Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs - 1887

Page 60

LVI REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN APFAlRS. Also this court should take cognizance of an assault upon orattempt to kill an Indian policeman when he is not engaged in the performance of his lawful duty, provided such attack springs from malice aroused by a previo118 performance of dnty. SURPLUS LANDS IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY. Sir!% the submission of my last report nothing has taken place to change materially tile status of the question then discussed as to what shall be done with the surplus lands in the Indian Territory. Two cir. cumstauces, however, may nltimately have some important bearing on the mat,ter. One is tho fact that a railroad has been constructed pen-etrating thc very hr.art of the Oklahoma country, and that other pro-posed railroads ore being pushed forward; the other is the passage of the allotment act, which,if pot into execution westof 980, wonld fin all^, determine the permanent abode of the tribes now occupyyiug that sec: tion of the Indian Territory. Recognizing the great interest felt upon this subject, when I came into office I ventured to offer the following idea thereon by way of sup gestion rather than positive recommendation : If certain area of that Territory are not to be heldiu trnet by the United States for the future settlement of friendly Indians, then the palioy of removing eastward the Clneyennes and Arapahoes, the Wichitas and the Kiowas and Comanohe8, is pre-sented far consideration. If any part of the Indian Territory is to be opened to home-stestl entry and settlement, it should be the vestern part, running a line north and ~011thth rough the Territory, and removing all Indians west of that line to lands 1 p in& east of #aid line. Tllna the Indians wonld he upon lands better adapted to their sopport, and thqv would also he sdjaesnt to each other a;nd in a more compact form. As Congress took no action, hut continued to agitate the suhject, and as the public discussion of it grew in interest throughout the rountry, I considered it my dnty to refer to the subject again, and did so in my report for 1886, from which I make the following extracts : The usst surplnsqp of l%nd in the Indian Territory, muclt of it, too, not sorpassea angwhere'for fertility and varsatility'of production, whioh can never beutilized by t,he Indians now within its borders nor by their descendants (for it is not probable thot there will be any material increase in numbers of Indian population), must sooner cnr later be disposed of by Congress some way or other. Ware all the Indims of the United States to be upmoted and transplanted to this Te&itory, all living In-dians, including those now resident there, conld hrwe 158h acres each. This is esti-msting the whole Indian population of the United States, exclnding Alasl<a, at 280,000. As the Indian T e r r i t o h~a s an area of 64,222 square miles, or about Wn acres for eacb' person now in the Territory, of course the problem presents itself for public oonaifieration, Whet diaposition or division of the Iudisn Territory can be jnstly, fairly, scceptably, and harmoniously made B The Kiowa and Comanches, the Wiahitss and the Cheyeunes sod Arapshoes, ore the only tribes in the Indian Territory located west of longitude W. The reserra-tion of the Cheyennes snd Arap8lloes is simply set aside by Exeadivo onier, and the Indians aocnpying thia t.rmt do not hold it hy the same tenure with which the Indi- 8na in other part8 of the Indian Territory possess their reserves.