excepted) who does not endeavor by honest labor to support himself, nor to children between the ages of eight and fifteen years (the sick and infirm excepted), unless such children shall regularly attend school.
The outboundaries of the diminished reservation shall be surveyed and marked in a plain and substantial manner, the cost thereof to be paid out of the first annual installment provided for in Article II of this agreement.
This agreement shall not be binding on either party until ratified by Congress.
Dated and signed in open council at Fort Berthold Agency, in the Territory of Dakota, December fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six;”
Be, and the same is hereby, accepted, ratified, and confirmed except as to article six thereof, which is modified and changed on the part of the United States so as to read as follows: “That the residue of lands within said diminished reservation, after all allotments have been made as provided in article three of this agreement, shall be held by the said tribes of Indians as a reservation;” and as so modified said agreement is accepted and confirmed: Provided, That this act shall take effect only upon the acceptance of the modification and changes made by the United States as to article six of the said agreement by the said tribes of Indians in manner and form as said agreement was assented to, which said acceptance and consent shall be made known by proclamation by the President of the United States upon satisfactory proof presented to him that the said acceptance and consent have been obtained in such manner and form.
That for the purpose of carrying out the terms of said agreement the sum of eighty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, to be immediately available.
That whenever any of the lands acquired by this agreement hereby ratified and confirmed shall, by operation of law or proclamation of the President of the United States, be open to settlement, they shall be disposed of to actual settlers only under the provisions of the homestead laws, except section twenty-three hundred and one of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which shall not apply: Provided, however, That each settler on said lands shall, before making final proof and receiving a certificate of entry pay to the United States for the land so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, and within five years from the date of the first original entry the sum of one dollar and fifty cents for each acre thereof, one-half of which shall be paid within two years; but the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors as defined and described in sections twenty-three hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes shall not be abridged except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid.
That the following agreement entered into on behalf of the United States by Eliphalet Whittlesey, D. W. Diggs, and Charles A. Maxwell, commissioners on the part of the United States, on the twelfth day of December, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, with the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians now on file in the Department of the Interior, signed by said commissioners for the United States, and for said Indians by Simon Ananangmari and others, is hereby accepted, ratified, and confirmed, and is in the following terms, to wit:a
“Whereas, by section five of the act of Congress entitled ‘An act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes,’ approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, it is provided ‘That at any time after lands have been allotted to all the
Indian of any tribe, as herein provided, or sooner,’ if in the opinion of the President it shall be for the best interests of said tribe, it shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with such Indian tribe for the purchase and release by the said tribe, in conformity with the treaty or statute under which such reservation is held, of such portions of its reservations not allotted as such tribe shall from time to time, consent to sell, on such terms and conditions as shall be considered just and equitable between the United States and said tribe of Indians, which purchase shall not be complete until ratified by Congress; and the form and manner of executing such release shall also be prescribed by Congress.
Whereas the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians are desirous of disposing of a portion of the land set apart and reserved to them by the third article of the treaty of February nineteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, between them and the United States, and situated partly in the State of North Dakota and partly in the State of South Dakota:
Now, therefore, this agreement made and entered into in pursuance of the provisions of the Act of Congress approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, aforesaid, at the Sisseton Agency, South Dakota, on this the twelfth day of December, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, by and between Eliphalet Whittlesey, D. W. Diggs, and Charles A. Maxwell, on the part of the United States, duly authorized and empowered thereto, and the chiefs, head-men, and male adult members of the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, witnesseth:
The Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians hereby cede, sell, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits of the reservation set apart to said bands of Indians as aforesaid remaining after the allotments and additional allotments provided for in article four of this agreement shall have been made.
In consideration for the lands ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed as aforesaid, the United States stipulates and agrees to pay to the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, parties hereto, the sum of two dollars and fifty cents per acre for each and every acre thereof, and it is agreed by the parties hereto that the sum so to be paid shall be held in the Treasury of the United States for the sole use and benefit of the said bands of Indians; and the same, with interest thereon at three per centum per annum, shall be at all times subject to appropriation by Congress for the education and civilization of the said bands of Indians, or members thereof, as provided in section five of an act of Congress, approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and entitled “An act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes:” Provided, That any religious society or other organization now occupying, under proper authority, for religious or educational work among the Indians, any of the land in this agreement ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed shall have the right, for two years from the date of the ratification of this instrument, within which to purchase the lands so occupied at a price to be fixed by the Congress of the United States: Provided further, That the cession, sale, relinquishment, and conveyance of the lands described in article one of this agreement shall not
take effect and be in force until the sum of three hundred and forty-two thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight dollars and thirty-seven cents, together with the sum of eighteen thousand and four hundred dollars, shall have been paid to said bands of Indians, as set forth and stipulated in article third of this agreement.
The United States stipulates and agrees to pay to the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, parties hereto, per capita, the sum of three hundred and forty-two thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight dollars and thirty-seven cents, being the amount found to be due certain members of said bands of Indians who served in the armies of the United States against their own people when at war with the United States, and their families and descendants, under the provisions of the fourth article of the treaty of July twenty-third, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, and of which they have been wrongfully and unjustly deprived by the operation of the provisions of an act of Congress approved February sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and entitled “An act for the relief of persons for damages sustained by reason of depredation, and injuries by certain bands of Sioux Indians”; said sum being at the rate of eighteen thousand four hundred dollars per annum form July first, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, to July first, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight less their pro rata share of the sum of six hundred and sixteen thousand and eighty-six dollars and fifty-two cents, heretofore appropriated for the benefit of said Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, as set forth in report numbered nineteen hundred and fifty-three, of the House of Representatives, Fiftieth Congress, first session.
The United States further agrees to pay to said bands of Indians, per capita, the sum of eighteen thousand and four hundred dollars annually from the first day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, to the first day of July, nineteen hundred and one, the latter date being the period at which the annuities to said bands of Indians were to cease, under the terms of the fourth article of the treaty of July twenty-third, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, aforesaid; and it is hereby further stipulated and agreed that the aforesaid sum of three hundred and forty-two thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight dollars and thirty-seven cents, together with the sum of eighteen thousand and four hundred dollars, due the first day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, shall become immediately available upon the ratification of this agreement.
It is further stipulated and agreed that there shall be allotted to each individual member of the bands of Indians, parties hereto, a sufficient quantity, which, with the lands heretofore allotted, shall make in each case one hundred and sixty acres, and in case no allotment has been made to any individual member of said bands, then an allotment of one hundred and sixty acres shall be made to such individual, the object of this article being to equalize the allotments among the members of said bands, so that each individual, including married women, shall have one hundred and sixty acres of land; and patents shall issue for the lands allotted in pursuance of the provisions of this article, upon the same terms and conditions and limitations as is provided in section five of the act of Congress, approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, hereinbefore referred to.
The agreement concluded with the said Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, on the eighth day of December, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, granting a right of way through their reservation for the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railway, is hereby accepted, ratified and confirmed.
This agreement shall not take effect and be in force until ratified by the Congress of the United States.
In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals the day and year above written.
ELIPHALET WHITTLESEY,
D. W. DIGGS,
CHAS. A. MAXWELL,
On the part of the United States.
The foregoing articles of agreement having been fully explained to us, in open council, we, the undersigned, being male adult members of the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, do hereby consent and agree to all the stipulations, conditions, and provisions therein contained.
Simon Ananangmari (his X mark), and others.
That for the purpose of carrying out the terms and provisions of said agreement there be, and hereby is, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated the sum of two million two hundred and three thousand dollars, of which amount the sum of five hundred and three thousand two hundred dollars shall be immediately available, and the same, or so much thereof as may be necessary, shall be paid as follows, to wit: To the Sisseton and Wahpeton Indians, parties to this agreement, the sum of three hundred and seventy-six thousand five hundred and seventy-eight dollars and thirty-seven cents, said amount to be distributed per capita. To the scouts and soldiers of the Sisseton, Wahpeton, Medawakanton, and Wapakoota bands of Sioux Indians, who were enrolled and entered into the military service of the United States and served in suppressing what is known as the “Sioux outbreak of eighteen hundred and sixty-two;” or those who were enrolled and served in the armies of the United States in the war of the rebellion, and to the members of their families and descendants, now living, of such scouts and soldiers as are dead, who are not included in the foregoing class, as parties to said agreement, the sum of one hundred and twenty-six thousand six hundred and twenty dollars, said amount to be distributed per capita; and the said sum of five hundred and three thousand and two hundred dollars or so much thereof as may be necessary, when paid to the said Sisseton, Wahpeton, Medowakanton, and Wahpakoota bands of Sioux Indians, their families and descendants, designated in this act, shall be deemed a full settlement of all claims they may have for unpaid annuities, under any and all treaties or acts of Congress up to the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety: Provided, however, That all contracts or agreements between said Indians or any of them, and agents, attorneys, or other persons for the payment of any part of this appropriation for or on account of fees or compensation to said agents, attorneys or other persons, unless the same have been made, as provided by law, and are yet in force and have been approved by the Department of the Interior, or have been made by and between citizens of the United States are hereby declared null and void, and in
such cases the Secretary of the Interior shall cause all moneys herein appropriated to be paid directly to the said Indians and shall pay no portion of the same, to their said agents or attorneys. And in no event shall a sum exceeding ten per cent. be paid to any agent or attorney, and the balance, after deducting the said five hundred and three thousand two hundred dollars, to wit, the sum of one million six hundred and ninety-nine thousand eight hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to pay for lands by said agreement ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, shall be placed in the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of said Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians (parties to said agreement), and the same, with interest thereof at five per centum per annum, shall be at all times subject to appropriation by Congress or to application by order of the President for the education and civilization of said bands of Indians or members thereof.
That any religious society or other organization now occupying under proper authority any of the lands by said agreement ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed shall have the right for a period of two years from the date hereof, within which to purchase the lands so occupied not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres in any one tract at the price paid therefor by the United States under said agreement.
That in order to further carry out the provisions of said agreement and of this act, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed, as soon as practicable, to cause the additional allotment provided for in said agreement to be made in the manner and form as provided in an act entitled “An act to provide for the allotments of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes,” and as provided in any existing amendments of said act, approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and to pay the sums hereinbefore made immediately available, first to the parties to said agreement, or their proper representatives, and to appoint suitable officers for such purposes who shall furnish bonds usual in such cases, and whose compensation and expenses shall be paid out of said available funds as the Secretary of the Interior shall direct, and whose lawful acts, when approved by him, shall be final and conclusive.
That the lands by said agreement ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed to the United States shall immediately, upon the payment to the parties entitled thereto of their share of the funds made immediately available by this act, and upon the completion of the allotments as provided for in said agreement, be subject only to entry and settlement under the homestead and town-site laws of the United States, excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections of said lands, which shall be reserved for common school purposes, and be subject to the laws of the State wherein located: Provided, That patents shall not issue until the settler or entryman shall have paid to the United States the sum of two dollars and fifty cents per acre for the land taken up by such homesteader, and the title to the lands so entered shall remain in the United States until said money is duly paid by such entryman or his legal representatives, or his widow, who shall have the right to pay the money and complete the entry of her deceased husband in her own name, and shall receive a patent for the same.
The following agreement entered into by J. Clifford Richardson, Charles M. Dole, and Rockwell J. Flint, commissioners on the part of the United States, and Carl Lieder and others on behalf of the Crow Indians, on the eighth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety, with the Crow tribe of Indians, in Montana, which said agree-
ment is hereby accepted, ratified, and confirmed, and is now on file in the Department of the Interior and is in the words and figures as follows, to wit:
We, the undersigned, adult male Indians of the Crow tribe now residing on the Crow Indian Reservation, in the State of Montana, do, this eighth day of December A. D. eighteen hundred and ninety, hereby agree to dispose of and sell to the Government of the United States, for certain considerations hereinafter mentioned, all that portion of the Crow Indian Reservation, in the State of Montana, lying west and south of the following lines, to wit:
Beginning in the mid-channel of the Yellowstone River, at a point which is the northwest corner of section Number thirty-six, township Number two north, of range twenty-seven east, of the principal meridian of Montana, thence running in a south westerly direction, following the top of the natural divide between the waters flowing into the Yellowstone and Clarke’s Fork Rivers upon the west and those flowing into Pryor Creek and West Pryor Creek on the east, to the base of West Pryor Mountain. Thence due south and up the north slope of said Pryor Mountain on a true meridian line to a point fifteen miles due north from the established line between Montana and Wyoming; thence in a due easterly course on a parallel of latitude to a point where it intersects the mid-channel of the Big Horn River, thence following up the mid-channel of said river to a point where it crosses the Montana and Wyoming State line.
That in consideration of the cession of territory herein made by us as individual Indians and heads of families of the Crow tribe to the Government of the United States, the said Government of the United States, in addition to the annuities and sums for provisions and clothing stipulated and provided for in existing treaties and laws, hereby agrees to pay the sum of nine hundred and forty-six thousand dollars lawful money of the United States, in the manner hereinafter described:
First. That of the above-named sum there is hereby appropriated and set apart two hundred thousand dollars to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior in the building of dams, canals, ditches, and laterals for the purposes of irrigation in the valleys of the Big Horn and the Little Big Horn Rivers and on Pryor Creek and such other streams as the Secretary of the Interior may deem proper: Provided, That not to exceed fifty thousand dollars shall be expended annually in performing this work: And provided further, That the superintendent in charge of said works shall, in the employment of laborers, be required to give preference to such Indians of the Crow tribe as are competent and willing to work at the average wages paid to common laborers for the same kind of work, and the labor so employed shall be paid in cash.
That the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars is hereby appropriated and set apart as an irrigating fund, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior for the maintenance and management of the system of irrigation provided for in this agreement.
Third. That the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated and set apart, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, for the construction of three grist mills, to be located, one on Pryor Creek, one on the Big Horn, and one on the Little Big Horn River at such points as the Indian agent may deem convenient and practicable and at such times as the needs of the Indians may require.
Fourth. That the sum of twenty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated and set apart to be expended in the construction and maintenance of a sub-Indian depot, to be located on Pryor Creek, provided that the Secretary of the Interior shall deem it advisable to establish such depot on the reservation; otherwise the amount herein appropri-
ated shall, at the expiration of two years from the date of this agreement, be placed in the fund provided for by section nine (9) of this agreement.
Fifth. That the sum of five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior in the building of school-houses at such points on the reservation and at such times as the Indians may require, and upon the recommendation of the Indian agent.
Sixth. That the sum of ten thousand dollars is hereby appropriated and set aside as a fund to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior in repairing and improving the houses of the Indians now erected on the reservation, and to make them as far as possible warm and comfortable dwellings.
Seventh. That the sum of three thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated for the construction and equipment of three blacksmith shops, to be located at such places upon the reservation, and to be built at such times as the Indian agent may recommend, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.
Eighth. That the sum of five hundred and fifty-two thousand dollars is hereby appropriated and set aside as an annuity fund, to be distributed as follows: Each Indian of the Crow tribe, male and female, shall receive an annual annuity of twelve dollars in cash for the period of twenty years from the date of this agreement. Said annuity to be paid semi-annually in accordance with such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe.
Ninth. That the sum of forty-six thousand dollars is hereby appropriated and set aside, to be expended by the Indian agent, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in the purchase of cattle from time to time as may be deemed advisable; the cattle so purchased to form a herd to be held in common by the Crow tribe. All cattle sold from said herd shall be paid for in cash, and the net proceeds of such sale shall constitute a fund to be known as the Crow herd fund. When said fund shall exceed the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, it shall be the duty of the Indian agent, and he is hereby required, to apportion to each Indian entitled to the annual annuity provided for in section eighth the sum of five dollars, to be paid in cash under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe.
Tenth. That when each object for which a specific appropriation has been made in this agreement shall have been fully carried out and completed, then the balance remaining of such appropriation shall constitute fund to be expended for the benefit of the Crow tribe in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior may determine.
Eleventh. That all lands upon that portion of the reservation to be herein ceded which, prior to the date of this agreement, have been allotted in severalty to Indians of the Crow tribe shall be retained and enjoyed by them: Provided, however, That such Indians shall have the right at any time within three years to surrender his or her allotment, and select a new allotment within the retained reservation upon the same terms and conditions as were prescribed in selecting the first allotment.
It is further provided, That every Indian who shall surrender an allotment within the time specified, that has improvements upon it, shall have like improvements made for him upon the new allotment, and for this purpose the sum of five thousand dollars, or so much of it as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated and set apart.
Twelfth. It is further provided, in accordance with provisions of Article VI of the treaty of May seventh, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, that this cession of lands shall not be construed to deprive without his or her consent, any individual Indian of the Crow tribe of his or her right to any tract of land selected by him or
her in conformity with said treaty, or as provided by the agreement approved by Congress April eleven, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and eighty-two; and it is further provided that in ratifying this agreement the Congress of the United States shall cause all such lands to be surveyed and certificates duly issued for the same to said Indians, as provided in the treaty of May seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, before said ceded portion of the reservation shall be opened for settlement.
Thirteenth. It is a condition of this agreement that it shall not be binding upon either party until ratified by the Congress of the United States, and when so ratified that said cession of lands so acquired by the United States shall not be opened for settlement until the boundary lines set forth and described in this agreement have been surveyed and definitely marked by suitable permanent monuments, erected every half mile, wherever practicable, along the entire length of said boundary line.
Fourteenth. That the sum of five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated and set apart to pay the expenses of twelve Crow chiefs and one interpreter to visit the President of the United States at Washington, to consult with him for the benefit of the Crow tribe, at such time as the President may determine, within one year from the date of this agreement.
Fifteenth. That all existing provisions of the treaty of May seventh Anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and the agreement approved by act of Congress dated April eleventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, shall continue in force.
Done at Crow Agency, Montana, this eighth day of December, A. D. eighteen hundred and ninety.
J. CLIFFORD RICHARDSON,
C. M. DOLE,
R. J. FLINT,
Commissioners to the Crow Indians.
Carl Lieder and others, for the said Indians.
That for the purpose of carrying the provisions of the foregoing agreement into effect there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the said sum of nine hundred and forty-six thousand dollars, so agreed to be paid, to be expended for the purposes and in the manner provided in said agreement.
That the sum of seven thousand five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the survey of the boundary line between the Crow Reservation and the lands ceded by said agreement, as stipulated in section fourteen thereof, and for the survey of lands selected by members of the Crow tribe of Indians under the provisions of article six of the treaty between the United States and the Crow Indians, concluded May seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, or under the provisions of the act approved April eleventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, entitled “An act to accept and ratify the agreement submitted by the Crow Indians of Montana for the sale of a portion of their reservation in said Territory, and for other purposes, and to make the necessary appropriations for carrying out the same.” And certificates shall be issued for such selections under said article, as required by section twelve of the foregoing agreement.
That whenever any of the lands acquired by the agreement with said Crow Indians hereby ratified and confirmed shall be operation of law or the proclamation of the President of the United States be open to settlement, they shall, except mineral lands, be disposed of
to actual settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead laws, except section twenty-three hundred and one of the Revised Statutes, which shall not apply: Provided, however, That each settler, under and in accordance with the provisions of said homestead laws, shall, before receiving a patent for his homestead, pay to the United States for the land so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, and within five years from the date of the first original entry the sum of one dollar and fifty cents for each acre thereof one half of which shall be paid within two years; and any person otherwise qualified who has attempted to, but for any cause failed to secure a title in fee to a homestead under existing law, or who made entry under what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law, shall be qualified to make a homestead entry upon any of said lands in conformity with the provisions of this section. That any person who may be entitled to the privilege of selecting land in severalty under the provisions of article six of the treaty of May seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, with the Crow Indians, and which provisions were continued in force by the agreement with said Indians ratified and confirmed by the act of Congress, approved April eleventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, or any other act or treaty, shall have the right for a period of sixty days to make such selections in any part of the territory by said agreement ceded, and such locations are hereby confirmed: Provided, further, That all white persons who located upon said Crow Reservation by reason of an erroneous survey of the boundary and were afterwards allowed to file upon their location in the United States Land Office, shall have thirty days in which to renew their filings, and their locations are hereby confirmed, and that in all cases where claims were located under the mining laws of the United States, and such location was made prior to December first eighteen hundred and ninety, by a locator qualified therefor who believed that he or she was so locating on lands outside the Crow Indian Reservation, such locator shall be allowed thirty days within which to re-locate the said mining claims so theretofore located by them, within the limits of the ceded portion of said Crow Indian Reservation, and upon such re-location such proceedings shall be had as are conformable to law and in accordance with the provisions of this act.
That whenever under and by reason of the provisions herein contained, ratifying and confirming agreements with any Indian tribe, the right is reserved to any religious society or organization to purchase lands the subject of such agreement, the price and time and terms of payment thereof may be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior, but not less than that at which the other lands subject to said agreement are sold for.
That the school lands reserved in the Territory of Oklahoma by this and former acts of Congress, may be leased for a period not exceeding three years for the benefit of the school fund of said Territory by the governor thereof, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior.
That before any lands in Oklahoma are open to settlement it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to divide the same into counties which shall contain as near as possible not less than seven hundred square miles in each county. In establishing said county line the Secretary is hereby authorized to extend the lines of the counties already located so as to make the area of said counties equal, as near as may be, to the area of the counties provided for in this act. At the first election for county officers the people of each county may vote for a name for each county, and the name which receives the greatest number of votes shall be the name of such county: Provided further, That as soon as the county lines are designated by the Secretary he shall reserve not to exceed one-half section of land in
each county, to be located near the center of said county, for county seat purposes, to be entered under sections twenty-three hundred and eighty-seven and twenty-three hundred and eighty-eight of the Revised Statutes.
No provision for settlement on or sale of the lands in the various agreements hereinbefore mentioned shall apply to sections sixteen and thirty six thereon, which land in the States are hereby granted to the State in which they are situated, for the support of the common schools of such State under the limitations prescribed by law, and such sections in the Territories of the United States are reserved from occupancy, entry, or sale, under any land law of the United States; but this provision shall not apply to mineral land which may be disposed of under the laws applicable thereto.
Approved, March 3, 1891.
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