quieted in the Sac and Fox Indians of Iowa. In reply the office suggested that the Indian agent obtain the consent of the Indians for paying the expenses of prosecuting such suit, inasmuch as the Department had no fund at its disposal for that purpose, and section 189 of the Revised Statutes forbids the employment of counsel by the Government. To that end the agent called a council of these Indians November 21, 1896; but while all of them who knew anything about the transac tion testified that the land was bought by the chiefs for the entire tribe and from the funds of the tribe, yet they were unwilling to allow or incur the expense from tribal funds of a suit to recover or quiet title in the tribe.

Here the matter rested until October 7, 1897, when Inspector A. J. Duncan reported that nothing was being done toward securing title to those lands in the Indians, which was a very important matter to them. This office, on the 16th of February, 1898, reported in detail the history and status of those lands and recommended that action be delayed in securing a deed from the governor for such other lands as were held in trust by him until he could convey all the lands which he held in trust for these Indians. The office also recommended that request be made of the Department of Justice to instruct the district attorney for Iowa to consult with Agent Rebok and to enter suit for a change of title from the five Indians to the whole tribe. If this was done and the deed was corrected by the court in favor of the whole tribe, and this office was furnished an exemplified copy of the court proceedings and of the corrected deed, steps might then be taken to have the governor of Iowa and the Indian agent execute deeds of conveyance in accordance with the legislation enacted June 10, 1896. On the 7th of March, 1898, the Department advised this office that request had been made of the Attorney-General as recommended, and March 21 Agent Rebok was furnished a copy of a letter from the Hon. Attorney-General, dated March 10, 1898, stating that H. G. McMillan, esq., United States attorney for the northern district of Iowa, at Dubuque, had been directed to consult with him and to enter suit for said change of title.

When the court acts upon this matter steps will be taken to secure deeds of conveyance for all of their lands from the governor of the State and from the Indian agent, the lands to be held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior, for the use and benefit of the Sac and Fox Indians in Iowa.

ATTACK BY PAPAGOS ON EL PLOMO, MEXICO.

April 18, 1898, the State Department informed the Interior Department that the United States consul at Nogales, Mexico, had reported that 40 Papagos from the United States had attacked the village of El Plomo, Mexico, on April 14 last, with the supposed object of frightening the settlers and stealing their cattle.

In compliance with your instructions of April 19 this office telegraphed the United States Indian agent of the Pima Agency, Ariz., to

investigate the matter, and on April 22 he was further instructed by mail as follows:

In addition to my telegraphic instructions of April 19, I have to direct that you exercise the utmost vigilance and watchfulness to prevent the Indians under your charge or within reach along the Mexican border from in any way interfering with or in any manner molesting the persons or property of the citizens of Mexico and from going into Mexican territory.

It is not improbable that evil-disposed persons, taking advantage of the disturbed conditions in the country, will endeavor to incite the Indians to acts provocative of ill feeling on the part of our neighbors on the other side of the line. The affair at El Plomo may possibly have been instigated with that object in view, and perhaps by Spanish sympathizers.

There are a large number of nonreservation Papagos living in the country south and west of Tucson with whom we have had but little official intercourse. However, when they have been visited by agents of this Department they have been found to be tractable and well disposed. It is to these Indians especially that your attention is directed. I think a friendly visit to them at this time would have a good effect, and you are accordingly directed either to go in person or to send a trusted and intelligent employee of the agency to visit them and report upon their condition, etc. It might be well to take one or more of the nonreservation Papagos with you, but of this you must be the judge. Should you discover any feeling of unrest or unusual excitement among them, wise counsel on your part will doubtless have a good effect.

You will keep this office duly informed of the situation along the border and acknowledge the receipt of these instructions.

The agent reported May 11, 1898, that there had been no trouble since the attack on El Plomo, in which no one was killed or wounded; that the trouble was caused by the Sonora Indians, who returned to Mexico to get their stock which they left there when they fled to the American side about a year ago, owing to some trouble; that they did not show fight until they had been fired upon by the Mexicans, who obliged them to flee without obtaining their stock, which is still in possession of the Mexicans; and that he was satisfied there would be no further trouble or outbreak.

Inspector C. F. Nesler was also requested by the Department to make an investigation of the matter, and on May 27 he reported that he had in custody twenty-five Papagos who were engaged in the attack on El Plomo; that four of the Indian ringleaders were, upon his request, held by the United States commissioner at Tucson for the United States grand jury, which would meet in September, to be tried for violation of United States statute 5286; that he deemed this sufficient punishment for them, and had instructed the assistant United States district attorney to enter a nolle pros. as soon as they were brought to trial; that the balance of the party, twenty-one in number, had been sent to Sacaton and turned over to the clerk in charge of Pima Agency, to be confined until further orders, and that he had assured the Mexican authori ties that these Indians would be properly punished.

Special Agent Taggart, in charge of Pima Agency, was asked for a report on the status of these Indian prisoners, and June 22 last he replied that the offense of the Indians had been somewhat exaggerated,

and while it might be desirable for reasons of state to hold them as prisoners, yet under the circumstances, as known and believed by the people in the vicinity of his agency, such treatment of them was unnecessary and unjust, particularly so as some of them had families. to support and could get employment if released at that time. He also stated that they have always been friendly to this Government, selfsustaining, and honorable and truthful to a marked degree, were not criminals and were not aware of having committed any offense, and that unless there was more to the recent affair than was apparent in that section of the country, he was of the opinion that they ought at once to be released and allowed to return to their homes on parole.

The question as to their continued imprisonment was submitted to the Department in office letter of June 8 last, and June 10 the Department directed that eleven of the prisoners, who were adjudged to have been the least guilty in the attack on the Mexican village, be released on their solemn promise and agreement to avoid further disturbance and not again to cross the international boundary line; also that the ten sent to the Phoenix school, Arizona, and put to work making bricks, be kept in custody for three months from the date of their capture and then paroled on the same conditions as were the others. Their term of imprisonment expired on July 27, and they have been paroled and allowed to return to their homes.

Concerning the four ringleaders, the Department directed that they be held for trial, as recommended by Inspector Nesler, and they are in the custody of the agent.

NORTHERN CHEYENNE RESERVATION, MONT.

The Indian appropriation act approved July 1, 1898, contains the following section providing for an investigation of affairs upon the Tongue River Reservation, in Montana:

SEC. 10. That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, directed to send an inspector of his Department to the reservation of the Northern Cheyenne Indians, in the State of Montana, and said agent shall be instructed to make a full and complete report to the Secretary of the Interior upon the conditions existing upon said reservation, said report to be available for use on or before the fifteenth day of November, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.

It shall be the duty of the said inspector to ascertain if it is feasible to secure the removal of said Northern Cheyenne Indians from the present reservation to some portion of the Crow Indian Reservation, in the State of Montana. He shall also ascertain and report in detail the number and names of the white settlers legally upon the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, the number of acres of land owned by them, its location, and the value thereof, and of the improvements thereon. Also the number and names of white settlers who are alleged to be illegally settled upon the reservation, the circumstances attending their settlement thereon, and their location. He shall also enter into negotiations with the white settlers upon said reservation, who have valid titles, for the sale of their lands and improvements to the Government; and he is hereby authorized and empowered to make written agreements with such settlers, which agreements shall not be binding until ratified and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. He shall also make recommendations as

to the settlement of the claims of such white settlers as have gone upon said reservation under circumstances which give them an equitable right thereon.

He shall investigate the subject of fencing in the said reservation, and shall indicate the lines such fence should follow and the estimated cost of same, and shall report upon the number of cattle and sheep which may safely be pastured within the limits recommended to be fenced. He shall further report upon and make recommendations with reference to any and all matters which in his judgment have any bearing upon the question of securing an equitable adjustment of the difficulties now existing upon said reservation, and with especial reference to bringing about a satisfactory settlement with the white settlers, both as to the sale of their lands to the Government and the adjustment of the reservation limits.

July 29, 1898, this office submitted to the Department for approval a draft of instructions for the guidance of an Indian inspector in the investigation of matters pertaining to the Northern Cheyenne Indians under the provisions of the above section. On August 3, 1898, this office was advised that they had been forwarded to United States Inspector James McLaughlin, with directions to make the contemplated investigations.

PUEBLOS IN NEW MEXICO.

Zuñi Grant. By reference to the annual report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office for the year 1880, page 658, it appears that the Zuñi pueblo was granted to the inhabitants of the pueblo in 1689, by Spain, and the claim therefor was approved by the surveyor-general of New Mexico, September 25, 1879, and a survey made of its exterior boundaries in 1880. Its area was found to be 17,581.25 acres, and its location in Valencia County, N. Mex. It does not appear that the grant was approved by the Department or by Congress, although the matter was referred to Congress by the Department December 7, 1880, and no patent has ever been issued for that grant.

By an act of Congress entitled "An act to establish a Court of Private Land Claims, and to provide for the settlement of private land claims for certain States and Territories," approved March 3, 1891 (28 Stats., p. 854), provision was made in the sixth section of the act for the confirmation of title to all lands under Spanish grant in New Mexico that had not been confirmed by Congress or decided upon legal authority. By the twelfth section all such claims were to be presented within two years from the date upon which the act took effect, otherwise to be considered as abandoned and forever barred. As no petition was filed by the Indians for this pueblo, or by the Government in their behalf, it would appear that their claim to title in said pueblo is forever barred unless the second clause of the thirteenth section shall protect them in that title. It provides that "no claim shall be allowed that shall interfere with or overthrow any just or unextinguished Indian title or right to any land or piece."

Capt. J. L. Bullis, acting as Indian agent for the Pueblo and Jicarilla Agency, advised this office, September 22, 1896, that he had ascertained from the governor of the Zuñi pueblo that all their deeds, documents,

etc., were lost. Later he reported that certain papers relating to the Zuñi grant had been found in the office of the surveyor-general of the Territory of New Mexico, and he recommended that, in case Congress should decline to take action in the matter, a suit be instituted in the United States Court of Private Land Claims, then sitting at Santa Fe for the settlement of land grants in New Mexico. The matter was reported to the Department, January 27, 1897, with the recommendation that the case be referred to the Commissioner of the General Land Office for an expression of his views as to what method should be adopted to secure the title of the Zuñi pueblo grant in and to the Zuñi Indians.

The Department on the 9th of March informed this office that the Commissioner of the General Land Office saw no way by which the title to the grant could then be confirmed to the Indians, except by special act of Congress, either confirming the claim outright or permitting suit to be brought against the United States in the Court of Private Land Claims, notwithstanding the limit for such actions fixed by the act of 1891. Holding that it seemed but fair and just to the Indians that the necessary steps be taken to secure their homes to them, as had been done in the case of other Indians similarly located, the Department directed that a draft of the necessary legislation be prepared to be submitted to Congress.

For use in the preparation of such draft the Commissioner of the General Land Office, April 24, 1897, furnished this office with the following copy of the transcript of the records of the claim of the Zuñi Indians for land in New Mexico, furnished by the surveyor-general of that Territory in his letter of November 20, 1880:

Transcript of Indian Pueblo Grant V, in the name of the pueblo of Zuni, in New Mexico.

Date of grant, September 25, 1689.

Date of surveyor-general's approval, September 25, 1879.

Transmitted to the General Land Office by the surveyor-general of New Mexico, November 20, 1880.

Letter No. 75342.

GRANT GIVEN TO ZUNI-YEAR 1689.

At the town of Our Lady of Guadalupe del Paso del Rio del Norte, on the twentyfifth day of the month of September, year one thousand six hundred and eightynine, his excellency, the governor and captain general, Don Domingo Jironza y Petroz de Cruzate, declared before me that whereas within the reach of his authority which he has in New Mexico and of his power over the Queres Indians and over the apostates, and that after having fought all the other Indians of the Pueblos, an Indian called Bartolome de Ojeda, who was the one who distinguished himself most in battle, succoring all points, surrendered himself, finding himself wounded by a gunshot and an arrow, and being already disabled I ordered him to be taken and caused that they should heal him with great care so that he might be examined and state on his confession the condition in which is found the pueblo of Zuni and the other apostates of that kingdom, and as the Indian is versed in the Castillian language, is apt, and can read and write, and as he was the same who had conducted General Pedro de Renero de Possada to that pueblo, he being then on his way back