Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1873.djvu/65

Rh fighting, were subdued by the military, and Captain Jack and three of his principal men were tried by court-martial and executed. The remnant of this Modoc band has been transferred to the Indian Territory, and located for the present on the Quapaw Indian reservation, where they have gladly availed themselves of the privilege of putting their children in school, and have entered upon industrial life with such readiness and good will as to warrant the conclusion that if these Indians could have had this opportunity of gaining their support out of soil upon which an ordinary white man could get a living, and had received just treatment, there would have been no cause of trouble with them. The report of the commission, prepared by the surviving member, A. B. Meacham, is herewith submitted.

By a postscript to the treaty concluded with the Arapahoe and Cheyenne Indians February 18, 1861, these Indians gave to Robert Bent and Jack Smith 640 acres of land each, and requested the Government to confirm said gifts to said parties. No provision, however, for the issue of patents to these persons is contained in the treaty; and even the postscript cannot be considered as a grant in the absence of legislation. It is therefore recommended that the gifts be confirmed and the issue of patents authorized by act of Congress, in order that the wishes of the Indians may be carried out.

These lands having been appraised under the act of May 8, 1872, and a sale of those embraced in the "diminished reserve" having been attempted, but not enough having been sold to defray the expenses of the offering, the Department decided to set aside the appraisement and have a new one made. A commission having been appointed for this purpose, after reaching the lands the chairman reported that he did not deem the first appraisement too high. It was restored, and legislation by Congress is recommended as follows: That bona-fide settlers be allowed to purchase the same at the Topeka land-office, making payment of one-fourth of the appraised value at the date of settlement, and the remainder in three equal annual installments, giving security for the deferred payments.

An act of Congress approved March 3, 1873, authorized negotiations with the Crow Indians for the cession of their reservation, or a portion thereof, in Montana, and the establishment of a smaller reservation for them. The necessity for such negotiation was found in the fact that the recent discovery of gold on the reservation had drawn many white persons there, with whom there was likely to be trouble; also in the tact that the Northern Pacific Railroad would likely pass through a portion of the reservation; whereas the policy is to have the reservations located at a distance from the public lines of travel. An agreement was concluded with said Indians by Special Commissioner Felix R. Brunot, chairman Board of Indian Commissioners, James Wright and E.