Whereas it is alleged that certain individuals, associations of persons,
and corporations are in the unauthorized possession of portions of the
territory known as the Oklahoma lands, within the Indian Territory,
which are designated, described, and recognized by the treaties and laws
of the United States and by the executive authority thereof as Indian
lands; and
Whereas it is further alleged that certain other persons or associations
within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States have begun
and set on foot preparations for an organized and forcible entry and
settlement upon the aforesaid lands and are now threatening such entry
and occupation; and
Whereas the laws of the United States provide for the removal of all
persons residing or being found upon such Indian lands and territory
without permission expressly and legally obtained of the Interior
Department:
Now, therefore, for the purpose of protecting the public interests, as
well as the interests of the Indian nations and tribes, and to the end
that no person or persons may be induced to enter upon said territory,
where they will not be allowed to remain without the permission of the
authority aforesaid, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United
States, do hereby warn and admonish all and every person or persons now
in the occupation of such lands, and all such person or persons as are
intending, preparing, or threatening to enter and settle upon the same,
that they will neither be permitted to enter upon said territory nor, if
already there, to remain thereon, and that in case a due regard for and
voluntary obedience to the laws and treaties of the United States and
if this admonition and warning be not sufficient to effect the purposes
and intentions of the Government as herein declared, the military power
of the United States will be invoked to abate all such unauthorized
possession, to prevent such threatened entry and occupation, and to
remove all such intruders from the said Indian lands.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 13th day of March, 1885, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
T.F. BAYARD, Secretary of State.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, by an Executive order bearing date the 27th day of February,
1885, it was ordered that "all that tract of country in the Territory
of Dakota known as the Old Winnebago Reservation and the Sioux or Crow
Creek Reservation, and lying on the east bank of the Missouri River, set
apart and reserved by Executive order dated January 11, 1875, and which
is not covered by the Executive order dated August 9, 1879, restoring
certain of the lands reserved by the order of January 11, 1875, except
the following-described tracts: Townships No. 108 north, range 71 west;
108 north, range 72 west; fractional township 108 north, range 73 west;
the west half of section 4, sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
21, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33 of township 107 north, range 70 west;
fractional townships 107 north, range 71 west; 107 north, range 72 west;
107 north, range 73 west; the west half of township 106 north, range 70
west; and fractional township 106 north, range 71 west; and except also
all tracts within the limits of the aforesaid Old Winnebago Reservation
and the Sioux or Crow Creek Reservation which are outside of the limits
of the above-described tracts, and which may have heretofore been
allotted to the Indians residing upon said reservation, or which may
have heretofore been selected or occupied by the said Indians under and
in accordance with the provisions of article 6 of the treaty with the
Sioux Indians of April 29, 1868, be, and the same is hereby, restored
to the public domain;" and
Whereas upon the claim being made that said order is illegal and in
violation of the plighted faith and obligations of the United States
contained in sundry treaties heretofore entered into with the Indian
tribes or bands occupants of said reservation, and that the further
execution of said order will not only occasion much distress and
suffering to peaceable Indians, but retard the work of their
civilization and engender amongst them a distrust of the National
Government, I have determined, after a careful examination of the
several treaties, acts of Congress, and other official data bearing on
the subject, aided and assisted therein by the advice and opinion of the
Attorney-General of the United States duly rendered in that behalf, that
the lands so proposed to be restored to the public domain by said
Executive order of February 27, 1885, are included as existing Indian
reservations on the east bank of the Missouri River by the terms of the
second article of the treaty with the Sioux Indians concluded April 29,
1868, and that consequently, being treaty reservations, the Executive
was without lawful power to restore them to the public domain by said
Executive order, which is therefore deemed and considered to be wholly
inoperative and void; and
Whereas the laws of the United States provide for the removal of all
persons residing or being found upon Indian lands and territory without
permission expressly and legally obtained of the Interior Department:
Now, therefore, in order to maintain inviolate the solemn pledges and
plighted faith of the Government as given in the treaties in question,
and for the purpose of properly protecting the interests of the Indian
tribes as well as of the United States in the premises, and to the end
that no person or persons may be induced to enter upon said lands,
where they will not be allowed to remain without the permission of
the authority aforesaid, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United
States, do hereby declare and proclaim the said Executive order of
February 27, 1885, to be in contravention of the treaty obligations of
the United States with the Sioux tribe of Indians, and therefore to
be inoperative and of no effect; and I further declare that the lands
intended to be embraced therein are existing Indian reservations,
and as such available for Indian purposes alone and subject to the
Indian-intercourse acts of the United States. I do further warn and
admonish all and every person or persons now in the occupation of said
lands under color of said Executive order, and all such person or
persons as are intending or preparing to enter and settle upon the same
thereunder, that they will neither be permitted to remain or enter upon
said lands, and such persons as are already there are hereby required to
vacate and remove therefrom with their effects within sixty days from
the date hereof; and in case a due regard for and voluntary obedience
to the laws and treaties of the United States and this admonition and
warning be not sufficient to effect the purpose and intentions as herein
declared, all the power of the Government will be employed to carry into
proper execution the treaties and laws of the United States herein
referred to.
In testimony thereof I hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 17th day of April, 1885, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
T.F. BAYARD, Secretary of State.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas certain portions of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indian
Reservation, in the Indian Territory, are occupied by persons other
than Indians, who claim the right to keep and graze cattle thereon
by agreement made with the Indians for whose special possession and
occupancy the said lands have been reserved by the Government of the
United States, or under other pretexts and licenses; and
Whereas all such agreements and licenses are deemed void and of no
effect, and the persons so occupying said lands with cattle are
considered unlawfully upon the domain of the United States so reserved
as aforesaid; and
Whereas the claims of such persons under said leases and licenses and
their unauthorized presence upon such reservation have caused complaint
and discontent on the part of the Indians located thereon, and are
likely to cause serious outbreaks and disturbances:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do
hereby order and direct that all persons other than Indians who are now
upon any part of said reservation for the purpose of grazing cattle
thereon, and their servants and agents, and all other unauthorized
persons now upon said reservation, do, within forty days from the date
of this proclamation, depart and entirely remove therefrom with their
cattle, horses, and other property.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington on this 23d day of July, 1885, and the
year of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and tenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
T.F. BAYARD, Secretary of State.
EXECUTIVE ORDER
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, September 23, 1885.
Under a provision of an act of Congress entitled "An act to authorize
the appointment of a commission by the President of the United States
to run and mark the boundary lines between a portion of the Indian
Territory and the State of Texas, in connection with a similar
commission to be appointed by the State of Texas," the following
officers of the Army are detailed, in obedience to the provisions of
said act of Congress, to act in conjunction with such persons as have
been appointed by the State of Texas to ascertain and mark the point
where the one hundredth meridian of longitude crosses the Red River:
Major W.R. Livermore, Corps of Engineers; First Lieutenant Thomas L.
Casey, jr., Corps of Engineers; First Lieutenant Lansing H. Beach,
Corps of Engineers.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
Executive Order
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, October 24, 1885.
Under a provision of an act of Congress entitled "An act to authorize
the appointment of a commission by the President of the United States
to run and mark the boundary lines between a portion of the Indian
Territory and the State of Texas, in connection with a similar commission
to be appointed by the State of Texas," Major S.M. Mansfield,
Corps of Engineers, is detailed, in addition to those officers named in
Executive order dated September 23, 1885, in obedience to the provisions
of said act of Congress, to act in conjunction with such persons as have
been appointed by the State of Texas to ascertain and mark the point
where the one hundredth meridian of longitude crosses the Red River.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 14, 1885.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 10th instant from the Secretary
of the Interior, inclosing a report from the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs upon the subject of the condition of the Northern Cheyenne
Indians upon the Rosebud and Tongue rivers, in Montana, the inadequacy
of the appropriation made for their support during the current fiscal
year, and requesting legislative authority for the use of certain funds
indicated for their relief.
The proposed legislation does not involve any additional appropriation,
and the necessity for the authority requested is urgent. I therefore
recommend the matter to the early and favorable consideration and action
of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 21, 1885.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 17th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft
of a bill granting a right of way to the Jamestown and Northern Railroad
Company through the Devils Lake Indian Reservation, in the Territory of
Dakota.
The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 21, 1885.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 15th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers upon the
subject, a draft of a bill to amend section 2148 of the Revised Statutes
of the United States, relating to trespasses upon Indian lands.
The subject is one of great importance, and is commended to the early
and favorable action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 21, 1885.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 17th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft
of a bill to accept and ratify an agreement made by the Pi-Ute Indians,
and granting a right of way to the Carson and Colorado Railroad Company
through the Walker River Reservation, in Nevada.
The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 21, 1885.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 17th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a
report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs concerning the failure of
the Utah and Northern Railroad Company to compensate the Indians upon
the Fort Hall Reservation, in Idaho, for lands taken and used in
construction of their line of road crossing the reservation from north
to south.
The subject is recommended to the early attention and action of
Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 21, 1885.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 15th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers upon the
subject, a draft of a bill "to provide for the settlement of the estates
of deceased Kickapoo Indians in the State of Kansas, and for other
purposes."
The matter is presented for the favorable consideration of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 21, 1885.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 15th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers upon the
subject, a draft of a bill for the relief of the Mission Indians in
California.
The subject is presented for the action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 21, 1885.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 17th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft
of a bill to accept and ratify an agreement made by the Sisseton and
Wahpeton Indians, and to grant a right of way for the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul Railway through the Lake Traverse Reservation, in Dakota.
The subject is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 21, 1885.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 15th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers on the
subject, a draft of a bill to amend section 5388 of the Revised Statutes
of the United States, relating to timber depredations upon lands
reserved or purchased for military, Indian, or other purposes, etc.
This is an important subject, and is commended to the early attention of
Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 21, 1885.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 15th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft
of a bill to accept and ratify an agreement made with the confederated
tribes and bands of Indians occupying the Yakima Reservation, in
Washington Territory, for the right of way of the Northern Pacific
Railroad across said reservation, etc.
The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 5, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 19th ultimo from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers in
relation thereto, a draft of a bill "to provide for allotments of lands
in severalty to the Indians residing upon the Round Valley Reservation,
in the State of California, and granting patents therefor, and for other
purposes."
The matter is presented for the early consideration and action of
Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 12, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 2d instant from the Secretary
of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill
to amend section 9 of the act of March 3, 1885, relating to the trial
and punishment of Indians committing certain specified crimes.
The subject is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 25, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 16th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft
of proposed legislation providing for negotiations with the various
tribes and bands of Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota, with a
view to the improvement of their present condition.
It is requested that the matter may have early attention, consideration,
and action by Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 28, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 25th instant from the Secretary
of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, the draft of a
proposed amendment to the first section of the act ratifying an
agreement with the Crow Indians in Montana, approved April 11, 1882,
requested by said Indians, for the purpose of increasing the amount of
the annual payments under said agreement and reducing the number
thereof, in order that sufficient means may be provided for establishing
them on their individual allotments.
The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 4, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 3d instant from the Secretary of
the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill
authorizing the use of certain funds belonging to the Miami Indians in
Indian Territory, proceeds of sales of their lands, for the purpose of
relieving their present pressing necessities.
The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 8, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of the Interior, dated
5th instant, inclosing the recommendation of the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs for the insertion in the act making appropriations for the
current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department for the year
ending June 30, 1887, of an item providing for an agent for the
Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin, at a salary of $1,500 per annum.
The matter is respectfully submitted for the consideration and action of
Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 15, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 12th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, the
draft of a bill prepared by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to amend
the third section of the act of March 3, 1885, "to provide for the sale
of the Sac and Fox and Iowa Indian reservations in the States of
Nebraska and Kansas, and for other purposes."
The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 2, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 27th ultimo from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft
of a bill, prepared in the Office of Indian Affairs, for the purpose of
securing to the Cherokees and others, citizens of the Cherokee Nation by
adoption and incorporation, a sum equal to their proportion of the
$300,000, proceeds of lands west of 96° in the Indian Territory,
appropriated by the act of March 3, 1883.
The matter is presented for the consideration of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 2, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 25th ultimo from the Secretary of
the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill
recommended by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for the payment of
money claimed under alleged existing treaty stipulations and laws by
such Eastern Cherokee Indians as have removed or shall hereafter remove
themselves to the Indian Territory.
The matter is presented for the consideration of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 2, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 26th ultimo from the Secretary of
the Interior, with inclosures, requesting legislation to provide for the
reappraisement and sale of a small tract of land in the State of
Nebraska belonging to the Sac and Fox Indian Reservation.
The matter is presented for the action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 10, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 5th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft
of a bill, prepared in the Office of Indian Affairs, "for the relief of
the Omaha tribe of Indians in the State of Nebraska."
The matter is presented for the consideration of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 18, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 16th instant from the Secretary
of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a
bill, prepared by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, providing for the
use of certain funds, proceeds of Indian reservations, covered into the
Treasury under the provisions of the act of March 3, 1883, for the
benefit of the Indians on whose account the same is covered in.
The subject is recommended to the favorable consideration and action of
Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 18, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 16th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft
of a bill, prepared by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, "to authorize
the purchase of a tract of land near Salem, Oreg., for the use of the
Indian training school."
The subject is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 5, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 1st instant from the Secretary
of the Interior, submitting a draft of a bill recommended by the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, providing for the payment of
improvements made by settlers on the lands of the Mescalero Indian
Reservation in the Territory of New Mexico.
The subject is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 2, 1886.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with the request of the House of Representatives of this
date, I return herewith House bill No. 6391, entitled "An act to
authorize the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railway Company to
construct and operate a railway through the Indian Territory, and for
other purposes."
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 12, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 3d instant, with inclosures,
from the Secretary of the Interior, recommending legislative authority
for the use of funds from appropriation, Sioux, etc., 1887, for the
subsistence of certain Northern Cheyenne Indians who have gone or who
may go from the Sioux Reservation in Dakota to the Tongue River Indian
Agency or vicinity, in Montana.
The matter is presented for the favorable consideration of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 7, 1886.
To the Senate of the United States:
I return without approval Senate bill No. 2281, entitled "An act
granting to railroads the right of way through the Indian reservation in
northern Montana."
The reservation referred to stretches across the extreme northern
part of Montana Territory, with British America for its northern
boundary. It contains an area of over 30,000 square miles. It is
dedicated to Indian occupancy by treaty of October 17, 1855, and act of
Congress of April 15, 1874. No railroads are within immediate approach
to its boundaries, and only one, as shown on recent maps, is under
construction in the neighborhood leading in its direction. The
surrounding country is sparsely settled, and I have been unable to
ascertain that the necessities of commerce or any public exigencies
demand this legislation, which would affect so seriously the rights and
interests of the Indians occupying the reservation.
The bill is in the nature of a general right of way for railroads
through this Indian reservation. The Indian occupants have not given
their consent to it, neither have they been consulted regarding it, nor
is there any provision in it for securing their consent or agreement to
the location or construction of railroads upon their lands. No routes
are described, and no general directions on which the line of any
railroad will be constructed are given.
No particular organized railway company engaged in constructing a
railroad toward the reservation and ready or desirous to build its road
through the Indian lands to meet the needs and requirements of trade
and commerce is named. The bill gives the right to any railroad in the
country, duly organized under the laws of any Territory, of any State,
or of the United States, except those of the District of Columbia, to
enter this Indian country, prospect for routes of travel, survey them,
and construct routes of travel wherever it may please, with no check
save possible disapproval by the Secretary of the Interior of its maps
of location, and no limitation upon its acts except such rules and
regulations as he may prescribe.
This power vested in the Secretary of the Interior might itself be
improvidently exercised and subject to abuse.
No limit of time is fixed within which the construction of railroads
should begin or be completed. Without such limitations speculating
corporations would be enabled to seek out and secure the right of way
over the natural and most feasible routes, with no present intention of
constructing railroads along such lines, but with the view of holding
their advantageous easements for disposal at some future time to some
other corporation for a valuable consideration. In this way the
construction of needed railroad facilities in that country could be
hereafter greatly obstructed and retarded.
If the United States must exercise its right of eminent domain over the
Indian Territories for the general welfare of the whole country, it
should be done cautiously, with due regard for the interests of the
Indians, and to no greater extent than the exigencies of the public
service require.
Bills tending somewhat in the direction of this general character of
legislation, affecting the rights of the Indians reserved to them by
treaty stipulations, have been presented to me during the present
session of Congress. They have received my reluctant approval, though
I am by no means certain that a mistake has not been made in passing
such laws without providing for the consent to such grants by the
Indian occupants and otherwise more closely guarding their rights and
interests; and I hoped that each of those bills as it received my
approval would be the last of the kind presented. They, however,
designated particular railroad companies, laid down general routes over
which the respective roads should be constructed through the Indian
lands, and specified their direction and termini, so that I was enabled
to reasonably satisfy myself that the exigencies of the public service
and the interests of commerce probably demanded the construction of the
roads, and that by their construction and operation the Indians would
not be too seriously affected.
The bill now before me is much more general in its terms than those
which have preceded it. It is a new and wide departure from the general
tenor of legislation affecting Indian reservations. It ignores the right
of the Indians to be consulted as to the disposition of their lands,
opens wide the door to any railroad corporation to do what, under the
treaty covering the greater portion of the reservation, is reserved to
the United States alone; it gives the right to enter upon Indian lands
to a class of corporations carrying with them many individuals not known
for any scrupulous regard for the interest or welfare of the Indians;
it invites a general invasion of the Indian country, and brings into
contact and intercourse with the Indians a class of whites and others
who are independent of the orders, regulations, and control of the
resident agents.
Corporations operating railroads through Indian lands are strongly
tempted to infringe at will upon the reserved rights and the property of
Indians, and thus are apt to become so arbitrary in their dealings and
domineering in their conduct toward them that the Indians become
disquieted, often threatening outbreaks and periling the lives of
frontier settlers and others.
I am impressed with the belief that the bill under consideration does
not sufficiently guard against an invasion of the rights and a
disturbance of the peace and quiet of the Indians on the reservation
mentioned; nor am I satisfied that the legislation proposed is demanded
by any exigency of the public welfare.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 13, 1886.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 8th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, an
estimate of appropriation in the sum of $22,000, prepared in the Office
of Indian Affairs, to provide for the payment to the Eel River band of
Miami Indians of a principal sum in lieu of all annuities now received
by them under existing treaty stipulations.
The matter is presented for the consideration of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 10, 1887.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 22d ultimo from the Secretary of
the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of proposed
legislation, prepared in the Office of Indian Affairs, providing for
the per capita payment to the Delaware Indians resident in the Cherokee
Nation, in Indian Territory, of the amount of their trust fund,
principal and interest, held by the Government of the United States by
virtue of the several treaties with the said Delaware Indians.
The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 17, 1887.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 11th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a copy
of an agreement duly made under the provisions of the act of May 15,
1886 (24 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 44), with the Indians residing upon
the Fort Berthold Reservation, in Dakota, for the cession of a portion
of their reservation in said Territory, and for other purposes.
The agreement, together with the recommendations of the Department, is
presented for the action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 18, 1887.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 7th ultimo from the Secretary
of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill
"for the relief of Hiatt & Co., late traders for the Osage tribe of
Indians, and for other purposes."
The matter is presented for the consideration of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 28, 1887.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 17th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, two
agreements made with Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota under
the provisions of the act of May 15, 1886 (24 U.S. Statutes at Large,
p. 44).
The papers are presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 4, 1888.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 23d ultimo from the Secretary of
the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill to
amend section 2148 of the Revised Statutes of the United States,
relating to trespasses upon Indian lands.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 4, 1888.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 23d ultimo from the Secretary of
the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill
granting a right of way to the Jamestown and Northern Railroad Company
through the Devils Lake Indian Reservation, in the Territory of Dakota.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 4, 1888.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 22d ultimo from the Secretary
of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill
to amend section 5388 of the Revised Statutes of the United States,
relating to timber trespasses upon the public lands, so as to include
Indian lands.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 4, 1888.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 27th December, 1887, from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, draft
of a bill "to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to fix the amount
of compensation to be paid for the right of way for railroads through
Indian reservations in certain contingencies."
The matter is commended to the consideration of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 4, 1888.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 22d ultimo from the Secretary of
the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill
to accept and ratify an agreement made with the Indians of the Yakima
Reservation, in Washington Territory, for the right of way of the
Northern Pacific Railroad across said reservation, etc.
The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 4, 1888.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 24th ultimo from the Secretary of
the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill to
accept and ratify an agreement made by the Pi-Ute Indians, and granting
a right of way to the Carson and Colorado Railroad Company through the
Walker River Reservation, in Nevada.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 4, 1888.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 24th ultimo from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft
of a bill to accept and ratify an agreement made with the Sisseton and
Wahpeton Indians, and to grant a right of way for the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul Railway through the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, in
Dakota.
The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 5, 1888.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 23d ultimo from the Secretary
of the Interior, submitting a draft of a bill "to provide for the
reduction of the Round Valley Indian Reservation, in the State of
California, and for other purposes," with accompanying papers relating
thereto. The documents thus submitted exhibit extensive and entirely
unjustifiable encroachments upon lands set apart for Indian occupancy
and disclose a disregard of Indian rights so long continued that the
Government can not further temporize without positive dishonor. Efforts
to dislodge trespassers upon these lands have in some cases been
resisted upon the ground that certain moneys due from the Government for
improvements have not been paid. So far as this claim is well founded
the sum necessary to extinguish the same should be at once appropriated
and paid. In other cases the position of these intruders is one of
simple and barefaced wrongdoing, plainly questioning the inclination of
the Government to protect its dependent Indian wards and its ability to
maintain itself in the guaranty of such protection.
These intruders should forthwith feel the weight of the Government's
power. I earnestly commend the situation and the wrongs of the Indians
occupying the reservation named to the early attention of the Congress,
and ask for the bill herewith transmitted careful and prompt attention.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 9, 1888.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 30th of December, 1887, from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, two
additional reports from the commission appointed to conduct negotiations
with certain tribes and bands of Indians for reduction of reservations,
etc., under the provisions of the act of May 15, 1886 (24 U.S. Statutes
at Large, p. 44), providing therefor.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 7, 1888.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of 4th instant from the Secretary of
the Interior, submitting, with other papers, a draft of a bill to accept
and ratify an agreement made with the Shoshone and Bannock Indians for
the surrender and relinquishment to the United States of a portion of
the Fort Hall Reservation, in the Territory of Idaho, for the purposes
of a town site, and for the grant of a right of way through said
reservation to the Utah and Northern Railway Company, and for other
purposes.
The matter is presented for the consideration of the Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 9, 1888.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a communication of the 6th instant from the
Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft
of proposed legislation, prepared in the Office of Indian Affairs, to
authorize the use of certain funds therein specified in the purchase of
lands in the State of Florida upon which to locate the Seminole Indians
in that State.
The matter is presented for the favorable consideration of Congress.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 7, 1888.
To the House of Representatives:
I return without approval House bill No. 1406, entitled "An act to
provide for the sale of certain New York Indian lands in Kansas."
Prior to the year 1838 a number of bands and tribes of New York
Indians had obtained 500,000 acres of land in the State of Wisconsin,
upon which they proposed to reside. In the year above named a treaty was
entered into between the United States and these Indians whereby they
relinquished to the Government these Wisconsin lands. In consideration
thereof, and, as the treaty declares, "in order to manifest the deep
interest of the United States in the future peace and prosperity of
the New York Indians," it was agreed there should be set apart as a
permanent home for all the New York Indians then residing in the State
of New York, or in Wisconsin, or elsewhere in the United States, who
had no permanent home, a tract of land amounting to 1,824,000 acres,
directly west of the State of Missouri, and now included in the State
of Kansas—being 320 acres for each Indian, as their number was then
computed—"to have and to hold the same in fee simple to the said tribes
or nations of Indians by patent from the President of the United
States."
Full power and authority was also given to said Indians "to divide said
lands among the different tribes, nations, or bands in severalty," with
the right to sell and convey to and from each other under such rules and
regulations as should be adopted by said Indians in their respective
tribes or in general council.
The treaty further provided that such of the tribes of these Indians as
did not accept said treaty and agree to remove to the country set apart
for their new homes within five years or such other time as the
President might from time to time appoint should forfeit all interest
in the land so set apart to the United States; and the Government
guaranteed to protect and defend them in the peaceable possession and
enjoyment of their new homes.
I have no positive information that any considerable number of these
Indians removed to the lands provided for them within the five years
limited by the treaty. Their omission to do so may have been owing to
the failure of the Government to appropriate the money to pay the
expense of such removal, as it agreed to do in the treaty.
It is, however, stated in a letter of the Secretary of the Interior
dated April 6, 1878, contained in the report of the Senate committee to
whom the bill under consideration was referred, that in the year 1842
some of these Indians settled upon the lands described in the treaty;
and it is further alleged in said report that in 1846 about two hundred
more of them were removed to said lands.
The letter of the Secretary of the Interior above referred to contains
the following statement concerning these Indian occupants:
From death and the hostility of the settlers, who were drawn in that
direction by the fertility of the soil and other advantages, all of the
Indians gradually relinquished their selections, until of the Indians
who had removed thither from the State of New York only thirty-two
remained in 1860.
And the following further statement is made:
The files of the Indian Office show abundant proof that they did not
voluntarily relinquish their occupation.
The proof thus referred to is indeed abundant, and is found in official
reports and affidavits made as late as the year 1859. By these it
appears that during that year, in repeated instances, Indian men and
widows of deceased Indians were driven from their homes by the threats
of armed men; that in one case at least the habitation of an Indian
woman was burned, and that the kind of outrages were resorted to which
too often follow the cupidity of whites and the possession of fertile
lands by defenseless and unprotected Indians.
An agent, in an official letter dated August 9, 1859, after detailing
the cruel treatment of these occupants of the lands which the Government
had given them, writes:
Since these Indians have been placed under my charge, which was, I
think, in 1855, I have endeavored to protect them; but complaint after
complaint has reached me, and I have reported their situation again and
again; and I hope that it will not be long when the Indians who are
entitled to land under the decision of the Indian Office shall have it
set apart to them.
The same agent, under date of January 18, 1860, referring to these
Indians, declares:
These Indians have been driven off their land and claims upon the New
York tract by the whites, and they are now very much scattered and many
of them are very destitute.
It was found in 1860 that of all the Indians who had prior to that
date selected and occupied part of these lands but thirty-two remained,
and it seems to have been deemed but justice to them to confirm their
selections by some kind of governmental grant or declaration, though
it does not appear that any of them had been able to maintain actual
possession of all their selected lands against white intrusion. Thus
certain special commissioners appointed to examine this subject, under
date of May 29, 1860, make the following statement:
In this connection it may be proper to remark that many of the tracts
so selected were claimed by lawless men who had compelled the Indians
to abandon them under threats of violence; but we are confident that no
serious injury will be done to anyone, as the improvements are of but
little value.
On the 14th day of September, 1860, certificates were issued to the
thirty-two Indians who had made selections of lands and who still
survived, with a view of securing to them such selections and at the
same time granting to them the number of acres which it was provided
they should have by the treaty of 1838. These certificates were made
by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and declared that in conformity
with the provisions of the treaty of 1838 there had been assigned and
allotted to the person named therein 320 acres of the land designated in
said treaty, which land was particularly described in said certificates,
which concluded as follows:
And the selection of said tract for the exclusive use and benefit of
said reserve, having been approved by the Secretary of the Interior, is
not subject to be alienated in fee, leased, or otherwise disposed of
except to the United States.
In a letter dated September 13, 1860, from the Indian Commissioner to
the agent in the neighborhood of these lands reference is made to the
conduct of white intruders upon the same, and the following instructions
were given to said agent:
In view of these representations and the fact that these white persons
who are in possession of the land are intruders, I have to direct
that you will visit the New York Reserve in Kansas at your earliest
convenience, accompanied by those Indians living among the Osages to
whom said lands have been allotted, with a view to place them in
possession of the lands to which they are entitled; and if you should
meet with any forcible resistance from white settlers you will report
their names to this office, in order that appropriate action may be
taken in the premises, and you will inform them that if they do not
immediately abandon said lands they will be removed by force. When you
shall have given the thirty-two Indians peaceable possession of their
lands, or attempted to do so and have been prevented by forcible
resistance, you will make a report of your action to this Bureau.
The records of the Indian Bureau do not disclose that any report was
ever made by the agent to whom these instructions were given.
In 1861 and 1862 mention was made by the agents of the destitute
condition of these Indians and of their being deprived of their lands,
and in these years petitions were presented in their behalf asking that
justice be done them on account of the failure of the Government to
provide them with homes.
In the meantime, and in December, 1860, the remainder of the reserve not
allotted to the thirty-two survivors was thrown open to settlement by
Executive proclamation. Of course this was followed by increased
conflict between the settlers and the Indians. It is presumed that it
became dangerous for those to whom lands had been allotted to attempt to
gain possession of them. On the 4th day of December, 1865, Agent Snow
returned twenty-seven of the certificates of allotment which had not
been delivered, and wrote as follows to the Indian Bureau:
A few of these Indians were at one time put in possession of their
lands. They were driven off by the whites; one Indian was killed, others
wounded, and their houses burned. White men at this time have possession
of these lands, and have valuable improvements on them. The Indians are
deterred even asking for possession. I would earnestly ask, as agent for
these wronged and destitute people, that some measure be adopted by the
Government to give these Indians their rights.
An official report made to the Secretary of the Interior dated February
16, 1871, gives the history of these lands, and concludes as follows:
These lands are now all or nearly all occupied by white persons who have
driven the Indians from their homes—in some instances with violence.
There is great necessity that some relief should be afforded to them by
legislation of Congress, authorizing the issue of patents to the
allottees or giving them power to sell and convey.
In this way they will be enabled to realize something from the land, and
the occupants can secure titles for their homes.
Apparently in the line of this recommendation, and in an attempt to
remedy the condition of affairs then existing, an act was passed on the
19th day of February, 1873, permitting heads of families and single
persons over 21 years of age who had made settlements and improvements
upon and were bona fide claimants and occupants of the lands for
which the thirty-two certificates of allotments were issued to enter and
purchase at the proper land office such lands so occupied by them, not
exceeding 160 acres, upon paying therefor the appraised value of said
tracts respectively, to be ascertained by three disinterested and
competent appraisers, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior,
who should report the value of such lands, exclusive of improvements,
but that no sale should be made under said act for less than $3.75 per
acre.
It was further provided that the entries allowed should be made within
twelve months after the promulgation by the Secretary of the Interior of
regulations to carry said act into effect, and that the money arising
upon such sales should be paid into the Treasury of the United States
in trust for and to be paid to the Indians respectively to whom such
certificates of allotment had been issued, or to their heirs, upon
satisfactory proof of their identity, at any time within five years from
the passage of the act, and that in default of such proof the money
should become a part of the public moneys of the United States.
It was also further provided that any Indian to whom any certificate of
allotment had been issued, and who was then occupying the land allotted
thereby, should be entitled to receive a patent therefor.
Pursuant to this statute these lands were appraised. The lowest value
per acre fixed by the appraisers was $3.75, and the highest was $10,
making the average for the whole $4.90 per acre.
It is reported that only eight pieces, containing 879.76 acres of land
taken from six of these Indian allotments, were sold under this statute
to the settlers thereon, producing the sum of $4,058.06, and that the
price paid in no case was less than $4.50 per acre.
It is proposed by the bill under consideration to sell the remainder of
this allotted land to those who failed to avail themselves of the law of
1873 for the sum of $2.50 per acre.
Whatever may be said of the effect of the action of the Indian Bureau in
issuing certificates of allotment to individual Indians as it relates to
the title of the lands described therein, it was the only way that the
Government could perform its treaty obligation to furnish homes for any
number of Indians less than a tribe or band; and if these allotments did
not vest a title in these individual Indians they secured to them such
rights to the lands as the Government was bound to protect and which it
could not refuse to confirm if it became necessary by the issuance of
patents therefor.
These rights are fully recognized by the statute of 1873, as well as by
the bill under consideration.
The right and power of the Government to divest these allottees of their
interests under their certificates is so questionable that perhaps it
could only be done under the plan proposed, through an estoppel arising
from the acceptance of the price for which their allotted lands were
sold.
But whatever the effect of a compliance with the provisions of this bill
would be upon the title of the settlers to these lands, I can see no
fairness or justice in permitting them to enter and purchase such lands
at a sum much less than their appraised value in 1873 and for hardly
one-half the price paid by their neighbors under the law passed in that
year.
The occupancy upon these lands of the settlers seeking relief, and of
their grantors, is based upon wrong, violence, and oppression. A
continuation of the wrongful exclusion of these Indians from their lands
should not inure to the benefit of the wrongdoers. The opportunities
afforded by the law of 1873 were neglected, perhaps, in the hope and
belief that death would remove the Indians who by their appeals for
justice annoyed those who had driven them from their homes, and perhaps
in the expectation that the heedlessness of the Government concerning
its obligations to the Indians would supply easier terms. The idea is
too prevalent that, as against those who by emigration and settlement
upon our frontier extend our civilization and prosperity, the rights of
the Indians are of but little consequence. But it must be absolutely
true that no development is genuine or valuable based upon the violence
and cruelty of individuals or the faithlessness of a government.
While it might not result in exact justice or precisely rectify the
wrong committed, it may well be that in existing circumstances the
interests of the allottees or their heirs demand an adjustment of the
kind now proposed. But their lands certainly are worth much more than
they were in 1873, and the settlers, if they are not subjected to a
reappraisement, should at least pay the price at which the lands were
appraised in that year.
If the holders of the interests of the allottees have such a title as
will give them a standing in the courts of Kansas, I do not think they
need fear defeat by being charged with improvements under the occupying
claimants' act, for it has been decided in a case to be found in the
twentieth volume of Kansas Reports, at page 374, that—
Neither the title nor possession of the Indian owner, secured by
treaty with the United States Government, can be disturbed by State
legislation; and the occupying claimants' act has no application in
this case.
And yet the delay, uncertainty, and expense of legal contests should be
considered.
I suggest that any bill which is passed to adjust the rights of these
Indians by such a general plan as is embodied in the bill herewith
returned should provide for the payment by the settlers within a
reasonable time of an appraised value, and that in case the same is not
paid by the respective occupants that the lands be sold at public
auction for a price not less than the appraisement.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 26, 1888.
To the Senate:
I return without approval Senate bill No. 2644, entitled "An act
granting the right of way to the Fort Smith, Paris and Dardanelle
Railway Company to construct and operate a railroad, telegraph, and
telephone line from Fort Smith, Ark., through the Indian Territory, to
or near Baxter Springs, in the State of Kansas."
This bill grants a right of way 100 feet in width, with the use of
adjoining lands for stations and other purposes, through the eastern
part of that portion of the Indian Territory occupied by the Cherokee
Indians under a treaty with the United States.
By the terms of the treaty concluded between the Government and the
Cherokee Nation in 1866 these Indians expressly granted a right of way
through their lands "to any company or corporation which shall be duly
authorized by Congress to construct a railroad from any point north to
any point south, and from any point east to any point west of, and which
may pass through, the Cherokee Nation."
There are excellent reasons why this clause in the treaty should be
construed as limiting the railroads which should run through these
lands, at least without further permission of the Indians, to only one
from north to south and one other from east to west.
It is evident, however, that the Congress has either not so interpreted
this provision of the treaty or has determined that it should be
disregarded, for there have been six or seven railroads constructed or
authorized through these lands by the permission of the Government.
It has become very much the custom to grant these rights of way through
Indian lands and reservations merely for the asking. They have been
duplicated to such an extent that rival roads are found struggling for
the advantage of a prior Congressional grant or for the possession of a
contested route through these reservations.
I believe these indiscriminate grants to railroads permitting them to
cross the lands occupied by the Indians, if not in absolute violation of
their treaty rights, are dangerous to the success of our Indian
management.
While maintaining their tribal condition they should not be easily
subjected to the disturbance and the irritation of such encroachments.
When they have advanced sufficiently for the allotment of their lands in
severalty, they should be permitted, as a general rule, to enjoy and
cultivate all the land set apart to them, and not discouraged by the
forced surrender of a part of it for railroad purposes. In the solution
of the problem of their civilization by allotments of land they need the
land itself, and not compensation for its appropriation by others. They
can not be expected to understand this process in any other way than an
indication that their tenure is uncertain and the assurance that they
shall hold their allotted land for cultivation a delusion.
It is not necessary in the treatment of this subject to insist that in
no case should a railroad be permitted to cross Indian reservations.
There may be valid public reasons why in some cases this should be
allowed. Important lines of through travel should not be always
obstructed or defeated by a refusal of such permission. But I think
there should be shown in every case a justification in the public
interest or in furtherance of general growth and progress, or at least
in a plain local necessity or convenience, before such grants are made.
It seems to me also that the consent of the Indians for the passage of
railroads through their land should, as a general rule, be required;
that the means of determining the compensation to be made for land taken
should be just and definite and easy of application; that the route of
the proposed road should be as particularly described as is possible;
that a reasonable time should be fixed for the construction of the road,
and in default of such construction that the grant should be declared
null and void without legislation or judicial action, and that in all
cases the rights and interests of the Indians should be carefully
considered.
The bill under consideration grants to the railroad company therein
named the right to construct its road over substantially the same route
described in a law already passed permitting the Kansas City, Fort Scott
and Gulf Railway Company to build its road through this reservation. No
necessity or good reason is apparent why these two roads should be built
upon the same line.
The bill makes no provision for gaining the consent of the Indians
occupying these lands. The Cherokee Nation of Indians have their local
laws and legislation, and are quite competent to pass upon this
question. They have heretofore shown their interest in such subjects, I
am informed, by protesting against some of the grants which have been
made for the construction of railroads through their lands.
The bill provides for the taking of lands held by individual occupants
and the manner of fixing the compensation therefor; but it is declared
that when any portion of the land taken by the company shall cease to be
used for the purposes for which it is taken the same shall revert to the
nation or tribe from which the same shall have been taken. There is no
provision that in any case land taken from individual occupants shall
revert to them.
In the fifth section of the bill it is provided that the railroad
company shall pay to the Secretary of the Interior, for the benefit of
the particular nation or tribe through whose lands its line may be
located, in addition to other compensation, the sum of $50.
It was, of course, intended to declare that this sum should be paid
for every mile of road built through Indian lands, but it is not so
expressed. I am by no means certain that the context will aid this
omission, which is quite palpable, when that part of the bill is
compared with others of the same character. In any event, this is a
provision which should be free from all doubt.
There is no time limited in the bill within which the proposed road
through the reservation shall be completed, and consequently no
forfeiture fixed for noncompletion. The nearest approach to it is found
in a clause providing that the company shall build at least 50 miles of
its road in the Indian Territory within three years from the passage of
the act, or the rights granted shall be forfeited as to that portion
not built. The length of the proposed route through the Cherokee lands
appears to be considerably over 100 miles, and it is plain that there is
no sufficient guaranty in the bill that the entire road will be built
within any particular time. There is no forfeiture and no limitation for
the completion of the road if 50 miles is built within three years, and
there may be some doubt how far the forfeiture would extend in case of
a failure to finish the 50 miles within the time specified.
I believe these grants to railroads should be sparingly made; that
when made they should present better reasons for their necessity and
usefulness than are apparent in this case, and that they should be
guarded and limited by provisions which are not found in the bill
herewith returned.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the title to all that territory lying between the north and
south forks of the Red River and the hundredth degree of longitude and
jurisdiction over the same are vested in the United States, it being a
part of the Indian Territory, as shown by surveys and investigation made
on behalf of the United States, which territory the State of Texas also
claims title to and jurisdiction over; and
Whereas said conflicting claim grows out of a controversy existing
between the United States and the State of Texas as to the point where
the hundredth degree of longitude crosses the Red River, as described in
the treaty of February 22, 1819, between the United States and Spain,
fixing the boundary line between the two countries; and
Whereas the commissioners appointed on the part of the United States
under the act of January 31, 1885, authorizing the appointment of a
commission by the President to run and mark the boundary lines between
a portion of the Indian Territory and the State of Texas, in connection
with a similar commission to be appointed by the State of Texas, have
by their report determined that the South Fork is the true Red River
designated in the treaty, the commissioners appointed on the part of
said State refusing to concur in said report:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States,
do hereby admonish and warn all persons, whether claiming to act as
officers of the county of Greer, in the State of Texas, or otherwise,
against selling or disposing of, or attempting to sell or dispose of,
any of said lands or from exercising or attempting to exercise any
authority over said lands.
And I also warn and admonish all persons against purchasing any part of
said territory from any person or persons whomsoever.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 30th day of December, A.D. 1887,
and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
twelfth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
T.F. BAYARD, Secretary of State.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 5, 1889.
To the Congress:
I transmit herewith, for approval and ratification, a provisional
agreement lately entered into between the Government of the United
States and the Creek Nation of Indians, through their duly authorized
representatives, and which has been approved by the National Council of
said nation, by which agreement the title and interest of the said Creek
Nation of Indians in and to all lands in the Indian Territory or
elsewhere, except such as are held and occupied as the homes of said
nation, are ceded to the United States.
The eighth section of the Indian appropriation bill approved March 3,
1885, authorized the President "to open negotiations with the Creeks,
Seminoles, and Cherokees for the purpose of opening to settlement under
the homestead laws the unassigned lands in the Indian Territory ceded by
them respectively to the United States by the several treaties of August
11, 1866, March 21, 1866, and July 19, 1866." This section also contains
an appropriation in furtherance of its purpose, and requires that the
action of the President thereunder should be reported to Congress.
The "unassigned" lands thus referred to should be construed to be those
which have not been transferred by the United States in pursuance of the
treaties mentioned in the section quoted.
The treaty with the Creeks is dated June 14, 1866. It was confirmed by a
Senate resolution passed July 19, 1866, and was proclaimed August 11,
1866 (14 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 785).
The third article of the treaty makes a cession of lands in the
following words:
In compliance with the desire of the United States to locate other
Indians and freedmen thereon, the Creeks hereby cede and convey to the
United States, to be sold to and used as homes for such other civilized
Indians as the United States may choose to settle thereon, the west half
of their entire domain, to be divided by a line running north and south;
the eastern half of said Creek lands, being retained by them, shall,
except as herein otherwise stipulated, be forever set apart as a home
for said Creek Nation; and in consideration of said cession of the west
half of their lands, estimated to contain 3,250,560 acres, the United
States agree to pay the sum of 30 cents per acre, amounting to $975,168.
The provision that the lands conveyed were "to be sold to and
used as homes for such other civilized Indians," etc., has been steadily
regarded as a limitation upon the grant made to the United States. Such
a construction is admitted to be the true one in many ways, especially
by the continual reservation of the ceded lands from settlement by the
whites, by the sale of a portion of the same to Indians, by the use of
other portions as the home of Indians, and also by various provisions
in proposed legislation in Congress. Thus the bill now pending for the
organization of Oklahoma provides for the payment to the Creeks and
Seminoles of the ordinary Government price of $1.25 per acre, less the
amount heretofore paid.
The section of the law of 1885 first above quoted appears also to have
been passed in contemplation not only of the existence of a claim on the
part of the Creeks, but of the substantial foundation of that claim in
equity, if not in law, and in acknowledgment of the duty of the
Government to satisfactorily discharge the claim of the Indian people
before putting the land to the free uses of settlement and territorial
occupation by whites.
But it seems to have been considered that so far as the lands had been
assigned they may fairly be taken to be such as under the treaty were
"to be sold." As to these, they having been assigned or "sold" in
accordance with said treaty, the claim of the Creeks thereto has been
entirely discharged, and the title from the United States passed
unburdened with any condition or limitation to the grantees. This seems
to be an entirely clear proposition.
The unassigned lands must be those which are unsold, because not
only is that the fair significance of the term, as used technically in
conveyancing, but because the limiting condition in the Creek treaty was
that the lands should be sold to, as well as used as homes for, other
Indians.
Acres.
The total quantity of lands in the western half of
the Creek Nation, and which were ceded in 1866, is
3,402,428.88
The assigned lands as above defined are in three bodies:
1. The Seminole country, by the treaty of 1866
200,000.00
2. The Sac and Fox Reservation, sold and
conveyed by article 6 of the treaty of
February 18, 1867 (15 U.S. Statutes at
large, p. 495), amounting to
479,668.05
3. The Pawnee Reservation, granted by
section 4 of the act of Congress of
April 10, 1876 (19 U.S. Statutes at
large, p. 29), for which the Government
received the price allowed the Creeks,
30 cents per acre
53,005.94
Making a total of assigned or sold lands of
732,673.99
And leaving as the total unassigned lands
2,669,754.89
Of this total quantity of unassigned land which is subject to the
negotiations provided for under the law of 1885 there should be a
further division made in considering the sum which ought fairly to be
paid in discharge of the Creek claim thereto.
I. In that part of these lands called the Oklahoma country no Indians
have been allowed to reside by any action of the Government, nor has any
execution been attempted of the limiting condition of the cession of
1866.
The quantity of these lands carefully computed from the surveys is
1,392,704.70 acres.
II. The remainder of these unassigned lands has been appropriated in
some degree to Indian uses, although still within the control of the
Government.
Thus by three Executive orders the following Indian reservations have
been created:
Acres.
1. By President Grant, August 10, 1869, the
reservation of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes,
which embraces of this land
619,450.59
2. By President Arthur, August 15, 1883,
the reservation for the Iowas, containing
228,417.67
3. By President Arthur, August 15, 1883,
the Kickapoo Reservation, embracing.
206,465.61
4. A tract set apart for the Pottawatomies by the
treaty of February 27, 1867 (15 U.S. Statutes
at large, p. 531), followed by the act of
May 23, 1872 (17 U.S. Statutes at large, p. 159),
by which individual allotments were authorized
upon the tract, though but very few Indians have
selected and paid for such allotments according
to the provisions of that law. The entire quantity
of the Pottawatomie Reservation is
222,716.32
This shows the quantity of lands unassigned, but
to some extent appropriated to Indian uses by the
Government, amounting to
1,277,050.19
For the lands which are not only unassigned, but are unoccupied, and
which have been in no way appropriated, it appears clearly just and
right that a price of at least $1.25 should be allowed to the Creeks.
They held more than the ordinary Indian title, for they had a patent in
fee from the Government. The Osages of Kansas were allowed $1.25 per
acre upon giving up their reservation, and this land of the Creeks
is reported by those familiar with it to be equal to any land in the
country. Without regard to the present enhanced value of this land, and
if reference be only had to the conditions when the cession was made, no
less price ought to be paid for it than the ordinary Government price.
Therefore in this, provisional agreement which has been made with the
Creeks the price of $1.25 has been settled upon for such land, with the
deduction of the 30 cents per acre which has already been paid by the
Government therefor.
As to the remainder of the unassigned lands, in view of the fact that
some use has been made of them of the general character indicated by the
treaty of 1866, and because some portion of them should be allotted to
Indians under the general allotment act, and to cover the expenses of
surveys and adjustments, a diminishment of 20 cents per acre has been
acceded to. There is no difference in the character of the lands.
Thus, computing the unassigned and entirely unappropriated land, being
the Oklahoma country, containing 1,392,704.70 acres, at 95 cents per
acre, and the remainder which has been appropriated to the extent above
stated, being 1,277,050.19 acres, at 75 cents per acre, the total price
stipulated in the agreement has been reached—$2,280,857.10.
But as it was desirable that the Indian title should be beyond all
question extinguished to all parts of the land ceded by the Creeks in
1866, with their full consent and understanding, the agreement of
cession has been made to embrace a complete surrender of all claim to
the western half of their domain, including the assigned as well as the
unassigned lands, for the price named. So the agreement takes the form
in the first article of such a cession, and in the second article is
stipulated the price in gross of all the lands and interests ceded, with
no detailed reference to the manner of its ascertainment.
The overtures which led to this agreement were made by representatives
of the Creek Nation, who came here for that purpose. They were
intelligent and evidently loyal to the interests of their people. The
terms of the agreement were fully discussed and concessions were made by
both parties. It was promptly confirmed by the National Council of the
Creek Indians, and its complete consummation only waits the approval of
the Congress of the United States.
I am convinced that such ratification will be of decided benefit to the
Government, and that the agreement is entirely free from any suspicion
of unfairness or injustice toward the Indians.
I desire to call especial attention to the fact that to become effective
the agreement must be ratified by the Congress prior to the its day of
July, 1889.
The draft of an act of ratification is herewith submitted.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 19, 1889.
To the Congress:
I herewith submit, for your consideration, a communication from the
Secretary of the Interior, transmitting a proposition made on behalf of
the Seminole Nation of Indians for the relinquishment to the Government
of the United States of their right to certain lands in the Indian
Territory.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, pursuant to section 10 of the act of Congress approved March 3,
1893, entitled "An act making appropriations for current and contingent
expenses and fulfilling treaty stipulations with Indian tribes for
fiscal year ending June 30, 1894," the Cherokee Nation of Indians, by a
written agreement made on the 17th day of May, 1893, has ratified the
agreement for the cession of certain lands hereinafter described, as
amended by said act of March 3, 1893, and thereby ceded, conveyed,
transferred, relinquished, and surrendered all its title, claim, and
interest of every kind and character in and to that part of the Indian
Territory bounded on the west by the one hundredth degree (100 degree)
of west longitude, on the north by the State of Kansas, on the east by
the ninety-sixth degree (96 degree) of west longitude, and on the south
by the Creek Nation, the Territory of Oklahoma, and the Cheyenne and
Arapahoe Reservation created or defined by Executive order dated August
10, 1869: Provided, That any citizen of the Cherokee Nation who
prior to the 1st day of November, 1891, was a bona fide resident
upon and, further, had, as a farmer and for farming purposes, made
permanent and valuable improvements upon any part of the land so ceded,
and who has not disposed of the same, but desires to occupy the
particular lands so improved as a homestead and for farming purposes,
shall have the right to select one-eighth of a section of land, to
conform, however, to the United States surveys; such selection to
embrace, as far as the above limitation will admit, such improvements;
the wife and children of any such citizen shall have the same right of
selection that is above given to the citizen, and they shall have the
preference in making selections to take any lands improved by the
husband and father that he can not take until all of his improved land
shall be taken; and that any citizen of the Cherokee Nation not a
resident within the land so ceded who prior to the 1st day of November,
1891, had for farming purposes made valuable and permanent improvements
upon any of the land so ceded shall have the right to select one-eighth
of a section of land, to conform to the United States surveys; such
selection to embrace, as far as the above limitation will admit, such
improvements; but the allotments so provided for shall not exceed
seventy (70) in number and the land allotted shall not exceed five
thousand and six hundred (5,600) acres; and such allotments shall be
made and confirmed under such rules and regulations as shall be
prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and when so made and
confirmed shall be conveyed to the allottees respectively by the United
States in fee simple; and from the price to be paid to the Cherokee
Nation for the cession so made there shall be deducted the sum of one
dollar and forty cents ($1.40) for each acre so taken in allotment:
And provided, That D.W. Bushyhead having made permanent or
valuable improvements prior to the 1st day of November, 1891, on the
lands so ceded, he may select a quarter section of the lands ceded,
whether reserved or otherwise, prior to the opening of said lands to
public settlement, but he shall be required to pay for such selection
at the same rate per acre as other settlers, into the Treasury of the
United States, in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior shall
direct; and
Whereas it is provided in section 10 of the aforesaid act of Congress
approved March 3, 1893, that—
Said lands, except the portion to be allotted as provided in said
agreement, shall, upon the payment of the sum of $295,736, herein
appropriated, to be immediately paid, become and be taken to be and
treated as a part of the public domain; but in any opening of the same
to settlement sections 16 and 36 in each township, whether surveyed or
unsurveyed, shall be, and are hereby, reserved for the use and benefit
of the public schools to be established within the limits of such lands,
under such conditions and regulations as may be hereafter enacted by
Congress. * * *
Sections 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and the east
half of sections 17, 20, and 29, all in township No. 29 north of range
No. 2 east of the Indian meridian, the same being lands reserved by
Executive order dated July 12, 1884, for use of and in connection with
the Chilocco Indian Industrial School, in the Indian Territory, shall
not be subject to public settlement, but shall until the further action
of Congress continue to be reserved for the purposes for which they were
set apart in the said Executive order; and the President of the United
States, in any order or proclamation which he shall make for the opening
of the lands for settlement, may make such other reservations of lands
for public purposes as he may deem wise and desirable.
The President of the United States is hereby authorized, at any time
within six months after the approval of this act and the acceptance of
the same by the Cherokee Nation as herein provided, by proclamation, to
open to settlement any or all of the lands not allotted or reserved in
the manner provided in section 13 of the act of Congress approved March
2, 1889, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current and
contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty
stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending June 30,
1890, and for other purposes" (25 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 1005);
and also subject to the provisions of the act of Congress approved
May 2, 1890, entitled "An act to provide a temporary government for
the Territory of Oklahoma, to enlarge the jurisdiction of the United
States court in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes;" also
subject to the second proviso of section 17, the whole of section 18,
of the act of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act making appropriations
for the current expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling
treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending
June 30, 1892, and for other purposes;" except as to so much of said
acts and sections as may conflict with the provisions of this act.
Each settler on the lands so to be opened to settlement as aforesaid
shall before receiving a patent for his homestead pay to the United
States for the lands so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided
by law, the sum of $2.50 per acre for any land east of 97-1/2° west
longitude, the sum of $1.50 per acre for any land between 97-1/2° west
longitude and 98-1/2° west longitude, and the sum of $1 per acre for
any land west of 98-1/2° west longitude, and shall also pay interest
upon the amount so to be paid for said land from the date of entry
to the date of final payment therefor at the rate of 4 per cent per
annum.
No person shall be permitted to occupy or enter upon any of the lands
herein referred to except in the manner prescribed by the proclamation
of the President opening the same to settlement, and any person
otherwise occupying or entering upon any of said lands shall forfeit all
right to acquire any of said lands. The Secretary of the Interior shall,
under the direction of the President, prescribe rules and regulations,
not inconsistent with this act, for the occupation and settlement of
said lands, to be incorporated in the proclamation of the President,
which shall be issued at least twenty days before the time fixed for
the opening of said lands.
And whereas by a written agreement made on the 21st day of October,
1891, the Tonkawa tribe of Indians, in the Territory of Oklahoma, ceded,
conveyed, and forever relinquished to the United States all their right,
title, claim, and interest of every kind and character in and to the
lands particularly described in Article I of the agreement:
Provided, That the allotments of land to said Tonkawa tribe of
Indians theretofore made or to be made under said agreement and the
provisions of the general allotment act approved February 8, 1887, and
an act amendatory thereof, approved February 28, 1891, shall be
confirmed: And provided, That in all cases where the allottee has
died since land has been set off and scheduled to such person the law of
descent and partition in force in Oklahoma Territory shall apply
thereto, any existing law to the contrary notwithstanding; and
Whereas by a certain other agreement with the Pawnee tribe of Indians,
in said Territory, made on the 23d day of November, 1892, said tribe
ceded, conveyed, released, relinquished, and surrendered to the United
States all its title, claim, and interest of every kind and character in
and to the lands particularly described in Article I of the agreement:
Provided, That the allotments made or to be made to said Indians
in the manner and subject to the conditions contained in said agreement
shall be confirmed; and
Whereas it is provided in section 13 of the act of Congress accepting,
ratifying, and confirming said agreements with the Tonkawa Indians and
the Pawnee Indians, specified in sections 11 and 12 of the same act,
approved March 3, 1893, entitled "An act making appropriations for
current and contingent expenses and fulfilling treaty stipulations with
Indian tribes for fiscal year ending June 30, 1894"—
That the lands acquired by the agreements specified in the two preceding
sections are hereby declared to be a part of the public domain. Sections
16 and 36 in each township, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, are hereby
reserved from settlement for the use and benefit of public schools, as
provided in section 10 relating to lands acquired from the Cherokee
Nation of Indians; and the lands so acquired by the agreements specified
in the two preceding sections not so reserved shall be opened to
settlement by proclamation of the President at the same time and in the
manner and subject to the same conditions and regulations provided in
section 10 relating to the opening of the lands acquired from the
Cherokee Nation of Indians; and each settler on the lands so to be
opened as aforesaid shall before receiving a patent for his homestead
pay to the United States for the lands so taken by him, in addition to
the fees provided by law, the sum of $2.50 per acre, and shall also pay
interest upon the amount so to be paid for said land from the date of
entry to the date of final payment at the rate of 4 per cent per annum.
And whereas the thirteenth section of the act approved March 2, 1889,
the act approved May 2, 1890, and the second proviso of section 17 and
the whole of section 18 of the act approved March 3, 1891, are referred
to in the tenth section of the act approved March 3, 1893, and thereby
made applicable in the disposal of the lands in the Cherokee Outlet
hereinbefore mentioned, the provisions of which acts, so far as they
affect the opening to settlement and the disposal of said lands, are
more particularly set forth hereinafter in connection with the rules
and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior for the
occupation and settlement of the lands hereby opened according to said
tenth section; and
Whereas the lands acquired by the three several agreements hereinbefore
mentioned have been divided into counties by the Secretary of the
Interior, as required by said last-mentioned act of Congress before the
same shall be opened to settlement, and lands have been reserved for
county-seat purposes, to be entered under sections 2387 and 2388 of the
Revised Statutes of the United States, as therein required, as follows,
to wit:
For County K, the southeast quarter of section 23 and the northeast
quarter of section 26, township 28 north, range 2 east of the Indian
meridian, excepting 4 acres reserved for the site of a court-house, to
be designated by lot and block upon the official plat of survey of said
reservation for county-seat purposes hereafter to be issued by the
Commissioner of the General Land Office; said reservation to be
additional to the reservations for parks, schools, and other public
purposes required to be made by section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890.
For County L, the southwest quarter of section 1 and the southeast
quarter of section 2, township 25 north, range 6 west of the Indian
meridian, excepting 4 acres reserved for the site of a court-house,
to be designated by lot and block upon the official plat of survey of
said reservation for county-seat purposes hereafter to be issued by
the Commissioner of the General Land Office; said reservation to be
additional to the reservations for parks, schools, and other public
purposes required to be made by section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890.
For County M, the south half of the northeast quarter and the north half
of the southeast quarter of section 23 and the south half of the
northwest quarter and the north half of the southwest quarter of section
24, township 27 north, range 14 west of the Indian meridian, excepting
1 acre reserved for Government use for the site of a land office and
4 acres to be reserved for the site of a court-house, which tracts are
to be contiguous and to be designated by lot and block upon the official
plat of survey of said reservation for county-seat purposes hereafter
to be issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office; said
reservations to be additional to the reservations for parks, schools,
and other public purposes required to be made by section 22 of the act
of May 2, 1890.
For County N, the south half of section 25, township 23 north, range 21
west of the Indian meridian, excepting 1 acre reserved for Government
use for the site of a land office and 4 acres to be reserved for the
site of a court-house, which tracts are to be contiguous and to be
designated by lot and block upon the official plat of survey of said
reservation for county-seat purposes hereafter to be issued by the
Commissioner of the General Land Office; said reservations to be
additional to the reservations for parks, schools, and other public
purposes required to be made by section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890.
For County O, the southeast quarter of section 7 and the southwest
quarter of section 8, township 22 north, range 6 west of the Indian
meridian, excepting 1 acre reserved for Government use for the site of
a land office and 4 acres to be reserved for the site of a court-house,
which tracts are to be contiguous and to be designated by lot and block
upon the official plat of survey of said reservation for county-seat
purposes hereafter to be issued by the Commissioner of the General Land
Office; said reservations to be additional to the reservations for
parks, schools, and other public purposes required to be made by section
22 of the act of May 2, 1890.
For County P, the northeast quarter of section 22 and the northwest
quarter of section 23, township 21 north, range 1 west of the Indian
meridian, excepting 1 acre reserved for Government use for the site of
a land office and 4 acres reserved for the site of a court-house, which
tracts are to be contiguous and to be designated by lot and block upon
the official plat of survey of said reservation for county-seat purposes
hereafter to be issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office;
said reservations to be additional to the reservations for parks,
schools, and other public purposes required to be made by section 22 of
the act of May 2, 1890; and
For County Q, the southeast quarter of section 31, the west half of the
southwest quarter of section 32, township 22 north, range 5 east, lot
4 of section 5, and lot 1 of section 6, township 21 north, range 5 east
of the Indian meridian, excepting 4 acres reserved for the site of a
court-house, to be designated by lot and block upon the official plat
of survey of said reservation for county-seat purposes hereafter to be
issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office; said reservation
to be additional to the reservations for parks, schools, and other
public purposes required to be made by section 22 of the act of May 2,
1890.
Whereas it is provided by act of Congress for temporary government of
Oklahoma, approved May 2, 1890, section 23 (26 U.S. Statutes at Large,
p. 92), that there shall be reserved public highways 4 rods wide between
each section of land in said Territory, the section lines being the
center of said highways; but no deduction shall be made, where cash
payments are provided for, in the amount to be paid for each quarter
section of land by reason of such reservation; and
Whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by said
agreements made with said nation and tribes of Indians and by the laws
relating thereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement have
been, as I hereby declare, complied with:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by
virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned
and by other the laws of the United States and by said several
agreements, do hereby declare and make known that all the lands acquired
from the Cherokee Nation of Indians, the Tonkawa tribe of Indians, and
the Pawnee tribe of Indians by the three several agreements aforesaid
will at the hour of 12 o'clock noon (central standard time) on Saturday,
the 16th day of the month of September, A.D. 1893, and not before, be
opened to settlement under the terms of and subject to all the
conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained in
said agreements, the statutes above specified, the laws of the United
States applicable thereto, and the conditions prescribed by this
proclamation, saving and excepting lands described and identified as
follows, to wit: The lands set apart for the Osage and Kansas Indians,
being a tract of country bounded on the north by the State of Kansas, on
the east by the ninety-sixth degree of west longitude, on the south and
west by the Creek country and the main channel of the Arkansas River;
the lands set apart for the Confederated Otoe and Missouria tribes of
Indians, described as follows, to wit: Township 22 north, range 1 east;
township 23 north, range 1 east; township 22 north, range 2 east;
township 23 north, range 2 east; township 22 north, range 3 east; and
that portion of township 23 north, range 3 east, lying west of the
Arkansas River; and the lands set apart for the Ponca tribe of Indians,
described as follows, to wit: Township 24 north, range 1 east; township
25 north, range 1 east; fractional township 24 north, range 2 east;
fractional township 25 north, range 2 east; fractional township 24
north, range 3 east; fractional township 25 north, range 3 east;
fractional township 24 north, range 4 east; fractional township 25
north, range 4 east, the said fractional townships lying on the right
bank of the Arkansas River; excepting also the lands allotted to the
Indians as in said agreements provided; excepting also the lands
reserved by Executive orders dated April 18, 1882, and January 17, 1883
(known as Camp Supply Military Reservation), described as follows, to
wit: Township 24 north, range 22 west; the south half of township 25
north, range 22 west; and the southwest quarter of township 25 north,
range 21 west; excepting also 1 acre of land in each of the reservations
for county-seat purposes in Counties M, N, O, and P, which tracts are
hereby reserved for Government use as sites for land offices, and 4
acres in each reservation for county-seat purposes hereinbefore named,
which tracts are hereby reserved as sites for court-houses; and
excepting also the reservations for the use of and in connection with
the Chilocco Indian Industrial School and for county-seat purposes
hereinbefore described; excepting also the saline lands covered by three
leases made by the Cherokee Nation prior to March 3, 1893, known as the
Eastern, Middle, and Western Saline reserves, under authority of the act
of Congress of August 7, 1882 (22 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 349), said
lands being described and identified as follows: The Eastern Saline
Reserve embracing all of section 6; lots 3 and 4 of section 4; the south
half of the northeast quarter, the south half of the northwest quarter,
the north half of the southwest quarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 of
section 5; and the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter and lots 1
and 2 of section 7, township 25 north, range 9 west. All of sections 6,
7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33; the southwest
quarter, the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter, and lots 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, and 7 of section 5; the southwest quarter, the southwest
quarter of the northwest quarter, the southwest quarter of the southeast
quarter, and lot 1 of section 9; the west half of the southwest quarter
of section 15; the west half, the southeast quarter, the west half of
the northeast quarter, and the southeast quarter of the northeast
quarter of section 16; the west half, the west half of the southeast
quarter, and the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section
22; the west half, the west half of the southeast quarter, the northeast
quarter of the southeast quarter, and the southwest quarter of the
northeast quarter of section 26; the northwest quarter, the north half
of the southwest quarter, the west half of the northeast quarter, and
the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 34; and the
northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 35, township 26
north, range 9 west. All of section 31; the southwest quarter of the
southeast quarter, the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter, and
lot 4 of section 30; and lots 3 and 4 of section 32, township 27 north,
range 9 west. All of sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11; the southeast
quarter, the south half of the northeast quarter, the east half of the
southwest quarter, the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter, and
lots 1, 2, and 3 of section 5; the east half, the southwest quarter, and
the east half of the northwest quarter of section 8; the north half,
the north half of the southwest quarter, the southwest quarter of the
southwest quarter, and the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter
of section 12; the northwest quarter, the northwest quarter of the
northeast quarter, the north half of the southwest quarter, and the
southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 14; the north
half, the southeast quarter and the north half of the southwest quarter
of section 15; and the northeast quarter and the north half of the
northwest quarter of section 16, township 25 north, range 10 west. All
of sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,
27, 28, 33, 34, 35, and 36; the south half of the northeast quarter, the
southeast quarter of the northwest quarter, the southeast quarter, the
east half of the southwest quarter, and lots 1, 2, and 3 of section 4;
the east half, the southwest quarter, the east half of the northwest
quarter, and the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section
9; the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 17; the
east half of the northeast quarter and the east half of the southeast
quarter of section 20; the southeast quarter and the east half of the
northeast quarter of section 29; and the east half and the southeast
quarter of the southwest quarter of section 32 of township 26 north,
range 10 west. All of sections 22, 26, 27, 34, 35, and 36; the east half
of the northeast quarter and the east half of the southeast quarter
of section 21; the southwest quarter, the west half of the southeast
quarter, the south half of the northwest quarter, and lots 1 and 6 of
section 23; the southwest quarter, the west half of the southeast
quarter, the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter, the south half
of the northwest quarter, and lot 1 of section 25; the east half of
section 28; and the east half and the southeast quarter of the southwest
quarter of section 33, township 27 north, range 10 west. The Middle
Saline Reserve embracing the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter,
the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter, the west half of the
southeast quarter, the east half of the southwest quarter, and lots 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of section 6; and the northwest quarter of the
northeast quarter, the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter, and
lot 1 of section 7, township 26 north, range 18 west. The southwest
quarter of the southeast quarter, the southeast quarter of the southwest
quarter, and lot 7 of section 6; the west half of the northeast quarter,
the east half of the northwest quarter, the west half of the southeast
quarter, the east half of the southwest quarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, and 4
of section 7; the west half of the northeast quarter, the east half of
the northwest quarter, the west half of the southeast quarter, the east
half of the southwest quarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 of section 18;
the west half of the northeast quarter, the east half of the northwest
quarter, the west half of the southeast quarter, the east half of the
southwest quarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 of section 19; the northwest
quarter of the northeast quarter, the northeast quarter of the northwest
quarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 of section 30; and the west
half of the northeast quarter, the east half of the northwest quarter,
the west half of the southeast quarter, the east half of the southwest
quarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 of section 31, township 27 north,
range 18 west. All of sections 1 to 6, inclusive; the north half of the
north half of sections 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12; and the north half of the
northeast quarter, the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter, and
lot 1 of section 7, township 26 north, range 19 west. All of sections 7
to 36, inclusive; the south half of the south half of sections 1, 2, 3,
4, and 5, and the south half of the southeast quarter, the southeast of
the southwest quarter, and lot 7 of section 6, township 27 north, range
19 west. All of sections 1 and 2; the south half of the northeast
quarter, the southeast quarter, and lots 1 and 2 of section 3; the north
half of the northeast quarter of section 10; and the north half of the
north half of sections 11 and 12, township 26 north, range 20 west. All
of sections 11, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 26, 35, and 36; the south half
of the southeast quarter and lot 7 of section 1; the southwest quarter
of the southwest quarter and lot 6 of section 2; the south half of the
southeast quarter of section 3; and the east half of sections 10, 15,
22, 27, and 34, township 27 north, range 20 west. And the Western Saline
Reserve embracing all of sections 18, 19, 30, and 31, township 29 north,
range 20 west; and all of sections 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 26, 35, and 36,
township 29 north, range 21 west. Excepting also that section 13 in each
township, which has not been otherwise reserved or disposed of, is
hereby reserved for university, agricultural-college, and normal-school
purposes, subject to the action of Congress; excepting also that section
33 in each township, which has not been otherwise reserved or disposed
of, is hereby reserved for public buildings; excepting also sections
16 and 36 in each township, which are reserved by law for the use and
benefit of the public schools; excepting also all selections and
allotments made under the law and the agreements herein referred to,
the lands covered by said selections and allotments to be particularly
described and identified; said descriptions to be furnished by the
Commissioner of the General Land Office and posted in the several booths
hereinafter referred to as those where certain preliminary declarations
are to be made prior to the day named in this proclamation as that when
the strip will be open to settlement.
Said lands so to be opened as herein proclaimed shall be entered upon
and occupied only in the manner and under the provisions following, to
wit:
A strip of land 100 feet in width around and immediately within the
outer boundaries of the entire tract of country to be opened to
settlement under this proclamation is hereby temporarily set apart for
the following purposes and uses, viz:
Said strip, the inner boundary of which shall be 100 feet from the
exterior boundary of the country known as the Cherokee Outlet, shall be
open to occupancy in advance of the day and hour named for the opening
of said country by persons expecting and intending to make settlement
pursuant to this proclamation. Such occupancy shall not be regarded as
trespass or in violation of this proclamation or of the law under which
it is made, nor shall any settlement rights be gained thereby.
The Commissioner of the General Land Office shall, under the direction
of the Secretary of the Interior, establish on said 100-foot strip
booths, to be located as follows: One in township 29 north, range 2
east; one in township 29 north, range 2 west; one in township 29 north,
range 4 west; one in township 29 north, range 8 west; one in township 29
north, range 12 west; one in township 20 north, range 3 east; one in
township 20 north, range 2 west; one in township 20 north, range 7 west;
and one in township 20 north, range 26 west; and shall place in charge
thereof three officers to each booth, who shall be detailed from the
General Land Office. Said booths shall be open for the transaction of
business on and after Monday, the 11th day of the month of September,
A.D. 1893, from 7 a.m. to 12 m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. each business day
until the same shall be discontinued by the Secretary of the Interior,
who is hereby authorized to discontinue the same at his discretion. Each
party desiring to enter upon and occupy as a homestead any of the lands
hereby opened to settlement will be required to first appear at one of
the before-mentioned booths and make a declaration in writing, to be
signed by the party in the presence of one of the officers in charge
thereof, which shall be certified by such officer, according to the form
hereto attached and made a part hereof marked A, showing his or her
qualifications to make homestead entry for said lands, whereupon a
certificate will be issued by the officers in charge of the booth to the
party making the declaration, which shall be of the form hereto attached
and made a part hereof marked D.
Where a party desires to file a soldier's declaratory statement in
person, he will be required to make a declaration which shall be of the
form hereto attached and made a part hereof marked B, the same to be
made and subscribed before one of the officers in charge of the booth
and certified by such officer, independently of the affidavit (Form
4-546) to be filed when he presents the certificate of Form D, there
given him, to the district officers. Where a party desires to file a
declaratory statement through an agent, it will be necessary for him
previously to make the affidavit ordinarily required (Form 4-545) before
some officer authorized to administer oaths and place the same in the
hands of the agent, who, before being permitted to enter upon the lands
to be opened in said outlet for the purpose of making the desired
filing, will be required to appear before the officers in charge of
some one of the booths, to present the said affidavit of the party
authorizing him to act as such agent, and to make a declaration in
writing, to be subscribed by him in the presence of one of such
officers, which shall be certified by such officer, according to the
form hereto attached and made a part hereof marked C, whereupon a
certificate of Form D will be given him by said officer. The agent
should be provided with affidavits of Form 4-545 made in duplicate—one
for presentation to the officers in charge of the booth and the other
for presentation to the district officers when formal filing is to be
made.
Each party desiring to enter upon said lands for the purpose of settling
upon a town lot will be required to first appear at one of the
before-mentioned booths and make a declaration in writing, to be signed
by the party in the presence of one of the officers in charge thereof,
which shall be certified by such officer, according to the form hereto
attached and made a part hereof marked E, whereupon a certificate will
be issued by the officers in charge of the booth to the party making the
declaration, which shall be of the form hereto attached and made a part
hereof marked F.
The said declarations made before the officers in charge shall be given
consecutive numbers, beginning at No. 1 at each booth, and the
certificate issued to the party making the declaration shall be given
the same number as is given the declaration. The declaration shall be
carefully preserved by the officers in charge of the booths, and when
the booths are discontinued said declarations shall be transmitted,
together with the duplicate affidavits (Form 4-545) hereinbefore
required to be presented in case of agents proposing to act for soldiers
in filing declaratory statements, to the General Land Office for filing
as a part of the records pertaining to the disposal of said lands.
The certificate will be evidence only that the party named therein
is permitted to go in upon the lands opened to settlement by this
proclamation at the time specified herein, and the certificate of Form D
must be surrendered when application to enter or file is presented to
the district officers, and the party's right to make a filing, homestead
entry, or settlement shall be passed upon by the district land officers
at the proper time and in the usual manner. The holder of such
certificate will be required when he makes his homestead affidavit, or,
if a soldier or soldier's agent, when he files a declaratory statement
at the district office, to allege under oath before the officers taking
such homestead affidavit or to whom said declaratory statement is
presented for filing that all the statements contained in the
declaration made by him, upon which said certificate is based, are true
in every particular, such oath to be added to affidavit of Form 4-102,
as shown on form hereto attached and made a part hereof marked 102d.
After the hour and day hereinbefore named when said lands will be
opened to settlement all parties holding such certificates (Form D or F)
will be permitted to occupy or enter upon the lands so opened, and
parties holding a certificate of Form D may initiate a homestead claim,
either by settlement upon the land or by entry or filing at the proper
district office; but no person not holding any such certificate shall be
permitted to occupy or enter upon any of said lands until after the
booths shall have been discontinued by direction of the Secretary of the
Interior. Until then the officers of the United States are expressly
charged to permit no party without a certificate to occupy or enter upon
any of said lands.
The following rules and regulations have been prescribed by the
Secretary of the Interior, under the direction of the President, as
provided by section 10 of said act of March 3, 1893, for the occupation
and settlement of the lands hereby opened, to wit:
The thirteenth section of the act approved March 2, 1889, the act
approved May 2, 1890, the second proviso of section 17 and the whole of
section 18 of the act approved March 3, 1891, are by section 10 of the
act of March 3, 1893, made applicable in disposing of the lands under
said section 10, and said lands are thereby rendered subject to disposal
under the homestead and town-site laws only, with certain modifications,
which laws as so modified contain provisions substantially as follows:
1. Any party will be entitled to initiate a homestead claim to a tract
of said lands who is over 21 years of age or the head of a family; who
is a citizen of the United States or has declared his intention to
become such; who has not exhausted his homestead right either by
perfecting a homestead entry for 160 acres of land under any law,
excepting what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law
contained in section 2301 of the United States Revised Statutes, or by
making or commuting a homestead entry since March 2, 1889; who has not
entered since August 30, 1890, under the land laws of the United States
or filed upon a quantity of land agricultural in character and not
mineral which with the tracts sought to be entered in any case would
make more than 320 acres; who is not the owner in fee simple of 160
acres of land in any State or Territory, and who has not entered upon or
occupied the lands hereby opened in violation of this the President's
proclamation opening the same to settlement and entry. (See section
2289, U.S. Revised Statutes; act of March 2, 1889, 25 U.S. Statutes at
Large, p. 854; section 13 of the act of March 2, 1889, 25 U.S. Statutes
at Large, p. 1005; act of August 30, 1890, 26 U.S. Statutes at Large, p.
391; section 20, act of May 2, 1890, 26 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 91,
and section 10, act of March 3, 1893, 27 U.S. Statutes at Large, p.
640.)
2. Each entry shall be in a compact body, according to the rectangular
subdivisions of the public surveys, and in a square form, as nearly as
reasonably practicable consistently with such surveys; and no person
shall be permitted to enter more than one quarter section in quantity of
said lands. (See section 13, act of March 2, 1889, 25 U.S. Statutes at
Large, p. 1005.)
3. Parties who own and reside upon land (not acquired by them under the
homestead law) not amounting in quantity to a quarter section may, if
otherwise qualified, enter other land lying contiguous to their own to
an amount which shall not with the land already owned by them exceed in
the aggregate 160 acres. (See section 2289, U.S. Revised Statutes.)
4. Any party who has made a homestead entry prior to March 2, 1889, for
less than one quarter section of land and who still owns and occupies
the land so entered may, if otherwise qualified, enter an additional
tract of land lying contiguous to the land embraced in the original
entry, which shall not with the land first entered exceed in the
aggregate 160 acres; but such additional entry will not be permitted, or
if permitted will be canceled, if the original entry should fail for any
reason prior to patent or should appear to be illegal or fraudulent. The
final proof of residence and cultivation made on the original entry,
together with the payment of the prescribed price for the land, will be
sufficient to entitle the party to a final certificate for the land so
entered without further proof. (See section 5 of the act of March 2,
1889, 25 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 854.)
5. Parties who have complied with the conditions of the law with regard
to a homestead entry for less than 160 acres of land made prior to March
2, 1889, and have had the final papers issued therefor, may, if
otherwise qualified, make an additional entry, by legal subdivisions, of
so much land as added to the quantity previously so entered shall not
exceed 160 acres. Parties making entry under the provisions set forth in
this paragraph will be required to reside upon and cultivate the land
embraced therein for the prescribed period and to submit proof of
residence and cultivation of a like character with that required in
ordinary homestead entries before the issuance of a final certificate.
(See section 6, act of March 2, 1889, 25 U.S. Statutes at Large, p.
854.)
6. Any officer, soldier, seaman, or marine who served for not less than
ninety days in the Army or Navy of the United States during the War of
the Rebellion and who was honorably discharged and has remained loyal to
the Government, or, in case of his death, his widow, or, in case of her
death or remarriage, his minor orphan children, by a guardian duly
appointed and officially accredited at the Department of the Interior,
may, either in person or by agent, file a declaratory statement for a
tract of land and have six months thereafter within which to make actual
entry and commence residence and improvements upon the land. (See
sections 2304, 2307, and 2309, U.S. Revised Statutes.)
7. Every person entitled under the preceding paragraph to enter a
homestead who, or whose deceased husband or father, in case of the widow
or minor children, may have prior to June 22, 1874, entered under the
homestead laws a quantity of land less than 160 acres may, if otherwise
qualified, enter so much land as when added to the quantity previously
entered shall not exceed 160 acres; but the party must make affidavit
that the entry is made for actual settlement and cultivation, and the
proof of such settlement and cultivation prescribed by existing
homestead laws and regulations thereunder will be required to be
produced before the issue of final certificate. (See section 2306, U.S.
Revised Statutes, and section 18 of the act of May 2, 1890, 26 U.S.
Statutes at Large, p. 90.)
8. Parties may initiate claims under the homestead law either by
settlement on the land or by entry at the district office. In the former
case the party will have three months after settlement within which to
file his application for the tract at the district office; in the latter
case the party will have six months after entry at that office within
which to establish residence and begin improvements upon the land. (See
sections 2290 and 2297, U.S. Revised Statutes, and section 3 of the act
of May 14, 1880, 21 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 140.)
9. The homestead affidavits required to be filed with the application
must be executed before the register or receiver of the proper district
land office (see section 2290, U.S. Revised Statutes) or before any
other officer who may be found duly qualified at the time to administer
such oaths, according to the provisions of the act of Congress of May
26, 1890 (26 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 121).
10. Parties applying to make homestead entry will be required to tender
with the application the legal fee and commissions, which are as
follows: For an entry of over 80 acres a fee of $10, and for an entry of
80 acres or less a fee of $5, and in both cases, in addition,
commissions of 2 per cent upon the Government price of the land,
computed at the rate of $1.25 per acre, the ordinary minimum price of
public lands under the general provisions of section 2357, United States
Revised Statutes. (See sections 2238 and 2290, U.S. Revised Statutes.)
11. Homestead applicants appearing in great number at the local office
to make entry at the time of opening will be required to form in line,
in order that their applications may be presented and acted upon in
regular order.
12. Soldiers' declaratory statements can only be made by the parties
entitled or by their agents in person, and will not be received if sent
by mail. A party acting as agent and appearing in line, as contemplated
under the eleventh paragraph, will be allowed to make one entry or
filing in his individual character, if he so desires, and to file one
declaratory statement in his representative character as agent, if such
he shall be, and thereupon he will be required to step out of line,
giving place to the next person in order, and, if he desires to make any
other filings, to take his place at the end of the line and await his
proper turn before doing so, and thus to proceed in order until all the
filings desired by him shall be made.
13. Section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, providing
for commutation of homestead entries, is not applicable to said lands.
(See section 18 of the act of May 2, 1890, 26 U.S. Statutes at Large, p.
90.)
14. Proof of five years' residence, cultivation, and improvement and the
payment prescribed by the statute, as hereinbefore mentioned, must be
made before a party will be entitled to a patent under the homestead
law, and such proof is required to be made within seven years from the
date of the entry. Commissions equal to 2 per cent upon the Government
price for the land, computed at $1.25 per acre, under section 2357,
United States Revised Statutes, must also be tendered with the final
proof. Interest at 4 per cent per annum on the purchase price of the
land must be paid from the date of the entry to date of final payment of
purchase money. (See sections 2238 and 2291, U.S. Revised Statutes, and
sections 10 and 13 of the act of March 3, 1893, 27 U.S. Statutes at
Large, p. 640.)
15. The parties named in paragraph 6 of these regulations are entitled
to have the term of service in the Army or Navy under which the claim is
made, not exceeding four years, deducted from the period of five years'
residence or cultivation required as stated in the preceding paragraph,
or, if the party was discharged from service on account of wounds or
disabilities incurred in the line of duty, the whole term of enlistment,
not exceeding four years, may be deducted. (See section 2305, U.S.
Revised Statutes.)
16. Where a homestead settler dies before the consummation of his claim,
the widow, or, in case of her death, the heirs or devisee, may continue
settlement or cultivation and obtain title upon requisite proof at the
proper time. If the widow proves up, title will pass to her; if she dies
before proving up and the heirs or devisee make the proof, the title
will vest in them, respectively. (See section 2291, U.S. Revised
Statutes.)
17. Where both parents die, leaving infant children, the homestead may
be sold for cash for the benefit of such children, and the purchaser
will receive title from the United States. (See section 2292, U.S.
Revised Statutes.)
18. In case of the death of a person after having entered a homestead
the failure of the widow, children, or devisee of the deceased to
fulfill the demands of the letter of the law as to residence on the
lands will not necessarily subject the entry to forfeiture on the ground
of abandonment. If the land is cultivated in good faith, the law will be
considered as having been substantially complied with.
19. Town-site claims maybe initiated upon said lands under the statutes
by two methods, which are separate and distinct in character. The
regulations under the first method are hereinafter set forth in
paragraphs 20, 21, and 22, and under the second method in paragraphs 23
to 28, inclusive. Provision is further made for town-site entries in
cases where lands entered under the homestead law are required for
town-site purposes, as set forth in paragraph 30.
20. Parties having founded or who desire to found a city or town on the
public lands must file with the recorder of the county in which land is
situate a plat thereof, describing the exterior boundaries of the land
according to the lines of public surveys. Such plat must state the name
of the city or town, exhibit the streets, squares, blocks, lots, and
alleys, and specify the size of the same, with measurements and area of
each municipal subdivision the lots in which shall not exceed 4,200
square feet, with a statement of the extent and general character of the
improvements. The plat and statement must be verified by the oath of the
party, acting for and in behalf of the occupants and inhabitants of the
town or city. Within one month after filing the plat with the recorder
of the county a verified copy of said plat and statement must be sent to
the General Land Office, accompanied by the testimony of two witnesses
that such town or city has been established in good faith, and a similar
map and statement must be filed with the register and receiver of the
proper district office. Thereafter the President may cause the lots
embraced within the limits of such city or town to be offered at public
sale to the highest bidder, subject to a minimum of $10 for each lot;
and such lots as may not be disposed of at public sale shall thereafter
be liable to private entry at such minimum or at such reasonable
increase or diminution thereafter as the Secretary of the Interior may
order from time to time, after at least three months' notice, in view
of the increase or decrease in the value of the municipal property. Any
actual settler upon any lot and upon any additional lot upon which he
may have substantial improvements shall be entitled to prove up and
purchase the same as a preemption, at such minimum, at any time before
the day fixed for the public sale. (See section 2382, U.S. Revised
Statutes.)
21. In case the parties interested shall fail or refuse within twelve
months after founding a city or town to file in the General Land Office
a transcript map, with the statement and testimony, as required in
paragraph 20, the Secretary of the Interior may cause a survey and plat
to be made of said city or town, and thereafter the lots will be sold at
an increase of 50 per cent on the minimum price of $10 per lot. (See
section 2384, U.S. Revised Statutes.)
22. When lots vary in size from the limitation of 4,200 square feet and
the lots, buildings, and improvements cover an area greater than 640
acres, such variance as to size of lots or excess in area will prove no
bar to entry, but the price of the lots may be increased to such
reasonable amount as the Secretary of the Interior may by rule
establish. (See section 2385, U.S. Revised Statutes.)
23. Under the second method lands actually settled upon and occupied as
a town site, and therefore not subject to entry under the homestead
laws, may be entered as a town site at the proper district land office.
(See section 2387, U.S. Revised Statutes.)
24. If the town is incorporated, the entry may be made by the corporate
authorities thereof through the mayor or other principal officer duly
authorized so to do. If the town is not incorporated, the entry may be
made by the judge of the county court for the county in which said town
is situated. In either case the entry must be made in trust for the use
and benefit of the occupants thereof according to their respective
interests. The execution of such trust as to the disposal of lots and
the proceeds of sales is to be conducted under regulations prescribed by
the territorial laws. Acts of trustees not in accordance with such
regulations are void. (See sections 2387 and 2391, U.S. Revised
Statutes.)
25. The officer authorized to enter a town site may make entry at once,
or he may initiate an entry by filing a declaratory statement of the
purpose of the inhabitants to make a town-site entry of the land
described. The entry or declaratory statement shall include only such
land as is actually occupied by the town and the title to which is in
the United States, and its exterior limits must conform to the legal
subdivisions of the public lands. (See sections 2388 and 2389, U.S.
Revised Statutes.)
26. The amount of land that may be entered under this method is
proportionate to the number of inhabitants. One hundred and less than
200 inhabitants may enter not to exceed 320 acres; 200 and less than
1,000 inhabitants may enter not to exceed 640 acres; and where the
inhabitants number 1,000 and over an amount not to exceed 1,280 acres
may be entered, and for each additional 1,000 inhabitants, not to exceed
5,000 in all, a further amount of 320 acres may be allowed. When the
number of inhabitants of a town is less than 100, the town site shall be
restricted to the land actually occupied for town purposes by legal
subdivisions. (See section 2389, U.S. Revised Statutes.)
27. Where an entry is made of less than the maximum quantity of land
allowed for town-site purposes, additional entries may be made of
contiguous tracts occupied for town purposes which when added to the
previous entry or entries will not exceed 2,560 acres; but no additional
entry can be allowed which will make the total area exceed the area to
which the town may be entitled by virtue of its population at date of
additional entry. (See section 4 of the act of March 3, 1877, 19 U.S.
Statutes at Large, p. 392.)
28. The land must be paid for at the Government price per acre, and
proof must be furnished relating, first, to municipal occupation of the
land; second, number of inhabitants; third, extent and value of town
improvements; fourth, date when land was first used for town-site
purposes; fifth, official character and authority of officer making
entry; sixth, if an incorporated town, proof of incorporation, which
should be a certified copy of the act of incorporation, and, seventh,
that a majority of the occupants or owners of the lots within the town
desire that such action be taken. Thirty days' publication of notice of
intention to make proof must be made and proof of publication furnished.
(See section 2387, U.S. Revised Statutes.)
29. All surveys for town sites on said lands shall contain reservations
for parks (of substantially equal area if more than one park) and for
schools and other public purposes, embracing in the aggregate not less
than 10 nor more than 20 acres, and patents for such reservations, to be
maintained for such purposes, will be issued to the towns respectively
when organized as municipalities. (See section 22, act of May 2, 1890,
26 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 92.)
30. In case any of said lands which may be entered under the homestead
laws by a person who is entitled to perfect his title thereto under such
laws are required for town-site purposes, the entryman may apply to
the Secretary of the Interior to purchase the lands embraced in said
homestead, or any part thereof not less than a legal subdivision, for
town-site purposes. The party must file in the district office with
his application a plat of the proposed town site and evidence of his
qualifications to perfect title under the homestead law and of his
compliance with all the requirements of the law and the instructions
thereunder, and must deposit with the Secretary of the Interior the sum
of $10 per acre for all the lands embraced in such town site, except the
lands to be donated and maintained for public purposes as mentioned in
the preceding paragraph. (See section 22, act of May 2, 1890, 26 U.S.
Statutes at Large, p. 92.)
Notice, moreover, is hereby given that it is by law enacted that no
person shall be permitted to occupy or enter upon any of the lands
herein referred to except in the manner prescribed by this proclamation,
and any person otherwise occupying or entering upon any of said lands
shall forfeit all right to acquire any of said lands, and that the
officers of the United States will be required to enforce this
provision.
And further notice is hereby given that four land districts have been
established in Oklahoma Territory, with boundaries as follows:
The Perry district, bounded and described as follows: Beginning at the
middle of the main channel of the Arkansas River where the same is
intersected by the northern boundary of Oklahoma Territory; thence west
to the northwest corner of township 29 north, range 2 west of the Indian
meridian; thence south on the range line between ranges 2 and 3 west to
the southwest corner of lot 3 of section 31, township 20 north, range 2
west; thence east to the southeast corner of lot 4 of section 36,
township 20 north, range 4 east; thence south on the range line between
ranges 4 and 5 east to the middle of the main channel of the Cimarron
River; thence down said river, in the middle of the main channel
thereof, to the western boundary of the Creek country; thence north to
the northwest corner of the Creek country; thence east on the northern
boundary of said Creek country to the middle of the main channel of the
Arkansas River; thence up said river, in the middle of the main channel
thereof, to the place of beginning; the local land, office of which will
be located at the town of Perry, in County P.
The Enid district, bounded and described as follows: Beginning at the
northeast corner of township 29 north, range 3 west of the Indian
meridian; thence west to the northwest corner of township 29 north,
range 8 west; thence south on the range line between ranges 8 and 9 west
to the southwest corner of lot 3 of section 31, township 20 north, range
8 west; thence east to the southeast corner of lot 4 of section 36,
township 20 north, range 3 west; thence north on the range line between
ranges 2 and 3 west to the place of beginning; the local land office of
which will be located at the town of Enid, in County O.
The Alva district, bounded and described as follows: Beginning at the
northeast corner of township 29 north, range 9 west of the Indian
meridian; thence west to the northwest corner of township 29 north,
range 16 west; thence south on the range line between ranges 16 and 17
west to the southwest corner of lot 3 of section 31, township 20 north,
range 16 west; thence east to the southeast corner of lot 4 of section
36, township 20 north, range 9 west; thence north on the range line
between ranges 8 and 9 west to the place of beginning; the local land
office of which will be located at the town of Alva, in County M.
The Woodward land district, bounded and described as follows: Beginning
at the northeast corner of township 29 north, range 17 west of the
Indian meridian; thence west to the north west corner of township 29
north, range 26 west; thence south to the southwest corner of lot 3 of
section 32, township 20 north, range 26 west; thence east to the
southeast corner of lot 4 of section 36, township 20 north, range 17
west; thence north on the range line between ranges 16 and 17 west to
the place of beginning; the local land office of which will be located
at the town of Woodward, in County N.
And further notice is hereby given that the line of 97-1/2° west
longitude, named herein for the purpose of disposing of the land hereby
opened to settlement, is held to fall on the west line of sections 2,
11, 14, 23, 26, and 35 of the townships in range 3 west of the Indian
meridian, and the line of 98-1/2° of west longitude is held to fall on
the line running due north and south through the centers of sections 4,
9, 16, 21, 28, and 33 of the townships in range 12 west of the Indian
meridian, and said lines have been so laid down upon the township plats
on file in the General Land Office.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 19th day of August, A.D. 1893, and
of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
W.Q. GRESHAM, Secretary of State.
A.
DECLARATION REQUIRED BY PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF AUGUST 19, 1893,
PREPARATORY TO OCCUPYING OR ENTERING UPON THE LANDS OF THE CHEROKEE
OUTLET FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING A HOMESTEAD ENTRY.
No. ——.
BOOTH IN T. —— N., R. ——, ——, 1893.
I, ——, of ——, being desirous of occupying or entering upon the lands
opened to settlement by the President's proclamation of August 19, 1893,
for the purpose of making a homestead entry, do solemnly declare that I
am over 21 years of age or the head of a family; that I am a citizen of
the United States (or have declared my intention to become such); that
I have not perfected a homestead entry for 160 acres of land under any
law except what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law
contained in section 2301, Revised Statutes, nor have I made or commuted
a homestead entry since March 2, 1889;[*] —— that I have not entered
since August 30, 1890, under the land laws of the United States or filed
upon a quantity of land agricultural in character and not mineral which
with the tracts now desired would make more than 320 acres; that I am
not the owner in fee simple of 160 acres of land in any State or
Territory; that I have not entered upon or occupied, nor will I enter
upon or occupy, the lands to be opened to settlement by the President's
proclamation of August 19, 1893, in violation of the requirements of
said proclamation; that I desire to make entry for the purpose of actual
settlement and cultivation, and not for the benefit of any other person,
persons, or corporation; that I will faithfully and honestly endeavor to
comply with all the requirements of law as to settlement, residence, and
cultivation necessary to acquire title to the land I may select; that I
am not acting as agent of any person, corporation, or syndicate in
entering upon said lands, nor in collusion with any person, corporation,
or syndicate to give them the benefit of the land I may enter, or any
part thereof, or the timber thereon; that I do not apply to enter upon
said lands for the purpose of speculation, but in good faith to obtain a
home for myself; and that I have not, directly or indirectly, made and
will not make any agreement or contract in any way or manner with any
person or persons, corporation, or syndicate whatsoever by which the
title which I may acquire from the Government of the United States
should inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person except
myself.
—————.
I certify that the foregoing declaration was made and subscribed before
me this —— day of ——, 1893.
———— —————, Officer in Charge.
* NOTE.—If the party has made a homestead entry since March
2, 1889, but has failed or is unable to perfect title to the land
covered thereby because of a valid adverse claim or other invalidity
existing at the date of its inception, strike out the words "made or"
and insert in the blank space that I have made a homestead entry
since March 2, 1889, but have failed or am unable to perfect title to
the land covered thereby because of a valid adverse claim or other
invalidity existing at the date of its inception.
B.
DECLARATION REQUIRED BY PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF AUGUST 19, 1893,
PREPARATORY TO OCCUPYING OR ENTERING UPON THE LANDS OF THE CHEROKEE
OUTLET FOR THE PURPOSE OF FILING A SOLDIER'S DECLARATORY STATEMENT IN
PERSON.
No. ——.
BOOTH IN T. —— N., R. ——, ——, 1893.
I, ——, of —— County and State or Territory of ——, do solemnly
declare that I served for a period of —— in the Army of the United
States during the War of the Rebellion and was honorably discharged
therefrom, as shown by a statement of such service herewith, and that I
have remained loyal to the Government; that I have not perfected a
homestead entry for 160 acres of land under any law except what is known
as the commuted provision of the homestead law contained in section
2301, Revised Statutes, nor have I filed a declaratory statement under
sections 2304 and 2309 of the Revised Statutes or made or commuted a
homestead entry since March 2, 1889;[*] —— that I have not entered
since August 30, 1890, under the land laws of the United States or filed
upon a quantity of land agricultural in character and not mineral which
with the tracts now desired would make more than 320 acres; that I am
not the owner in fee simple of 160 acres of land in any State or
Territory; that I have not entered upon or occupied, nor will I enter
upon or occupy, the lands to be opened to settlement by the President's
proclamation of August 19, 1893, in violation of said proclamation; that
I intend to file a soldier's declaratory statement upon said lands,
which location will be made for my exclusive use and benefit, for the
purpose of my actual settlement and cultivation, and not, either
directly or indirectly, for the use and benefit of any other person.
———— —————.
I certify that the foregoing declaration was made and subscribed before
me this ——— day of ————, 1893.
———— —————, Officer in Charge.
* NOTE.—If the party has made an entry or filing since March 2, 1889,
to which he is unable to perfect title because of a valid adverse claim
or other invalidity existing at the date of its inception, strike out
the words "filed a declaratory statement under sections 2304 and 2309 of
the Revised Statutes, or made or" and insert in the blank space that
I have made an entry or filing since March 2, 1889, but have failed or
am unable to perfect title to the land covered thereby because of a
valid adverse claim or other invalidity existing at the date of its
inception.
C.
DECLARATION REQUIRED BY PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF AUGUST 19, 1893
PREPARATORY TO ENTERING UPON THE LANDS OF THE CHEROKEE OUTLET FOR THE
PURPOSE OF FILING A SOLDIER'S DECLARATORY STATEMENT AS AGENT
No. ———.
BOOTH IN T. ———- N., R. ———-, ———-, 1893.
I, ———— of ————, desiring to enter upon the Cherokee Outlet for
the purpose of filing a soldier's declaratory statement under sections
2304 and 2309, United States Revised Statutes, as agent of ————, do
hereby declare that I have no interest or authority in the matter,
present or prospective, beyond the filing of such declaratory statement
as the true and lawful attorney of the said ———— as provided by said
sections 2304 and 2309.
———— —————.
I certify that the foregoing declaration was made and subscribed before
me this ——- day of ————, 1893.
———— —————, Officer in Charge.
D.
CERTIFICATE THAT MUST BE HELD BY PARTY DESIRING TO OCCUPY OR TO ENTER
UPON THE LANDS OPENED TO SETTLEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF
AUGUST 19, 1893, FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING A HOMESTEAD ENTRY OR FILING
A SOLDIER'S DECLARATORY STATEMENT.
No. ——-.
BOOTH IN T. ———- N., R. ———-, ———-, 1893.
This certifies that ———— has this day made the declaration before me
required by the President's proclamation of August 19, 1893, and he is
therefore permitted to go in upon the lands opened to settlement by said
proclamation at the time named therein for the purpose of making a
homestead entry or filing a soldier's declaratory statement.
It is agreed and understood that this certificate will not prevent the
district land officers from passing upon the holder's qualifications to
enter or file for any of said lands at the proper time and in the usual
manner, and that the holder will be required when he makes his homestead
affidavit, or, if a soldier or a soldier's agent, when he files a
declaratory statement at the district office, to allege under oath
before the officer taking such homestead affidavit or to whom said
declaratory statement is presented for filing that all of the statements
contained in the declaration made by him, upon which this certificate is
based, are true in every particular.
———— —————, Officer in Charge.
This certificate is not transferable. The holder will display the
certificate, if demanded, after locating on claim.
E.
DECLARATION REQUIRED BY PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF AUGUST 19, 1893,
PREPARATORY TO OCCUPYING OR ENTERING UPON THE LANDS OF THE CHEROKEE
OUTLET FOR THE PURPOSE OF SETTLING UPON A TOWN LOT.
No. ——.
BOOTH IN T. ——N., R. ——,——, 1893.
I, ——, of ——, being desirous of occupying or entering upon lands
opened to settlement by the President's proclamation of August 19, 1893,
do solemnly declare that I have not entered upon or occupied, nor will I
enter upon or occupy, any of the lands to be opened to settlement by the
President's proclamation of August 19, 1893, in violation of the
requirements of said proclamation, and that I desire to go in upon said
lands for the purpose of settling upon a town lot.
———— ————.
I certify that the foregoing declaration was made and subscribed before
me this —— day of ——, 1893.
———— —————, Officer in Charge.
F.
CERTIFICATE THAT MUST BE HELD BY PARTY DESIRING TO OCCUPY OR ENTER UPON
THE LANDS OPENED TO SETTLEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF AUGUST
19, 1893, FOR THE PURPOSE OF SETTLING UPON A TOWN LOT.
No. ——.
BOOTH IN T. ——N., R. ——,——, 1893.
This certifies that —— has this day made the declaration before me
required by the President's proclamation of August 19, 1893, and he is
therefore permitted to go in upon the lands opened to settlement by said
proclamation at the time named therein for the purpose of settling upon
a town lot.
———— —————, Officer in Charge.
This certificate is not transferable. The holder will display the
certificate, if demanded, after locating on claim.
4-102d.
AFFIDAVIT.
LAND OFFICE AT ————, ————, 1893.
I, ——, of ——, applying to enter (or file for) a homestead, do
solemnly swear that I did not enter upon and occupy any portion of
the lands described and declared open to entry in the President's
proclamation dated August 19, 1893, prior to 12 o'clock noon of
September 16, 1893; also that all of the statements contained in a
certain declaration made by me as foundation for obtaining permission
to enter upon the Cherokee Outlet in pursuance of requirements of the
President's proclamation opening said outlet to settlement are true
in every particular.
———— ————.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this —— day of ——, 189—.
———— ————.
NOTE.—This affidavit must be made before the register or receiver of
the proper district land office or before some officer authorized to
administer oaths and using a seal.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by the sixteenth section of the act of Congress approved March
2, 1889 (25 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 888), the agreements entered into
between the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company and the
Sioux Indians for the right of way and occupation of certain lands for
station purposes in that portion of the Sioux Reservation, in the State
of South Dakota, relinquished by said Indians were ratified upon the
condition that said railway company shall within three years after the
said act takes effect construct, complete, and put into operation its
line of road as therein provided for, due location of which was to be
made within nine months after said act took effect; and in case of
failure to so construct said road "the lands granted for right of way,
station grounds, or other railway purposes as in this act provided shall
without any further act or ceremony be declared by proclamation of the
President forfeited, and shall without entry or further action on the
part of the United States revert to the United States and be subject to
entry under the other provisions of this act;" and
Whereas under previous proclamation said act took effect on February
10, 1890, and more than three years have elapsed and no construction has
been reported of the said road beyond the town of Chamberlain, in the
State of South Dakota, as evidenced by the report of the Secretary of
the Interior dated December 3, 1894:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do
declare that the said lands granted for right of way and station
purposes, to wit, that tract of land known as lots 2, 3, and 4 and the
southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 10, and lots 1 and
9 in section 15, township 104 north, range 71 west, containing 188
acres, as shown by a plat approved January 24, 1891, being the tract
selected by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company under
the sixteenth section of the act of March 2, 1889 (25 U.S. Statutes at
Large, p. 888), also the 640 acres in said township 104 north, ranges 71
and 72 west, fifth principal meridian, in the State of South Dakota,
plat of which was approved by the Secretary of the Interior January 24,
1889, and now on file in the General Land Office, are forfeited to the
United States and will be subject to entry under the homestead laws as
provided by said act of March 2, 1889, whenever the Secretary of the
Interior shall give due notice to the local officers of this declaration
of forfeiture.
Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 5th day of
December, A.D. 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND, President of the United States.
By the President:
S.W. LAMOREUX, Commissioner of the General Land Office.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 23, 1895.
To the House of Representatives:
I return herewith without approval House bill No. 8165, entitled "An
act authorizing the Kansas City, Oklahoma and Pacific Railway Company
to construct and operate a railway through Indian reservations in the
Indian Territory and the Territories of Oklahoma and New Mexico, and
for other purposes."
This bill contains concessions more comprehensive and sweeping than
any ever presented for my approval, and it seems to me the rights and
interests of the Indians and the Government are the least protected.
The route apparently desired, though passing through or into one State
and three Territories, is described as indefinitely as possible, and
does not seem to be subject to the approval in its entirety of the
Secretary of the Interior or any other governmental agency having
relation to the interest involved.
There is no provision for obtaining the consent of the Indians through
whose territory and reservations the railroad may be located.
Though it is proposed to build the railroad through territories having
local courts convenient to their inhabitants, all controversies that may
arise out of the location and building of the road are by the provisions
of the bill to be passed upon by the United States circuit and district
courts for the district of Kansas "and such other courts as may be
authorized by Congress."
The bill provides that "the civil jurisdiction of said courts is
hereby extended within the limits of said Indian reservations, without
distinction as to citizenship of the parties, so far as may be necessary
to carry out the provisions of this act." This provision permits the
subordination of the jurisdiction of Indian courts, which we are bound
by treaty to protect, to the "provisions of this act" and to the
interests and preferences of the railroad company for whose benefit the
bill under consideration is intended.
A plan of appraisal is provided for in the bill in case an agreement
can not be reached as to the amount of compensation to be paid for the
taking of lands held by individual occupants according to the laws,
customs, and usages of any of the Indian nations or tribes or by
allotment or agreement with the Indians. It is, however, further
provided that in case either party is dissatisfied with the award of the
referees to be appointed an appeal may be taken to the district court
held at Wichita, Kans., no matter where on the proposed route of the
road the controversy may originate. If upon the hearing of said appeal
the judgment of the court shall be for the same sum as the award of the
referees, the costs shall be adjudged against the appellant, and if said
judgment shall be for a smaller sum the costs shall be adjudged against
the party claiming damages. It does not seem to me that the interests of
an Indian occupant or allottee are properly regarded when he is obliged,
if dissatisfied with an award for the taking of his land, to go to the
district court of Kansas for redress, at the risk of incurring costs and
expenses that may not only exceed the award originally made to him, but
leave him in debt.
It is probable that there are other valid objections to this bill.
I have only attempted to suggest enough to justify my action in
disapproving it.
In constructing legislation of this description it should not be
forgotten that the rights and interests of the Indians are important in
every view and should be scrupulously protected.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 28, 1895.
To the House of Representatives:
I herewith return without approval House bill No. 8681, entitled "An act
authorizing the Arkansas Northwestern Railway Company to construct and
operate a railway through the Indian Territory, and for other purposes."
The contemplated route of this railway, so far as it is disclosed in the
bill, would run from a point in the southwestern corner of the State of
Missouri, across the northeastern corner of the Indian Territory, to
a point in the southeastern part of the State of Kansas. This route
necessarily runs through the lands of the Cherokee Indians or through
the small reservations of the Quapaws, the Peorias, the Ottawas, the
Wyandottes, and the Senecas.
There is no provision in the bill requiring the consent of the Indians
whose lands are to be thus traversed.
There is no provision requiring the entire line to be located and
approved by the Secretary of the Interior before the work of building
is commenced.
The bill provides for compensation to individual occupants or allottees
by a process of appraisal by referees, with the right of appeal to the
district court held at Fort Smith, in the State of Arkansas.
In the case of allotted land or land held in individual occupancy by
the Indians great care should be exercised in interfering with their
holdings. Their land is given them for cultivation and with a view of
making them self-supporting and industrious citizens. If their land is
invaded and cut up by railroads, the purpose of allotment is in danger
of being defeated. Money compensation is of but little use to them, and
no amount can compensate for the disturbance in the cultivation of their
lands and their consequent discontent and discouragement.
These considerations, it seems to me, emphasize the necessity of the
exact location of the entire line of the contemplated railroad and such
control over it by the Secretary of the Interior as will enable him to
avoid as much as possible interference with individual Indian occupants
and other difficulties.
This supervision and regulation of the line can be done with much more
safety and effectiveness in considering the entire line than it can be
done in sections of 25 miles each, as is provided in the bill.
The United States circuit and district courts for the districts of
Kansas and the district of Arkansas and such other courts as may
be authorized by Congress are given concurrent jurisdiction of all
controversies arising between the railway company and the nations
and tribes of Indians through whose territory the railway shall be
constructed, or between said company and the members of said nations or
tribes, without reference to the amount in controversy, and the civil
jurisdiction of said courts is extended within the limits of said Indian
Territory, without distinction as to the citizenship of parties, so far
as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the act.
The requirement that an Indian shall be obliged to seek a distant court
for the adjudication of his rights in his controversies, great and
small, with this railway company would result in many cases to a denial
of justice.
I am convinced of the growing necessity, in this period of change in our
relations with the Indians, of caution and certainty in the grants given
to railroads to pass through Indian lands and of the exercise of care in
allowing interference with their occupation.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 28, 1895.
To the House of Representatives:
I herewith return without approval House bill No. 5624, entitled "An act
to authorize the Oklahoma Central Railroad to construct and operate a
railway through the Indian and Oklahoma Territories, and for other
purposes."
The railroad proposed to be built under authority of this bill commences
at a point in the Creek Nation called Sapulpa and runs through the
Indian Territory to Oklahoma City, in Oklahoma, and thence through the
Kiowa and Comanche Reservation to a point at or near the Red River, on
the west line of said reservation.
There is no provision in this bill requiring the consent of the Indians
through whose lands it is proposed to build the road.
The character and situation of these Indians are such as to make this
consent important.
The first section gives the railroad company the right to build not only
its line of road, but "such tracks, turn-outs, branches, sidings, and
extensions as said company may deem it to their interest to construct."
If under an apparent grant to build a railroad the route of which is
in a general way defined this company is to be allowed to build such
branches and extensions as it may deem it to its interest to construct,
the grant, I am sure, is more comprehensive than was intended by the
Congress.
It seems to me that the entire line of the proposed railroad should be
precisely located and subjected to the approval of the Secretary of the
Interior before the work of construction is entered upon. This bill
provides that it shall be approved in sections of 25 miles before
construction on such sections shall be commenced.
Our relations to the Indians on reservations and their welfare and quiet
are better preserved and protected when the entire line of road can be
settled upon at one time and all uncertainty and doubt on the subject
removed. The object sought by submitting the line to the supervision and
determination of the Secretary of the Interior can be better and more
intelligently accomplished if it is dealt with in its entirety instead
of in sections.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, pursuant to section 1 of the act of Congress approved July 13,
1892, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current and
contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty
stipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June
30, 1893, and for other purposes," certain articles of agreement were
made and concluded at the Yankton Indian Agency, S. Dak., on the 31st
day of December, 1892, by and between the United States of America
and the Yankton tribe of Sioux or Dakota Indians upon the Yankton
Reservation, whereby the said Yankton tribe of Sioux or Dakota Indians,
for the consideration therein mentioned, ceded, sold, relinquished,
and conveyed 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 tribe by the first article of the treaty
of April 19, 1858, between said tribe and the United States; and
Whereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 8 that such part
of the surplus lands by said agreement ceded and sold to the United
States as may 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 of the other lands so ceded
and sold shall immediately after the ratification of the 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; and
Whereas it is also stipulated and agreed by article 10 that any
religious society or other organization shall have the right for two
years from the date of the ratification of the said agreement within
which to purchase the lands occupied by it under proper authority for
religious or educational work among the Indians, at a valuation fixed by
the Secretary of the Interior, which shall not be less than the average
price paid to the Indians for the surplus lands; and
Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and
confirming the said agreement, approved August 15, 1894, section 12
(Pamphlet Statutes, Fifty-third Congress, second session, pp. 314-319)—
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 common-school
purposes and be subject to the laws of the State of South Dakota:
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 $3.75 per acre, of which sum he shall pay 50
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 2304 and 2305 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 1 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 $3.75.
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 19, 1858, shall be punishable by
imprisonment for not more than two years and by a fine of not more than
$300.
And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by
said agreement made with said tribes of Indians and by the laws relating
thereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement have been, as I
hereby declare, complied with:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by
virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned,
do hereby declare and make known that all of the lands acquired from the
Yankton tribe of Sioux or Dakota Indians by the said agreement, saving
and excepting the lands reserved in pursuance of the provisions of said
agreement and the act of Congress ratifying the same, will, at and after
the hour of 12 o'clock noon (central standard time) on the 21st day of
May, 1895, and not before, be open to settlement under the terms of
and subject to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and
restrictions contained in said agreement, the statutes hereinbefore
specified, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto.
The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenience
particularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Schedule
of lands within the Yankton Reservation, S. Dak., to be opened to
settlement by proclamation of the President," and which schedule is made
a part hereof.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 16th day of May, A.D. 1895, and of
the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, pursuant to section I of the act of Congress approved July 13,
1892, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current and
contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty
stipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June
30, 1893, and for other purposes," certain articles of cession and
agreement were made and concluded at the Siletz Agency, Oreg., on the
31st day of October, 1892, by and between the United States of America
and the Alsea and other Indians on Siletz Reservation in Oregon, whereby
said Alsea and other Indians, for the consideration therein mentioned,
ceded and conveyed 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 4 of
the agreement, viz: Section 9, township 9 south, range 11 west of the
Willamette meridian; and the west half of the west half of section 5,
and the east half of section 6, and the east half of the west half of
section 6, township 10 south, range 10 west; and the south half of
section 8, and the north half of section 17, and section 16, township 9
south, range 9 west; and the east half of the northeast quarter and lot
3, section 20, and south half and south half of north half of section
21, township 8, range 10 west; and
Whereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 6 that any
religious society or other organization shall have the right for two
years from the date of the ratification of this agreement within which
to purchase the lands occupied by it with proper authority for religious
or educational work among the Indians, at the rate of $2.50 per acre,
the same to be conveyed to such society or organization by patent; and
Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and
confirming said agreement, approved August 15, 1894 (Pamphlet Statutes,
pp. 286-338), section 15, that—
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 50 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 $1 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.
And whereas it is provided—
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.
And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by
said agreement made with said tribe of Indians hereinbefore mentioned
and the laws relating thereto precedent to opening said lands to
settlement have been, as I hereby declare, provided for, paid, and
complied with:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by
virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned
and by said agreement, do hereby declare and make known that all of the
lands acquired from the Alsea and other Indians by said agreement will,
at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon (Pacific standard time) on
the 25th day of July, 1895, and not before, be opened to settlement
under the terms of and subject to all the conditions, limitations,
reservations, and restrictions contained in said agreement, the statutes
above specified, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto.
The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenience
particularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Schedule
of lands within the Siletz Indian Reservation, in Oregon, opened to
settlement by proclamation of the President dated May 16, 1895," and
which schedule is made a part hereof.
Warning is hereby given that no person entering upon and occupying said
lands before said hour of 12 o'clock noon of the 25th day of July, 1895,
hereinbefore fixed, will ever be permitted to enter any of said lands or
acquire any rights thereto, and that the officers of the United States
will be required to strictly enforce this provision, which is authorized
by the act of August 15, 1894, hereinbefore mentioned.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 16th day of May, A.D. 1895, and of
the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by a written agreement made on the 9th day of September, 1891,
the Kickapoo Nation of Indians, in the Territory of Oklahoma, ceded,
conveyed, transferred, and relinquished, forever and absolutely, without
any reservation whatever, all their claim, title, and interest of every
kind and character in and to the lands particularly described in article
1 of the agreement: Provided, That in said tract of country there
shall be allotted to each and every member, native and adopted, of said
Kickapoo tribe of Indians 80 acres of land, in the manner and under the
conditions stated in said agreement, and that when the allotments of
land shall have been made and approved by the Secretary of the Interior
the title thereto shall be held in trust for the allottees respectively
for the period of twenty-five years in the manner and to the extent
provided for in the act of Congress approved February 8, 1887 (24 U.S.
Statutes at Large, p. 388); and
Whereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 6 of the
agreement that wherever in this reservation any religious society or
other organization is now occupying any portion of said reservation for
religious or educational work among the Indians the land so occupied may
be allotted and confirmed to such society or organization, not, however,
to exceed 160 acres of land to any one society or organization, so long
as the same shall be so occupied and used: and such land shall not be
subject to homestead entry; and
Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and
confirming the said agreement with the Kickapoo Indians, approved March
3, 1893 (27 U.S. Statutes at Large, pp. 557-563), section 3—
That whenever any of the lands acquired by this agreement shall by
operation of law or proclamation of the President of the United States
be open to settlement or entry they shall be disposed of (except
sections 16 and 36 in each township thereof) to actual settlers only
under the provisions of the homestead and town-site laws, except section
2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which shall not
apply: Provided, however, That each settler on said lands
shall before making a final proof and receiving a certificate of entry
pay to the United States for the land so taken by him, in addition to
the fees provided by law and within five years from the date of the
first original entry, the sum of $1.50 an acre, one-half of which shall
be paid within two years; but the rights of honorably discharged Union
soldiers and sailors as defined and described in sections 2304 and 2305
of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be abridged
except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid. Until said lands are
opened to settlement by proclamation of the President of the United
States no person shall be permitted to enter upon or occupy any of said
lands, and any person violating this provision shall never be permitted
to make entry of any of said lands or acquire any title thereto:
Provided, That any person having attempted to but for any cause
failed to acquire a title in fee under existing law, or who made entry
under what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law,
shall be qualified to make homestead entry upon said lands.
And whereas allotments of land in severalty to said Kickapoo Indians
have been made and approved in accordance with law and the provisions of
the before-mentioned agreement with them; and
Whereas it is provided by the act of Congress for the temporary
government of Oklahoma, approved May 2, 1890, section 23 (26 U.S.
Statutes at Large, p. 92), that there shall be reserved public highways
4 rods wide between each section of land in said Territory, the section
lines being the center of said highways; but no deduction shall be made,
where cash payments are provided for, in the amount to be paid for each
quarter section of land by reason of such reservation; and
Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress approved February 10, 1894
(28 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 37)—
That every homestead settler on the public lands on the left bank of
the Deep Fork River in the former Iowa Reservation, in the Territory of
Oklahoma, who entered less than 160 acres of land may enter under the
homestead laws other lands adjoining the land embraced in his original
entry when such additional lands become subject to entry, which
additional entry shall not with the lands originally entered exceed in
the aggregate 160 acres: Provided, That where such adjoining
entry is made residence shall not be required upon the lands so
entered, but the residence and cultivation by the settler upon and of
the land embraced in his original entry shall be considered residence
and cultivation for the same length of time upon the land embraced in
his additional entry; but such lands so entered shall be paid for
conformably to the terms of the act acquiring the same and opening it
to homestead entry.
And whereas it is further provided in the act of Congress approved March
2, 1895 (28 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 899)—
That any State or Territory entitled to indemnity school lands or
entitled to select lands for educational purposes under existing law
may select such lands within the boundaries of any Indian reservation
in such State or Territory from the surplus lands thereof purchased by
the United States, after allotments have been made to the Indians of
such reservation and prior to the opening of such reservation to
settlement.
And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by
said agreement made with said tribes of Indians and by the laws relating
thereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement have been, as I
hereby declare, complied with:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by
virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned
and by other the laws of the United States and by the said agreement,
do hereby declare and make known that all of said lands hereinbefore
described, acquired from the Kickapoo Indians by the agreement
aforesaid, will, at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon (central
standard time), Thursday, the 23d day of the month of May, A.D. 1895,
and not before, be open to settlement under the terms of and subject
to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions
contained in the said agreement, the statutes above specified, and the
laws of the United States applicable thereto, saving and excepting such
tracts as have been allotted, reserved, or selected under the laws
herein referred to and such tracts as may be properly selected by the
Territory of Oklahoma under and in accordance with the provisions of
the act of March 2, 1895, hereinbefore quoted, prior to the time herein
fixed for the opening of said lands to settlement.
The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenience
particularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Schedule
of lands within the Kickapoo Reservation, Oklahoma Territory, to be
opened to settlement by proclamation of the President;" but notice is
hereby given that should any of the lands described in the accompanying
schedule be properly selected by the Territory of Oklahoma under and in
accordance with the provisions of said act of Congress approved March 2,
1895, prior to the time herein fixed for the opening of said lands to
settlement such tracts will not be subject to settlement or entry.
Notice, moreover, is hereby given that it is by law enacted that until
said lands are opened to settlement by proclamation no person shall be
permitted to enter upon or occupy the same, and any person violating
this provision shall never be permitted to make entry of any of said
lands or acquire any title thereto. The officers of the United States
will be required to enforce this provision.
And further notice is hereby given that all of said lands lying north of
the township line between townships 13 and 14 north are now attached to
the Eastern land district, the office of which is at Guthrie, Oklahoma
Territory, and all of said lands lying south of the township line
between townships 13 and 14 north are now attached to the Oklahoma land
district, the office of which is at Oklahoma, Oklahoma Territory.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 18th day of May, A.D. 1895, and of
the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
EDWIN F. UHL, Acting Secretary of State.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, pursuant to section 5 of the act of Congress approved February
8, 1887 (24 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 388), entitled "An act to provide
for the allotment of lands in severalty to the 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,"
certain articles of cession and agreement were made and concluded at
the Nez Percé Agency, Idaho, on the 1st day of May, 1893, by and between
the United States of America and the Nez Percé Indians, whereby said
Indians, for the consideration therein mentioned, ceded and conveyed to
the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest to all the
unallotted lands set apart as a home for their use and occupation by the
second article of the treaty between said Indians and the United States
concluded June 9, 1863 (14 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 647), and included
in the following boundaries, to wit:
Commencing at the northeast corner of Lake Wa-ha and running thence
northerly to a point on the north bank of the Clearwater River 3
miles below the mouth of the Lapwai; thence down the north bank of
the Clearwater to the mouth of the Hatwai Creek; thence due north to
a point 7 miles distant; thence eastwardly to a point on the North Fork
of the Clearwater 7 miles distant from its mouth; thence to a point on
Oro Fino Creek 5 miles above its mouth; thence to a point on the North
Fork of the South Fork of the Clearwater 1 mile above the bridge on the
road leading to Elk City (so as to include all the Indian farms now
within the forks); thence in a straight line westwardly to the place
of beginning.
Saving and excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections of each
Congressional township, which shall be reserved for common-school
purposes and be subject to the laws of Idaho, and excepting the tracts
described in articles 1 and 2 of the agreement, viz:
The said Nez Percé 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 34, range 4 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 13; 440 acres.
In township 34, range 3 west: Sections 10, 15, 36; 1,920 acres.
In township 33, range 3 west: Section 1; northwest quarter of northeast
quarter, north half of northwest quarter, section 12; 760 acres.
In township 35, range 2 west: South half of northeast quarter, northwest
quarter, north half and southeast quarter of southwest quarter,
southeast quarter, section 3; east half, east half of northwest quarter,
southwest quarter, section 10; section 11; north half, north half of
south half, section 21; east half of northeast quarter, section 20;
sections 22, 27, 35; 4,200 acres.
In township 34, range 2 west: North half, southwest quarter, north half
and southwest quarter and west half of southeast quarter of southeast
quarter, section 13; section 14; north half, section 23; west half of
east half and west half of northeast quarter, northwest quarter, north
half of southwest quarter, west half of east half and northwest quarter
and east half of southwest quarter of southeast quarter, section 24;
section 29; 2,700 acres.
In township 33, range 2 west: West half and southeast quarter, section
6; sections 16, 22, 27; north half and north half of south half, section
34; 2,880 acres.
In township 34, range 1 west: West half, section 2; sections 3, 4: north
half and southwest quarter, section 8; north half, section 9; north half
and north half of southwest quarter, section 18; northwest quarter,
section 17; 2,960 acres.
In township 37, range 1 east: Section 20; section 21, less south half of
south half of southwest quarter of southeast quarter (10 acres); 1,270
acres.
In township 36, range 1 east: South half of sections 3, 4; sections 1,
12; 1,920 acres.
In township 36, range 2 east: Sections 16, 17, 18, 20; all of section 25
west of boundary line of reservation; sections 26, 27; 4,240 acres.
In township 35, range 2 east: North half of sections 16, 17; section 27;
north half of section 34; 1,600 acres.
In township 34, range 2 east: East half and east half of west half of
southeast quarter, section 24; 100 acres.
In township 34, range 3 east: South half of sections 19, 20; 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 23; north half, north half and north half of southwest
quarter and southeast quarter of southwest quarter, southeast quarter,
section 24; north half and southeast quarter of northeast quarter, north
half of northwest quarter, section 25; south half of northeast quarter
of northeast quarter, section 26; section 29; northeast quarter of
northeast quarter and south half, section 30; northwest quarter and
north half of southwest quarter, section 31, northeast quarter, north
half and southeast quarter of northwest quarter, section 32; northwest
quarter, north half of southwest quarter, section 33; 3,700 acres.
In township 33, range 4 east: South half of southeast quarter, section
18; northeast quarter and fraction northeast of river in east half of
northwest quarter, section 19; fraction west of boundary line of
reservation in section 22; west half and southeast quarter of section
35; 1,440 acres.
In township 32, range 4 east: Fraction in west half of northeast quarter
of southwest quarter, fraction in northwest quarter of southeast
quarter, section 1; section 2; south half of section 6; west half and
southeast quarter of northeast quarter of section 9; 1,410 acres.
In township 31, range 4 east: South half of northeast quarter, southeast
quarter of northwest quarter, northeast quarter of southwest quarter,
southeast quarter, section 17; northwest quarter, section 21; 480 acres.
Total, 32,020 acres.
ART. 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 300 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 900 yards to a point; run thence south 250 yards to a
point; thence southwesterly in a line to the southeast corner of a stone
building partly finished as a church; thence west 300 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 300 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 640 acres."
And excepting the land embraced in the William Craig donation claim, in
township 35 north, range 3 west. (See case of Caldwell vs.
Robinson, Federal Reporter, vol. 59, p. 653); and
Whereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 6 of the
agreement 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 $3 per acre, the same to be conveyed
to such society or organization by patent in the usual form; and
Whereas it is further agreed by article 9 of the agreement that the
lands by this agreement ceded, those retained, and those allotted to the
said Nez Percé 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 Percé 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; and
Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and
confirming said agreement, approved August 15, 1894 (28 U.S. Statutes at
Large, pp. 286-338), section 16—
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
bylaw, the sum of $3.75 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 $5 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 2304 and 2305 of the Revised Statutes of the United States
shall not be abridged except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid.
And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by
said agreement made with said tribe of Indians hereinbefore mentioned
and the laws relating thereto precedent to opening said lands to
settlement have been, as I hereby declare, provided for, paid, and
complied with:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by
virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned
and by said agreement, do hereby declare and make known that all of the
unallotted and unreserved lands acquired from the Nez Percé Indians by
said agreement will, at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon (Pacific
standard time) on the 18th day of November, 1895, and not before, be
opened to settlement under the terms of and subject to all the
conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained in
said agreement, the statutes above specified, and the laws of the United
States applicable thereto.
The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenience
particularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Schedule
of lands within the Nez Percé Indian Reservation, Idaho, to be opened to
settlement by proclamation of the President," and which schedule is made
a part hereof.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of November, A.D. 1895, and
of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twentieth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
RICHARD OLNEY, Secretary of State.
