Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 31.djvu/729

 thousand acres of land as hereinafter provided for, and subject to the conditions hereinafter imposed, and for the considerations hereinafter mentioned, the said Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache Indians hereby cede, convey, transfer, relinquish, and surrender, forever and absolutely, without any reservation whatever, express or implied, all their claim, title, and interest, of every kind and character, in and to the lands embraced in the following-described tract of country in the Indian Territory to wit: Commencing at a point where the Washita River crosses the ninety-eiglhth meridian west from Greenwich; thence up the Washita River, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to a point thirty miles, by river, west of Fort Cobb, as now established; thence due west to the north fork of Red River, provided said line strikes said east of the one·hundredth meridian of west longitude; if not, then only to said meridian line, and thence due south, on said meridian line, to the said north fork of Red River; thence down said north fork, in the middle of the main channel thereof, from the point where it may be first intersected by the lines above described, to the main Red River; thence down said Red River, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to its intersection with the ninety-eighth meridian of longitude west from Greenwich; thence north, on said meridian line, to the place of beginning.

"Out of the lands ceded, conveyed, transferred, relinquished, and a surrendered by Article I hereof, and in part consideration for the cession thereof, it is agreed by the United States that each member of said Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache tribes of Indians over the age of eighteen (18) years shall have the right to select for himself or herself one hundred and sixty (160) acres of land to be held and owned in severalty, to conform to the legal surveys in boundary; and that the father, or, if he he dead, the mother, if members of either of said tribe of Indians, shall have the right to select a like amount of land for each of his or her children under the age of eighteen (18) years; and that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, or some one by him appointed for the purpose, shall select a like amount of land for each orphan child belonging to either of said tribes under the age of eighteen (18) years.

"That in addition to the allotment of lands to said Indians as provided for in this agreement, the Secretary of the Interior shall set aside for the use in common for said Indian tribes four hundred and eighty thousand acres of grazing lands, to be selected by the Secretary of the Interior, either in one or more tracts as will best subserve the interest of said Indians. It is hereby further expressly agreed that no person shall have the right to make his or her selection of land in any part of said reservation that is now used or occupied for military, agency, school, school-farm, religious, or other public uses or in sections sixteen (16) and thirty-six (36) in each Congressional township, except in cases where any Comanche, Kiowa, or Apache Indian has heretofore made improvements upon and now uses and occupies a part of said sections sixteen (16) and thirty-six (36), such Indian may make his or her selection within the boundaries so prescribed so as to include his or her improvements. It is further agreed that wherever in said reservation any Indian, entitled to take lands in severalty hereunder, has made improvements, and now uses and occupies the land embracing such improvements, such Indian shall have the undisputed right to make his or her selection within the area above provided for allotments, so as to include his or her said improvements.