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Show he wished to make himself secure in his locatioll for a business place as quickly as possible, in order "to get the start of all other placers." March 20, 1896, this office received a telegram from Acting Indian Agent Bubb stating that many complaints were being received from Indians that placer claims were being located on their farms, and that he was satisfied the matter should be looked into promptly. Marc11 21,1896, the office laid all the facts before the Department, and the opinion was 'expressed that the rights of the Indians were being invaded; that it was necessary that prompt steps should be taken to protect them against entries for other than mineral purposes; and that such protection could be afforded only by prompt actiol~o n the part of the General Land Office in confining entries strictly to the provisions of the law. To accomplish this it was recommended that. the Commissioner of the General Lalid Office be directed to send a special agent of that office at once to the locality in question to ascer-tain what landa are mineral in character and subject to entry, with full instructions to prevent any and all lands claimed by Indians which are agricultural or grazing in character and upon which they have improvements from being located upon and entered by white settlers. Special Agent T. D. Rockwell, of that office, was accordingly sent out. July 7,1896, he submitted a detailed report to the Commissionerof the General Land Office, from which it appears that none of'the lands on the northern portion of the reservation claimed and improved by Indians contain mineralsin such quantities that they can be profitably mined, ' and thatnone of them can beclassed asminerallands. Acting upon that report the Commissioner, August 5, 1896, instructed the register and receiver of the United States 1a.nd office at.Spokane, Wash., to acoept no applications to make mineral entries of any agricultural or grazing laud on the Oolville reservation which is claimed by Indains upon which they have improvements, and to exercise the greatest care to protect Indian occupants of lands in that reservation. This office duly advised the Indian agent of the result of the inves-tigations by the General Land Office and of the action taken to protect the Indians, and he was instructed to adopt such measures as might be necessary to prevent the whites from trespassing upon the lands claimed and improved by Indians, and if necessary, to cooperate with the local land officers and the Indians in procuring and filing such ktimouy as might be required for the protection of the Indian claimants. CLAIMS OF SETTLERS ON CROW CREEK AND WINNE-BAG0 RESERVATIONS, S. DAE. The claims of settlers who located on the Crow Creek and Winne-bago reservations in South Dakota in the spring of 1885,. filed in accordance with the provisions of the act of March 1895 (.@&at. L., 899), have all been investigated and settled. |
