An act making appropriations for current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and for other purposes.
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-five, and fulfilling treaty stipulations with the various Indian tribes, namely:
CITIZEN BAND OF POTTAWATOMIES.
That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he hereby is, authorized and directed to pay to the Citizen Band of Pottawatomie Indians, or expend for their benefit, the sum of thirteen thousand nine hundred and eighty-one dollars and fifty-eight cents, now on the books of the Treasury, and being the unexpended balance of the appropriation to carry out the provisions of the agreement between the United States and said band of Indians, ratified and confirmed by Act of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one: Provided, That any member of the Citizen Band of Pattawatomie Indians and of the Absentee Shawnee Indians of Oklahoma, to whom a trust patent has been issued under the provisions of the Act approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven (Twenty-fourth Statutes, three hundred and eighty-eight), and being over twenty-one years of age, may sell and convey any portion of the land covered by such patent in excess of eighty acres, the deed of conveyance to be subject to approval by the Secretary of the Interior under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, and that any Citizen Pottawatomie not
residing upon his allotment, but being a legal resident of another State or Territory, may in like manner sell and convey all the land covered by said patent, and that upon the approval of such deed by the Secretary of the Interior the title to the land thereby conveyed shall vest in the grantee therein named. And the land sold and conveyed under the provisions of this Act shall, upon proper recording of the deeds therefor, be subject to taxation as other lands in said Territory, but neither the lands covered by such patents not sold and conveyed under the provisions of this Act, nor any improvements made thereon, shall be subject to taxation in any manner by the Territorial or local authorities during the period in which said lands shall be held in trust by the United States.
SACS AND FOXES OF THE MISSOURI.
That the Secretary of the Interior be, and hereby is, authorized and directed to cause to be allotted, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, entitled “An Act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes,” to each and every child born of a recognized member of the Sac and Fox of Missouri tribe of Indians since the completion of allotments to said tribe, eighty acres of land within the reservation of said tribe in the States of Kansas and Nebraska, and upon the completion thereof to offer for sale the remaining lands of the said reservation, at the proper land office, upon such terms, conditions, and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may determine: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior shall inquire into the correctness of the appraisement made under authority of an Act of Congress approved August fifteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, of lot eight of the southeast quarter of section nineteen, township one north, range seventeen east, Sac and Fox Reservation lands in the State of Nebraska; and if he shall be satisfied that said lot was appraised at more than its actual value, he may cause the same to be sold upon the same terms as the other lands are sold: And provided further, That before any sale shall be made of said lands the consent of a majority of the male adults of said Indians shall first be obtained.
That the net proceeds arising from the sales of lands, as provided in section one of this Act, shall be used for the benefit of said tribe or shall be paid to said Indians per capita, as the Secretary of the Interior may determine. The cost of the advertisement and sale of said lands shall be defrayed from the first proceeds arising therefrom.
SHAWNEES.
That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to place on the books of the Treasury Department, to the credit of the Cherokee Nation of Indians, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, being the value of annuities of the Shawnee Indians arising under their treaties of August third, seventeen hundred and ninety-five, and May tenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, transferred to the Cherokees by an agreement between the said tribes, dated June seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, under the provisions of article sixteen of the treaty of July nineteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six,
with the Cherokees, the said sum to be apportioned as follows, namely: Cherokee national fund, fifty thousand dollars; Cherokee school fund, thirty-five thousand dollars; Cherokee orphan fund, fifteen thousand dollars; interest on these several sums at the rate of five per centum per annum from July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, to be paid under the provisions of the Act of April first, eighteen hundred and eighty.
That the Secretary of the Interior be, and hereby is, authorized to make a thorough investigation of the facts touching the so-called Ogden Land Company, its organization, when and by whom formed, its continued existence or organization to this date, its capital stock, number of shares, amount of face value, where and by whom held, its liabilities and assets, and the original history of the alleged claim of said company to any of the lands of the Seneca Nation of Indians in the State of New York, and any and all evidences of title; and also the condition of said Indians, their progress in civilization and fitness for citizenship, their number and system of government, and the propriety of allotting their lands in severalty, and to make to Congress a full report with such suggestions and recommendations as he may deem proper in view of all the facts ascertained.
Whereas there is due the Wyandotte Indians from the Government of the United States, as ascertained and reported by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in his letter to the Secretary of the Interior of February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, a balance of fifteen thousand six hundred and eighty-six dollars and eighty cents; and
Whereas there are absentee Wyandotte Indians, who are poor and homeless, numbering between one hundred and fifty and two hundred persons, and for whom no provision has been made:
Therefore, the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to purchase for said absentee Wyandotte Indians eighty acres of land per capita, or so much thereof as said sum of fifteen thousand six hundred and eighty-six dollars and eighty cents will purchase, at a sum not to exceed one dollar and fifty cents per acre; such lands to be purchased from the Quapaw Indians in the Indian Territory, or, if this be found impracticable, then such lands shall be purchased of other Indians in the Indian Territory, where the land may be most conveniently and advantageously obtained by Secretary of the Interior; said lands to be taken in allotments, as provided for in the severalty Act of Congress of February, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and amendments thereto. And the said sum of fifteen thousand six hundred and eighty-six dollars and eighty cents, so due to said Wyandotte Indians, is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of making the purchase of the lands herein and hereby provided for.
For support and civilization of the Apache and other Indians in Arizona and New Mexico who have been or may be collected on reservations in New Mexico and Arizona, one hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, under such rules and regulations as he may deem proper and necessary to protect the interests of the Indians and of the United States, to sell or otherwise dispose of a quantity of timber, not exceeding twenty thousand dollars in value, on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, the proceeds to be used by him in the purchase of sheep and goats for the benefit of the Indians belonging thereto as will best tend to promote their welfare and advance them in civilization.
For the construction of a wagon road on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation in the State of California in accordance with the recom-
mendation of Captain W. E. Dougherty, United States Army, acting Indian agent in charge of said Reservation, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated November twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, three thousand five hundred and nine dollars. The work on said road to be performed as far as practicable by Indians.
To enable the Secretary of the Interior to remove and rebuild the bridge across the Big Wind River on the Shoshone Indian Reservation, in the State of Wyoming, two thousand five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary.
The Secretary of the Interior is directed to contract with responsible parties for the construction of irrigating canals and the purchase or securing of water supply on the Fort Hall Indian reservation, in the State of Idaho, for the purpose of irrigating the lands of said reservation: Provided, That the expense of constructing said canals and the purchase or securing of water supply shall be paid out of moneys belonging to the said Fort Hall Indians now in the Treasury of the United States and subject to the disposal of the Secretary of the Interior for the benefit of said Indians.
AGREEMENT WITH THE YANKTON SIOUX OR DAKOTA INDIANS, IN SOUTH DAKOTA.
SEC. 12
The following agreement, made by J. C. Adams and John J. Cole, commissioners on the part of the United States, with the chiefs, headmen, and other male adults of the Yankton tribe of Sioux or Dakota Indians upon the Yankton Reservation, in the State of South Dakota, on the thirty-first day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and now on file in the Department of the Interior, and signed by said commissioners on behalf of the United States, and by Charles Martin, Edgar Lee, Charles Jones, Isaac Hepikigan, Stephen Cloud Elk, Edward Yellow Bird, Iron Lingthing, Eli Brockway, Alex Brunot Francis Willard, Louis Shunk, Joseph Caje, Albion Hitika, John Selwyn, Charles Ree, Joseph Cook, Brigham Young, William Highrock, Frank Felix, and Philip Ree, on behalf of the said Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, is hereby accepted, ratified, and confirmed.
ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT.
Whereas J. C. Adams and John J. Cole, duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States, did, on the thirty-first day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, conclude an agreement with the chiefs, headmen, and other male adults of the Yankton tribe of Sioux or Dakotah Indians upon the Yankton Reservation, in the State of South Dakota, which said agreement is as follows:
Whereas a clause in the act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth (30th), eighteen hundred and ninety-three (1893), and for other purposes, approved July 13th, 1892, authorizes the “Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with any Indians for the surrender of portions of their respective reservations, any agreement thus negotiated being subject to subsequent ratification by Congress;” and
Whereas the Yankton tribe of Dacotah—now spelled Dakota and so spelled in this agreement—or Sioux Indians is willing to dispose of a portion of the land set apart and reserved to said tribe, by the first article of the treaty of April (19th) nineteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight (1858), between said tribe and the United States, and situated 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 July thirteenth (13th), eighteen hundred and ninety-two (1892), at the Yankton Indian Agency, South Dakota, by J. C. Adams of Webster, S. D., John J. Cole of St. Louis, Mo., and I. W. French of the State of Neb., on the part of the United States, duly authorized and empowered thereto, and the chiefs, headmen, and other male adult members of said Yankton tribe of Indians, witnesseth:
ARTICLE I.
The Yankton tribe 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 Indians as aforesaid.
ARTICLE II.
In consideration for the lands ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed to the United States as aforesaid, the United States stipulates and agrees to pay to the said Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians the sum of six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000), as hereinbefore provided for.
ARTICLE III.
SECTION 1. Sixty days after the ratification of this agreement by Congress, or at the time of the first interest payment, the United States shall pay to the said Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, in lawful money of the United States, out of the principal sum stipulated in Article II, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), to be divided among the members of the tribe per capita. No interest shall be paid by the United States on this one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.)
SECTION 2. The remainder of the purchase money or principal sum stipulated in Article II, amounting to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), shall constitute a fund for the benefit of the said tribe, which shall be placed in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the said Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, upon which the United States shall pay interest at the rate of five per centum (5) per annum from January first, eighteen hundred and ninety-three (January 1st, 1893), the interest to be paid and used as hereinafter provided for.
ARTICLE IV.
The fund of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) of the principal sum, placed to the credit of the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, as provided for in Article III, shall be payable at the pleasure of the United States after twenty-five years, in lawful money of the United States. But during the trust period of twenty-five years, if the necessities of the Indians shall require it, the United States may pay such part of the principal sum as the Secretary of the Interior may recommend, not exceeding $20,000 in any one year. At the payment of such sum it shall be deducted from the principal sum in the Treasury, and the United States shall thereafter pay interest on the remainder.
ARTICLE V.
SECTION 1. Out of the interest due to the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians by the stipulations of Article III, the United States may set aside and use for the benefit of the tribe, in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior shall determine, as follows: For the care and maintenance of such orphans, and aged, infirm, or other helpless persons of the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, as may be unable to take care of
themselves; for schools and educational purposes for the said tribe; and for courts of justice and other local institutions for the benefit of said tribe, such sum of money annually as may be necessary for these purposes, with the help of Congress herein stipulated, which sum shall not exceed six thousand dollars ($6,000) in any one year: Provided, That Congress shall appropriate, for the same purposes, and during the same time, out of any money not belonging to the Yankton Indians, an amount equal to or greater than the sum set aside from the interest due to the Indians as above provided for.
SECTION 2. When the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians shall have received from the United States a complete title to their allotted lands, and shall have assumed all the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, so that the fund provided for in section 1 of this article is no longer needed for the purposes therein named, any balance on hand shall be disposed of for the benefit of the tribe as the Secretary of the Interior shall determine.
ARTICLE VI.
After disposing of the sum provided for in Article V, the remainder of the interest due on the purchase money as stipulated in Article III shall be paid to the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians semiannually, one- half on the thirtieth day of June and one-half on the thirty-first day of December of each year, in lawful money of the United States, and divided among them per capita. The first interest payment being made on June 30th, 1893, if this agreement shall have been ratified.
ARTICLE VII.
In addition to the stipulations in the preceding articles, upon the ratification of this agreement by Congress, the United States shall pay to the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians as follows: To each person whose name is signed to this agreement and to each other male member of the tribe who is eighteen years old or older at the date of this agreement, twenty dollars ($20) in one double eagle, struck in the year 1892 as a memorial of this agreement. If coins of the date named are not in the Treasury coins of another date may be substituted therefor. The payment provided for in this article shall not apply upon the principle sum stipulated in Article II, nor upon the interest thereon stipulated in Article III, but shall be in addition thereto.
ARTICLE VIII.
Such part of the surplus lands hereby ceded and sold to the United States, as may now be occupied by the United States for agency, schools, and other purposes, shall be reserved from sale to settlers until they are no longer required for such purposes. But all other lands included in this sale shall, immediately after the ratification of this agreement by Congress, be offered for sale through the proper land office, to be disposed of under the existing land laws of the United States, to actual and bona fide settlers only.
ARTICLE IX.
During the trust period of twenty-five years, such part of the lands which have been allotted to members of the Yankton tribe of Indians in severalty, as the owner thereof can not cultivate or otherwise use advantageously, may be leased for one or more years at a time. But such leasing shall be subject to the approval of the Yankton Indian agent by and with the consent of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs; and provided that such leasing shall not in any case interfere with the cultivation of the allotted lands by the owner thereof to the full extent
of the ability of such owner to improve and cultivate his holdings. The intent of this provision is to compel every owner of allotted lands to cultivate the same to the full extent of his ability to do so, before he shall have the privilege of leasing any part thereof, and then he shall have the right to lease only such surplus of his holdings as he is wholly unable to cultivate or use advantageously. This provision shall apply alike to both sexes, and to all ages, parents acting for their children who are under their control, and the Yankton Indian agent acting for minor orphans who have no guardians.
ARTICLE X.
Any religious society, or other organization now occupying under proper authority for religious or educational work among the Indians any of the land under this agreement ceded to the United States, shall have the right for two years from the date of the ratification of this agreement within which to purchase the land so occupied at a valuation fixed by the Secretary of the Interior, which shall not be less than the average price paid to the Indians for these surplus lands.
ARTICLE XI.
If any member of the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians shall within twenty-five years die without heirs, his or her property, real and personal, including allotted lands, shall be sold under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and the proceeds thereof shall be added to the fund provided for in Article V for schools and other purposes.
ARTICLE XII.
No part of the principal or interest stipulated to be paid to the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, under the provisions of this agreement, shall be subject to the payment of debts, claims, judgments, or demands against said Indians for damages or depredations claimed to have been committed prior to the signing of this agreement.
ARTICLE XIII.
All persons who have been allotted lands on the reservation described in this agreement and who are now recognized as members of the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, including mixed-bloods, whether their white blood comes from the paternal or maternal side, and the children born to them, shall enjoy the undisturbed and peaceable possession of their allotted lands, and shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of the tribe enjoyed by full-blood Indians.
ARTICLE XIV.
All allotments of lands in severalty to members of the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, not yet confirmed by the Government, shall be confirmed as speedily as possible, correcting any errors in same, and Congress shall never pass any act alienating any part of these allotted lands from the Indians.
ARTICLE XV.
The claim of fifty-one Yankton Sioux Indians, who were employed as scouts by General Alf. Sully in 1864, for additional compensation at the rate of two hundred and twenty-five dollars ($225) each, aggregating the sum of eleven thousand four hundred and seventy-five dollars ($11,475) is hereby recognized as just, and within ninety days (90) after .
the ratification of this agreement by Congress the same shall be paid in lawful money of the United States to the said scouts or to their heirs
ARTICLE XVI.
If the Government of the United States questions the ownership of the Pipestone Reservation by the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, under the treaty of April 19th, 1858, including the fee to the land as well as the right to work the quarries, the Secretary of the Interior shall as speedily as possible refer the matter to the Supreme Court of the United States, to be decided by that tribunal. And the United States shall furnish, without cost to the Yankton Indians, at least one competent attorney to represent the interests of the tribe before the court.
If the Secretary of the Interior shall not, within one year after the ratification of this agreement by Congress, refer the question of the ownership of the said Pipestone Reservation to the Supreme Court, as provided for above, such failure upon his part shall be construed as, and shall be, a waiver by the United States of all rights to the ownership of the said Pipestone Reservation, and the same shall thereafter be solely the property of the Yankton tribe of the Sioux Indians, including the fee to the land.
ARTICLE XVII.
No intoxicating liquors nor other intoxicants shall ever be sold or given away upon any of the lands by this agreement ceded and sold to the United States, nor upon any other lands within or comprising the reservations of the Yankton Sioux or Dakota Indians as described in the treaty between the said Indians and the United States, dated April 19th, 1858, and as afterwards surveyed and set off to the said Indians. The penalty for the violation of this provision shall be such as Congress may prescribe in the act ratifying this agreement.
ARTICLE XVIII.
Nothing in this agreement shall be construed to abrogate the treaty of April 19th, 1858, between the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians and the United States. And after the signing of this agreement, and its ratification by Congress, all provisions of the said treaty of April 19th, 1858, shall be in full force and effect, the same as though this agreement had not been made, and the said Yankton Indians shall continue to receive their annuities under the said treaty of April 19th, 1858.
ARTICLE XIX.
When this agreement shall have been ratified by Congress, an official copy of the act of ratification shall be engrossed, in copying ink, on paper of the size this agreement is written upon, and sent to the Yankton Indian agent to be copied by letter press in the “Agreement Book” of the Yankton Indians.
ARTICLE XX.
For the purpose of this agreement, all young men of the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, eighteen years of age or older, shall be considered adults, and this agreement, when signed by a majority of the male adult members of the said tribe, shall be binding upon the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians. It shall not, however, be binding upon the United States until ratified by the Congress of the United States, but shall as soon as so ratified become fully operative from its date. A refusal by
Congress to ratify this agreement shall release the said Yankton Indians under it.
In witness whereof, the said J. C. Adams, John J. Cole, and J. W. French, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and other adult male Indians, on the part of the said Yankton tribe of Sioux or Dakota—spelled also Dacotah—Indians, have hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals.
Done at the Yankton Indian agency, Greenwood, South Dakota, this thirty-first day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-two (Dec. 31st, 1892).
JAMES C. ADAMS, [SEAL.] JOHN J. COLE. [SEAL.]
The foregoing articles of agreement having been read in open council, and fully explained to us, we, the undersigned, chiefs, headmen, and other adult male members of the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians, do hereby consent and agree to all the stipulations therein contained.
Witness our hands and seals of date as above. Wicahaokdeun (William T. Selwyn), seal; and others:
Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That said agreement be, and the same hereby is, accepted, ratified, and confirmed.
That for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this Act into effect there is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of six hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, of which amount the sum of five hundred thousand dollars shall be placed to the credit of said tribe in the Treasury of the United States, and shall bear interest at the rate of five per centum per annum from the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, said interest to be paid and distributed to said tribe as provided in articles five and six of said agreement. Of the amount herein appropriated one hundred thousand dollars shall be immediately available to be paid to said tribe, as provided in section one of article three of said agreement. There is also hereby appropriated the further sum of ten thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, which sum shall be immediately available, to be paid to the adult male members of said tribe, as provided in article seven of said agreement. There is also hereby appropriated the further sum of eleven thousand four hundred and seventy-five dollars, which sum shall be immediately available, to be paid as provided in article fifteen of said agreement: Provided, That none of the money to be paid to said Indians under the terms of said agreement, nor any of the interest thereon, shall be subject to the payment of any claims, judgments, or demands against said Indians for damages or depredations claimed to have been committed prior to the signing of said agreement.
That the lands by said agreement ceded, to the United States shall, upon proclamation by the President, be opened to settlement, and shall be subject to disposal only under the homestead and town-site laws of the United States, excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in each Congressional township, which shall be reserved for commonschool purposes and be subject to the laws of the State of South Daktoa: Provided, That each settler on said lands shall, in addition to the fees provided by law, pay to the United States for the land so taken by him the sum of three dollars and seventy-five cents per acre, of which sum he shall pay fifty cents at the time of making his original entry and the balance before making final proof and receiving a certificate of final entry; 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.
That the Secretary of the Interior, upon proper plats and description being furnished, is hereby authorized to issue patents to Charles Picotte and Felix Brunot, and W. T. Selwyn, United States interpreters, for not to exceed one acre of land each, so as to embrace their houses near the agency buildings upon said reservation, but not to embrace any buildings owned by the Government, upon the payment by each of said persons of the sum of three dollars and seventy-five cents.
That every person who shall sell or give away any intoxicating liquors or other intoxicants upon any of the lands by said agreement ceded, or upon any of the lands included in the Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation as created by the treaty of April nineteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, shall be punishable by imprisonment for not more than two years and by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars.
AGREEMENT WITH THE YAKIMA INDIANS IN WASHINGTON.
SEC. 13
That the following agreement entered into by John Lane, special United States Indian agent, and Lewis T. Erwin, United States Indian agent, Yakima, duly appointed by the Secretary of the Interior in that behalf, of the one part, and the head chief, chiefs, headmen, and principal men of the several tribes and bands composing the Yakima Nation of Indians, in the State of Washington, of the other part, bearing date the eighth day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and now on file in the office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, is hereby accepted, ratified, and confirmed.
Whereas John Lane, special U. S. Indian agent, and Lewis T. Erwin, U. S. Indian agent for the Yakima Indian Agency, duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States, did, on the eighth day of January, 1894, conclude an agreement with the following tribes and bands of Indians, viz.: Yakimas, Palouses, Pisquouses, Wenatshapams, Klickitas, Klingnits, Kou was say us, Li ay was, Shinpahs, Wish hams, Shy iks, Oche chotes, Kah milt pahs, and Se ap cats, all constituting what is known as the Yakima Nation of Indians, by their chiefs, headmen, and principal men, embracing a majority of all male adult Indians belonging to the Yakima Nation of Indians aforesaid, which said agreement is as follows: Whereas a certain right of fishery was duly provided for in article ten of the treaty concluded with these Indians by the United States in the year 1855 and ratified by Congress on March 8, 1859, which said article reads as follows, to wit:
“ARTICLE 10. And provided, That there is also reserved and set apart from the lands ceded by this treaty, for the use and benefit of the aforesaid Confederated Tribes and Bands, a tract of land not exceeding in quantity one township of six miles square, situated at the forks of the Pisquouse or Wenatshapam River, and known as the “Wenatshapam Fishery,” which said reservation shall be surveyed and marked out whenever the President may direct, and be subject to the same provisions and restrictions as other Indian reservations;” and
Whereas a certain tract of land was duly surveyed and set apart, in the year 1893, by the United States in fulfillment of the agreement, on the part of the United States, to be performed as set forth in said article 10 of said treaty of 1855, as aforesaid, which said tract of land is known as the Wenatshapam Fishery, and is described as follows, to wit:
“And provided, That there is also reserved and set apart, from the lands ceded by this treaty, for the use and benefit of the aforesaid Confederated Tribes and Bands, a tract of land not exceeding in quantity one township of six miles square, situated at the forks of the Pisquouse or Wenatshapam River, and known as the “Wenatshapam Fishery,” which said reservation shall be surveyed and marked out
whenever the President may direct, and be subject to the same provisions and restrictions as other Indian Reservations;” and
Whereas the said Indians have found the said right of fishery and the said fishery above described of little use or benefit to them, and are willing to dispose of the same to the United States, therefore, in order to carry out such purpose, it is hereby agreed as follows:
ARTICLE I.
The said Indians hereby cede and relinquish to the United States all their right, title, interest, claim, and demand of whatsoever name or nature of in, and to all their right of fishery, as set forth in article 10 of said treaty aforesaid, and also all their right, title, interest, claim, or demand of, in, and to said land above described, or any corrected description thereof and known as the Wenatshapam fishery.
ARTICLE II.
In consideration of the foregoing cession and relinquishment the United States hereby agrees to pay or expend through their Indian Agent, Yakima Agency, twenty thousand dollars, which said sum is to be deposited in a United States depository for their use and benefit as soon as approved by Congress, and subject to their order, the Indians reserving the right to dispose of said money as they may decide in general council to be held by them and for that purpose. After the ratification of this agreement by Congress and the further consideration that the Indians known as the Wenatshapam Indians, residing on the Wenatchee River, State of Washington, shall have land allotted to them in severalty in the vicinity of where they now reside, or elsewhere, as they may select, in accordance with article 4 of the general allotment law.
ARTICLE III.
This agreement shall not be binding upon either party until ratified by Congress.
Dated and signed at Fort Simcoe, Yakima Agency, Washington, January 8, 1894.
JOHN LANE, [SEAL.] Special U. S. Indian Agent LEWIS T. ERWIN, [SEAL.] U. S. Indian Agent, Yakima Commissioners.
The foregoing article of agreement having been fully explained to us in open council we, the undersigned, chiefs, headmen, and principal men of the several tribes and bands composing the Yakima Nation of Indians in the State of Washington, do hereby consent and agree to all the stipulations therein contained.
Witness our hands and seals at Yakima Agency, Washington, this eighth day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-four.
Joe Stwire, his x mark, seal; and others:
Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the said agreement be, and the same hereby is, accepted, ratified, and confirmed.
For the purpose of carrying this agreement and ratification into effect, there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of twenty thousand dollars, to be paid to the Indian agent of the Yakima Indian Agency, to be expended by him as provided in the second article of said agreement, in such
manner and in such sums as may be decided upon by the general council of the Yakima Nation of Indians, convened and held for that purpose. And the land so ceded and relinquished is hereby restored to the public domain, subject to the land laws of the United States: Provided, That the Indians, known as the Wenatshapam Indians, residing on the Wenatchee River, State of Washington, shall be allowed the privilege of taking allotments of land in severalty under the fourth section of the general allotment Act of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and amended Act of eighteen hundred and ninety-one, as constemplated by the second article of said agreement: And provided further, That it shall be the duty of the Indian agent of the Yakima Indian Agency to see that the Wenatshapam and other Indians living on the Wenatchee River, State of Washington, shall receive and have paid to them their full and pro rata share of said moneys.
AGREEMENT WITH THE COEUR D’ALENE INDIANS IN IDAHO.
SEC. 14
The following agreement entered into by John Lane, United States special Indian agent, on the part of the United States, duly appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, in that behalf, of the one part, and the Coeur d’ Alene Indians, residing on the Coeur d&apo#146;Alene Indian Reservation, in the State of Idaho, of the other part, bearing date the seventh day of February, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and which reads as follows, is hereby accepted, ratified, and confirmed:
ARTICLE I.
This agreement made on the 7th day of February, 1894, by John Lane, U. S. special Indian agent, on the part of the United States, and the Coeur d’Alene Indians, residing on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation, in the State of Idaho, by their chiefs, headmen, and principal men, embracing a majority of all the male adult Indians occupying said reservation, pursuant to an item in the act of Congress, making appropriations for current and contingent expenses, and fulfilling treaty stipulations with Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, as follows:
“The Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed to negotiate with the Coeur d’Alene Indians for a change of the northern line of their reservation so as to exclude therefrom a strip of land on which the town of Harrison and numerous settlers are located.
“That the foregoing provision shall take effect and be in force, after it shall have been submitted to and agreed to by the Indians of said tribe, and approved by the Secretary of the Interior.”
Witnesseth, that the said Indians, for the consideration hereinafter named, do hereby cede, grant, and relinquish to the United States all right, title, and claim which they now have or ever had of, in, and to all the land embraced within the following-described tract, now a part of their reservation, to wit:
Beginning at a point on the north line of the reservation, on the east bank of the mouth of the Coeur d’Alene River, and running due south one mile, thence due east parallel with the north boundary line to the east boundary line, thence north on the east boundary line to the northeast corner of the reservation, thence west on the north boundary line to the point of beginning.
ARTICLE II.
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 fifteen thousand ($15,000) dollars, the same to be paid to the said Indians upon the completion of all the provisions of this agreement.
It is further agreed that the payment of the 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.
ARTICLE IV.
The new boundary lines of the reservation, established by this agreement, or such protions thereof as are not defined by natural objects, shall be surveyed and marked in a plain and substantial manner. The cost of such surveys are to be paid by the United States.
ARTICLE V.
This agreement shall not be binding upon either party until ratified by Congress.
Dated and signed at De Smet Mission, Idaho, this 7th day of February, 1894.
JOHN LANE, U. S. Special Indian Agent.
Witness: GEO. F. STEELE.
The foregoing articles of agreement, having been fully explained to us in open council, we, the undersigned, chiefs, headmen, and principal men of the Coeur d’Alene tribe of Indians residing on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation, State of Idaho, do hereby consent and agree to all the stipulations therein contained.
Witness our hands and seals at De Smet Mission, State of Idaho, this 7th day of February, 1894.
Andrew Sultice, his x mark, seal; and others.
For the purpose of carrying out the terms of said agreement the sum of fifteen thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the same to be made immediately available and to be paid the Indians of the Coeur d’Alene Reservation by the Secretary of the Interior, pro rata, or share and share alike, in accordance with the terms of said agreement.
That for the purpose of segregating the ceded land from the diminished Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation, so much of the boundary line described in article one of the agreement that is not defined by a natural boundary shall be properly surveyed and permanently marked in a plain and substantial manner by prominent and durable monuments.
That to provide for disposal of the lands acquired by the foregoing agreement the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the same to be properly surveyed, subdivided, and platted in accordance with existing law; and the Secretary of the Interior shall direct one of the inspectors of the Department of the Interior to appraise the value of the town site of Harrison and state the price per acre of each and every legal subdivision of the ceded tract.
In case the total appraised value of all the lands exceeds or falls short of fifteen thousand dollars and the cost of appraising the lands, the appraisement of the town site and the subdivisions shall be scaled in proportion to the appraised values to such price as will bring the total to the sum to be paid the Indians and the cost of the appraisement; and at the rates thus determined, in addition to the usual fees and charges, the lands will be disposed of under the homestead and townsite laws, preference being given to those persons who were actual bona fide settlers at the date of the agreement, February seventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-four: Provided, That in no case shall the price per acre fall below the minimum prescribed by law.
AGREEMENT WITH THE ALSEA AND OTHER INDIANS ON SILETZ RESERVATION
SEC. 15
Whereas Reuben P. Boise, William H. Odell, and H. H. Harding, duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States, did, on the thirty-first day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, conclude an agreement with the chiefs, headmen, and other male adults of the Alsea and other bands of Indians residing upon the Siletz Reservation in the State of Oregon, which said agreement is as follows:
This agreement made and entered into in pursuance of the provisions of the Act of Congress approved July thirteen, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, at the Siletz Agency, Oregon, by Reuben Boise, William H. Odell, and H. H. Harding, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and male adults of the Alsea and other bands of Indians located on said Siletz Reservation, witnesseth:
ARTICLE I.
The Indians located on said Siletz Reservation 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 said reservation, except the five sections described in Article IV of this agreement.
ARTICLE II.
In consideration of the lands sold, ceded, relinquished, and conveyed as aforesaid, the United States stipulates and agrees to pay to the Indians located on said Siletz Reservation the sum of one hundred and forty-two thousand and six hundred dollars ($142,600), in payments as follows, to wit:
One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Indians of the Siletz Reservation, in the State of Oregon, which shall bear interest at the rate of five (5) per cent per annum, to be paid annually at the agency on said reservation on the first day of March of each and every year. The balance of said principal sum shall be paid as follows, to wit:
Within three months after the approval of this agreement by Congress there shall be paid to each Indian on said reservation, who shall be of age, to wit: Males of twenty-one years, and females of eighteen years or more, and all married persons, whether they shall be of age or not, the sum of seventy-five dollars ($75) each, and annually thereafter on each interest-paying day, there shall be paid a like sum of seventy-five dollars ($75) to each one who shall have become of age as aforesaid, or who shall have married, whether of age or not (who shall not have been paid seventy-five dollars) during the preceding year, the said sum of seventy-five dollars; and all of the money so held back by the United States to pay said delayed payments shall also draw interest at the rate of five per cent per annum; and the parents of all infants who are supporting the same shall receive annually all the interest money according to the share pro rata of each infant: Provided, however, That in case of all aged or infirm persons, who are incapable of taking care of themselves, the same due and payable to such may be used for the support and care of such persons, in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior may from time to time direct: And provided further, That this agreement shall apply only to persons who shall be living and belonging on said reservation at the time of the ratification of the same by Congress.
It is hereby further stipulated and agreed that as soon as the lands which have been allotted to the Indians on said Siletz Indian Reservation shall become subject and liable to taxation by the State of Oregon, then the Secretary of the Interior may reserve a part of said interest money, so coming to said Indians, not exceeding one-third thereof for each year, and pay the same to the State and local authorities of the State of Oregon, in lieu of taxation upon the lands allotted to said Indians, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe or as may be prescribed by law, to secure to the Indians the full enjoyment of the protection of the laws of said State, and a just share of all benefits derived from said payment in lieu of taxes: Provided, That all road taxes, which by the laws of the State may be discharged by work, may be so discharged by the Indian owners of said allotted lands on the roads in their respective vicinities: And provided further, That Congress may from time to time appropriate and provide to pay any part of said principal sum, so as aforesaid held in trust, as the condition and interests of said Indians may seem to require or justify; And provided further, In case said Indians or any protion thereof may desire to be furnished with supplies instead of cash payments of interest or principal, then the Secretary of the Interior may issue such supplies at cost price in such reservation, at the agency therein, in lieu of cash payments of interest, or any part of the principal sum, which may be from time to time appropriated by Congress: And provided further, That in case the Secretary of the Interior may at any time be satisfied that any of said Indians are fully competent and capable of managing and taking care of their full pro rata of said purchase money, and that it will be to their interests to receive the same, and that other protions of said Indians are not so capable and competent, then he shall recommend to Congress that sufficient amount of such principal sum so held in trust as provided in section 2 of this agreement shall be appropriated to pay the full pro rata of such competent and capable Indians of such principal fund, and when the same shall have been paid and receipted for personally by each Indian so paid, then such Indians shall have no further interest in said trust fund.
ARTICLE IV.
It is further stipulated and agreed that section nine (9) in township nine (9) south, range 11 west of the Willamette meridian, and the west half of the west half of section five (5), and the east half (1/2) of section six (6) and the east half of the west half of section 6, township 10 south, range 10 west, W. M., and the south half of section 8 and the north half of section 17, and section sixteen (16) in township 9 south, range 9, west of the Willamette meridian, and the east half of the northeast 1/4, and lot 3, sec. 20, and S. 1/2 and S. 1/2 of north half of sec. 21, town 8, range 10 west, W. M., are hereby reserved from sale, and that the timber on said five sections of land may be cut and manufactured by the Indians of said Siletz Reservation for their own use and for sale, under such rules as the Secretary of the Interior shall from time to time prescribe, regulating the cutting of timber, so as to secure an equality of benefits to the Indians, employment for them, and judicious aid to them in becoming self-supporting.
ARTICLE V.
It is further agreed that no part of said sum of money so agreed as aforesaid shall ever be applied to the payment of any claim against any of the Indians alleged to have occurred prior to the ratification of this agreement by Congress.
It is further stipulated and agreed that any religious society or other organization not occupying under proper authority, for religious or educational work among the Indians, any of the lands in this agreement ceded, shall have the right for two years from the date of the ratification of this agreement within which to purchase the land so occupied at the rate of $2.50 per acre, the same to be conveyed to such society or organization by patent.
ARTICLE VII.
This agreement shall not take effect and be in force until ratified by the Congress of the United States.
In witness whereof the said Reuben P. Boise, William H. Odell, and H. H. Harding, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, head men, and other male adults of the Indians residing on said Siletz Reservation, have hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals.
Done at the Siletz Agency, Oregon, this the 31st day of October, A. D. 1892.
REUBEN P. BOISE, [L. S.] WILLIAM ODELL, [L. S.] H. H. HARDING, [L. S.] United States Commissioners.
Committee appointed at general council of Indians, October 29, 1892:
SCOTT LANE. and others: [L. S.];
Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That said agreement be, and the same hereby is, accepted, ratified, and confirmed.
That for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this Act into effect there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one hundred and forty-two thousand six hundred dollars, which sum of money shall be paid to the Indians in the manner and form prescribed by articles two and three of the agreement: Provided, That none of the money or interest thereon which is by the terms of said agreement to be paid to said Indians shall be applied to the payment of any judgment that has been or may hereafter be rendered under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, entitled “An Act to provide for the adjudication and payment of claims arising from Indian depredations.” The mineral lands shall be disposed of under the laws applicable thereto, and the balance of the land so ceded shall be disposed of until further provided by law under the town-site law and under the provisions of the homestead law: Provided, however, That each settler, under and in accordance with the provisions of said homestead laws shall, at the time of making his original entry, pay the sum of fifty cents per acre in addition to the fees now required by law, and at the time of making final proof shall pay the further sum of one dollar per acre, final proof to be made within five years from the date of entry, and three years’ actual residence on the land shall be established by such evidence as is now required in homestead proofs as a prerequisite to title or patent.
That all of the money so held by the United States to pay the delayed payments shall draw interest at the rate of five per centum per annum after the passage of this Act.
That immediately after the passage of this Act the Secretary of the Interior shall under such regulations as he may prescribe, open said lands to settlement after proclamation by the President and sixty days’ notice.
Whereas Robert Schleicher, James F. Allen, and Cyrus Beede, duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States, did on the first day of May, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, conclude an agreement with the principal men and other male adults of the Nez Perce tribe of Indians upon the Lapwai Reservation, in the State of Idaho, which said agreement is as follows:
Whereas the President, under date of October thirty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and under the provisions 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 the Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes,” approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, authorized negotiations with the Nez Perce Indians in Idaho for the cession of their surplus land; and
Whereas the said Nez Perce Indians are willing to dispose of a portion of the tract of land in the State of Idaho reserved as a home for their use and occupation by the second article of the treaty between said Indians and the United States, concluded June ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three:
Now, therefore, this agreement made and entered into in pursuance of the provisions of said act of Congress approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, at the Nez Perce Agency, by Robert Schleicher, James F. Allen, and Cyrus Beede, on the part of the United States, and the principal men and male adults of the Nez Perce tribe of Indians located on said Nez Perce Reservation, witnesseth:
ARTICLE I.
The said Nez Perce 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 said reservation, saving and excepting the following described tracts of lands, which are hereby retained by the said Indians, viz:
In township thirty-four, range four west: Northeast quarter, north half and southeast of northwest quarter, northeast quarter of southwest quarter, north half and east half of southwest quarter, and the southeast quarter of southeast quarter, section thirteen, four hundred and forty acres.
In township thirty-four, range three west: Sections ten, fifteen, thirty-six, one thousand nine hundred and twenty acres.
In township thirty-three, range three west: Section one; northwest quarter of northeast quarter, north half of northwest quarter section twelve, seven hundred and sixty acres.
In township thirty-five, range two west: South half of northeast quarter, northwest quarter, north half and southeast quarter of southwest quarter, southeast quarter section three; east half, east half of northwest quarter, southwest quarter section ten, section eleven; north half, north half of south half, section twenty-one; east half of northeast quarter of section twenty; sections twenty-two, twenty-seven, thirty-five, four thousand two hundred acres.
In township thirty-four, range two west: North half, southwest quarter, north half and southwest quarter and west half of southeast quarter of southeast quarter, section thirteen; section fourteen; north half section twenty-three, west half of east half and west half of northeast quarter, northwest quarter, north half of southwest quarter, west quarter of southeast quarter, section twenty-four; section twenty-nine, two thousand seven hundred acres.
In township thirty-three, range two west: West half and southeast quarter section six; sections sixteen, twenty-two, twenty-seven; north half and north half of south half section thirty-four, two thousand eight hundred and eighty acres.
In township thirty-four, range one west: West half section two; sections three, four; north half and southwest quarter section eight; north half section nine; north half and north half of southwest quarter section eighteen; northwest quarter section seventeen, two thousand nine hundred and sixty acres.
In township thirty-seven, range one east: Section twenty; section twenty-one, less south half of south half of southwest quarter of southeast quarter (ten acres), one thousand two hundred and seventy acres.
In township thirty-six, range one east: South half of sections three, four; sections eleven, twelve, one thousand nine hundred and twenty acres.
In township thirty-six, range two east: Sections sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, twenty; all of section twenty-five west of boundary line of reservation; sections twenty-six, twenty-seven, four thousand two hundred and forty acres.
In township thirty-five, range two east: North half of sections sixteen, seventeen, section twenty-seven; north half of section thirty-four, one thousand six hundred acres.
In township thirty-four, range two east: East half and east half of west half of southeast quarter section twenty-four, one hundred acres.
In township thirty-four, range three east: South half of sections nineteen, twenty; north half; north half of south half; southwest quarter and north half of southeast quarter of southwest quarter; north half of south half of southeast quarter section twenty-three; north half; north half and north half of southwest quarter and southeast quarter of southwest quarter; southeast quarter section twenty-four; north half and southeast quarter of northeast quarter; north half of northwest quarter section twenty-five; south half of northeast quarter of northeast quarter section twenty-six; section twenty-nine; northeast quarter of northeast quarter and south half section thirty; northwest quarter and north half of southwest quarter section thirtyone; northeast quarter; north half and southeast quarter of northwest quarter section thirty-two; northwest quarter; north half of southwest quarter, section thirty-three, three thousand seven hundred acres.
In township thirty-three, range four east: South half of southeast quarter section eighteen; northeast quarter and fraction northeast of river in east half of northwest quarter section nineteen; fraction west of boundary line of reservation, in section twenty-two; west half and southeast quarter of section thirty-five, one thousand four hundred and forty acres.
In township thirty-two, range four west: Fraction in west half of northeast quarter of southwest quarter; fraction in northwest quarter of southeast quarter section one; section two; south half of section six; west half and southeast quarter of northeast quarter of section nine, one thousand four hundred and ten acres.
In township thirty-one, range four west: South half of northeast quarter; southeast quarter of northwest quarter; northeast quarter of southwest quarter; southeast quarter section seventeen; northwest quarter section twenty-one, four hundred and eighty acres. Total, thirty-two thousand and twenty acres.
ARTICLE II.
It is also stipulated and agreed that the place known as “the boom” on the Clearwater River, near the mouth of Lapwai Creek, shall be excepted from this cession and reserved for the common use of the
tribe, with full right of access thereto, and that the tract of land adjoining said boom, now occupied by James Moses, shall be allotted to him in such manner as not to interfere with such right. Also, that there shall be reserved from said cession the land described as follows: “Commencing at a point at the margin of Clearwater River, on the south side thereof, which is three hundred yards below where the middle thread of Lapwai Creek empties into said river; run thence up the margin of said Clearwater River at low-water mark, nine hundred yards to a point; run thence south two hundred and fifty yards to a point; thence southwesterly, in a line to the southeast corner of a stone building, partly finished as a church; thence west three hundred yards to a point; thence from said point northerly in a straight line to the point of beginning; and also the adjoining tract of land lying southerly of said tract, on the south end thereof; commencing at the said corner of said church, and at the point three hundred yards west thereof, and run a line from each of said points. One of said lines running on the east side and the other on the west of said Lapwai Creek; along the foothills of each side of said creek; up the same sufficiently far so that a line being drawn east and west to intersect the aforesaid lines shall embrace within its boundaries, together with the first above described tract of land, a sufficient quantity of land as to include and comprise six hundred and forty acres;” for which described tracts of land the United States stipulates and agrees to pay to William G. Langford, his heirs or assigns, the sum of twenty thousand dollars, upon the execution by said Langford, his heirs or assigns, of a release and relinquishment to the United States of all right, title, interest, or claim, either legal or equitable, in and to said tracts of land, derived by virtue of a quit-claim deed of February fourteeth, eighteen hundred and sixtyeight, to the said William G. Langford, from Langdon S. Ward, treasurer of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, which release and relinquishment shall be satisfactory to the Secretary of the Interior, and it is stipulated and agreed by said Nez Perce Indians that upon the execution and approval of such release and relinquishment the right of occupancy of said Indians in said described tracts shall terminate and cease and the complete title thereto immediately vest in the United States: Provided, That any member of the said Nez Perce tribe of Indians entitled to an allotment now occupying and having valuable improvements upon any of said lands not already occupied or improved by the United States may have the same allotted to him in such subdivisions as shall be prescribed and approved by the Secretary of the Interior, in lieu of an equal quantity of agricultural land allotted to him elsewhere; and for this purpose shall relinquish any patent that may have been issued to him before the title to said “Langford” tracts of land shall vest in the United States, and shall have a new patent issued to him of the form and legal effect prescribed by the fifth section of the act of February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven (twenty-fourth Statutes, three hundred and eighty-eight), covering the new allotment and that portion of the former allotment not surrendered. It is further agreed that five acres of said tract, upon which the Indian Presbyterian Church is located, as long as same shall remain a church, shall be patented to the trustees of said church; that the said five acres shall not include improvements made by the United States; the said five acres to be selected under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
ARTICLE III.
In consideration for the lands ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed as aforesaid the United States stipulates and agrees to pay to the said Nez Perce Indians the
sum of one million six hundred and twenty-six thousand two hundred and twenty-two dollars, of which amount the sum of six hundred and twenty-six thousand two hundred and twenty-two dollars shall be paid to said Indians per capita as soon as practicable after the ratification of this agreement. The remainder of said sum of one million six hundred and twenty-six thousand two hundred and twenty-two dollars shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the “Nes Perces Indians, of Idaho,” and shall bear interest at the rate of five per centum per annum, which principal and interest shall be paid to said Indians per capita as follows, to wit: At the expiration of one year from the date of the ratification of this agreement the sum of fifty thousand dollars, and semiannually thereafter the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars with the interest on the unexpended portion of the fund of one million dollars until the entire amount shall have been paid, and no part of the funds to be derived from the cession of lands by this agreement made shall be diverted or withheld from the disposition made by this article on account of any depredation or other act committed by any Nez Perce Indian, prior to the execution of this agreement, but the same shall be actually paid to the Indians in cash, in the manner and at the times as herein stipulated.
ARTICLE IV.
It is further stipulated and agreed that the United States will purchase for the use of said Nez Perce Indians two portable steam saw mills, at a cost not exceeding ten thousand dollars, and will provide for said Indians, for a period not exceeding two years, and at a cost not exceeding twenty-four hundred dollars, a competent surveyor, for the purpose of fully informing said Indians as to the correct locations of their allotments and the corners and lines thereof.
ARTICLE V.
It is further stipulated and agreed that the lands by this agreement ceded, shall not be opened for public settlement until trust patents for the allotted lands shall have been duly issued and recorded, and the first payment shall have been made to said Indians.
ARTICLE VI.
It is further stipulated and agreed that any religious society or other organization now occupying under proper authority, for religious or educational work among the Indians, any of the lands ceded, shall have the right for two years from the date of the ratification of this agreement, within which to purchase the land so occupied, at the rate of three dollars per acre, the same to be conveyed to such society or organization by patent, in the usual form.
ARTICLE VII.
It is further stipulated and agreed that all allotments made to members of the tribe who have died since the same were made, or may die before the ratification of this agreement, shall be confirmed, and trust patents issued in the names of such allottees, respectively.
ARTICLE VIII.
It is further stipulated and agreed that the first per capita payment, provided for in Article VIII of this agreement, shall be made to those members of the Nez Perce tribe whose names appear on the schedule of allotments made by Special Agent Fletcher, and to such as may be born to them before the ratification of this agreement: Provided, That should it be found that any member of the tribe has been omitted from said schedule, such member shall share in the said payment, and shall
be given an allotment, and each subsequent payment shall be made to those who receive the preceding payment and those born thereafter: Provided, That not more than one payment shall be made on account of a deceased member.
ARTICLE IX.
It is further agreed that the lands by this agreement ceded, those retained, and those allotted to the said Nez Perce Indians shall be subject, for a period of twenty-five years, to all the laws of the United States prohibiting the introduction of intoxicants into the Indian country, and that the Nez Perce Indian allottees, whether under the care of an Indian agent or not, shall, for a like period, be subject to all the laws of the United States prohibiting the sale or other disposition of intoxicants to Indians.
ARTICLE X.
Representation having been made by the Indians in council that several members of the Nez Perce tribe, to the number of about fifty, as per list hereto attached, served the United States under General O. O. Howard, in the late war with Joseph’s Band of said tribe, as scouts, couriers, and messengers, and that they have received no pay therefor; it is agreed that the United States, through its properly constituted authority, will carefully examine each of the cases herewith presented, and make such remuneration to each of said claimants as shall, upon such examination, be found to be due; not exceeding the sum of two dollars and fifty cents per day each, for the time actually engaged in such service; it being understood and agreed that the time of service of said claimants in no case exceeded sixty days. And it also having been made to appear that Abraham Brooks, a member of the Nez Perce tribe of Indians, was engaged in the service of the United States in the late war with Joseph’s Band of Nez Perces, and it also appearing that the said Abraham Brooks was wounded in said service, and that by reason thereof he is now in failing health, and has been for several years; that he is now nearly blind in consequence thereof; it is agreed that an investigation of all the facts in the case shall be made by the proper authorities of the United States, as early as practicable, and that if found substantially as herein represented, or if found worthy under the law in such cases provided, he shall be allowed and paid by the United States a pension adequate to the service and disability.
ARTICLE XI.
The existing provisions of all former treaties with said Nez Perce Indians not inconsistent with the provisions of this agreement are hereby continued in full force and effect.
ARTICLE XII.
This agreement shall not take effect and be in force until ratified by the Congress of the United States.
In witness whereof the said Robert Schleicher, James F. Allen, and Cyrus Beede, on the part of the United States, and the principal men and other male adults of the Nez Perce tribe of Indians, have hereunto set their hands.
Concluded at the Nez Perce Agency, this first day of May, anno domini eighteen hundred and ninety-three.
ROBERT SCHLEICHER, JAMES F. ALLEN, CYRUS BEEDE, A. B. LAWYER; and others.
Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the said agreement be, and the same hereby is, accepted, ratified, and confirmed.
That for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this Act into effect there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one million six hundred and sixty-eight thousand six hundred and twenty-two dollars, of which amount the sum of one million dollars shall be placed to the credit of “the Nez Perce Indians of Idaho” in the Treasury of the United States, and shall bear interest at the rate of five per centum per annum. Said sum of one million six hundred and sixty-eight thousand six hundred and twenty-two dollars, together with the interest on said sum of one million dollars, shall be paid to said Indians, or expended for their benefit, as provided in articles two, three, four, and eight of said agreement; “out of which sum the Secretary of the Interior shall pay to the heirs, administrator, or legal representatives of William G. Langford, deceased, the sum of twenty thousand dollars, upon a release and relinquishment to the United States by said heirs, administrator, or legal representatives of all right, title, interest, or claim, either legal or equitable, in and to the tract of land described in article two of said agreement as therein provided: Provided, That none of the money agreed to be paid said Indians, nor any of the interest thereon, shall be, or become, liable to the payment of any judgment or claim for depredations committed by said tribe or any member thereof before the date of said agreement.
That immediately after the issuance and receipt by the Indians of trust patents for the allotted lands, as provided for in said agreement, the lands so ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed to the United States shall be opened to settlement by proclamation of the President, and shall be subject to disposal only under the homestead, town site, stone and timber, and mining laws of the United States, excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in each Congressional township, which shall be reserved for common-school purposes and be subject to the laws of Idaho: Provided, That each settler on said lands shall, before making final proof and receiving a certificate of entry, pay to the United States for the lands so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, the sum of three dollars and seventy-five cents per acre for agricultural lands, one-half of which shall be paid within three years from the date of original entry; and the sum of five dollars per acre for stone, timber, and mineral lands, subject to the regulations prescribed by existing laws; 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.
That the Commissioner of Indian Affairs be, and he hereby is, authorized to employ a competent surveyor for a period not exceeding two years, at a compensation not exceeding one thousand two hundred dollars per annum, for the purposes stipulated in article four of said agreement, and he is also authorized to purchase two portable sawmills, as provided in article four.
That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to examine the claim of those Indians who served the United States under General O. O. Howard in the late war with Joseph’s band of said tribe as scouts, couriers, and messengers, referred to in article ten of said agreement, and also as to the claim of Abraham Brooks, mentioned in said article, and report his findings and recommendations to Congress.
Whereas Washington J. Houston, John A. Gorman, and Peter R. Brady, duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States, did on the fourth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, conclude an agreement with the principal men and other male adults of the Yuma Indians in the State of California, which said agreement is as follows:
Articles of agreement made and entered into this 4th day of December, A. D. 1893, at Fort Yuma, on what is known as the Yuma Indian Reservation, in the county of San Diego, State of California, by Washington J. Houston, John A. Gorman, and Peter R. Brady, commissioners on the part of the United States appointed for the purpose, and the Yuma Indians.
ARTICLE I.
The said Yuma Indians, upon the conditions hereinafter expressed, do hereby surrender and relinquish to the United States all their right, title, claim, and interest in and to and over the following-described tract of country in San Diego County, Cal., established by executive order of January ninth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, which describes its boundaries as follows:
“Beginning at a point in the middle of the channel of the Colorado River, due east of the meander corner ot sections nineteen and thirty, township fifteen south, range twenty-four east, San Barnardino meridian; thence west on the line between sections nineteen and thirty to the range line, between townships twenty-three and twenty-four east; thence continuing west on the section line to a point which, when surveyed, will be the corner to sections twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-six, and twenty-seven, in township fifteen south, range twenty-one east; thence south on the line between sections twenty-six and twenty-seven, in township fifteen south, range twenty-one east, and continuing south on the section lines to the intersection of the international boundary, being the corner to fractional sections thirty-four and thirty-five, in township sixteen south, range twenty-one east; thence easterly on the international boundary to the middle of the channel of the Colorado River; thence up said river, in the middle of the channel thereof, to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, withdrawn from settlement and sale and set apart as a reservation for the Yuma and such other Indians as the Secretary of the Interior may see fit to settle thereon: Provided, however, That any tract or tracts included within the foregoing-described boundaries to which valid rights have attached under the laws of the United States are hereby excluded out of the reservation hereby made.
“It is also hereby ordered that the Fort Yuma military reservation be, and the same is hereby, transferred to the control of the Department of the Interior, to be used for Indian purposes in connection with the Indian reservation established by this order, said military reservation having been abandoned by the War Department for military purposes.”
ARTICLE II.
Each and every member of said Yuma Indians shall be entitled to select and locate upon said reservation and in adjoining sections five acres of land, which shall be allotted to such Indian in severalty. Each member of said band of Indians over the age of eighteen years shall be entitled to select his or her land, and the father, or, if he be dead, the mother, shall select the land herein provided for for each of his or her children who may be under the age of eighteen years; and if both father and mother of the child under the age of eighteen years
shall be dead, then the nearest of kin over the age of eighteen years shall select and locate his or her land; or if such persons shall be without kindred, as aforesaid, then the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, or some one by him authorized, shall select and locate the land of such child.
ARTICLE III.
That the allotments provided for in this agreement shall be made, at the cost of the United States, by a special agent appointed by the Secretary of the Interior for the purpose, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may from time to time prescribe, and within sixty days after such special agent shall appear upon said reservation and give notice to the said Indians that he is ready to make such allotments; and if anyone entitled to an allotment hereunder shall fail to make his or her selection within said period of sixty days then such special agent shall proceed at once to make such selection for such person or persons, which shall have the same effect as if made by the person so entitled; and when all of said allotments are made and approved, then all of the residue of said reservation which may be subject to irrigation, except as hereinafter stated, shall be disposed of as follows: The Secretary of the Interior shall cause the said lands to be regularly surveyed and to be subdivided into tracts of ten acres each, and shall cause the said lands to be appraised by a board of three appraisers, composed of an Indian inspector, a special Indian agent, and the agent in charge of the Yuma Indians, who shall appraise said lands, tracts, or subdivisions, and each of them, and report their proceedings to the Secretary of the Interior for his action thereon; and when the appraisement has been approved the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the said lands to be sold at public sale to the highest bidder for cash, at not less than the appraised value thereof, first having given at least sixty days’ public notice of the time, place, and terms of sale, immediately prior to such sale, by publication in at least two newspapers of general circulation; and any lands or subdivisions remaining unsold may be reoffered for sale at any subsequent time in the same manner at the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, and if not sold at such second offering for want of bidders then the Secretary of the Interior may sell the same at private sale at not less than the appraised value.
ARTICLE IV.
That the money realized by the sale of the aforesaid lands shall be placed in the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of the said Yuma Indians, 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 payment of water rents, building of levees, irrigating ditches, laterals, the erection and repair of buildings, purchase of tools, farming implements and seeds, and for the education and civilization of said Yuma Indians.
ARTICLE V.
Upon the approval of the allotments provided for herein by the Secretary of the Interior he shall cause patents to issue therefor in the name of the allottees, which patent 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 allotments shall have been made, or in case of his or her decease, to his or her heirs or devisees, according to the laws of California, and that at the expiration of said period the
United States will convey the same by patent to said Indian or his heirs or devisees, as aforesaid in fee, discharged of said trust and free of all 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. And during said period of twenty-five years these allotments and improvements thereon shall not be subject to taxation for any purpose, nor subject to be seized upon any execution or other legal process, and the law of descent and partition in force in California shall apply thereto.
ARTICLE VI.
All lands upon said reservation that can not be irrigated are to be open to settlement under the general land laws of the United States.
ARTICLE VII.
There shall be excepted from the operation of this agreement a tract of land, including the buildings, situate on the hill on the north side of the Colorado River, formerly Fort Yuma, now used as an Indian school, so long as the same shall be used for religious, educational, and hospital purposes for said Indians, and a further grant of land adjacent to the hill is hereby set aside as a farm for said school; the grant for the school site and the school farm not to exceed in all one-half section, or three hundred and twenty acres.
ARTICLE VIII.
This agreement shall be in force from and after its approval by the Congress of the United States.
In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals the day and year first above written.
WASHINGTON J. HOUSTON, [SEAL.] JOHN A. GORMAN, [SEAL.] PETER R. BRADY, [SEAL.] Commissioners on the part of the United States. BILL MOJAVE, and others.
Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the said agreement be, and the same hereby is, accepted, ratified, and confirmed.
That for the purpose of making the allotments provided for in said agreement, including the payment and expenses of the necessary special agent hereby authorized to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, and for the necessary resurveys, there be, and hereby is, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of two thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary.
That for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the survey and sale of the lands by said agreement relinquished and to be appraised and sold for the benefit of said Indians, the sum of three thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and the same hereby is, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the same to be reimbursed to the United States out of the proceeds of the sale of said lands.
That the right of way through the said Yuma Indian Reservation is hereby granted to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company for its line
of railroad as at present constructed, of the same width, with the same rights and privileges, and subject to the limitations, restrictions, and conditions as were granted to the said company by the twenty-third section of the Act approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, entitled “An Act to incorporate the Texas Pacific Railroad Company, and to aid in the construction of its road, and for other purposes:” Provided, That said company shall, within ninety days from the passage of this Act, file with the Secretary of the Interior a map of said right of way, together with a relinquishment by said company of its right of way throgh said reservation as shown by maps of definite location approved January thirty-one, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight.
The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to cause all the lands ceded by said agreement which may be susceptible of irrigation, after said allotments have been made and approved, and said lands have been surveyed and appraised, and the appraisal approved, to be sold at public sale, by the officers of the land office in the district wherein said lands are situated, to the highest bidder for cash, at not less than the appraised value thereof, after first having given at least sixty days’ public notice of the time, place, and terms of sale immediately prior to such sale, by publication in at least two newspapers of general circulation, and any lands or subdivisions remaining unsold may be reoffered for sale at any subsequent time in the same manner, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, and if not sold at such second offering for want of bidders, then the Secretary may cause the same to be sold at private sale at not less than the appraised value. The money realized from the sale of said lands, after deducting the expenses of the sale of said lands, and the other money for which provision is made for the reimbursement of the United States, shall be placed in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of said Yuma Indians, and shall draw interest at the rate of five per centum per annum, and said principal and interest shall be subject to appropriation by Congress, or to application by the President of the United States for the payment of water rents, the building of levees, irrigating ditches and laterals, the purchase of tools, farming implements, and seeds, and for the education and civilization of said Indians: Provided, however, That none of said money realized from the sale of said lands, or any of the interest thereon, shall be applied to the payment of any judgment that has been or may hereafter be rendered on claims for damages because of depredations committed by said Indians prior to the date of the agreement herein ratified.
That all the lands ceded by said agreement which are not susceptible of irrigation shall become a part of the public domain, and shall be opened to settlement and sale by proclamation of the President of the United States, and be subject to disposal under the provisions of the general land laws.
That the Colorado River Irrigating Company, which was granted a right of way for an irrigating canal through the said Yuma Indian Reservation by the Act of Congress approved February fifteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, shall be required to begin the construction of said canal through said reservation within three years from the date of the passage of this Act, otherwise the rights granted by the Act aforesaid shall be forfeited.
That the Secretary of the Interior shall have authority from time to time to fix the rate of water rents to be paid by the said Indians for all domestic, agricultural, and irrigation purposes, and in addition thereto each male adult Indian of the Yuma tribe shall be granted water for one acre of the land which shall be allotted to him, if he utilizes the same in growing crops, free of all rent charges during the period of ten years, to be computed from the date when said irrigation company begins the delivery of water on said reservation.
That the approval of Congress is hereby given to “An Act to adopt the negroes of the Chickasaw Nation,” and so forth, passed by the legislature of the Chickasaw Nation and approved by the governor thereof January tenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, particularly set forth in a letter from the Secretary of the Interior transmitting to Congress a copy of the aforesaid Act, contained in House Executive Document Numbered Two hundred and seven, Forty-second Congress, third session.
SEC. 20
That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and directed to appoint a commission of three persons to allot in severalty to the Uncompaghre Indians within their reservation, in the Territory of Utah, agricultural and grazing lands according to the treaty of eighteen hundred and eighty, as follows:
“Allotments in severalty of said lands shall be made as follows: To each head of a family one-quarter of a section, with an additional quantity of grazing land not exceeding one-quarter of a section; to each single person over eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section, with an additional quantity of grazing land not exceeding one-eighth of a section; to each orphan child under eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section, with an additional quantity of grazing land not exceeding one-eighth of a section; to each other person under eighteen years of age, born prior to such allotment, one-eighth of a section, with a like quantity of grazing land: Provided, That, with the consent of said commission, any adult Indian may select a less quantity of land, if more desirable on account of location:” And provided, That the said Indians shall pay one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for said lands from the fund now in the United States Treasury realized from the sale of their lands in Colorado as provided by their contract with the Government. All necessary surveys, if any, to enable said commission to complete the allotments shall be made under the direction of the General Land Office. Said commissioners shall, as soon as practicable after their appointment, report to the Secretary of the Interior what portions of said reservation are unsuited or will not be required for allotments, and thereupon such portions so reported shall, by proclamation, be restored to the public domain and made subject to entry as hereinafter provided.
SEC. 21
That the remainder of the lands on said reservation, shall, upon the approval of the allotments by the Secretary of the Interior, be immediately open to entry under the homestead and mineral laws of the United States: Provided, That no person shall be entitled to locate more than two claims, neither to exceed ten acres, on any lands containing asphaltum, gilsonite, or like substances: Provided, That after three years actual and continuous residence upon agricultural lands from date of settlement the settler may, upon full payment of one dollar and fifty cents per acre, receive patent for the tract entered. If not commuted at the end of three, years the settler shall pay at the time of making final proof the sum of one dollar and fifty cents per acre.
SEC. 22
[Superseded by 1898, ch. 376, post, p. 642.]
SEC. 23
That said commissioners shall receive six dollars per day each, and their actual and necessary traveling and incidental expenses while on duty, and to be allowed a clerk, to be selected by them, whose compensation shall be fixed by said commissioners, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That the cost of executing the provisions of this act shall not exceed the sum of sixteen thousand dollars, which sum is hereby appropriated for that purpose out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.
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