OCR Text |
Show LXVIII REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF IKDIAN AFFAIRS. UTES. By a clause in the Indian 'ppropriation act approved March 1,1883 (22 StaL, 4491, the Ute Commission, appointed under the act of June 15,1880 (21 Stat., 200), was abolished, to take effect March 15, 1883. At the same time, however, provisiou was made for continuing the work l~eretoforcp erformed by said Commiusioii, and a special agent of the De-partment is now engaged thereat, haviug taken np the work where the Uommission left o& A large irrigating ditch has been in process of construction during the summer on the Uncompal~greR eservation, and the surveys necessary to the allotment of lands in severalty, as pro-vided in the agreement, have also been in progress, and are now very nearly completed. The surveys for the Southern Utes hare bean made and returned in full to the General Laud Osee, and paid for by this ofice. I had the honor to recommend, in report to the Department dated January 5 last, that the Ute removal and settlement fund of $350,000 (section 9, act Juue 15, 1880) be reimbursed certain sums of iuouey taken therefrom to pay the cost.of the surreys made on Grand River, in Colorado, and to pay for the value of improveluel~tso f white settlers found withiu the present Uncompahgre Reservation in Utah. The fdcts in the case are substantially as follows: By the agreement made with the Confederated Bands of Utes, ac-cepted and ratilied by the act of June 15,1880 (21 Stat.., l99), it was agreed that the Uneompahgres should remove to and settle upou agri-cultural lands on Grand River, near the mouth of the Gmmi~onR iver, in Colorado, if a sufficient quantity of agricultural land could be four~d there; if not, then upon such other anoccupied agricultural lands aa might be found in that vicinity and in the Territory of Utah. It was supposed at the time that the country in the neighborhood of the confluence of the Grand and Quunisou Rivers would afford a suffi-cient quantity of agricultural lands for the setttemeut of the Uncom-pahgres in accordauce with the terms of the agreemeut, and as a nec-esiary step to their removal and settlement there, acontraet was entered illto for surveying the agricultural lands in that 1oc.ality. Surveys had been made amounting to $21,576.35, wheu it was ascertained that a suf-ficient quantity of sgricultural lands could not be found there; whem-upon the surveys were discontinued, and instead of settling the Indians there, they were removed to Utah Territory, as provided in the agree-ment. The Indians were in no wise benefited by these surveys, and they ought not to bear the expenae incurred in making them. Had they been settled there, the cost of the necessary surveys would very prop-erly come out of the removal fund, and it was of course iu anticipation of their being settled there that the contract for the survey was entered into. As it is, tbe In(1ians derived no benefit from the work done, an11 yet the covt has been paid out of their removal and set'tlement fund. |