Act
of March 2, 1889
Chapter
405 – An Act To Divide a portion of the reservation of the Sioux
Nation of Indians in Dakota into separate reservation and to secure
the relinquishment of the Indian title to the remainder, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That the following tract of
land, being a part of the Great Reservation of the Sioux Nation, in
the Territory of Dakota, is hereby set apart for a permanent reservation
for the Indians receiving rations and annuities at the Pine Ridge Agency,
in the Territory of Dakota, namely: Beginning at the intersection of
the one hundred and third meridian of longitude with the northern boundary
of the State of Nebraska; thence north along said meridian to the South
Fork of Cheyenne River, and down said stream to the mouth of Battle
Creek; thence due east to White River; thence down White River to the
mouth of Black Pipe Creek on white River; thence due south to said north
line of the State of Nebraska, thence west on said north line to the
place of beginning. Also, the following tract of land situate in the
State of Nebraska, namely: Beginning at a point on the boundary-line
between the State of Nebraska and the Territory of Dakota where the
range line between ranges forty-four and forty-five west of the sixth
principal meridian, in the Territory of Dakota, intersects said boundary-line;
thence east along said boundary-line five miles; thence due south five
miles; thence due west ten miles; thence due north to said boundary-line;
thence due east along said boundary-line to the place of beginning:
Provided, that the said tract of land in the State of Nebraska shall
be reserved, by Executive order, only so long as it may be needed for
the use and protection of the Indians receiving rations and annuities
at the Pine Ridge Agency.
Sec.
2. That the following tract of land, being a part of the said Great
Reservation of the Sioux Nation, in the Territory of Dakota, is hereby
set apart for a permanent reservation for the Indians receiving rations
and annuities at the Rosebud Agency, in said Territory of Dakota, namely:
Commencing in the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River at
the intersection of the south line of Brule County; thence down said
middle of the main channel of said river to the intersection of the
ninety-ninth degree of west longitude from Greenwich; thence due south
to the forty-third parallel of latitude; thence west along said parallel
to a point due south from the mouth of Black Pipe Creek; thence due
north to the mouth of Black Pipe Creek; thence down White River to a
point intersecting the west ling of Gregory County extended north; thence
south on said extended west line of Gregory County to the intersection
of the south line of Brule County extended west; thence due east on
said south line of Brule County extended to the point of beginning in
the Missouri River, including entirely within said reservation all islands,
if any, in said river.
Sec.
3. That the following tract of land, being a part of the said Great
Reservation of the Sioux Nation, in the Territory of Dakota, is hereby
set apart for a permanent reservation for the Indians receiving rations
and annuities at the Standing Rock Agency, in the said Territory of
Dakota, namely: Beginning at a point in the center of the main channel
of the Missouri River, opposite the mouth of Cannon Ball River; thence
down said center of the main channel to a point ten miles north of the
mouth of the Moreau River, including also within said reservation all
islands, if any, in said river; thence due west to the one hundred and
second degree of west longitude from Greenwich; thence north along said
meridian to its intersection with the South Branch of Cannon Ball river
, also known as Cedar Creek; thence down said South Branch of Cannon
Ball river to its intersection with the main Cannon Ball River, and
down said main CannonBall River to the center of the main channel of
the Missouri River at the place of beginning.
Sec.
4. That the following tract of land, being a part of the said Great
Reservation of the Sioux Nation, in the Territory of Dakota, is hereby
set apart for a permanent reservation for the Indians receiving rations
and annuities at the Cheyenne River Agency, in the said Territory of
Dakota, namely: Beginning at a point in the center of the main channel
of the Missouri River, ten miles north of the mouth of the Moreau River,
said point being the southeastern corner of the Standing Rock Reservation;
thence down said center of the main channel of the Missouri River, including
also entirely within said reservation all islands, if any, in said river,
to a point opposite the mouth of the Cheyenne River; thence west to
said Cheyenne River, and up the same to its intersection with the one
hundred and second meridian of longitude; thence north along said meridian
to its intersection with a line due west from a point in the Missouri
River ten miles north of the mouth of the Moreau River; thence due east
to the place of beginning.
Sec.
5. That the following tract of land, being a part of the said Great
Reservation of the Sioux Nation, in the Territory of Dakota, is hereby
set apart for a permanent reservation for the Indians receiving rations
and annuities at the Lower Brule Agency, in said Territory of Dakota,
namely: Beginning on the Missouri River at Old Fort George; thence running
due west to the western boundary of Presho County; thence running south
on said western boundary to the forty-forth degree of latitude; thence
on said forty-fourth degree of latitude to western boundary of township
number seventy-two; thence south on said township western line to an
intersecting line running due west from Fort Lookout; thence eastwardly
on said line to the center of the main channel of the Missouri River
at Fort Lookout; thence north in the center of the main channel of the
said river to the original starting point.
Sec.
6. That the following tract of land, being a part of the Great Reservation
of the Sioux Nation, in the Territory of Dakota, is hereby set apart
for a permanent reservation for the Indians receiving rations and annuities
at the Crow Creek Agency, in said Territory of Dakota, namely: The whole
of township one hundred and six, range seventy; township one hundred
and seven, range seventy-one; township one hundred and eight, range
seventy-one; township one hundred and eight, range seventy-two; township
one hundred and nine, range seventy-two, and the south half of township
one hundred and nine, range seventy-one, and all except sections one,
two, three, four, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve of township one hundred
and seven, range seventy, and such parts as lie on the east or left
bank of the Missouri River, of the following townships, namely: Township
one hundred and six, and to seventy-one; township one hundred and seven,
range seventy-two; township one hundred and eight, range seventy-three;
township one hundred and eight, range seventy-four; township one hundred
and eight, range seventy-five; township one hundred and eight, range
seventy-six; township one hundred and nine, range seventy-three; township
one hundred and nine, range seventy-four; south half of township one
hundred and nine, range seventy-five, and township one hundred and seven,
range seventy-three; also the west half of township one hundred and
six, range sixty-nine, and sections sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen,
twenty, twenty-one, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two,
and thirty-three, of township one hundred and seven, range sixty-nine.
Sec. 7. That each member of the Santee Sioux tribe of Indians now occupying
a reservation in the State of Nebraska not having already taken allotments
shall be entitled to allotments upon said reserve in Nebraska 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, one-eighth of a section; to each other person
under eighteen years of age now living, one-sixteenth of a section;
with title thereto, in accordance with the provisions of article six
of the treaty concluded April twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight,
and the agreement with said Santee Sioux approved February twenty-eighth,
eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, and rights under the same in all
other respects conforming to this act. And said Santee Sioux shall be
entitled to all other benefits under this act in the same manner and
with the same conditions as if they were residents upon said Sioux Reservation,
receiving rations at one of the agencies herein named: Provided, that
all allotments heretofore made to said Santee Sioux in Nebraska are
hereby ratified and confirmed; and each member of the Flandreau band
of Sioux Indians is hereby authorized to take allotments on the Great
Sioux Reservation, or in lieu therefor shall be paid at the rate of
one dollar per acre for the land to which they would be entitled, to
be paid out of the proceeds of lands relinquished under this act, which
shall be used under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior;
and said Flandreau band of Sioux Indians is in all other respects entitled
to the benefits of this act the same as if receiving rations and annuities
at any of the agencies aforesaid.
Sec.
8. That the President is hereby authorized and required, whenever in
his opinion any reservation of such Indians, or any part thereof, is
advantageous for agricultural or grazing purposes, and the progress
in civilization of the Indians receiving rations on either or any of
said reservations shall be such as to encourage the belief that an allotment
in severalty to such Indians, or any of them, would be for the best
interest of said Indians, to cause said reservation, or so much thereof
as is necessary, to be surveyed, or re-surveyed, and to allot the lands
in said reservation in severalty to the Indians located thereon as aforesaid,
in quantities as follows: To each head of a family, three hundred and
twenty acres; to each single person over eighteen years of age, one-forth
of a section; to each orphan child under eighteen years of age, one-fourth
of a section; and to each other 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-eight of
a section. In case there is not sufficient land in either of said reservations
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 allotted to each individual of each of said classes pro rata
in accordance with the provision of this act: Provided, That where the
lands on any reservation are mainly valuable for grazing purposes, an
additional allotment of such grazing lands, in quantities as above provided,
shall be made to each individual; or in case any two or more Indians
who may be entitled to allotments shall so agree, the President may
assign the grazing lands to which they may be entitled to them in one
tract, and to be held and used in common.
Sec.
9. That all allotments set apart under the provisions 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 Indians 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 five years after the President shall direct hat allotments
may be made on a particular reservation, the Secretary of the Interior
may direct the agent of such tribe or band, if such there be, and if
there be no agent, then a special agent appointed for that purpose,
to make a selection for such Indian, which selection shall be allotted
as in cases where selections are made by the Indians, and patents shall
issue in like manner: Provided, That these sections as to the allotments
shall not be compulsory without the consent of the majority of the adult
members of the tribe, except that the allotments shall be made as provided
for the orphans.
Sec.
10. 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 respective 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 other to be transmitted
to the Secretary of the Interior for his action, and to be deposited
in the General Land office.
Sec.
11. That upon the approval of the allotments provided for in this act
by the Secretary of the Interior, he shall cause patents to issue therefor
in the name of the allottee, which patents shall be of the legal effect,
and declare that the United States does and will hold the lands 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 Untied States will convey the same by
patent to said Indian, or his heirs, as aforesaid, in fee, discharged
of said trust and free of all charge or encumbrance whatsoever, and
patents shall issue accordingly. And each and every allottee under this
act shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges and be subject
to all the provisions of section six of the act approved February eighth,
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, entitled "An act to provide
for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservation,
and to extend the protection of the laws of United States and the Territories
over the Indians and for other purposes." Provided, That the President
of the United States may in any case, in his discretion, extend the
period by a term not exceeding ten years; and if any lease or 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 lease or conveyance or contract shall be
absolutely null and void: Provided further, That the law of descent
and partition in force in the State or Territory where the lands may
be situated shall apply thereto after patents therefor have been executed
and delivered. Each of the patents aforesaid shall be recorded in the
General Land Office, and afterward delivered, free of charge, to the
allottee entitled thereto.
Sec.
12. 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 lawful 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 said 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: Provided,
however, That all lands adapted to agriculture, with or without irrigation,
so sold or released to the Untied 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 State 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 homestead, or his heirs, and after the
expiration of five years’ occupancy thereof as such homestead;
and any conveyance of said lands so taken as a homestead, or any contract
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 Untied States for the sole use
of the tribe or tribes of Indians to whom such reservation belonged;
and the same, with interest thereon at five per centum per annum, shall
be at all times subject to appropriation 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 allottee entitled
thereto.
Sec. 13. That any Indian receiving and entitled to rations and annuities
at either of the agencies mentioned in this act at the time the same
shall take effect, but residing upon any portion of said Great Reservation
not included in either of the separate reservations herein established,
may, at his option, within one year from the time when this act shall
take effect, and within one year after he has been notified of his said
right of option in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior shall
direct by recording his election with the proper agent at the agency
to which he belongs, have the allotment to which he would be otherwise
entitled on one of said separate reservations upon the land where such
Indian may then reside, such allotment in all other respects to conform
to the allotments hereinbefore provided. Each member of the Ponca tribe
of Indians now occupying a part of the old Ponca Reservation, within
the limits of the Said Great Sioux Reservation, shall be entitled to
allotments upon said old Ponca Reservation as follows: To each head
of a family, three hundred and twenty acres; to each single person over
eighteen years of age, one-fourth of a section; to each orphan child
under eighteen years of age, one-fourth of a section; and to each other
person under eighteen years of age now living, one-eight of a section,
with title thereto and rights under the same in all other respects conforming
to this act. And said Poncas shall be entitled to all other benefits
under this act in the same manner and with the same conditions as if
they were a part of the Sioux Nation receiving rations at one of the
agencies herein named. When allotments to the Ponca tribe of Indians
and to such other Indians as allotments are provided for by this act
shall have been made upon that portion of said reservation which is
described in the act entitled "An act to extend the northern boundary
of the State of Nebraska, approved March twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred
and eighty-two, the President shall, in pursuance of said act, declare
that the Indian title is extinguished to all lands described in said
act not so allotted hereunder, and thereupon all of said land not so
allotted and included in said act of March twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred
and eighty-two, shall be open to settlement as provided in this act:
Provided, That the allotments to Ponca and other Indians authorized
by this act to be made upon the land described in the said act entitled
"An act to extend the northern boundary of the State of Nebraska,"
shall be made within six months from the time this act shall take effect.
Sec. 14. That in cases where the use of water for irrigation is necessary
to render the lands within any Indian reservation created by this act
available for agricultural purposes, the Secretary of the Interior be,
and he is hereby, authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations
as he may deem necessary to secure a just and equal distribution thereof
among the Indians residing upon any such Indian reservation created
by this act; and no other appropriation or grant of water by an riparian
proprietor shall be authorized or permitted to the damage of any other
riparian proprietor.
Sec.
15. That if any Indian has, under and in conformity with the provisions
of the treaty with the Great Sioux Nation concluded April twenty-ninth,
eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and proclaimed by the President February
twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, or any existing law,
taken allotments of land within or without the limits of any of the
separate reservation established by this act, such allotments are hereby
ratified and made valid, and such Indian is entitled to a patent therefor
in conformity with the provisions of said treaty and existing law and
of the provisions of this act in relation to patents for individual
allotments.
Sec.
16. That the acceptance of this act by the Indians in manner and form
as required by the said treaty concluded between the different bands
of the Sioux Nation of Indians and the United States, April twenty-ninth,
eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and proclaimed by the President February
twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, as hereinafter provided,
shall be taken and held to be a release of all title on the part of
the Indians receiving rations and annuities on each of the said separate
reservations, to the lands described in each of the other separate reservations
so created, and shall be held to confirm in the Indians entitled to
receive rations at each of said separate reservations, respectively,
to their separate and exclusive use and benefit, all the title and interest
of every name and nature secured therein to the different bands of the
Sioux Nation by said treaty of April twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred
and sixty eight. This release shall not affect the title of any individual
Indian to his separate allotment on land not included in any of said
separate reservations provided for in this act, which title is hereby
confirmed, nor any agreement heretofore made with the Chicago, Milwaukee
and Saint Paul Railroad Company or the Dakota Central Railroad Company
for a right of way through said reservation; and for any lands acquired
by any such agreement to be used in connection therewith, except as
hereinafter provided; but the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railway
Company and the Dakota Central Railroad Company shall, respectively,
have the right to take and use, prior to any white person, and to any
corporation, the right of way provided for in said agreements, with
not to exceed twenty acres of land in addition to the right of way,
for stations for every ten miles of road; and said companies shall also,
respectively, have the right to take and use for right of way, side-track,
depot and station privileges, machine-ship, freight-house, round house,
and yard facilities, prior to any white person, and to any corporation
or association, so much of the two separate sections of land embraced
in said agreements; also, the former company so much of the one hundred
and eighty-eight acres, and the later company so much of the seventy
five acres, o the east side of the Missouri River, likewise embraced
in said agreements, as the Secretary of the Interior shall decide t
have been agreed upon and paid for by said railroad, and to be reasonably
necessary upon each side of said river for approaches to the bridge
of each of said companies t be constructed across the river, for right
of way, side-track, depot and station privileges, machine-shop, freight
house, round-house, and yard facilities, and no more: Provided, That
the said railway companies shall have of individual Indians unaffected.
made the payments according to the terms of said agreements for each
mile of right of way and each acre of land for railway purposes, which
said companies take and use under the provisions of this act, and shall
satisfy the Secretary of the Interior to that effect: Provided further,
That no part of the lands herein authorized to be taken shall be sold
or conveyed except by way of sale of, or mortgage of the railway itself.
Nor shall any of said lands be used directly or indirectly for town
site purposes, it being the intention hereof that said lands shall be
held for general railway uses and purposes only, including stock yards,
warehouses, elevators, terminal and other facilities of and for said
railways; but nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent
any such railroad company from building upon such lands houses for the
accommodation or residence of their employees, or leasing grounds contiguous
to its tracks for warehouse or elevator purposes connected with said
railways: And provided further, That said payments shall be made and
said conditions performed within six months after this act shall take
effect: And provided further, That said railway companies and each of
them shall, within nine months after this act takes effect, definitely
locate their respective lines of road, including all station grounds
and terminals across and upon the lands of said reservation designated
in said agreements, and shall also, within the said period of nine months,
file with the Secretary of the Interior a map of such definite location,
specifying clearly the line of road the several station grounds and
the amount of land required for railway purposes, as herein specified,
of the said separate sections of land and said tracts of one hundred
and eighty-eight acres and seventy-five acres, and the Secretary of
the Interior shall, within three months after the filing of such map,
designate the particular portions of said sections and of said tracts
of land which the said railway companies respectively may take and hold
under the provisions of this act for railway purposes. And the said
railway companies, and each of them, shall, within three years after
this act takes effect, construct, complete, and put in operation their
said lines of road; and in case the said lines of road are not definitely
located and maps of location filed within the periods hereinbefore provided,
or in case the said lines of road are not constructed, completed, and
put in operation within the time herein provided, then, and in either
case, 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 o 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 whenever such forfeiture occurs the
Secretary of the Interior shall ascertain the fact and give due notice
thereof to the local land officers, and thereupon the lands so forfeited
shall be open to homestead entry under the provisions of this act.
Sec.
17. That it is hereby enacted that the seventh article of the said treaty
of April twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, securing to
said Indians the benefits of education, subject to such modifications
as Congress shall deem most effective to secure to said Indians equivalent
benefits of such education, shall continue in force for twenty years
from and after the time this act shall take effect; and the Secretary
of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to purchase, from
time to time, for the use of said Indians, such and so many American
breeding cows of good quality, not exceeding twenty-five thousand in
number, and bulls of like quality, not exceeding one thousand in number,
as in his judgement can be under regulations furnished by him, cared
for and preserved, with their increase, by said Indians: Provided, That
each head of family or single person over the age of eighteen years,
who shall have or may hereafter take his or her allotment of land in
severalty, shall be provided with two milk cows, one pair of oxen’s,
with yoke and chain, or two mares and one set of harness in lieu of
said oxen, yoke and chain, as the Secretary of the Interior may deem
advisable, and they shall also receive one plow, one wagon, one harrow,
one hoe, one axe, and one pitchfork, all suitable to the work they may
have to do, and also fifty dollars in cash; to be expended under the
direction of the Secretary of the Interior in aiding such Indians to
erect a house and other buildings suitable for residence or the improvement
of his allotment; no sales, barters or bargains shall be made by any
person other than said Indians with each other, of any of the personal
property hereinbefore provided for, and any violation of this provision
shall be deemed a misdemeanor and punished by fine not exceeding one
hundred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year or both in the
discretion of the court; That for two years the necessary seeds shall
be provided to plant five acres of ground into different crops, if so
much can be used, and provided that in the purchase of such seed preference
shall be given to Indians who may have raised the same for sale, and
so much money as shall be necessary for this purpose is hereby appropriated
out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; and in
addition thereto there shall be set apart, out of any money in the Treasury
not otherwise appropriated, the sum of three millions of dollars, which
said sum shall be deposited in the Treasury of the Untied States to
the credit of the Sioux Nation of Indians as a permanent fund, the interest
of which, at five per centum per annum, shall be appropriated, under
the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, to the use of the Indians
receiving rations an annuities upon the reservations created by this
act, in proportion to the numbers that shall so receive rations and
annuities at the time this act takes effect, as follows: One-half of
said interest shall be so expended for the promotion of industrial and
other suitable education among said Indians, and the other half thereof
in such manner and for such purposes, including reasonable cash payments
per capita as, in the judgment of said Secretary, shall, from time to
time, must contribute to the advancement of said Indians in civilization
and self-support; and the Santee Sioux, the Flandreau Sioux, and the
Ponca Indians shall be included in the benefits of said permanent fund,
as provided in sections seven and thirteen of this act: Provided That
after the Government has been reimbursed for the money expended for
said Indians under the provisions of this act, the Secretary of the
Interior may, in his discretion, expend, in addition to the interest
of the permanent fund, not to exceed ten per centum per annum of the
principal of said fund in the employment of farmers and in the purchase
of agricultural implements, teams, seeds, including reasonable cash
payments per capita, and other articles necessary to assist them in
agricultural pursuits, and he shall report to Congress in detail each
year his doings hereunder. And at the end of fifty years from the passage
of this act, said fund shall be expended for the purpose of promoting
education, civilization, and self-support among said Indians, or otherwise
distributed among them as Congress shall from time to time thereafter
determine.
Sec. 18. That if any land in said Great Sioux Reservation is now occupied
and used by any religious society for the purpose of missionary or educational
work among said Indians, whether situate outside of or within the lines
of any reservation constituted by this act, or if any such land is so
occupied upon the Santee Sioux Reservation, in Nebraska, the exclusive
occupation and use of said land, not exceeding one hundred and sixty
acres in any one tract, is hereby, with the approval of the Secretary
of the Interior, granted to any such society so long as the same shall
be occupied and used by such society for educational and missionary
work among said Indians; and the Secretary of the Interior is hereby
authorized and directed to give to such religious society patent of
such tract of land to the legal effect aforesaid; and for the purpose
of such education or missionary work any such society may purchase,
upon and of the reservations herein created, any land not exceeding
in any one tract one hundred and sixty acres, not interfering with the
title in severalty of any Indian, and with the approval of and upon
such terms not exceeding one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, as
shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the interior. And the Santee
Normal Training School may, in like manner, purchase for such educational
or missionary work on the Santee Reservation, in addition to the foregoing,
in such location and quantity, not exceeding three hundred and twenty
acres, as shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior.
Sec.
19. That all the provisions of the said treaty with the different bands
of the Sioux Nation of Indians concluded April twenty-ninth, eighteen
hundred and sixty-eight, and the agreement with the same approved February
twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, not in conflict with
the provisions and requirements of this act, are hereby continued in
force according to their tenor and limitation, anything in this act
to the contrary notwithstanding.
Sec.
20. That the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be erected not
less than thirty school-houses, and more, if found necessary, on the
different reservations, at such points as he shall think for the best
interests of the Indians, but at such distance only as will enable as
many as possible attending schools to return home nights, as white children
do attending district schools: And provided, That any white children
residing in the neighborhood are entitled to attend the said school
on such terms as the Secretary Of the Interior may prescribe.
Sec.
21. That all the lands in the Great Sioux Reservation outside of the
separate reservations herein described are hereby restored to the public
domain, except American Island, Farm Island, and Niobrara Island, and
shall be disposed of the by the United States to actual settlers only,
under the provisions of the homestead law (except section two thousand
three hundred and one thereof) and under the law relating to town-sites:
Provided, That each settler, under and in accordance with the provisions
of said homestead acts, shall pay to the United States, for the land
so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, the sum of
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for all lands disposed of
within the first three years after the taking effect of this act, and,
the sum of seventy-five cents per acre for all lands disposed of within
the next two years following thereafter, and fifty cents per acre for
the residue of the lands then undisposed of, and shall be entitled to
a patent therefor according to said homestead laws, and after the full
payment of said sums: But the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers
and sailors in the late civil war as defined and described in sections
twenty-three hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and five of the
Revised Statutes of the United States, shall not be abridged, except
as to said sums: Provided, That all lands herein opened to settlement
under this act remaining undisposed of at the end of ten years from
the taking effect of this act shall be taken and accepted by the United
States and paid for by said United States at fifty cents per acre, which
amount shall be added to and credited to said Indians as part of their
permanent fund, and said lands shall thereafter be part of the public
domain of the United States, to be disposed of under the homestead laws
of the United States, and the provisions of this act; and any conveyance
of said lands so taken as a homestead, or any contract touching the
same, or lien thereon, created prior to the date of final entry, shall
be null and void: Provided, That there shall be reserved public highways
four rods wide around every section of land allotted, or opened to settlement
by this act, the section lines being the center of said highways; but
n deduction shall be made in the amount to be paid for each quarter-section
of land by reason of such reservation. But if the said highway shall
be vacated by any competent authority the title to the respective strips
shall inure to the then owner of the tract of which it formed a part
by the original survey. And provided further, That nothing in this act
contained shall be so construed as to affect the right of Congress or
of the government of Dakota to establish public highways, or to grant
to railroad companies the right of way through said lands, or to exclude
the said lands, or any thereof, from the operation of the general laws
of the United States now in force granting to railway companies the
right of way and depot grounds over and upon the public lands, American
Island, an island in the Missouri River, near Chamberlain, in the Territory
of Dakota, and now a part of the Sioux Reservation, is hereby donated
to the said city of Chamberlain: Provided further, That said city of
Chamberlain shall formally accept the same within one year from the
passage of this act, upon the express condition that the same shall
be preserved and used for all time entire as a public park, and for
no other purposes, to which all persons shall have free access; and
said city shall have authority to adopt all proper rules and regulations
for the improvement and care of said park; and upon the failure of any
of said conditions the said island shall revert to the United States,
to be disposed of by future legislation only. Farm Island, an island
in the Missouri River near Pierre, in the Territory of Dakota, and now
a part of the Sioux Reservation, is hereby donated to the said city
of Pierre: Provided further, That said city of Pierre shall formally
accept the same within one year from the passage of this act, upon the
express condition that the same shall be preserved and used for all
time entire as a public park, and for no other purpose, to which all
persons shall have free access; and said city shall have authority to
adopt all proper rules and regulations for the improvement and care
of said park; and upon the failure of any of said conditions the said
island shall revert to the Untied States, to be disposed of by future
legislation only. Niobrara Island, an island in the Niobrara River,
near Niobrara, and now a part of the Sioux Reservation, is hereby donated
to the said city of Niobrara: Provided further, That the said city of
Niobrara, shall formally accept the same within one year from the passage
of this act, upon the express condition that the same shall be preserved
and used for all time entire as a public park , and for no other purpose,
to which all persons shall have free access; and said city shall have
authority to adopt all proper rules and regulations for the improvement
and care of said park; and upon the failure of any of said conditions
the said island shall revert to the United States, to be disposed of
by future legislation only: And provided further, That if any full or
mixed blood Indian of the Sioux Nation shall have located upon Farm
Island, American Island, or Niobrara Island before the date of the passage
of this act, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior,
within three months from the time this act shall have taken effect,
to cause all improvements made by any such Indian so located upon either
of said islands, and all damage that may accrue to him by a removal
there from, to be appraised, and upon the payment of the sum so determined,
within six months after notice thereof by the city to which the island
is herein donated to such Indian, said Indian shall be required to remove
from said island, and shall be entitled to select instead of such location
his allotment according to the provisions of this act upon any of the
reservations herein established, or upon any land opened to settlement
by this act not already located upon.
Sec.
22. That all money accruing from the disposal of lands in conformity
with this act shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States and
be applied solely as follows: First, to the reimbursement of the United
States for all necessary actual expenditures contemplated and provided
for under the provisions of this act, and the creation of the permanent
fund hereinbefore provided; and after such reimbursement to the increase
of said permanent fund for the purposes hereinbefore provided.
Sec. 23. That all persons who, between the twenty-seventh day of February,
eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and the seventeenth day of April,
eighteen hundred and eighty-five, in good faith, entered upon or made
settlements with intent to enter the same under the homestead or preemption
laws of the United States upon any part of the Great Sioux Reservation
lying east of the Missouri River, and known as the Crow Creek and Winnebago
Reservation, which, by the
President’s proclamation of date February twenty-seventh, eighteen
hundred and eighty-five, was declared to be open to settlement, and
not included in the new reservation established by section six of this
act, and who, being otherwise legally entitled to make such entries,
located or attempted to locate thereon homestead, preemption, or town
site claims, by actual settlement and improvement of any portion of
such lands, shall, for a period of ninety days after the proclamation
of the President required to be made by this act, have a right to re-enter
upon said claims and procure title thereto under the homestead or preemption
laws of the United States, and complete the same as required therein,
and their said claims shall, for such time, have a preference over later
entries; and when they shall have in other respects shown themselves
entitled and shall have complied with the law regulating such entries,
and, as to homesteads, with the special provisions of this act, they
shall be entitled to have said lands, and patents therefor shall be
issued as in like cases: Provided, That preemption claimants shall reside
o their lands the same length of time before procuring title as homestead
claimants under this act. The price to be paid for town-site entries
shall be such as is required by law in other cases, and shall be paid
into the general fund provided for by this act.
Sec. 24. That sections sixteen and thirty-sex of each township of the
lands open to settlement under the provisions of this act, whether surveyed
or unsurveyed, are hereby reserved for the use and benefit of the public
schools, as provided by the act organizing the Territory of Dakota;
and whether surveyed or unseurveyed said sections shall not be subject
to claim, settlement, or entry under the provision of this act or any
of the land laws of the United States: Provided, however, That the United
States shall pay to said Indians, out of any moneys in the Treasury
not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents
per acre for all lands reserved under the provisions of this section.
Sec.
25. That there is hereby appropriated the sum of one hundred thousand
dollars, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,
or so much thereof as may be necessary, to b applied and used towards
surveying the lands herein described as being opened for settlement,
said sum to be immediately available; which sum shall not be deducted
from the proceeds of lands disposed of under this act.
Sec.
26. That all expenses for the surveying, platting, and disposal of the
lands opened to settlement under this act shall be borne by the United
States, and not deducted from the proceeds of said lands.
Sec.
27. That the sum of twenty-eight thousand two hundred dollars, or so
much thereof as may be necessary, be, and hereby is, appropriated out
of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to enable the
Secretary of the Interior to pay to such individual Indians of the Red
Cloud and Red Leaf bands of Sioux as he shall ascertain to have been
deprived by the authority of the United States of ponies in the year
eighteen hundred and seventy-six, at the rate of forty dollars for each
pony; and he is hereby authorized to employ such agent or agents as
he may deem necessary in ascertaining such facts as will enable him
to carry out this provision, and to pay them there for such sums as
shall be deemed by him fair and just compensation: Provided, That the
sum paid to each individual Indian under this provision shall be taken
and accepted by such Indian in full compensation for all loss sustained
by such Indian in consequence of the taking from him of ponies as aforesaid:
And provided further, That if any Indian entitled to such compensation
shall have deceased, the sum to which such Indian would be entitled
shall be paid to his heirs-at-law, according to the laws of the Territory
of Dakota.
Sec.
28. That this act shall take effect, only, upon the acceptance thereof
and consent thereto by the different bands of the Sioux nation of Indians,
in manner and form prescribed by the twelfth article of the treaty between
the United States and said Sioux Indians concluded April twenty-ninth,
eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, which said acceptance and consent,
shall be made known by proclamation by the President of the Untied States,
upon satisfactory proof presented to him, that the same has been obtained
in the manner and form required, by said twelfth article of said treaty;
which proof shall be presented to him within one year from the passage
of this act; and upon failure of such proof and proclamation this act
becomes of no effect and null and void.
Sec.
29. That there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury
not otherwise appropriated, the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars,
or so much thereof as may be necessary which sum shall be expended,
under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, for procuring
the assent of the Sioux Indians to this act provided in section twenty-seven.
Sec.
30. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions
of this act are hereby repealed.
(Approved, March 2, 1889)
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