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Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington : Government Printing Office, 1913.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed, as hereinafter provided, to sell and dispose of all that portion of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in the State of South Dakota, lying and being in Bennett County and described as follows: Beginning at a point on the eastern boundary line of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in
South Dakota, where the same intersects the boundary line between the States of South Dakota and Nebraska; thence north along said eastern boundary line to the township line separating townships thirty-nine and forty; thence west along said township line to the fifth guide meridian; thence south along said fifth guide meridian to the boundary line between the said States of South Dakota and Nebraska; thence east along said State line to the place of beginning, except such portions thereof as have been or may be hereafter allotted to Indians or otherwise reserved, and except lands classified as timber lands: Provided, That any Indians to whom allotments have been made on the tract to be ceded may, in case they elect to do so before said lands are offered for sale, relinquish same and select allotments in lieu thereof on the diminished reservation: And provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior may reserve such lands as he may deem necessary for agency, school, and religious purposes, to remain reserved as long as needed, and as long as agency, school, or religious institutions are maintained thereon, for the benefit of said Indians: And provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to issue a patent in fee simple to the duly authorized missionary board, or other authority, of any religious organization, heretofore engaged in mission or school work on said reservation for such lands thereon (not included in any town site hereinafter provided for) as have heretofore been set apart to such organization for mission or school purposes.
That the lands shall be disposed of under the general provisions of the homestead and town-site laws of the United States, and shall be opened to settlement and entry by proclamation of the President, which proclamation shall prescribe the manner in which the lands may be settled upon, occupied, and entered by persons entitled to make entry thereof; and no person shall be permitted to settle upon, occupy, or enter any of said lands except as prescribed in such proclamation: Provided, That prior to said proclamation the allotments within the portion of the said Pine Ridge Reservation to be disposed of as described herein shall have been completed: Provided further, That the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors of the late civil and Spanish wars or Philippine insurrection, as defined and described in sections twenty-three hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes, as amended by the act of March first, nineteen hundred and one, shall not be abridged.
That before any of the land is disposed of, as hereinafter provided, and before the State of South Dakota shall be permitted to select or locate any lands to which it may be entitled by reason of the loss of sections sixteen or thirty-six, or any portions thereof, by reasons of allotments thereof to an Indian or Indians, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to reserve from said lands such tracts for town-site purposes as in his opinion may be required for the future public interests, and he may cause same to be surveyed into lots and blocks and disposed of under such regulations as he may prescribe, in accordance with section twenty-three hundred and eighty-one of the Revised Statutes of the United States; and he is hereby authorized to set apart and reserve for school, park, and other public purposes not more than ten acres in any town site, and patents shall be issued for the lands so set apart and reserved for school, park, and other public purposes to the municipality legally charged with the care and custody of lands donated for such purposes. The purchase price of all town lots sold in town sites, as hereinafter provided, shall be paid at such time and in such installments as the Secretary of the Interior may direct, and he shall cause not more than twenty per centum of the net proceeds arising from such sales to be set apart and
expended under his direction in aiding the construction of schoolhouses or other public buildings or in improvements within the town sites in which such lots are located. The net proceeds derived from the sale of such lots and lands within the town sites as aforesaid, less the amount set aside to aid in the construction of schoolhouses or other public buildings or improvements, shall be credited to the Indians as hereinafter provided.
That the price of said lands entered as homesteads under the provisions of this act shall be fixed by appraisement as herein provided. The president shall appoint a commission to consist of three persons to classify, appraise, and value all of said lands that shall not have been allotted in severalty to said Indians, or reserved by the Secretary of the Interior, or otherwise disposed of, and excepting sections sixteen and thirty-six or other lands which may be selected in lieu thereof by the State of South Dakota, in each of said townships, said commission to be constituted as follows: One resident citizen of the State of South Dakota, one representative of the Interior Department, and one person holding tribal relations with said tribe of Indians. That within twenty days after their appointment the said commissioners shall meet and organize by the election of one of their number as chairman. The said commissioners shall then proceed to personally inspect, classify, and appraise, in one hundred and sixty acre tracts each, all of the remaining unallotted lands embraced within that portion of the reservation described in section one of this act. In making such classification and appraisement said lands shall be divided into the following classes: First, agricultural land of the first class; second, agricultural land of the second class; third, grazing land; fourth, timber land; fifth, mineral land, if any, but the mineral and timber lands shall not be appraised: Provided, That timber lands shall be classified without regard to acreage: And provided further, That all lands classified as timber lands shall be reserved for the use of the Pine Ridge Indians. That said commissioners shall be paid a salary of not to exceed ten dollars per day each while actually employed in the inspection, classification and appraisement of said lands, and necessary expenses exclusive of subsistence to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, such inspection, classification and appraisement to be completed within six months from the date of organization of said commission.
That said commission shall be governed by regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and after the completion of the classification and appraisement of all of said land the same shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.
That the price of said lands disposed of under the homestead laws shall be paid in accordance with rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior upon the following terms: One-fifth of the purchase price to be paid in cash at the time of entry, and the balance in five equal annual installments, to be paid in two, three, four, five, and six years, respectively, from and after the data of entry. In case any entryman fails to make the annual payments, or any of them, when due, all rights in and to the land covered by his entry shall cease, and any payments theretofore made shall be forfeited and the entry canceled, and the lands shall be again subject to entry under the provisions of the homestead law at the appraised price thereof: Provided, That nothing in this act shall prevent homestead settlers from commuting their entries under section twenty-three hundred and one, Revised Statutes, by paying for the land entered the appraised price, receiving credit for payments previously made. In addition to the price to be paid for the land, the entryman shall pay the same fees and commissions at the time of commutation or final entry as now provided by law where the price of land
is one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and when the entryman shall have complied with all the requirements and terms of the homestead laws as to settlement and residence and shall have made all the required payments aforesaid he shall be entitled to a patent for the lands entered: And provided further, That all lands remaining undisposed of at the expiration of four years from the opening of said lands to entry may, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, be reappraised in the manner provided for in this act.
That from the proceeds arising from the sale and disposition of the lands aforesaid, exclusive of the customary fees and commissions, there shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of the Indians belonging and having tribal rights on the said reservation, the sums to which the said tribe may be entitled, which shall draw interest at three per centum per annum; that the moneys derived from the sale of said lands and deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the said Indians shall be at all times subject to appropriation by Congress for their education, support, and civilization.
That sections sixteen and thirty-six of the land in each township within the tract described in section one of this act shall not be subject to entry, but shall be reserved for the use of the common schools, and paid for by the United States at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, and the same are hereby granted to the State of South Dakota for such purpose, and in case any of said sections, or parts thereof, are lost to said State by reason of allotments thereof to any Indian or Indians, or otherwise, the governor of said State, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, is hereby authorized, within the area described in section one of this act, to locate other lands not otherwise appropriated, which shall be paid for by the United States as herein provided, in quantity equal to the loss, and such selections shall be made prior to the opening of such lands to settlement: Provided, That in any event not more than two sections shall be granted to the State in any one township, and lands must be selected in lieu of sections sixteen or thirty-six, or both, or any part thereof, within the townships in which the loss occurs, except in any townships where there may not be two sections of unallotted lands, in which event whatever is required to make two sections may be selected in any adjoining township.
That there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of not more than one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to pay for the lands granted to the State of South Dakota, as provided in section eight of this act. And there is hereby appropriated the further sum of thirty-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the purpose of making the appraisement, classification, and allotment provided for herein: Provided, That the latter appropriation, or any further appropriation hereafter made for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act, shall be reimbursed to the United States from the proceeds from the sale of the lands decribed herein or from any money in the Treasury belonging to said Indian tribe.
That the lands allotted, those retained or reserved, and the surplus lands sold, set aside for town-site purposes, granted to the State of South Dakota, or otherwise disposed of, 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.
That nothing in this act contained shall in any manner bind the United States to purchase any portion of the land herein described, except sections sixteen and thirty-six, or the equivalent in each township, or to dispose of said land except as provided herein, or
to guarantee to find purchasers for said lands or any portion thereof, it being the intention of this act that the United States shall act as trustee for said Indians to dispose of the said lands, and to expend and pay over the proceeds received from the sale thereof only as received and as herein provided: Provided, That nothing in this act shall be construed to deprive the said Indians of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of any benefits to which they are entitled under existing treaties or agreements not inconsistent with the provisions of this act.
Approved, May 27, 1910.
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