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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 121 I In my last annual report it was stated that under iuutructions from this Office Agent Caldwell, of the Fort Hall Agency, had submitted a schedule of allotments to 90 Indians within the ceded tmt, and also a schedule of appraisements of improvements made by 23 Indian heads of families. With Department letter of December 6, 1901, those schedules of allotments and appraisemenh were retuined to this O5ce, accompanied by an opinion of the Assistant Attorney-General, dated December 4, 1901, in which it was held that only lands actually in the possession and occupancy of Indians within the ceded tract should be allotted, and that in no case could more than 320 acres be allotted to one family. This necessitated a revision of the allotments, which Agent Caldwell was instructed January 11, 1902, to make. March 14 he transmitted duplicate list of the reallotments made by him, containing the names of 79 instead of 90 persons, as on the original list. The eleven names dropped were all those of minor children who could not be allotted, apparently for the reason that the quantity of land which could be allotted to one family was restricted to 320 acres-that is, 80 acres each to four persons. No revision of the original schedule of appraisements was rendered necessary by reason of the reallotment. The aggregate value of the in~provemeuts, as stated in my last annual report, was $5,851.50. These improvements have been offered for sale by the General Land Office and two returns of such sales at public auction, aggregating 89,270, have been made by the local land officers at Blackfoot, Idaho. In these two cases the purchase of the improvements gave a preference . right to homestead the land. Several other tracts, with improvements, still remain unsold. They are within 5 miles of Pocatello, and the purchaser would therefore be required to pay at least $10 per acre for , the land, plus the appraised value of the improvements, and it is pre-sumed that in these cases the value of the laud would not warrant the payment of $10 per acre and the value of the improvements besides. If the General Land O5ce does not succeed in effecting all the sales in due time the O5ce is of the opinion that remedial legislation should be procured, in order that the Indians interested, who elected to aban-don their improvements and remove to the diminished reservation, may be protected an$ the terms of the agreement with them carried out in good faith. I INDIAN TERRITORY UNDER THE CURTIS ACT AND SUBSEQUENT LEGISLATION. -1 I ' / AGREEMENTS. Three agreements have been negotiated during the last fiscal year: One with the Cherokees, approved July 1,1902 (32 Stab., 716), rati-fied by them August 7, and proclaimed by the President August 12; one with the Choctaws and Chickasaws, approved July 1, 1902 (32 |
