| OCR Text |
Show . - . ,. _ - .- . E .- . - - ,-< ~ . * - . . ~ . -. - . . . . -r-- - ~ ~. . . . - ~ - .. ~. . .* . . . . , . ~ , . . ~ , . ' > : , ~ . - . . . . . ~. ... , .. ~. . . . , , . . . . . REPO~T-O F TEE C O ~ S S I O N E IOLF ~I N~ IAEAF~F AIBS. 79 1 . , . .. , : 1 distribution of the entire sum. ' Nevertheless, November 30, 1891, 1 '' submitted the agreement as p&$ented; with a draft of a bill to ratify it . without modiiication, and on January ll,1892, it was transmitted to ~ -~ ! Congress by the Preiident. . . !Z'oni&wa R~wvation, 0kla.-The Toukawa agreement was concluded. October 21,1891. By it the Tonkawas ceded their reservation of about :. 90,710.89 acres'to the United States. gotments in several@ tothe. members of this kibe, seventy in all, had been complete? under the amended general allotment act. The agreement w n h e d these allot:. ments, and, inpart wmpenst+tion far the lands ceded,provjdedfor giving similar allotments to children born to members of the tribe between the date of the agreement and the date of. its ratification by Congrgs~. It also provided for giving rights in the tribe to those members of 0th.m ' Indian tribes who . were residing on the reservation and had been adophd by the Tonkawas; and alsa for the payment of $30,600 to the Indians as further compensation for the relinquishment of their rights ' in the reserv.ation. This agreement was discbssed'ib my report to the Department of December 8, 1891, with which I transmitted a draft of legislation look-ing to its ratification. This.was transmittea by the President to Con-gress Janusry 6,1892. Cherokee Outlet.-By far the most important agreement that has been ne'gotiated by the Cherokee Commission is that with the Cherokee Na- . tion fop the cession of its rights, title, and interest in the tract of coun-try knomas the "Cherokee Outlet" (sometimes improperly called LCCherokee Strip"). This agreement was negotiated &h comqission-hrs on the past of the Cherokee Nation December 19, 1891, and was -' ramed by an act of the Cherokee cqunoil appoved January 4,1892. -The negotiations were tedious and difficult because the tract of country involved was. large' and the Cherokees pl&d a high vdue upon it a d were determinednot to dispose of it 'at the price which the Government d k e d its full value. It was known to the Cherokees that for some time would-be settlers on the lands of the outlet had. been encampedin the muthern end of Kansas, and by every influence at their command had been urging the Government to open the country to settlementand to negotiate with the Cherokees afterward, and that , a bill for that':purpose had been introduced in Congress. But-this 1 .aaim for their lands and the threaC to forcibly open them. to settle-ment implied in pending legislation in Congress, instead of intimidat. ing the Indians and ?arcing them to conchde an agreement from fear of losing their land ivithout a promise of adequate compensation, only gave the lands greater value in their eyes. and made them hold more tenaciously to their determination not to sell for a lower rate than the price whioh they had set. An agreement, however, was finally ef-fected which is now under consideration by Congress,. |
