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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 29 the purposes of agriculture or grazing than other portiot~s of the sur-rounding country. This is the case not only with Indian l~omes upon the public domain, but alyo with Indian reservations upon which they too often trespass for prospecting and grazing< I think it fitting to mention the fact that Hon. William H. Briuker, United States attorney for the district of Washington, has rendered this office and the Indians valuable assistance in these wntests, and pdrticnlarly in those initiated by the Northern Pacific Railroad Com-pany. This company has recently made a most determined and per-sistent effort to contest the claims of Indians to lands within its grant or indemnity limit, no matter how long the Indiaus may have been in occupancy and possession, nor what priority of rights they may have. With the consent of the Department, thecompany has the right under the law to exchange lands held by Indian occupants, and to take other lands in lieu thereof; but in many cases it has declined to do so. OPENING OF CEDED LANDS. The ceded lands within the Nez Perc6s Reservation in Idaho were opened to settlement November 18, 1895, by proclamation of the President, dated November 8,1895. IRRIGATION. Crow Reservation, Mont.-In a report dated September 1,1896, Super-intendent Graves gives the following summary of the work on this reservation, which was commenced in May, 1891 (see Annual Report for that year, p. 50): Since I have been in charge, in the constrnotion of these dituhes, we have exca-vated and handled nearly 800,000 cnbio yards of earth, gravel, and rock. We have oonatmoted more than 100 miles of ditch channel, and water is flowing through most, if not all, of this ohannel at the present time, covering md supplying with irrigation from 20,000 to 25,000 acres of land. About 65 per cent of the work has been done by the Ind~ans,a nd from 10 per cent to 15 per cent of it by the.white8 intermarried with them. Tho remainder has been done by skilled white labor. We have framed and plaasd in strnctnres of various sorts over 300,000 feet of lumber an? have laid 850 cubic yards of cement masonry in foundations, retaining-walls, etc. All of these ditches have been made unuans,lly strong and durable. I feel certain that every dollar expended has an equivalent in useful and enduring stnlotures, whioh exist to declare for themselves. Since the commencement we have drawn from the funds set apart for this work $257,599. Of this amount $203,712 has been expended for labor and $26,657 for material and transportation of same. Forage and other expense hsre cost about $11,250, and we have on hand at the present time about $8,000, which, however, will be all expended before the close of the present month is payment of wages, material, forage, and other necessary expensen in oollnection with the work now in course of construction. The work planned for the future is the completion of the East Big Horn ditch. Nothing beyond this is contemplated no far as I am informed. |