Rosenfeld Susan. Encyclopedia of American Historical Documents

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

herein provided, such additional quantity of arable land,

adjoining to said reservation, or as near to the same as it

can be obtained, as may be required to provide the neces-

sary amount.

Article IV. The United States agrees, at its own

proper expense, to construct at some place on the Mis-

souri river, near the centre of said reservation, where tim-

ber and water may be convenient, the following buildings,

to wit: a warehouse, a storeroom for the use of the agent

in storing good belonging to the Indians, to cost not less

than twenty-five hundred dollars; an agency building for

the residence of the agent, to cost not exceeding three

thousand dollars; a residence for the physician, to cost not

more than three thousand dollars; and five other build-

ings, for a carpenter, farmer, blacksmith, miller, and engi-

neer, each to cost not exceeding two thousand dollars;

also a school-house or mission building, as soon as a suf-

ficient number of children can be induced by the agent to

attend school, which shall not cost exceeding five thou-

sand dollars.

The United States agrees further to cause to be

erected on said reservation, near the other buildings

herein authorized, a good steam circular saw-mill, with a

grist-mill and shingle machine attached to the same, to

cost not exceeding eight thousand dollars.

Article V. The United States agrees that the agent for

said Indians shall in the future make his home at the

agency building; that he shall reside among them, and

keep an office open at all times for the purpose of prompt

and diligent inquiry into such matters of complaint by and

against the Indians as may be presented for investigation

under the provisions of their treaty stipulations, as also for

the faithful discharge of other duties enjoined on him by

law. In all cases of depredation on person or property he

shall cause the evidence to be taken in writing and for-

warded, together with his findings, to the Commissioner of

Indian Affairs, whose decision, subject to the revision of

the Secretary of the Interior, shall be binding on the par-

ties to this treaty.

Article VI. If any individual belonging to said tribes of

Indians, or legally incorporated with them, being the head

of a family, shall desire to commence farming, he shall

have the privilege to select, in the presence and with the

assistance of the agent then in charge, a tract of land within

said reservation, not exceeding three hundred and twenty

acres in extent, which tract when so selected, certified, and

recorded in the “land book,” as herein directed, shall cease

to be held in common, but the same may be occupied and

held in the exclusive possession of the person selecting it,

and of his family, so long as he or they may continue to cul-

tivate it.

Any person over eighteen years of age, not being the

head of a family, may in like manner select and cause to be

certified to him or her, for purposes of cultivation, a quan-

tity of land not exceeding eighty acres in extent, and there-

upon be entitled to the exclusive possession of the same as

above directed.

For each tract of land so selected a certificate, con-

taining a description thereof and the name of the person

selecting it, with a certificate endorsed thereon that the

same has been recorded, shall be delivered to the party

entitled to it, by the agent, after the same shall have been

recorded by him in a book to be kept in his office, subject

to inspection, which said book shall be known as the “Sioux

Land Book.”

The President may, at any time, order a survey of the

reservation, and, when so surveyed, Congress shall provide

for protecting the rights of said settlers in their improve-

ments, and may fix the character of the title held by each.

The United States may pass such laws on the subject of

alienation and descent of property between the Indians

and their descendants as may be thought proper. And it is

further stipulated that any male Indians over eighteen

years of age, of any band or tribe that is or shall hereafter

become a party to this treaty, who now is or who shall here-

after become a resident or occupant of any reservation or

territory not included in the tract of country designated

and described in this treaty for the permanent home of the

Indians, which is not mineral land, nor reserved by the

United States for special purposes other than Indian occu-

pation, and who shall have made improvements thereon of

the value of two hundred dollars or more, and continu-

ously occupied the same as a homestead for the term of

three years, shall be entitled to receive from the United

States a patent for one hundred and sixty acres of land

including his said improvements, the same to be in the

form of the legal subdivisions of the surveys of the public

lands. Upon application in writing, sustained by the proof

of two disinterested witnesses, made to the register of the

local land office when the land sought to be entered is

within a land district, and when the tract sought to be

entered is not in any land districts, then upon said applica-

tion and proof being made to the commissioner of the gen-

eral land office, and the right of such Indian or Indians to

enter such tract or tracts of land shall accrue and be per-

fect from the date of his first improvements thereon, and

shall continue as long as he continues his residence and

improvements, and no longer. And any Indian or Indians

receiving a patent for land under the foregoing provisions,

shall thereby and from thenceforth become and be a citi-

zen of the United States, and be entitled to all the privi-

leges and immunities of such citizens, and shall, at the

same time, retain all his rights to benefits accruing to Indi-

ans under this treaty.

Article VII. In order to insure the civilization of the

Indians entering into this treaty, the necessity of education

1012 ERA 6: The Development of the Industrial United States

is admitted, especially of such of them as are or may be set-

tled on said agricultural reservations, and they therefore

pledge themselves to compel their children, male and

female; between the ages of six and sixteen years, to attend

school; and it is hereby made the duty of the agent for said

Indians to see that this stipulation is strictly complied with;

and the United States agrees that for every thirty children

between said ages who can be induced or compelled to

attend school, a house shall be provided and a teacher

competent to teach the elementary branches of an English

education shall be furnished, who will reside among said

Indians, and faithfully discharge his or her duties as a

teacher. The provisions of this article to continue for not

less than twenty years.

Article VIII. When the head of a family or lodge shall

have selected lands and received his certificate as above

directed, and the agent shall be satisfied that he intends in

good faith to commence cultivating the soil for a living, he

shall be entitled to receive seeds and agricultural imple-

ments for the first year, not exceeding in value one hun-

dred dollars, and for each succeeding year he shall

continue to farm, for a period of three years more, he shall

be entitled to receive seeds and implements as aforesaid,

not exceeding in value twenty-five dollars.

And it is further stipulated that such persons as com-

mence farming shall receive instruction from the farmer

herein provided for, and whenever more than one hundred

persons shall enter upon the cultivation of the soil, a sec-

ond blacksmith shall be provided, with such iron, steel,

and other material as may be needed.

Article IX. At any time after ten years from the mak-

ing of this treaty, the United States shall have the privilege

of withdrawing the physician, farmer, blacksmith, carpen-

ter, engineer, and miller herein provided for, but in case of

such withdrawal, an additional sum thereafter of ten thou-

sand dollars per annum shall be devoted to the education

of said Indians, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs

shall, upon careful inquiry into their condition, make such

rules regulations for the expenditure of said sum as will

best promote the educational and moral improvement of

said tribes.

Article X. In lieu of all sums of money or other annu-

ities provided to be paid to the Indians herein named,

under any treaty or treaties heretofore made, the United

States agrees to deliver at the agency house on the reser-

vation herein named, on [or before] the first day of August

of each year, for thirty years, the following articles, to wit:

For each male person over fourteen years of age, a suit

of good substantial woollen clothing, consisting of coat,

pantaloons, flannel shirt, hat, and a pair of home-made

socks.

For each female over twelve years of age, a flannel

skirt, or the goods necessary to make it, a pair of woollen

hose, twelve yards of calico, and twelve yards of cotton

domestics.

For the boys and girls under the ages named, such

flannel and cotton goods as may be needed to make each a

suit as aforesaid, together with a pair of woollen hose for

each.

And in order that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs

may be able to estimate properly for the articles herein

named, it shall be the duty of the agent each year to for-

ward to him a full and exact census of the Indians, on

which the estimate from year to year can be based.

And in addition to the clothing herein named, the sum

of ten dollars for each person entitled to the beneficial

effects of this treaty shall be annually appropriated for a

period of thirty years, while such persons roam and hunt,

and twenty dollars for each person who engages in farm-

ing, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior in the pur-

chase of such articles as from time to time the condition

and necessities of the Indians may indicate to the proper.

And if within the thirty years, at any time, it shall appear

that the amount of money needed for clothing under this

article can be appropriated to better uses for the Indians

named herein, Congress may, by law, change the appropri-

ation to other purposes; but in no event shall the amount

of this appropriation be withdrawn or discontinued for the

period named. And the President shall annually detail an

officer of the army to be present and attest the delivery of

all the goods herein named to the Indians, and he shall

inspect and report on the quantity and quality of the goods

and the manner of their delivery. And it is hereby expressly

stipulated that each Indian over the age of four years, who

shall have removed to and settled permanently upon said

reservation and complied with the stipulations of this

treaty, shall be entitled to receive from the United States,

for the period of four years after he shall have settled upon

said reservation, one pound of meat and one pound of

flour per day, provided the Indians cannot furnish their

own subsistence at an earlier date. And it is further stipu-

lated that the United States will furnish and deliver to each

lodge of Indians or family of persons legally incorporated

with them, who shall remove to the reservation herein

described and commence farming, one good American

cow, and one good well-broken pair of American oxen

within sixty days after such lodge or family shall have so

settled upon said reservation.

Article XI. In consideration of the advantages and

benefits conferred by this treaty and the many pledges of

friendship by the United States, the tribes who are parties

to this agreement hereby stipulate that they will relinquish

all right to occupy permanently the territory outside their

reservation as herein defined, but yet reserve the right to

hunt on any lands north of North Platte, and on the

Republican Fork of the Smoky Hill river, so long as the

Growth of the West and Federal Indian Policy 1013

buffalo may range thereon in such numbers as to justify

the chase. And they, the said Indians, further expressly

agree:

1st. That they will withdraw all opposition to the con-

struction of the railroads now being built on the plains.

2d. That they will permit the peaceful construction of

any railroad not passing over their reservation as herein

defined.

3d. That they will not attack any persons at home, or

travelling, nor molest or disturb any wagon trains, coaches,

mules, or cattle belonging to the people of the United

States, or to persons friendly therewith.

4th. They will never capture, or carry off from the set-

tlements, white women or children.

5th. They will never kill or scalp white men, nor

attempt to do them harm.

6th. They withdraw all pretence of opposition to the

construction of the railroad now being built along the

Platte river and westward to the Pacific ocean, and they

will not in future object to the construction of railroads,

wagon roads, mail stations, or other works of utility or

necessity, which may be ordered or permitted by the law

of the United States. But should such roads or other

works be constructed on the lands of their reservation,

the government will pay the tribe whatever amount of

damage may be assessed by three disinterested commis-

sioners to be appointed by the President for that purpose,

one of said commissioners to be a chief or headman of

the tribe.

7th. They agree to withdraw all opposition to the mil-

itary posts or roads now established south of the North

Platte river, or that may be established, not in violation of

treaties heretofore made or hereafter to be made with any

of the Indian tribes.

Article XII. No treaty for the cession of any portion or

part of the reservation herein described which may be held

in common shall be of any validity or force as against the

said Indians, unless executed and signed by at least three

fourths of all the adult male Indians, occupying or inter-

ested in the same; and no cession by the tribe shall be

understood or construed in such manner as to deprive,

without his consent, any individual member of the tribe of

his rights to any tract of land selected by him, as provided

in Article VI. of this treaty.

Article XIII. The United States hereby agrees to finish

annually to the Indian the physician, teachers, carpenter,

miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths, as herein con-

templated, and that such appropriations shall be made

from time to time, on the estimates of the Secretary of the

Interior, as will be sufficient to employ such persons.

Article XIV. It is agreed that the sum of five hundred

dollars annually, for three years from date, shall be

expended in presents to the ten persons of said tribe who

in the judgment of the agent may grow the most valuable

crops for the respective year.

Article XV. The Indians herein named agree that when

the agency house and other buildings shall be constructed

on the reservation named, they will regard said reservation

their permanent home, and they will make no permanent

settlement elsewhere; but they shall have the right, subject

to the conditions and modifications of this treaty, to hunt,

as stipulated in Article XI. hereof.

Article XVI. The United States hereby agrees and stip-

ulates that the country north of the North Platte river and

east of the summits of the Big Horn mountains shall be

held and considered to be unceded Indian territory, and

also stipulates and agrees that no white person or persons

shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion of

the same; or without the consent of the Indians, first had

and obtained, to pass through the same; and it is further

agreed by the United States, that within ninety days after

the conclusion of peace with all the bands of the Sioux

nation, the military posts now established in the territory in

this article named shall be abandoned, and that the road

leading to them and by them to the settlements in the Ter-

ritory of Montana shall be closed.

Article XVII. It is hereby expressly understood and

agreed by and between the respective parties to this treaty

that the execution of this treaty and its ratification by the

United States Senate shall have the effect, and shall be con-

strued as abrogating and annulling all treaties and agree-

ments heretofore entered into between the respective

parties hereto, so far as such treaties and agreements obli-

gate the United States to furnish and provide money, cloth-

ing, or other articles of property to such Indians and bands

of Indians as become parties to this treaty, but no further.

In testimony of all which, we, the said commissioners,

and we, the chiefs and headmen of the Brule band of the

Sioux nation, have hereunto set our hands and seals at Fort

Laramie, Dakota Territory, this twenty-ninth day of April,

in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.

Source:

Landmark Documents in American History, Facts On File, Inc.

Yellowstone National Park Act, 1872

Federal law enacted on March 1, 1872, that established Yel-

lowstone as the world’s first national park. In the 19th century,

to spur westward expansion, federal land policy had been

dedicated to transferring public lands to private ownership

through various laws. By the late 1800s, with the western fron-

tier rapidly diminishing, a gradual shift toward maintaining

1014 ERA 6: The Development of the Industrial United States

permanent federal control over some public lands was under-

way, prompted in part by concern for conserving areas of great

natural beauty and historical significance for the enjoyment of

future generations of Americans. One of the earliest legislative

steps in this direction was the Yellowstone National Park Act,

which set aside lands encompassing parts of present-day

Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho as Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone became the flagship of the National Park System,

which Congress created in 1916.

________________________

_______________________

An Act

To set apart a certain Tract of Land lying near the Head-

waters of the Yellowstone River as a public Park.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

tives of the United States of America in Congress assem-

bled, That the tract of land in the Territories of Montana

and Wyoming, lying near the head-waters of the Yellow-

stone river, and described as follows, to wit, commencing

at the junction of Gardiner’s river with the Yellowstone

river, and running east to the meridian passing ten miles to

the eastward of the most eastern point of Yellowstone lake;

thence south along said meridian to the parallel of latitude

passing ten miles south of the most southern point of Yel-

lowstone lake; thence west along said parallel to the merid-

ian passing fifteen miles west of the most western point of

Madison lake; thence north along said meridian to the lat-

itude of the junction of the Yellowstone and Gardiner’s

rivers; thence east to the place of beginning, is hereby

reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or

sale under the laws of the United States, and dedicated

and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the

benefit and enjoyment of the people; and all persons who

shall locate or settle upon or occupy the same, or any part

thereof, except as hereinafter provided, shall be consid-

ered trespassers and removed therefrom.

Sec. 2. That said public park shall be under the exclu-

sive control of the Secretary of the Interior, whose duty it

shall be, as soon as practicable, to make and publish such

rules and regulations as he may deem necessary or proper

for the care and management of the same. Such regula-

tions shall provide for the preservation, from injury or spo-

liation, of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities,

or wonders within said park, and their retention in their

natural condition. The secretary may in his discretion,

grant leases for building purposes for terms not exceeding

ten years, of small parcels of ground, at such places in said

park as shall require the erection of buildings for the

accommodation of visitors; all of the proceeds of said

leases, and all other revenues that may be derived from

any source connected with said park, to be expended

under his direction in the management of the same, and

the construction of roads and bridle-paths therein. He

shall provide against the wanton destruction of the fish and

game found within said park, and against their capture or

destruction for the purposes of merchandise or profit. He

shall also cause all persons trespassing upon the same after

the passage of this act to be removed therefrom, and gen-

erally shall be authorized to take all such measures as shall

be necessary or proper to fully carry out the objects and

purposes of this act.

Source:

Statutes at Large, Vol. 18, pp. 32–33.

Medal of Honor Recipients,

Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts, 1875

Thirty to 50 Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts served during the

Plains Indians Wars, and the highest honor of valor during war,

the Medal of Honor, was awarded four of them. These men of

exclusively African-American or mixed African-American and

Seminole ancestry, had moved to Mexico to avoid slavery. To

lure them back to the United States, the government promised

to grant them land, pay their transportation costs, and provide

provisions for their families. In the end, the government

denied there was any proof that these soldiers had served, and

they did not get either the land or pensions promised for their

service. Yet, according to one commentator they served un-

der, Lt. John L. Bullis, a Quaker who commanded United

States Colored Troops in the Civil War, “They were probably

the best desert fighters and trackers in the history of the United

States Army.”

________________________

_______________________

Pvt. Adam Paine, September 20, 1874. The Staked Plains,

Texas. Sept. 26–27, 1874. Inducted: Fort Duncan, Texas.

Born: Florida. Issued: Oct 13, 1875.

Citation: Rendered invaluable service to Col. R. S.

Mackenzie, 4th U.S. Cavalry., during this engagement.

Pvt. Pompey Factor, April 25,1875. Eagle’s Nest Crossing,

Pecos River, Texas. Issued March 15, 1875. Citation: With

3 other men, he participated in a charge against 25 hostiles

while on a scouting patrol

Pvt. Isaac Payne, April 25, 1875. Eagle’s Nest Cross-

ing, Pecos River, Texas. April 25, 1875. Born: Mexico.

Issued: May 25, 1875. Citation: With 3 other men, he par-

ticipated in a charge against 25 hostiles while on a scouting

patrol.

Sgt. John Ward, April 25,1875. Eagle's Nest Crossing,

Pecos River, Texas. April 25, 1875. Entered service at.

Fort Duncan, Tex. Born: Arkansas. Issued: May 28, 1875.

Growth of the West and Federal Indian Policy 1015

Citation. With 3 other men, he participated in a charge

against 25 hostiles while on a scouting patrol.

Source:

“Seminole-Negro Scouts.” Buffalosoldier.net. Available on-line.

URL: www.buffalosoldier.net/SeminoleNegroIndian

Scouts.htm. Accessed November 2003.

Desert Land Act of 1877

Legislation passed by Congress March 3, 1877, allowing set-

tlers to acquire large tracts of federally owned dry land on con-

dition that they irrigate the property. The act permitted settlers

to purchase up to 640 acres, with a down payment of 25 cents

per acre, and a payment of an additional dollar per acre after

three years if the tract had been irrigated. Thousands of home-

steaders attempted to establish small farms, but few succeeded

in obtaining enough water to grow crops. Instead, the act ben-

efited cattle barons, who collected vast holdings by registering

lands in the names of their cowhands. By 1890, 3.5 million

acres had been distributed.

________________________

_______________________

An Act

To provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and

Territories

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

tives of the United States of America in Congress assem-

bled, That it shall be lawful for any citizen of the United

States, or any person of requisite age “who may be entitled

to become a citizen, and who has filed his declaration to

become such” and upon payment of twenty five cents per

acre—to file a declaration under oath with the register and

the receiver of the land district in which any desert land is

situated, that he intends to reclaim a tract of desert land not

exceeding one section, by conducting water upon the same,

within the period of three years thereafter, Provided how-

ever that the right to the use of water by the person so con-

ducting the same, on or to any tract of desert land of six

hundred and forty acres shall depend upon bona fide prior

appropriation: and such right shall not exceed the amount

of water actually appropriated, and necessarily used for the

purpose of irrigation and reclamation: and all surplus water

over and above such actual appropriation and use, together

with the water of all, lakes, rivers and other sources of water

supply upon the public lands and not navigable, shall

remain and be held free for the appropriation and use of

the public for irrigation, mining and manufacturing pur-

poses subject to existing rights. Said declaration shall

describe particularly said section of land if surveyed, and, if

unsurveyed, shall describe the same as nearly as possible

without a survey. At any time within the period of three

years after filing said declaration, upon making satisfactory

proof to the register and receiver of the reclamation of said

tract of land in the manner aforesaid, and upon the pay-

ment to the receiver of the additional sum of one dollar per

acre for a tract of land not exceeding six hundred and forty

acres to any one person, a patent for the same shall be

issued to him. Provided, that no person shall be permitted

to enter more than one tract of land and not to exceed six

hundred and forty acres which shall be in compact form.

Section 2. That all lands exclusive of timber lands and

mineral lands which will not, without irrigation, produce

some agricultural crop, shall be deemed desert lands,

within the meaning of this act, which fact shall be ascer-

tained by proof of two or more credible witnesses under

oath, whose affidavits shall be filed in the land office in

which said tract of land may be situated—

Section 3. That this act shall only apply to and take

effect in the States of California, Oregon and Nevada, and

the Territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah,

Wyoming Arizona, New Mexico and Dakota, and the

determination of what may be considered desert land shall

be subject to the decision and regulation of the Commis-

sioner of the General Land Office.

Source:

Statutes at Large, Vol. 20, p. 377.

Chief Joseph,

“I Will Fight No More Forever,” 1877

Anguished valedictory of Nez Percé chief Joseph upon his

tribe’s surrender in October 1877 to the U.S. military, marking

the end of the Nez Percé War. Chief Joseph directed Nez Percé

resistance to the U.S. effort—begun in 1875—to force the tribe

off its Oregon lands and resettle it on the Lapwai reservation

in Idaho. Under his leadership, the Nez Percé evaded the pur-

suing U.S. Army during an extraordinary 1,500-mile retreat

from Oregon to Montana. Exhausted and hungry, Joseph and

his followers, numbering some 430, submitted to U.S. troops

near the Canadian border in early October 1877. Upon sur-

render, Joseph gave his speech, in which he declared himself

weary of fighting, lamented the Nez Percé dead, and

described the pitiable condition of his people following their

arduous trek. In closing, he said, “my heart is sick and sad.

From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”

________________________

_______________________

Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me

before, I have in my heart, I am tired of fighting. Our

Chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohoolhoolzote

1016 ERA 6: The Development of the Industrial United States

is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who

say yes and no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is

cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freez-

ing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to

the hills and have no blankets, no food; no one knows

where they are—perhaps freezing to death. I want to have

time to look for my children among the dead. Hear me, my

chiefs. I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the

sun now stands I will fight no more forever.

Source:

Nez Perce Tribe, Department of Natural Resources, Lapwai, ID.

Dawes Severalty Act, 1887

Federal U.S. legislation enacted on February 8, 1887, that pro-

vided for the dissolution of the Indian tribes as legal entities

and the distribution of tribal lands among individual members.

In an attempt to remove any remaining authority from the

Native peoples, the act granted citizenship to Indians who

renounced tribal allegiance and “adopted the habits of civi-

lized life.” It allotted to heads of families 160 acres of reserva-

tion land and to adult single people 80 acres; the land was

initially awarded in trust, with full title to be transferred after

25 years. Many Native Americans, unprepared for home-

steading and farming, lost their lands—and in many cases their

lives—to whites, who would stop at nothing to wrestle these

newly allotted lands from them.

In 1906 Congress passed the Burke Act, amending the

Dawes Severalty Act, in an effort to protect Native American

landholdings. Like the earlier law, the Burke Act granted to

Native Americans who renounced their tribal allegiance full

title to the homestead after a 25-year probationary period; but,

unlike the Dawes Severalty Act, it granted citizenship only

after the probationary period ended. Indian agents could,

however, grant citizenship earlier to Native Americans they

deemed trustworthy. The act also prohibited the sale of liquor

to Native Americans who were not citizens. Many American

Indians considered the act patronizing, and it was amended in

1924, when all Native Americans were made citizens.

________________________

_______________________

An Act

To provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indi-

ans on the various reservations, and to extend the protec-

tion of the laws of the United States and the Territories

over the Indians, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

tives of the United States of America in Congress assem-

bled, That in all cases where any tribe or band of Indians

has been, or shall hereafter be, located upon any reserva-

tion created for their use, either by treaty stipulation or by

virtue of an act of Congress or executive order setting apart

the same for their use, the President of the United States

be, and he hereby is, authorized, whenever in his opinion

any reservation or any part thereof of such Indians is

advantageous for agricultural and grazing purposes, to

cause said reservation, or any part thereof, to be surveyed,

or resurveyed if necessary, and to allot the lands in said

reservation in severalty to any Indian located thereon in

quantities as follows:

To each head of a family, one-quarter of a section;

To each single person over eighteen years of age, one-

eighth of a section;

To each orphan child under eighteen years of age,

one-eighth of a section; and

To each other single person under eighteen years now

living, or who may be born prior to the date of the order of

the President directing an allotment of the lands embraced

in any reservation, one-sixteenth of a section: Provided,

That in case there is not sufficient land in any of said reser-

vations to allot lands to each individual of the classes above

named in quantities as above provided, the lands

embraced in such reservation or reservations shall be allot-

ted to each individual of each of said classes pro rata in

accordance with the provisions of this act: And provided

further, That where the treaty or act of Congress setting

apart such reservation provides for the allotment of lands

in severalty in quantities in excess of those herein pro-

vided, the President, in making allotments upon such

reservation, shall allot the lands to each individual Indian

belonging thereon in quantity as specified in such treaty or

act: And provided further, That when the lands allotted are

only valuable for grazing purposes, an additional allotment

of such grazing lands, in quantities as above provided, shall

be made to each individual.

Sec. 2. That all allotments set apart under the provi-

sions of this act shall be selected by the Indians, heads of

families selecting for their minor children, and the agents

shall select for each orphan child, and in such manner as to

embrace the improvements of the Indians making the

selection. Where the improvements of two or more Indi-

ans have been made on the same legal subdivision of land,

unless they shall otherwise agree, a provisional line may be

run dividing said lands between them, and the amount to

which each is entitled shall be equalized in the assignment

of the remainder of the land to which they are entitled

under this act: Provided, That if any one entitled to an

allotment shall fail to make a selection within four years

after the President shall direct that allotments may be

made on a particular reservation, the Secretary of the Inte-

rior may direct the agent of such tribe or band, if such

there be, and if there be no agent, then a special agent

Growth of the West and Federal Indian Policy 1017

appointed for that purpose, to make a selection for such

Indian, which election shall be allotted as in cases where

selections are made by the Indians, and patents shall issue

in like manner.

Sec. 3. That the allotments provided for in this act

shall be made by special agents appointed by the President

for such purpose, and the agents in charge of the respec-

tive reservations on which the allotments are directed to

be made, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary

of the Interior may from time to time prescribe, and shall

be certified by such agents to the Commissioner of Indian

Affairs, in duplicate, one copy to be retained in the Indian

Office and the order to be transmitted to the Secretary of

the Interior for his action, and to be deposited in the Gen-

eral Land Office.

Sec. 4. That where any Indian not residing upon a

reservation, or for whose tribe no reservation has been

provided by treaty, act of Congress, or executive order,

shall make settlement upon any surveyed or unsurveyed

lands of the United States not otherwise appropriated, he

or she shall be entitled, upon application to the local land-

office for the district in which the lands are located, to

have the same allotted to him or her, and to his or her

children, in quantities and manner as provided in this act

for Indians residing upon reservations; and when such

settlement is made upon unsurveyed lands, the grant to

such Indians shall be adjusted upon the survey of the

lands so as to conform thereto; and patents shall be issued

to them for such lands in the manner and with the restric-

tions as herein provided. And the fees to which the offi-

cers of such local land-office would have been entitled

had such lands been entered under the general laws for

the disposition of the public lands shall be paid to them,

from any moneys in the Treasury of the United States not

otherwise appropriated, upon a statement of an account

in their behalf for such fees by the Commissioner of the

General Land Office, and a certification of such account

to the Secretary of the Treasury by the Secretary of the

Interior.

Sec. 5. That upon the approval of the allotments pro-

vided for in this act by the Secretary of the Interior; he

shall cause patents to issue therefor in the name of the

allottees, which patents shall be of the legal effect, and

declare that the United States does and will hold the land

thus allotted, for the period of twenty-five years, in trust

for the sole use and benefit of the Indian to whom such

allotment shall have been made, or, in case of his decease,

of his heirs according to the laws of the State or Territory

where such land is located, and that at the expiration of

said period the United States will convey the same by

patent to said Indian, or his heirs as aforesaid, in fee, dis-

charged of said trust and free of all charge or incumbrance

whatsoever: Provided, That the President of the United

States may in any case in his discretion extend the period.

And if any conveyance shall be made of the lands set apart

and allotted as herein provided, or any contract made

touching the same, before the expiration of the time above

mentioned, such conveyance or contract shall be abso-

lutely null and void: Provided, That the law of descent and

partition in force in the State or Territory where such

lands are situate shall apply thereto after patents therefor

have been executed and delivered, except as herein other-

wise provided; and the laws of the State of Kansas regu-

lating the descent and partition of real estate shall, so far

as practicable, apply to all lands in the Indian Territory

which may be allotted in severalty under the provisions of

this act: And provided further, That at any time after lands

have been allotted to all the Indians of any tribe as herein

provided, or sooner if in the opinion of the President it

shall be for the best interests of said tribe, it shall be law-

ful for the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with such

Indian tribe for the purchase and release by said tribe, in

conformity with the treaty or statute under which such

reservation is held, of such portions of its reservation not

allotted as such tribe shall, from time to time, consent to

sell, on such terms and conditions as shall be considered

just and equitable between the United States and said

tribe of Indians, which purchase shall not be complete

until ratified by Congress, and the form and manner of

executing such release shall also be prescribed by

Congress: Provided however, That all lands adapted to

agriculture, with or without irrigation so sold or released

to the United States by any Indian tribe shall be held by

the United States for the sole purpose of securing homes

to actual settlers and shall be disposed of by the United

States to actual and bona fide settlers only in tracts not

exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to any one person,

on such terms as Congress shall prescribe, subject to

grants which Congress may make in aid of education: And

provided further, That no patents shall issue therefor

except to the person so taking the same as and for a home-

stead, or his heirs, and after the expiration of five years

occupancy thereof as such homestead; and any con-

veyance of said lands so taken as a homestead, or any con-

tract touching the same, or lien thereon, created prior to

the date of such patent, shall be null and void. And the

sums agreed to be paid by the United States as purchase

money for any portion of any such reservation shall be

held in the Treasury of the United States for the sole use

of the tribe or tribes of Indians; to whom such reservations

belonged; and the same, with interest thereon at three per

cent per annum, shall be at all times subject to appropria-

tion by Congress for the education and civilization of such

tribe or tribes of Indians or the members thereof. The

patents aforesaid shall be recorded in the General Land

Office, and afterward delivered, free of charge, to the

1018 ERA 6: The Development of the Industrial United States

allottee entitled thereto. And if any religious society or

other organization is now occupying any of the public

lands to which this act is applicable, for religious or edu-

cational work among the Indians, the Secretary of the

Interior is hereby authorized to confirm such occupation

to such society or organization, in quantity not exceeding

one hundred and sixty acres in any one tract, so long as the

same shall be so occupied, on such terms as he shall deem

just; but nothing herein contained shall change or alter

any claim of such society for religious or educational pur-

poses heretofore granted by law. And hereafter in the

employment of Indian police, or any other employees in

the public service among any of the Indian tribes or bands

affected by this act, and where Indians can perform the

duties required, those Indians who have availed them-

selves of the provisions of this act and become citizens of

the United States shall be preferred.

Sec. 6. That upon the completion of said allotments

and the patenting of the lands to said allottees, each and

every member of the respective bands or tribes of Indians

to whom allotments have been made shall have the bene-

fit of and be subject to the laws, both civil and criminal, of

the State or Territory in which they may reside; and no

Territory shall pass or enforce any law denying any such

Indian within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the

law. And every Indian born within the territorial limits of

the United States to whom allotments shall have been

made under the provisions of this act, or under any law or

treaty, and every Indian born within the territorial limits of

the United States who has voluntarily taken up, within said

limits, his residence separate and apart from any tribe of

Indians therein, and has adopted the habits of civilized life,

is hereby declared to be a citizen of the United States, and

is entitled to all the rights, privileges, and immunities of

such citizens, whether said Indian has been or not, by birth

or otherwise, a member of any tribe of Indians within the

territorial limits of the United States without in any man-

ner impairing or otherwise affecting the right of any such

Indian to tribal or other property.

Sec. 7. That in cases where the use of water for irriga-

tion is necessary to render the lands within any Indian

reservation available for agricultural purposes, the Secre-

tary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized to pre-

scribe such rules and regulations as he may deem

necessary to secure a just and equal distribution thereof

among the Indians residing upon any such reservations;

and no other appropriation or grant of water by any ripar-

ian proprietor shall be authorized or permitted to the dam-

age of any other riparian proprietor.

Sec. 8. That the provision of this act shall not extend

to the territory occupied by the Cherokees, Creeks,

Choctaws, Chickasawas, Seminoles, and Osage, Miamies

and Peorias, and Sacs and Foxes, in the Indian Territory,

nor to any of the reservations of the Seneca Nation of New

York Indians in the State of New York, nor to that strip of

territory in the State of Nebraska adjoining the Sioux

Nation on the south added by executive order.

Sec. 9. That for the purpose of making the surveys and

resurveys mentioned in section two of this act, there be,

and hereby is, appropriated, out of any moneys in the Trea-

sury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one hundred

thousand dollars, to be repaid proportionately out of the

proceeds of the sales of such land as may be acquired from

the Indians under the provisions of this act.

Sec. 10. That nothing in this act contained shall be so

construed as to affect the right and power of Congress to

grant the right of way through any lands granted to an

Indian, or a tribe of Indians, for railroads or other high-

ways, or telegraph lines, for the public use, or to condemn

such lands to public uses, upon making just compensation.

Sec. 11. That nothing in this act shall be so construed

as to prevent the removal of the Southern Ute Indians

from their present reservation in Southwestern Colorado

to a new reservation by and with the consent of a majority

of the adult male members of said tribe.

Source:

United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 25, pp. 388–391.

Forest Reserve Act, 1891

Federal legislation passed March 3, 1891, that codified many

public land laws.

Previously, in the Timber Culture Act, enacted March 3,

1873, Congress authorized any person who kept 40 acres of

timber land in good condition to acquire title to 160 additional

acres of timber land. Congress made 10 million acres of fed-

eral lands in the Great Plains available for private forestation

in hopes of reducing erosion, retaining rainfall, and improving

the climate. In 1878 the minimum tree-growing requirement

was reduced from 40 to 10 acres. The act resulted in little per-

manent tree growth on the arid land, but it did cause

widespread land speculation. Because cattlemen and specula-

tors abused the act at the expense of the settlers, it was

repealed in 1891 by the Forest Reserve Act.

This act authorized the president to reserve certain public

lands from the public domain and reversed the policy of trans-

ferring public lands to private ownership. Though the act

failed to specify the purpose of these reserves and to provide

for their administration (the Forest Management Act of 1897

did both), President Benjamin Harrison used the authority to

reserve 22 million acres, thus beginning the national forest

system. The act was amended in 1907 to forbid the creation or

enlargement of national forests in six western states without

congressional action.

Growth of the West and Federal Indian Policy 1019

________________________

_______________________

An Act

To repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen-

tatives of the United States of America in Congress

assembled,. That an act entitled “An act to amend an act

entitled ‘An act to encourage the growth of timber on the

Western prairies,’” approved June four-teenth, eighteen

hundred and seventy eight, and all laws supplementary

thereto or amendatory thereof, be, and the same are

hereby, repealed: Provided, That this repeal shall not

affect any valid rights heretofore accrued or accruing

under said laws, but all bona fide claims lawfully initiated

before the passage of this act may be perfected upon due

compliance with law, in the same manner, upon the same

terms and conditions, and subject to the same limitations,

forfeitures, and contests as if this act had not been

passed: And provided further, That the following words

of the last clause of section two of said act, namely, “That

not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were planted

on each acre,” are hereby repealed: And provided fur-

ther, That in computing the period of cultivation the time

shall run from the date of the entry, if the necessary acts

of cultivation were performed within the proper time:

And provided further, That the preparation of the land

and the planting of trees shall be construed as acts of cul-

tivation, and the time authorized to be so employed and

actually employed shall be computed as a part of the

eight years of cultivation required by statute: Provided,

That any person who has made entry of any public lands

of the United States under the timber-culture laws, and

who has for a period of four years in good faith complied

with the provisions of said laws and who is an actual bona

fide resident of the State or Territory in which said land

is located shall be entitled to make final proof thereto,

and acquire title to the same, by the payment of one dol-

lar and twenty five cents per acre for such tract, under

such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the

Secretary of the Interior, and registers and receivers shall

be allowed the same fees and compensation for final

proofs in timber-culture entries as is now allowed by law

in homestead entries: And provided further, That no land

acquired under the provisions of this act shall in any

event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or

debts contracted prior to the issuing of the final certifi-

cate therefor.

Sec. 2. That an act to provide for the sale of desert

lands in certain States and Territories, approved March

third, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, is hereby

amended by adding thereto the following sections:

Sec. 4. That at the time of filing the declaration herein

before required the party shall also file a map of said land,

which shall exhibit a plan showing the mode of contem-

plated irrigation, and which plan shall be sufficient to thor-

oughly irrigate and reclaim said land, and prepare it to

raise ordinary agricultural crops, and shall also show the

source of the water to be used for irrigation and reclama-

tion. Persons entering or proposing to enter separate sec-

tions, or fractional parts of sections, of desert lands may

associate together in the construction of canals and ditches

for irrigating and reclaiming all of said tracts, and may file

a joint map or maps showing their plan of internal

improvements.

Sec. 5. That no land shall be patented to any person

under this act unless he or his assignors shall have

expended in the necessary irrigation, reclamation, and cul-

tivation thereof, by means of main canals and branch

ditches, and in permanent improvements upon the land,

and in the purchase of water rights for the irrigation of

the same, at least three dollars per acre of whole tract re-

claimed and patented in the manner following: Within one

year after making entry for such tract of desert land as

aforesaid the party so entering shall expend not less than

one dollar per acre for the purposes aforesaid: and he shall

in like manner expend the sum of one dollar per acre dur-

ing the second and also during the third year thereafter,

until the full sum of three dollars per acre is so expended.

Said party shall file during each year with the register

proof, by the affidavits of two or more credible witnesses,

that the full sum of one dollar per acre has been expended

in such necessary improvements during such year, and the

manner in which expended, and at the expiration of the

third year a map or plan showing the character and extent

of such improvements. If any party who has made such

application shall fail during any year to file the testimony

aforesaid the lands shall revert to the United States, and

the twenty-five cents advanced payment shall be forfeited

to the United States, and the entry shall be cancelled.

Nothing herein contained shall prevent a claimant from

making his final entry and receiving his patent at an earlier

date than hereinbefore prescribed, provided that he then

makes the required proof of reclamation to the aggregate

extent of three dollars per acre: Provided, That proof be

further required of the cultivation of one-eighth of the

land.

Sec. 6. That this act shall not affect any valid rights

heretofore accrued under said act of March third, eighteen

hundred and seventy-seven, but all bona-fide claims

heretofore lawfully initiated may be perfected, upon due

compliance with the provisions of said act, in the same

manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and subject

to the same limitations, forfeitures, and contests as if this

act had not been passed; or said claims, at the option of the

claimant, may be perfected and patented under the provi-

sions of said act, as amended by this act, so far as applica-

1020 ERA 6: The Development of the Industrial United States

ble; and all acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are

hereby repealed.

Sec. 7. That at any time after filing the declaration,

and within the period of four years thereafter, upon mak-

ing satisfactory proof to the register and the receiver of the

reclamation and cultivation of said land to the extent and

cost and in the manner aforesaid, and substantially in

accordance with the plans herein provided for, and that he

or she is a citizen of the United States, and upon payment

to the receiver of the additional sum of one dollar per acre

for said land, a patent shall issue therefor to the applicant

or his assigns; but no person or association of persons shall

hold by assignment or otherwise prior to the issue of

patent, more than three hundred and twenty acres of such

arid or desert lands but this section shall not apply to

entries made or initiated prior to the approval of this act.

Provided, however, That additional proofs may be required

at any time within the period prescribed by law, and that

the claims or entries made under this or any preceding act

shall be subject to contest, as provided by the law, relating

to homestead cases, for illegal inception, abandonment, or

failure to comply with the requirements of law, and upon

satisfactory proof thereof shall be canceled, and the lands,

and moneys paid therefor, shall be forfeited to the United

States.

Sec. 8. That the provisions of the act to which this is

an amendment, and the amendments thereto, shall apply

to and be in force in the State of Colorado, as well as the

States named in the original act; and no person shall be

entitled to make entry of desert land except he be a resi-

dent citizen of the State or Territory in which the land

sought to be entered is located.

Sec. 3. That section twenty-two hundred and eighty-

eight of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as

follows:

Sec. 2288. Any bona fide settler under the pre-emp-

tion, homestead, or other settlement law shall have the

right to transfer, by warranty against his own acts, any por-

tion of his claim for church, cemetery, or school purposes,

or for the right of way of railroads, canals, reservoirs, or

ditches for irrigation or drainage across it; and the transfer

for such public purposes shall in no way vitiate the right to

complete and perfect the title to his claim.”

Sec. 4. That chapter four of title thirty-two, excepting

sections twenty-two hundred and seventy-five, twenty-two

hundred and seventy-six, twenty-two hundred and eighty-

six, of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and all

other laws allowing pre-emption of the public lands of the

United States, are hereby repealed, but all bona fide

claims lawfully initiated before the passage of this act,

under any of said provisions of law so repealed, may be

perfected upon due compliance with law, in the same man-

ner, upon the same terms and conditions, and subject to

the same limitations, forfeitures, and contests, as if this act

had not been passed.

Sec. 5. That sections twenty two hundred and eighty-

nine and twenty-two hundred and ninety, in said chapter

numbered five of the Revised Statutes, be, and the same

are hereby, amended, so that they shall read as follows:

Sec. 2289. Every person who is the head of a family, or

who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a cit-

izen of the United States, or who has filed his declaration

of intention to become such, as required by the naturaliza-

tion laws, shall be entitled to enter one-quarter section, or

a less quantity, of unappropriated public lands, to be

located in a body in conformity to the legal subdivisions of

the public lands; but no person who is the proprietor of

more than one hundred and sixty acres of land in any State

or Territory, shall acquire any right under the homestead

law. And every person owning and residing on land may,

under the provisions of this section, enter other land lying

contiguous to his land, which shall not, with the land so

already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one

hundred and sixty acres.

Sec. 2290. That any person applying to enter land

under the preceding section shall first make and subscribe

before the proper officer and file in the proper land office

an affidavit that he or she is the head of a family, or is over

twenty-one years of age, and that such application is hon-

estly and in good faith made for the purpose of actual set-

tlement and cultivation, and not for the benefit of any

other person, persons or corporation, and that he or she

will faithfully and honestly endeavor to comply with all the

requirements of law as to settlement, residence, and culti-

vation necessary to acquire title to the land applied for;

that he or she is not acting as agent of any person, corpo-

ration, or syndicate in making such entry, nor in collusion

with any person, corporation, or syndicate to give them the

benefit of the land entered, or any part thereof, or the tim-

ber thereon; that he or she does not apply to enter the

same for the purpose of speculation, but in good faith to

obtain a home for himself, or herself, and that he or she

has not directly or indirectly made, and will not make, any

agreement or contract in any way or manner, with any per-

son or persons, corporation or syndicate whatsoever, by

which the title which he or she might acquire from the

Government of the United States should inure, in whole or

in part, to the benefit of any person, except himself, or her-

self, and upon filing such affidavit with the register or

receiver on payment of five dollars when the entry is of not

more than eighty acres, and on payment of ten dollars

when the entry is for more than eighty acres, he or she

shall thereupon be permitted to enter the amount of land

specified.”

Sec. 6. That section twenty-three hundred and one of

the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as follows:

Growth of the West and Federal Indian Policy 1021