own number, it is, in his opinion, a crime to be punished. The reservation belongs to the tribe in trust for all the members thereof if they wish to occupy it. If it is sold, it must be sold for all.

I renew the recommendation that I made on the subject in my former report:

To the end that the Indians may be secure in their titles and have the asssurance that they will not be removed, except by their free consent, I recommend the pas sage of a law to give each tribe a patent for the land the Government has guaranteed to it, leaving the Indians to determine the question of allotment for themselves. This system has given entire satisfaction to the civilized Indians of the Indian Territory, and is consonant with Indian law and religion.

LEASING OF INDIAN LANDS.

In April last, certain parties, alleging that they had made leases or agreements with the Cheyenne and Arapahoe and other Indians of the Indian Territory for the privilege of grazing cattle on the reservation of said Indians, by paying therefor two cents per acre per annum, applied to the Department to have their leases or agreements approved by the Department, and to be put in possession of the lands included in said leases or agreements. It was understood that quite a large amount and nearly all the lands so occupied by the Cheyennes and Arapahoes were included in such leases or agreements. It was urged by the parties desiring the approval of such leases or agreements that the Indians could derive a large revenue from the use of the lands, and be otherwise benefited by such occupation. I did not find authority for the making of such leases or agreements by the Indians, or by the Department, and I therefore declined to approve them, and informed the parties that I saw no objections to allowing the Indians to grant per mission to graze cattle on their reservation at fair and reasonable terms; that the authority to so occupy must be given by the tribe, and not an individual member, and the whole tribe must participate in the benefits thereof; that the Department would not feel called on to remove the occupants under such leases or agreements, provided the Indians made no complaints and the Department was satisfied that the Indians were properly treated; that the parties and their employés conformed strictly to the statutes and rules of the Department with respect to the intercourse laws, with reference to the introduction of liquors, fire-arms, ammunition, &c.; that the Department would, when it appeared to be desirable for the public interest to do so, exercise its right of supervision to the extent of removing all occupants, without reference to such leases or agreements, on such notice as might be right and proper under the circumstances; and that all parties, in accepting such agreements from the Indians, must accept the same subject to such conditions and to the future action of Congress.

It is undoubtedly to the interest of the Indians to allow parties to graze cattle on their lands, if a fair price is paid for such privileges, as it will in time become a source of considerable revenue to

them, and will familiarize them with the care of stock. It is believed that the owners of herds would soon find it to their interest to hire Indians to herd their stock, and thus another source of revenue would be opened to them. Had the Department approved of the leases or agree. ments, it would doubtless have been the duty of the Department to collect from the occupants the money to be paid under the terms of such leases or agreements, and such money so collected would necessarily go into the Treasury of the United States. The Indians, having assumed the right to lease the lands, would not readily submit to have the money paid to the Department and put in the Treasury, although such fund might be subsequently used for their benefit. It will be impossible in the present condition of affairs to prevent conflicts between rival claimants for the privilege of grazing on Indian lands within the Indian Territory without legislation. Congress should provide some system by which the unoccupied lands can be leased by the tribe or the Department for the benefit of such tribes, and the money expended for the tribe without covering it into the Treasury.

CASH ANNUITIES TO INDIANS.

During the year there has been paid to Indians, in cash, about $200,000, as interest on indebtedness to them. The practice of paying cash to the Indians is a pernicious one, for as a general rule the money is expended for useless, if not injurious, articles, and ought to be discontinued.

INDIAN HOMESTEADS.

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs recommends that a fund be placed at the disposal of the Department to pay the fees of homestead entries by Indians. In this I heartily concur. I think when an Indian will settle on land, intending to make it his home, he ought to be encouraged in so doing.

IRRIGATION.

A large number of reservations are situated within the arid regions, where agriculture cannot be carried on without irrigation. In some instances the cost of constructing ditches is very great, and it cannot be done by the Indians without material assistance on the part of the Government. It is folly to attempt to farm such reservations without provision for an adequate supply of water. I therefore recommend that an appropriation be made for the purpose of constracting ditches on such reservations as can be farmed only by irrigation.

THE GREAT SIOUX RESERVATION.

This reservation, including the agencies of Cheyenne River, Lower Brulé, Standing Rock, Pine Ridge, and Rosebud, contains, according to the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1882, 48,924 square miles, with a population of about 24,000 inhabitants, or about 1 to two

square miles. The total number of acres cultivated on said reservation were 3,484, or about 5 square miles. The land claimed as cultivated consists of small and badly-cultivated fields, and the most of it can scarcely be considered as cultivated land.

The Forty-seventh Congress provided, in an act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1883, and for other purposes, as follows:

For this amount, or so much thereof as may be necessary to enable the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with the Sioux Indians for such modification of existing treaties and agreements with said Indians as may be deemed desirable by said Indians and the Secretary of the Interior, five thousand dollars; but any such agreement shall not take effect until ratified by Congress: Provided, however, That if any lands shall be acquired from said Indians by the United States, it shall be on the express condition that the United States shall only dispose of the same to actual settlers under the provisions of the homestead laws. Approved August 7, 1882.

Under this provision commissioners were appointed to confer with the Indians and report to Congress for ratification. On the 1st of February the commission reported, by which it appears that the Indians of the several agencies above mentioned had agreed to cede to the United States about 18,000 square miles on the following conditions:

ART. II. The said Indians do hereby relinquish and cede to the United States all of the great Sioux Reservation—as reserved to them by the treaty of 1868, and modified by the agreement of 1876-not herein specifically reserved and set apart as separate reservations for them. The said bands do severally agree to accept and occupy the separate reservations to which they are herein assigned as their permanent homes, and they do hereby severally relinquish to the other bands respectively occupying the other separate reservations all right, title, and interest in and to the same, reserving to themselves only the reservation herein set apart for their separate use and occupation.

ART. III. In consideration of the cession of territory and rights, as herein made, and upon compliance with each and every obligation assumed by the said Indians, the United States hereby agrees that each head of a family entitled to select three hundred and twenty acres of land, under Article VI of the treaty of 1868, may, in the manner and form therein prescribed, select and secure for purposes of cultivation, in addition to said three hundred and twenty acres, a tract of land not exceeding eighty (80) acres, within his reservation, for each of his children, living at the ratification of this agreement, under the age of eighteen (18) years; and such child upon arriving at the age of eighteen (18) years shall have such selection certified to him or her in lieu of the selection granted in the second clause of said Article VI; but no right of alienstion or encumbrance is acquired by such selection and occupation, unless hereafter authorized by act of Congress.

ART. IV. The United States further agrees to furnish and deliver to the said Indians twenty-five thousand (25,000) cows and one thousand (1,000) bulls, of which the occupants of each of said separate reservation shall receive such proportion as the number of Indians thereon bears the whole number of Indian parties to this agreement. All of the said cattle and their progeny shall bear the brand of the Indian Department, and shall be held subject to the disposal of said Department, and shall not be sold, exchanged, or slaughtered, except by consent or order of the agent in charge, until such time as this restriction shall be removed by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

ART. V. It is also agreed that the United States will furnish and deliver to each 6262 I-II

lodge of said Indians or family of persons legally incorporated with them, who shall, in good faith, select land within the reservation to which such lodge or family belongs, and begin the cultivation thereof, one good cow and one well-broken pair of oxen, with yoke and chain, within reasonable time after making such selection and settlement.

ART. VI. The United States will also furnish to each reservation herein made and described a physician, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmith, for a period of ten years from the date of this agreement.

ART. VII. It is hereby agreed that the sixteenth and thirty-sixth section of each township in said separate reservations shall be reserved for school purposes, for the use of the inhabitants of said reservations, as provided in sections 1946 and 1947 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.

It is also agreed that the provisions of Article VII of the treaty of 1868, securing to said Indians the benefits of education, shall be continued in force for not less than twenty (20) years, from and after the ratification of this agreement.

ART. VIII. The provisions of the treaty of 1868, and the agreement of 1876, except as herein modified, shall continue in full force.

This agreement shall not be binding upon either party until it shall have received the approval of the President and Congress of the United States.

This agreement was not signed by a majority of the adults, but by the chiefs and headmen. The treaty of 1868 required that all treaties thereafter made should be ratified by three-fourths of the adults; but the treaty of 1876, ceding the Black Hills, was not executed in accord. ance with the treaty of 1868. The commissioners considered this as a precedent, and decided to accept the action of the chiefs and headmen as that of the tribe's, which is in strict accordance with Indian law.

Congress declined to ratify the agreement, and required that threefourths of the adults should subscribe to the same. The commissioners have not made report of the progress made in securing signatures to such agreement; but it is alleged that the Indians have very generally concluded that it is not for their interest to dispose of the lands in the way proposed, and doubtless much dissatisfaction exists among them in relation thereto. It has been asserted that the price paid is not suf ficient, and that the Indians were not informed as to the true meaning of the agreement; and it is not doubted that the Indians now so assert. It is not possible to make a treaty or an agreement with the Indians with which they will not be dissatisfied. Almost immediately after the agreement was signed by the chiefs and headmen, certain parties advised the Indians that they should not treat with the Government for a cession of lands unless they were paid in cash, and every effort was made by interested parties to induce the Indians to retire from the agreement. If one-half of the amount proposed to be expended for their benefit was offered them in cash, there can be no question but they would readily agree to the cession. It is difficult to make an Indian comprehend the benefits he will derive from the cession of landunlesss he is paid in cash or its equivalent. He does not look forward to the time when he is to be self-supporting, but expects the Govern ment to supply all his wants and pay him in cash or its equivalent for the lands which he values mainly as the means of securing compensation from the Government, and not for use. This treaty leaves these

Indians much more land than they will need for stock or farming purposes, being something over one square mile to each Indian, "great and small.".

Whether the proposed payments are sufficient must be determined from the value of the land and the tenure under which it is held. It does not appear from an examination of the treaty of 1868 that it was the intention on the part of the Government to recognize the whole of that vast tract of land called the Sioux Reservation as the property of the Sioux alone, for it is provided that other Indians might be settled on the reservation with the consent of the Indians thereon; no provision is made for compensation for the land to be taken for that purpose. It appears to have been the purpose of the Government in reserving that vast tract to secure to each Sioux Indian a piece of land for his personal benefit; for it is provided that the head of a family should be allowed to take not exceeding 320 acres, and others a less amount; out of the reservation these smaller pieces were to be carved. The amount of land stipulated to be given to the Indians is more than double the amount that is allowed citizens of the United States to take under the settlement laws. It is also provided in the treaty of 1868 that if the tract reserved was not sufficient to secure the required amount of land other land should be added. There is also a provision that any male Indian eighteen years of age of said tribes may take a homestead of 160 acres anywhere on public land by residing on it for three years. It is further provided in the act of 1868 that, on the selection of land as aforesaid, the Government would give to parties selecting the same seeds, agricultural implements, &c., to the value of one hundred dollars the first year and twenty-five dollars per year for three years thereafter; and that each person engaging in farming should receive $20 per year, or $10 more than if he continued to roam over the reservation. The treaty of 1868 provides that schools shall be maintained at Government expense for every thirty scholars; also that the United States would furnish to each family that should commence farming one good American cow and one good well-broken pair of American oxen. The treaty of 1876 provides that the Government should erect comfortable houses for such of the Indians as should desire to farm. It is very evident that the great object in making the treaty was to induce the Indians to settle on farms and become farmers. But little effort has been made to comply with the conditions of these treaties on the part of the Government. I have shown in another part of this report that there is due the Sioux, under the provisions for the support of schools, $1,491,600. The Indians have built themselves on the reservation 2,519 houses. The Government should have constructed these houses, which the Indians have constructed substantially without Government aid. This item alone, allowing $500 for each house, which is as little as they can be built for, leaves the Government indebted to the Indians the sum of. $1,259, 500 the Government had furnished one cow and one yoke of oxen to each family so locating, there would have been expended on this item alone

503, 800