OCR Text |
Show F ERRONEOUS SURVEY OF DEVIL'S LAKE BESERVATION. . , By the fourth article of the treaty of February 19, 1868, between the United States and the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians (15 Stat., 505), the boundarie~o f the Devil's Lake Res-ervation are described as follows : Beginning at the most easterly poiut of Devil's Lake; thence along the waters of said lake to the m%swt eaterly point of same ; thenoe on s direct line to the nearest $ , point on the Cheyenne River; thence down the said river to a point opposite the i o ~ e ran dof Aspen Islaud; and thenoo on s. direct line to the place of beginning. 1 The present lines were run in 1875, and their correctness was not , , questioned until 1883, when the agent discovered and reported to this ofice that the western boundary line did not touch the said river at the nearest place from the most westerly poiut of Devil's Lake. The matter was referred to the General Land Office for examination, and June 30, 1873, the Commissioner informed 'the Department that he had directed the surveyor general of Dakota to let a contract for certain surveys, to ascertain whether L' the west end of Devil's Lake was nearer to some other point on the Cheyenue than the point &xed by Bates in 1876, and if so, to find the nearest point, and establish a new \vest boundary of the reservation, and close the public surveys upou it. By departroental communication dated Joly 2, 1853, the General Laud Office was requested to take no steps looking to the change of the mestern boundary as then established until a careful examinrttion had been made and all the facts reported to the Department. September 11, 1883, the General Land Offlce reported that examina-tion and surrey had developed the fact that the western bouudary line as origii~ally established by Deputy 0. H. Bates did not strike the Ohe~er~uReiv er at the nearest point by 21 miles, nor so near as i t would if it had been run ou a ditterent course; and submitted the case to the ; Department for decisiou as to whether the line should stand. September 18, 1883, the Department held that no change would be mad4 in the western lir~ea s establivhed in 1875, for the reason that a, large numher of settlers had iu good faith gone upon the lands lying west of the said line and acquired rights thereon, believing them to be a part of the public domain. By the error in the survey of 1875, a reservation was established which cont;bined 62,000 acres less than that provided in the treaty, and, had the points named in the treaty been followed by the snrverors, no ques-tion would have arisen. The whole subject has been rei3xamined by this offlce, and March 29, 1890, a report was sulmitted, with the recommendation that as the United States had parted with the title to alarge portion of the tract in question, so tliat it could not be added to the reservation, some wtion |