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Show XVI REPORT OF THE COMMISSIOSER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS; and the Hississippi, under the provisions of the tlrird article of fha t,reats of September 30,1854 (10 Stat., 1110), on the La Pointe or Bad River Reservation, thirtyfour, aud on the Lac Court d'oreilles Reserva. tion, eighteen; to the Wiunebagoes, nnder the fourth section of the act of Fcbrunrx 21, 1863 (12 Stat., 6Ci8), four; to the Kicka.l>oos, under the provisions of the third article of the treaty of June "8, 186% (13 Stat., G24), elere11 ; and to the Sisseton and Wahpeton bauds of Sioux, under the fifth article of the treaty of February 19,1867 (16 Stat., 505j, n~ne; making the total number of certificates and patents issued one hun. (Ired and forty-six. Fifty Santee Sioux have made homestead entries nnder the concluding paragraph of the sixth article of the treaty with ' the Sioux Indians, concluded April 29,1868 (15 Stat., 635). Allotments , have also been made by the agents on the Nisqually, Bquaxin, Bad River, and Lac Court d'oreilles Reservations, the schedules of which hs.ve been returned for correction. As to the utility and desirability of allotting lands in severalty to the Indians and giving them valid titles thereto, I can oiily reiterate yvhat bas been said in my preceding reports. In no Case where allotments hare been made and the titles secured, with proper restrictions, have any other than the best results followed. I shall, therefore, adherc to the policy of a,llotting lands wherever the sanie can legally be done and tho condition of the Indians is such as to warrant it. One of the. principal obstacles in the way of making allotments, is the fact that there arc no appropriations available for the survey of In-dian reservations. In maw cases allotments are authorized by treaty on reserratious which have never been surveyed, and in other cases on reservations where the lines and monuments of the surrey have become obliterated. In the latter cases I have, where practicable, authori~d the eu~ploymenot f survexors to rc.run and re.mark the lines, payiug for the worlc o11t of the appropriatioos for empioy6s. Your attention is called to the importance of t.his matter in another portion of this report. The agent a t the Fort Berthold Agency reports that the Indians under his charge are anxious to talte allotments, and that it would be greit.ly to their advantage to do so. There being no law nor treat^ authorizing allotments to these Indians, it. is my intention to prepare and submit for transmission to Congress at its next session, subject to your approval, a bill granting such authority. At thelast session of Uongress a, bill was submitted increasing the allotments to the Nez Pcrc6s in Idaho, and the Willamette Indians on the Grande Ronde Reservation, from twenty acres as provided for in t,he l r e a t ~w ith the Nez PercBs, and from the graduated quantity pry rided for in the treaty with the Willamette Indians, to one hundred and sixty acres for each Indian entitled to an allotment under the treaties. No action was taken by Congress. As the quantity of land in each of these reservations is more than suejcicnt to give tho a~nount recommended, and the Indians are desirous of having the quantity in- |
