OCR Text |
Show undelivered, giving the name of the patentee, the number of the patent, and the reasofis why the same have not been delivered. Eight hundred and four patents in favor of nonreservation Indians have been issued up to the present time, all of which have been trans-mitted to the proper local land officers for delivery. About one-third of the same have been delivered, and receipt! therefor returned to this office. Ofsaid 804 patents, 490 were in favor of 111dians of the Wintu, Hat Creek, Pitt River, Sonwas, and other tribes residing in the Red-ding, Cal., land district. Others were distributed in land districts indicated by local offices, as follows: Helena., Mont., 90; Ashland, Wis., 37; Independence, Cal.? 34; Cirson City, Nev., 31;'Vaucouver, Wash., 21., and Cceur dlAli?ne, Idaho, 15. The remainder were widely distributed, being for lands located in a doze11 or more States and Ter-ritories and twice that number of land districts. IRRIGATION: Crow Reservation.-A complete system of irrigation on this reservation is in course of construction under the supervision of Walter H. Graves, who is making satisfactory progress. Fort Peck and Blackfeet Reservations:-Construction of canals on these two reservations has been commenced with the intention of completing systems of irrigation sufficiently extensive to place ellough land under water for the needs of the Indians. Port Hall Reservation.-The Indian appropriatio~a~c t for the current year contains a clause directing the Secretary of the Interior to contract with responsible parties for the wnstruction of irrigating canals and the purchaseor securing of water supply onthis reservation, the expense of constructing said canals and of securing the water supply to be paid out of moneys belonging to the Fort Hall Indialis now in theTreasury and subject to the disposal of the Secretary of the Interior for the benefit of said Indians. The problem of securing a water supply for the Fort Hall Indians has been under consideration by this ,ofice for some years, hut the insu&ciency of water on the reservation, and the great cost of bring. ing it from outside the reservation, has rendered it impossible to adopt any plau the cost of which would be within the limits of the funds available from the general appropriation for irrigation on Indian reservations. As the Indians will have a large surplt~s of irrigahle lands after a complete systemof irrigation shall have been constructed, the expenditure of their present tribal funds for that purpose will nltimately result in placing a much larger amount to their credit. A proposition received from the Idaho Canal Company to furnish an ample supplyof water will shortly be submitted for your considera-tion. Navajo Reservation-My annual report for last year stated that recom-mendation had been made to the Department for the appointment of a |