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Show 1 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 35 and as the lLBig Horn Hot Springs." The growing popularity of the springs on account of their curative properties was dwelt upon and it was urged that the Qovernment should secure;coutrol of the springs and thelands embracing them, in order that suitable facilities for their use could be provided and arrangements made for their proper conduct and control. The Department finally authorized negotiations with the Indians of the Shoshone reserve for the cession of a portiolr of their reservation embracing the springs, and on March 24,1896, charged Inspector James McLaughlin with the duty of conducting the negotiations, under instruc-tions prepmed by this office. The authority of law under which he was iustruc;ted to proceed was found in the general provision for nego-tiations with Indian tribes contained in the act approved March 3,1893 ' (27 Stats., 633), which appropriated the sum of $15,000 for the purpose; of that sum, $4,269.09 was still available. The lands in the viciuity of the.spriues, although very picturesque, are of little value, being broken, rugged, and arid. It was therefore decided to secure, if possible, the cession of a considerable tract, with a view to establishing a national park or reservation in connection with the springs, and the inspector was instructed to negotiate, should the Indians be found willing to cede, for a tract about 10 miles square, constituting the northeastern portion of the reservation, described as follows : Beginning at the northeeatem oorner of the said reservation, where Owl Creek empties into the Big Horn River; thence south 10 milea, following the eastern boundsryof the reservation; thence due weat 10 milea; thence due north to the middle of the channel of Owl Creek, which forms s portion of the northern bound-ary of the reservation; thence followiug the middle of the channel of said Owl Creek to the point of beginning. April 21, 1896, Inspector McLaughlin reached an agreemenc with the Indians, by the terms of which they ceded the tract just described, estimated to contain about 86 sections (55,010 acres). The price agreed to be paid was $60,000, $10,000 thereof to be in cash, and the remain-der in five equal annual installments of $10,000 each, to be expended in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior for the oivilizatiou, industrial edqcation, and subsistence of the Indians. Article I1 of the agreement was as follows: The lands oeded, sold, relinqniahed, and oonveyed to the United States by this agreement, sbsll be, and the s m e are hereby, set apart ae a national park or reser-vation, forever maerrring the said Big Horn Hot Springs for the use and benefit of the general poblic, the Indians to be %Illlowed to enjoy the advantages of the con-venienoea that msy be emoted thereat with the public generally. The agreement was submitted to the Department by this office May 5,1896, for transmission to Congress, accompanied by a draft of a bill providing for its ratification. It was not, bobever, ratitied by Congress until the last session, when it was agreed to by provisions contained |