Page:Looters of the Public Domain.djvu/476



Another important epoch in history was observed in the next step in the proceedings when Congress ratified this unfair bargain on the anniversary of the birth of Napoleon Bonaparte—August 15, 1894—so it has been a sort of milestone proposition all the way through, as if some mystical power had a hand in branding human memory with the impress of perfidy. At high noon on July 25, 1895, the reservation was thrown open by Executive proclamation. By Act of Congress of August 15, 1894 (28 Stats. 326) the treaty had been ratified, and the same act contained the following provision for the disposition of the lands:

""The mineral land shall be disposed of under tho laws applicable thereto, and the balance of the land so ceded shall be disposed of until further provided by law under the townsite law and under the provisions of the homestead law; Provided, however, that each settler, under and in accordance with the provisions of said homestead laws shall, at the time of making his original entry, pay the sum of fifty cents per acre in addition to the fees now required by law, and at the time of making final proof shall pay the further sum of one dollar per acre, final proof to be made within five years from the date of entry, and three years' actual residence on the land shall be established by such evidence as is now required in homestead proofs as a prerequisite to title or patent.""

This Act has not been changed in any particular, except that the payment of $1.50 an acre by the settler was dispensed with by the Act of Congress of May 17, 1900 (31 Stats., 179).

While these lands have been thrown open for settlement for nearly fourteen years, many of the townships were unsurveyed at the date of the proclamation. Official surveys have been made from time to time ever since, so that at the present time only one whole township and portions of two others remain unsurveyed. Page 470