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Show 7 a -;.' c ^3 »;-rx. '" . . Z" nvwonvN am iv Q30"0^!^ teetao* Yi'9 te'te.^V^^os. skVec x^n &r<^d psnge* ,', tr . ii, la WALTER OMOYLE ERNEST X.. WILKINSON RALPH P. WANLASS CLINTON D.VERNON JOHN W. ORAOUN CO WIN C DUNCHARD MOYLE & "WILKINSON ^.iiortu^s $c <&&uxisisUxrt& si 3£aix_ F.I »m EAKLE BUILDINO May 13, 1939 CABLE ADDRESS "Mownj." "WASHINGTON, D. C V Hon. William Zimmerman, Jr. Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs Department of the Interior Washington, D. C. Re: Southern Utes Dear Mr. Zimmerman: In your letter of May 2, 1939, you asked for my views concerning the feasibility of working out an equitable division of the funds of the Confederated Bands of Ute /Indians of Utah and Colorado, prior to the institution of the suits in behalf of those Indians under their recent jurisdictional act. y. When I visited the Indians at Port Duchesne and also at Ignacio and at Towoac last summer, I informed their leaders at all three places of the possible conflict in the distribution of any judgment they may receive. It was definitely understood, however, that my function would be to obtain a judgment for the Indians if possible without respect to that distribution, and that the Indians themselves would attempt in advance thereof to get together on some equitable division. In this connection I told them that I thought the Commissioner of Indian Affairs would probably acquiesce in any reasonable division they agreed upon. As attorney for all three bands in their suits against the government, I can hardly, as you will readily understand, take the side of one band against the others. Certainly, however, I will have no objection to their agreeing upon some plan themselves, and I should not object if the Commissioner of Indian Affairs saw fit to encourage the working out of some agreement. I do not, however, believe that we should postpone the institution of suit until that agreement is worked out, because it will take long enough after suit is filed for the litigation to terminate. In fact, we have the petition in |
