Page:1887 Compiled Laws of Dakota Territory.pdf/54

Rh use, the president of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized, whenever in his opinion any reservation or any part thereof of such Indians is advantageous for agricultural and grazing purposes, to cause said reservation, or any part thereof, to be surveyed, or resurveyed if necessary, and to allot the lands in said reservation in severalty to any Indian located thereon in quantities as follows:

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

To each single person over eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section;

To each orphan child under eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section; and,

To each other single person under eighteen years now living, or who may be born prior to the date of the order of the president directing an allotment of the lands embraced in any reservation, one-sixteenth of a section; provided, that in case there is not sufficient land in any of said 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 provisions of this act; and provided further, that where the treaty or act of congress setting apart such reservation provides for the allotment of lands in severalty in quantities in excess of those herein provided, the president, in making allotments upon such reservation, shall allot the lands to each individual Indian belonging thereon in quantity as specified in such treaty or act; and provided further, that when the lands allotted are only valuable for grazing purposes, an additional allotment of such grazing lands, in quantities as above provided, shall be made to each individual.

§ [104.] 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 four years after the president shall direct that 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.

§ [105.] 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.