OCR Text |
Show 60 COM?~IBBIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. action, instituted a suit in the United States circuit court praying for the cancellation of the patent issued to the defendant and the allotment of the lands to herself. The manterin chancery, theunited States circuit court, and the United States circuit court of appeals held that she was entitled to the lands chimed. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, but on recommendation of the Department of Justice, acquiesced in by this Office and the Depart-ment, the case was dismissed. The contest therefore between Mrs. Smith and He yu tse mil kin, carried on for a long time, has finally been terminated in Mrs. Smith's favor. During the past year the work of overhauling and investigating nonreservation allotments has been prosecuted without interruption by Special Allotting Agent William E. Casson in the Carson City, Nev., and Roseburg, Oreg., land districts, while Special Allotting Agent George A. Keepers has continued allotment work in the Columbia River Valley, Washington and Oregon, during a portion of the year. Carson City district, Bev.-The field work of investigating and snr-veying the allotments to Indians in the Carson City land district was completed during the past winter,. and January 27, 1904, Special Allotting Agent Casson and Special Agent H. C. Cullom, jr., of the General Land Office, submitted their joint report respecting the work accomplished. They found that these allotments embrace for the most part arid lands of such a character that it is impossible for the allottees to reside upon them or to make a living out of them. They contain, however, some pine nut trees, from which the Indians pro-cure a large portion of their minter's food supply, and the agents reported that if the allotments were canceled at the present time the - greater part of the growing pine nut trees would be stolen; whereas I if the allotments were allowed to stand for the time being the Indians I would watch the timber, and report any stealings that might take place, I thus affording protection to the Government lands. As stated in my annual report for last year,-it is proposed to give these Indians, now holding worthless or unsuitable lands on the public domain in the Carson City land district, allotments of five or ten acres each within the irrigation system now being constructed by the Government on the Truckee River. Legislation to accomplish this object will have to he enacted, and it is proposed to take steps to pro-cure the same during the next session of Congress. Fort McDermitt Military Reservation.-In pursuance of Department authority, dated August 8,1903, and under his instructions, dated Sep-tember 21,1903, Mr. Casson completed last fall the work of reallotting |