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Show REPORT OF THE COMWSSIONER 0s INDIAN AFFAIRS. 59 ber of others relinquishments have been obtained from the allotteen with a view to making other allotments in lieu. Special Alloting Agent George'A. Keepers, who had been furloughed and sent to his home when my last annual report was submitted, was returned to duty January 15,1901, Congress having made a deficiency appropriation for allotment work. He was instructed to proceed to The Dalles, Oreg., land district for the purpose of assisting and mak-ing allotments to nonreservation Indians in that vicinity. In the light of the former experience of this otiiee in connection witti such allot-ments he was cautioned to exercise the utmost care in making fur-ther allotments and to consider Indian character, settlement, and suitability of the land as an Indian home, etc. February 27, Mr. Keepers reported that there were from 600 to 800 nonreservation Indians in Klickitat County, Wash., and he esti-mated that in the two land districts of The Dalles, Oreg., and IValla Walla, Wash., there were more than 1,000 Indians entitled to allot-ments. All were anxious to get lands, and in Mr. Keepers's opinion the sooner they are allotted the easier and better it will be, as suitable lands are already difficult to find. In view of the rapid influx of set-tlers into that locality the imporbnce of securing lands in severalty for these Indians, where suitable lands can yet be found and where there is assurance that the individual Indian will makea home for himself thereon, can scarcely be overestimated. Up to September 21 last Mr. Keepers had made 83 allotments. It is presumed that Mr. Casson has made some in the Suvanville dis-trict in lieu of canceled and relinquished allotments, but the number has not been reported by him. No allotments to nonreservation Indians have been approved by the Department, and no trust patents for such allotments have been issued during the period covered by this report. Cancellation of Trust Patent-Case of Lizzie Bergen.-September 25, 1900 (30 2. D., p. 258), the assistant attorney-general for this Depart-ment rendered an opinion in the case of Lizzie Bergen, holding that the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior over land allotted to an Indian does not cease upon the issuance of the first or trust patent, bnt that until the secondor final patent has been issued he has authority to investigate and determine as to the legality of any Indian allotment and to cancel the trust patent based upon an allotment erroneously allowed. Lizzie Bergen, the minor child of Susan Bergen, was a nonreserva-tion allottee in the Ashland, Wis., land district, under the provisions of the general allotment act as amended. She was one of a con-siderable number of such cases in the timbered section of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, in whieh it was charged that the entry was |
