Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 30.djvu/932

 894 FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ons. 207, 208. 1899. southwest quarter of the northwest quarter, and the west half of the southwest quarter of section twenty-two, in township seventeen, north of range two east, be, and the same hereby are, yvithdrawu from entry and sale, and the Secretary of the Interior is here y authorized to cause mmm. a patent therefor to be issued unto the State of Wisconsin: Provided, “‘Y“‘°“‘· however, That said State shall pa to the United States therefor at the y 7 _ rate of. one and twenty-five one-hundredths dollars per acre: And prohofgmzgggg °*’ vided, further, That said State shall first procure from all claimants or ` persons who may have filed or made homestead entries or other claims on or to said premises, or any part thereof, proper relinquishments of all their claims thereto and cause the same to be filed with the Secret or ui 1 te ‘ ’ ary e n r1or. Approved, February 27, 1899. February 27.1899- CHAP. 208.-An Act For the relief of the Fourth Arkansas Mounted Infantry. Pr¤¤¤¤l>i¤· Whereas during the latter part of eighteen hundred and sixty-three and the early part of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, under authority of Major-General Frederick Steele dated October twenty-third eighteen hundred and sixty-three, in northwestern Arkansas, severabhundred men were recruited in Arkansas for the United States Army, and organized the Fourth Arkansas Mounted Infantry Volunteers, under the command of Elisha Baxter colonel commanding and were put into active service in Arkansas with other United Stateh soldiers there, and were furnished arms, ammunition, and uniforms by the United States Governmsng, ang participated in several battles, and lost a number of men iu ki e an wounded; and Whereas said regiment was disbanded in June eighteen hundred and sixty-four, at Devall Bluff, Arkansas, without,having been actually mustered into the service of the United States, and most of the members thereof then enlisted in other United States regiments, having then served as members of the said Fourth Arkansas Mounted Infantry for a period of from six to eight months; and Whereas on account of never having been mustered into the Army ot the United States the names of the members of said regiment do not appear on the rolls of the Army, and the members of said regiment have never received any pay for said services; and Whereas Congress, by joint resolution approved March eighteenth eighteen hundred and seventy, authorized the War Department to pay such claims as were satisfactorily proven, but, through the avarice of claims agents or others, rolls of the members of said regiment were made up largely in excess of the actual membership of said regiment, and this without the knowledge or fault of the actual members thereof, wlémhxlgld thp;Var Department to refuse to make any payment thereon , ; a n \\'hereas there remain about one hundred members of said re iment now old and decrepit,and nearly all in destitute circumstances, tg whoni thegiay go lpng due them ifflom ghe Government would be a great relief in ieir ec ming years: ere ore He it enacted by the Sena te and Hbuse of Representatives of the Uni ted Hf32m a:‘,!j_=:_*;*:= Strétes o/'dwlgerioa in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War be, nnmsgmaq¤mnn.syT an is here y, authorized and directed to appoint and detail a comm;;}Z;5_"‘“"" "*· ““‘ petent and experienced officer of the United States Army as referee, who shall have authority to administer oaths, who shall give notice of ' the times and places of taking testimony in the State of Arkansas or elsewhere, if necessary, th at claimants and their witnesses may appear before him, and shall carefully examine into the facts and take proof upon the claims for service of the members of the Fourth Arkansas Mounted Infantry, and return the same, together with his report thereon, to the Secretary of War; and that the Secretary of Weir is hereby directed to pay such claims to the members of said regiment,