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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. LXI While these Indians have, to their credit, remained passive during . the past year, notwithstanding the failure of Congress to make the ap-propriation asked for, yet the facl remains that they are to be seriously injured in their industries and in their homes by this ~oute'm~lated improvement of the navigation of the Mississipl)iRiverin the construc-tion of these dams and reservoirs. This improvement is to be a public benefit that will inure solely to the United States, and ample cornpen-. sation for damages should be made by Congre8,s. I therefore renew the recommendation heretofore made, and ask that Congress be requested to take action in the matter.. TIMJ5ER SPOLIATION ON THE BED LAKE RESERVATION IN MINNESOTA. Unle$ssome moreeffective means be adopted than have hitherto been employed to prevent timber depredations on the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota, the valuable timber forests of that reservation will soon disappear without the Indians deriving the benefit therefrom to which they are justly entitled. The reservation situated iu the northern part of the State extends to the international boundary. It is remote fiom ' the ordinary routes of travel, anfi the tract where the motit raluablo timber is found, is more than 100 miles from the agency (White Earth) to which the reseryation is attached. Timber cutting aud logging opera-tions are carried on from both'sides of the interr~ationall ine, and the vast-extent of the timber zone renders it utterly impossible to protect the timber from wholesale theft. A bill was intioduced in. the 48th Congress (H. It. 4384) as a substi-tutelfor one previouslyintroduced (a R.546), which, among other things, provided for the appraisement and sale of the stumpage on said reser- , vation for the beuetit of the Indians. There should be some Drovision for tbe proteotion of this valuable timber against unlawful depreda-tions. NOBTHERN OHEYENNES IN MONTANA. By an Executive or~lerd ated November 26,1884, a tract of country ' emt of the Crow Reservation, in theTerritory.of Montana, was set apart for. the use and occupation of the Northern Cheyennes. These Indians consist of parties captured by the military in 187? and L'hostiles7' from the Pine Ridge Agency, who have been permitted to settle in the vicinity of the Tongue and Rosebud Rivers, in the southern part of Montana. The creation of this reservation excited much opposition among the settlers in the vicinity, in view of which, aud the further facts that many valid claims existed within the reservation and that it was ill-adapted to the requirements of the Indiaus, late Special Agent Ban-nister was instructed to investigate their condition and ascertain whether a reservation for them could be selected on the Rosebud, or whether they could be provided for in some other manner. In his report he recommends that the Executive order oreating the reser- |
