CHAP. 184.-AN ACT to authorize the Northwestern Improvement Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Wisconsin, to enter upon the Menomonee Indian reservation, and improve the Oconto River, its branches and tributaries. [Vol, 19, p. 89.]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the assent of Congress be, and hereby is, given to the Northwestern Improvement Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Wiscon sin, to improve the Oconto River and its branches and tributaries, so as to run logs down said river its branches, and tributaries, across the Menomonee Indian reservation, in accordance with the laws of said State: Provided, That any damages which may be caused by such improvement shall be awarded as in all other cases under the laws of the State of Wisconsin, and the amount be paid into the Treasury of the United States for the benefit of said Indians; and said Indians and all other persons shall be permitted to use said river for the purpose of running logs, as contemplated in this act; and the charges for said privileges shall be regulated by the legislature of the State of Wisconsin: Provided, That all privileges under this act may be altered or revoked by Congress.

Approved, July 12, 1876.

CHAP. 246.-AN ACT making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, and for other purposes. [Vol. 19, p. 120.]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, for the objects hereinafter expressed, for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, namely:

For payment of employees at Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies Nebraska for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth eighteen hundred and seventy-six eleven thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars.

Black Hills Survey: Fourteen thousand dollars or so much thereof as may be necessary to enable the Secretary of the Interior to pay the expenses of the Survey of the Black Hills country under Professor W. P. Jenney including the expenses incident to the preparation of the final report. And none of said money thus appropriated shall be used to reimburse the Indian funds heretofore used for the purposes of this survey; And it is further provided, That the accounting officers of the Treasury are hereby authorized to audit and settle the accounts of Walter P. Jenney, H. P. Tuttle, and C. G. Newberry, to the amount of eleven thousand dollars, the same being the sum drawn from the Sioux beneficial fund, in the same manner as if that sum had been appropriated for this survey.

For this amount or so much thereof as may be required to pay the expenses of a commission, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, to appraise certain Cherokee lands in the Indian Territory, in accordance with the fifth section of the act making appropriations for the expenses of the Indian Department, approved May twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, five thousand dollars.

To carry out the provisions of an act entitled "An act to authorize the Seneca Nation of New York Indians to lease lands within the Cataraugus and Allegany reservations and to confirm existing leases" approved February nineteenth, eighteen hundred and seventyfive, to pay for surveys as estimated by the Commissioner of the General Land Office fifteen thousand five hundred dollars.

For completion of surveys of Pawnee reservation in Nebraska, and Otoe reservation in Kansas and Nebraska, ten thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, the whole amount of the cost of such surveys to be reimbursed to the Treasury out of the proceeds of the sale of such reservations respectively. Approved, July 31, 1876.

CHAP. 253.—AN ACT to further authorize the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to purchase supplies for the Indian Bureau in open mrket. [Vol. 19, p. 123.]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Commissioner of Indian Affairs be, and he is hereby, authorized to purchase in open market, without the usual advertisement, for immediate use of the Indian tribes, such supplies as are required to an extent not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which is hereby appropriated for such purpose, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated to serve until the regular appropriation bill shall be passed and approved, and the time now required by law for advertisement and acceptance of proposals shall have elapsed; and such sums so expended shall be deducted from the appropriate sums respectively appropriated under the regular appropriation bill when passed. Approved, August 3, 1876.

CHAP. 259. AN ACT providing for the sale of the Osage ceded lands in Kansas to actual settlers. [Vol. 19, p. 127.]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any bona fide settler, residing at the time of completing his or her entry, as hereinafter provided, upon any portion of the lands sold to the United States, by virtue of the first article of the treaty concluded between the United States and the Great and Little Osage tribe of Indians September twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and proclaimed January twenty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, who is a citizen of the United States, or shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, shall be, and hereby is, entitled to purchase the same, in quantity not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres, at the price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, within one year from the passage of this act, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and on the terms hereinafter provided: Provided, That no bona fide settler as aforesaid on said land shall be denied the right to purchase land under the provisions of this act on the ground that he or she may heretofore have had the benefit of the homestead or pre-emption laws of the United States.

SEC. 2. That any person who is a citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention to become such, who in good faith had purchased any portion of said land from either the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad Company, or the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Company, prior to the commencement of the two suits in the name of the United States against said companies, in the circuit court of the United States for the district of Kansas, to test the legality of title of said railroad companies to said lands, or portions thereof, to wit; before the twenty-fifth day of February, anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-four, and shall prove to the satisfaction of the register and the receiver of the proper land office that he or she has, in good faith, before the date last aforesaid, paid said railroad companies, or either of them, the consideration-money, or a portion thereof, and also that he or she has in good faith made lasting and valuable improvements thereon, shall be, and hereby is declared to be entitled to purchase said lands, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, to include his or her improvements, on the same terms and conditions that actual settlers are authorized by this act to purchase said lands; that the rights of the said purchasers from said railroad companies shall attach at the date of the payment aforesaid made to said railroads or either of them: Provided, That the said improvements are made before the date last aforesaid: And provided further, That said claimant actually resides on the land at the time of completing his or her entry thereof at the proper land office: Provided further, That the heirs of any deceased purchaser from said railroads shall have the same right to purchase the said lands so purchased from the said railroads as the original purchaser would have had, had he lived.

SEC. 3. That the parties desiring to make entries under the provisions of this act who will, within twelve months after the passage of the same make payment at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, for the land claimed by said purchaser, under such rules and regulations as the Commissioner of the General Land Office may prescribe, as follows, that is to say; said purchaser shall pay for the land he or she is entitled to purchase one-fourth of the price of the land at the time the entry is made, and the remainder in three annual payments, drawing interest at the rate of five per centum per annum, which payment shall be secured by notes of said purchaser, payable to the United States; and the Secretary of the Interior shall withhold title until the last payment is made; and the Secretary of the Interior shall cause patents to issue to all parties who shall complete their purchases under the provisions of this act; and if any claimant fails to complete his or her entry at the proper land office within twelve months from the passage of this act, he or she shall forfeit all right to the land by him or her so claimed, except in cases where the land is in contest: Provided further, That nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent any purchaser of said land from making payment at any time of the whole or any portion of the purchase money.

SEC. 4. That the laws of the United States in relation to the preemption of town-sites shall apply to the tract of land first above described, except that the declaratory statement provided by existing laws in such cases shall be filed with the register of the proper landoffice within sixty days after the passage of this act, and the occupants of town-sites shall not be allowed to purchase more than three hundred and twenty acres actually occupied as a town-site, except in case where town-site companies have purchased all claim of title of the original settlers, and all titles claimed by any railroad company, in which case said townsite company, by its proper agent, shall have the same right to enter said lands that the original settlers would have had, not exceeding in amount eight hundred acres, and shall pay therefor the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, in the same manner as actual occupants are required to pay.

SEC. 5. That all lawful entries heretofore made of any of said lands, and set aside or cancelled by the Secretary of the Interior, on the ground that the said railroads had a prior grant of said lands, be reinstated by the said Secretary of the Interior, subject to any valid adverse claim that may have accrued before or since such sale or cancellation.

SEC. 6. That all declaratory statements made by persons desiring to purchase any portion of said land under the provisions of this act, shall be filed with the register of the proper

land office within sixty days after the passage of the same: Provided, however, That those who may settle on said land after the passage of this act shall file their declaratory statement within twenty days after settlement, and complete their purchase under the provisions of this act within one year thereafter.

SEC. 7. That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent said land from being taxed under the laws of the State of Kansas, as other lands are or may be taxed in said State, from and after the time the first payment is made on said land, according to the provisions of this act.

SEC. 8. That the said railroads or either of them shall have the right to purchase such subdivisions of lands as are located outside of the right of way, heretofore granted to them, and which were occupied by them on said tenth day of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, for stock-yards, storage-houses, or any other purposes legitimately connected with the operation and business of said roads, whenever the same does not conflict with a settler who in good faith made a settlement prior to the occupation of said lands by said railroad company or companies, in the same manner and at the same price settlers are authorized to purchase under the provisions of this act.

Approved, August 11, 1876.

CHAP. 263.-AN ACT concerning the employment of Indian scouts. [Vol. 19, p. 131.]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the Army appropriation act of twenty-fourth July, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, as limits the number of Indian scouts to three hundred is hereby repealed; and sections ten hundred and ninety-four and eleven hundred and twelve of the Revised Statutes, authorizing the employment of one thousand Indian scouts, are hereby continued in force: Provided, That a proportionate number of non-commissioned officers may be appointed. And the scouts, when they furnish their own horses and horse-equipments, shall be entitled to receive forty cents per day for their use and risk so long as thus employed.

Approved, August 12, 1876.

CHAP. 268.—AN ACT to authorize the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to receive lands in payment of judgments to Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. [Vol. 19, p. 139.]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Commissioners of Indian Affairs be, and he is hereby, authorized and empowered to collect and receive, in payment of the ambunt due on certain judgments in favor of William Johnston and against William H. Thomas, now held by him in trust for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina, the lands mentioned and described in the award of Rufus Barringer, John H. Dillard, and Thomas Ruffin, as a board of arbitrators, under date of October twenty-third, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, upon which such judgments were a lien; such lands to be taken at their cash-value, to be determined by an appraisal to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and conveyed to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in fee-simple: Provided, That if the lands above men tioned shall not be sufficient in value to pay off and discharge said judgment, the Commissioner is authorized to receive such other lands as the said Eastern Band of Indians may select, by and with the assent of the said Commissioner, to an amount sufficient to discharge the said judgment.

Approved, August 14, 1876.

CHAP. 289. --AN ACT making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfilling treaty-stipulations with various Indian tribes, for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, and for other purposes. [Vol. 19, p. 176.J

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, and they are hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of paying the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, and fulfilling treaty-stipulations with the various Indian tribes, namely:

SIOUX OF DIFFERENT TRIBES, INCLUDING SANTEE SIOUX, STATE OF NEBRASKA.

For this amount, for subsistence, including the Yankton Sioux and Poncas, and for purposes of their civilization, one million dollars: Provided, That none of said sums appropri ated for said Sioux Indians shall be paid to any band thereof while said band is engaged in hostilities against the white people; and hereafter there shall be no appropriation made for

the subsistence of said Indians, unless they shall first agree to relinquish all right and claim to any country outside the boundaries of the permanent reservation established by the treaty of eighteen hundred and sixty-eight for said Indians; and also so much of their said permanent reservation as lies west of the one hundred and third meridian of longitude, and shall also grant right of way over said reservation to the country thus ceded for wagon or other roads, from convenient and accessible points on the Missouri River, in all not more than three in number; and unless they will receive all such supplies herein provided for, and provided for by said treaty of eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, at such points and places on their said reservation, and in the vicinity of the Missouri River, as the President may designate; and the further sum of twenty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated to be expended under the direction of the President of the United States for the purpose of carrying into effect the foregoing provision: And provided also, That no further appropriation for said Sioux Indians for subsistence shall hereafter be made until some stipulation, agreement, or arrangement shall have been entered into by said Indians with the President of the United States, which is calculated and designed to enable said Indians to become self-supporting: Provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior may use of the foregoing amounts the sum of twentyfive thousand dollars for the removal of the Poncas to the Indian Territory, and providing them a home therein, with the consent of said band.

APACHES OF ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO.

For this amount, to subsist and properly care for the Apache Indians in Arizona and New Mexico who have been or may be collected on reservations in New Mexico or Arizona, four hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. And the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall direct that said Indians shall not be allowed to leave their proper reservations; and it shall be the duty of the War Department to aid the Indian Office in seeing that the orders of the Commissioner are executed and rations shall not be issued for a longer period than one week at a time, and arms or ammunition shall not be issued, sold or given to said Indians.

ARAPAHOES, CHEYENNES, APACHES, KIOWAS, COMANCHES, AND WICHITAS.

For subsistence of the Arapahoes, Cheyennes, Apaches, Kiowas, Comanches, and Wichitas, and transportation of the same, who have been collected upon the reservations set apart for their use and occupation, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. And the Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed and required to prohibit the Kiowas, Comanches, Apaches, Kickapoos, Cheyennes, Arrapahoes, Wichitas, and bands affilliated with them, from crossing Red River from Fort Sill reservation into Texas, and rations shall only be issued to said Indians for only one week at a time, and then only to such of them as shall be present. And no arms or ammunition shall be issued, sold, or given to any of the Indians above named ; and all arms and ammunition shall be taken from any Indian who may be proven to have committed any depredation on the whites or friendly Indians.

For continuing the collection of statistics and historical data respecting the Indians of the United States, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, three thousand five hun dred dollars: Provided, That when sufficient matter to make a volume of statistics and historical data is prepared it shall be submitted to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and referred by him to the regents of the Smithsonian Institute, and published on their written approval.

For this amount, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to defray the expenses of a general council of certain Indians in the Indian Territory, as provided by the twelfth article of the treaty with the Cherokees of July nineteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, the tenth article of the treaty with the Creeks of June fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, the seventh article of the treaty with the Seminoles of March twenty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the eighth article of the treaty with the Choctaws and Chickasaws of April twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, five thousand dollars.

For this amount, to be paid to fifty-five persons, formerly members of the Kaskaskia, Peoria, Wea, and Piankeshaw tribes of Indians, being their share of the balance of amount due said tribes, for money derived from the sale of the trust-lands, together with the amount due them for lands erroneously sold as public lands, appropriated by the eleventh section of the act of March third, eighteeen hundred and seventy-five, to be taken from their invested funds now in the Treasury, under the act of July twelfth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, one thousand four hundred and thirty-four dollars and seventy cents.

For payment of the expenses incurred by Silas H. Sweatland, special agent, sent by the Indian Department to make a per capita payment to the North Carolina Cherokees in 1869, to the following named persons, to wit:

Samuel W. Davidson, two hundred and thirteen dollars and thirty cents.

Henry Smith, five hundred and fifty-four dollars and sixty-six cents.

Henry Smith, two hundred and one dollars.

N. J. Smith, one hundred dollars.

James W. Terrell, sixty dollars.

A. McCallum, one hundred dollars.

John Gray Bynum, eight hundred and sixty-seven dollars and fifty cents.

J. D. Abbott, one hundred and seventy-five dollars.

M. C. King, two hundred and twelve dollars and three cents.

M. L. Brittain, two hundred and thirty-two dollars.

Scroop Enloe, one hundred and twenty-five dollars. and thirty-five cents: Provided, That the amounts due J. D. Abbott, M. C. King, M. L. Brittain, and Scroop Enloe be charged to the fund held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior for the North Carolina Cherokees. That the balance of the fund of the Eastern band of Cherokee Indians, appropriated by the act of March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, shall, upon the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, be placed to their credit upon the books of the Treasury Department, and shall bear interest at the rate of five per centum per annum; and the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to use annually for educational purposes among said Indians so much of the principal of said fund as, with the interest annually accruing thereon, shall amount to six thousand dollars; and three hundred dollars of said sum shall be paid to the superintendent of common schools in North Carolina who shall have the supervision of the schools of the Cherokees of said State under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

SEC. 5. And hereafter the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall have the sole power and authority to appoint Traders to the Indian tribes and to make such rules and regulations as he may deem just and proper, specifying the kind and quantity of goods and the prices at which such goods shall be sold to the Indians.

SEC. 6. That the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall advertise for all supplies provided, that the purchase of supplies for sixty days may be made in open market. And provided further that to meet any exigency of the service purchases may be made in open market to an extent not to exceed two thousand dollars at any one time. Approved, August 15, 1876.

CHAP. 308.-AN ACT to provide for the sale of a portion of the reservation of the confederated Otoe and Missouria and the Sac and Fox of the Missouri Tribes of Indians in the States of Kansas and Nebraska. [Vol. 19, p. 208.]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, with the consent of the Otoe and Missouria tribes of Indians expressed in open council, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to cause to be surveyed the reservation of said Indians lying in the States of Kansas and Nebraska.

SEC. 2. That the lands so surveyed shall be appraised by three commissioners, one of whom shall be designated by said Indians in open council, and the other two by the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 3. That after the survey and appraisement of said lands, the Secretary of the Interior shall be, and is hereby, authorized to offer one hundred and twenty thousand acres from the western side of the same for sale, through the United States public land-office, at Beatrice, Nebraska, for cash to actual settlers only, in tracts not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to each purchaser: Provided, That if, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Interior, it shall be more advantageous to sell said lands upon deferred payments, he may, with the consent of the Indians expressed in open council, dispose of the same upon the following terms as to payments, that is to say, one-third in cash, one-third in one year, and one-third in two years from date of sale, with interest at the rate of six per centum per annum : And provided further, That no portion of said land shall be sold at less than the appraised value thereof, and in no case less than two dollars and fifty cents per acre.

SEC. 4. That the proceeds of said sale shall be placed to the credit of said Indians in the Treasury of the United States, and bear interest at the rate of five per centum per annum which income shall be expended for the benefit of said tribes under direction of the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 5. That the commissioners for the appraisement of said lands shall be paid for their services at the rate of five dollars per day while actually employed, and their actual expenses; which sum, together with the cost of survey, and all other necessary incidental expenses of the execution of this act, shall be paid from the money realized by the sale of said lands. SEC. 6. That certified copies of the plats and field-notes of said lands when surveyed shall be prepared under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and kept in the land-office at Beatrice, Nebraska, to be used as other official plats and notes; and the register and the receiver shall be allowed such fees only for the sale of said lands as are now authorized by law in case of sales of public lands of the United States, to be paid out of the moneys arising from the sale thereof.

SEC. 7. That whenever the Sac and Fox of the Missouri tribe of Indians shall, in open council in the usual manner, express their consent thereto, the Secretary of the Interior shall be, and hereby is, authorized, in like manner and upon the same terms prescribed in the preceding sections of this act, to cause to be offered for sale a portion of their reservation