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Show REPORT OF THE COM3fISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 51 TAXATION BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES. On property of licenserl tmderu c ~ ? ~Gr lo sern+i~ene: ?~~plo!/odolbs I+bdia+& reservntions.-In a reiort of January 30, 1893, Samnel L. Patrick, United States Indian agent, Sac and Fox Agency, Okla., asked for instructions on the question whether the Territorial authorities could come upon the Sac and Fox Reservation and assess and collect, taxes from lipeused traders and Government einploy6s 'residing and doing business and employed on snch reservation, stating that IIeokuk, who is an Indian and a licensed trader, ~vished to linow his status with respect to that quest,ion. Before answering the question propounded, the office instructed Agent Patrick, Fehroary 20, 1803, to report 'whether taxes had been assessed and collected, or attempt made to assess and coliect them, on the prol~ertyo f the parties referred to in his letter; and,if so, to ssate specifically ITIIOSCan d what property on the reservation had been so taxed, etc. In reply, Mr. Patrick reportctl: March 2, 1893, that the specific case of taxation ou the reservation involving property of licellscd traders. was that of Keolrul;, rvl~ow as a licensed trader doing b~isinesso n the quarter section of land upon which the agency is looateil; that his buildiiigs ai~clim provements were erected vit,h fnilcls received fi.om the Goveriiment as aiinuitirs, sarplas-land funds; etc.; that the township assessor requested him to list his property on the reservation, which he refused to do uutil thr legal status of the questioo was known; and that lie was assessed at thc sum of $2,000, which included his build-ings, stock ill trade, and other property. As to the taxation of Gov-ernment employCs on the reservations he reported that thc agency and school employPs had been taxed on all furniture in their rooms, bed-ding, orna~nentsw, atches, etc. By an agreement which mas ratified by Congress February 13, 1891 (26 Stat., 740), the Sac and Fox Indians, occnpying a reservation mithin the Territory of Oklahoma, agreed to t,alre allotlnents in severalty, and to cede the s u r ~ l u sla nds of their reservation to the United States, reserving. liowever, G40 acres for school aud school farm, and 160 acres for Government agency purposes. The 640 acres reserved for school and school farm are located in sections l5,16, and 22, a i ~adr e contigoous to the quarter section reserved for agency purposes, which is the SE. & of sec. 21, T. 14 N., R. 6 E., a tract reserved by the following language, which appears in article 1 of the agreement above referred to, viz: Provided, homeccr, That the quarter section of land on vhich is now looated the Sao ana Fox Agency shall not pas8 to the United States bythis cession, conveyance, transfer, surrender, and relinquishment, but shall remain the property of saia Sac and FOX Nation to the full extent that it is ?ON the property of said nation, snhjeot only to the rightsof theUnitedStates therein byreason of aaid agency &ing located thereon, end subjeot to the rights, legd and equitnhle, of thosepersous that are now located thereon. |