| OCR Text |
Show Indian reservations and the numerous inquiries received as to the application of its various provisivns. There are thousands of acres, worth millions of dollars, affected. by the law, and capital is already seeking this productive field for employment; and it is only by strict rules as to conveyance that these heirs can be protected against con-nivance and fraud. June 26, 1902, the Department approved certain rules which were to govern the sale of inherited lands, but subsequently they were found to be defective, and August 12 amended rules were approved and substituted. These amended rules were in operation until Octo-ber 4. Then it was decided that the ,appraisement and sale of the lands under sealed bids was desirahle, and the rules wereagain amended to that effect and, as approved on that date, are now in full force. The Department has also approved a blank form of deed so that con-veyances may be uniform, so far as possible. The right to pass title to the lands by will or deed of gift or in any other manner than that set out in the law and rules will be denied. Nothing but preliminary work, such as the distribution of copies of the rules and blank deeds and answering the many inquiries, has yet been performed. But few deeds have reached the Department, and the revision of the rules hrts prevented their approval or disapproval. It is thought this delay will prove an advantage, for it gives the heirs and their representatives time to consider whether the sale of their lands is desirable or not, and !giv;s them opportunity to become better acquainted with their righta, the value of their lands, and the purpose of the Department to secure the best returns possible for such as shall be sold. On the death of allottees now living their allotments will also become subject to sale, 80 that work under this law will be nearly continuous. It is therefore specially important to have the method of procedure fixed upon the hest possible basis. It now seems as if every praotica-ble safeguard coming within the scope of the Department's authority under the law had been thrown around the heirs in the sale of their lands; but the actual operations under these rules remain to be per-formed and they may call for further changes from time to time. Many intricate questions of heirship will arise, since that qhestion is to be determined under the laws of the several States and Territories in which the lands are situated, and in order that good titles may be secured great care will be necessary to see that these various laws are properly interpreted and strictly complied with. Umatills, Oregon.-The Umatilla surplus lands embrace a large tract. They include all lands of the reservation not iscluded within its new boundaries which are not allotted or required for allotments to the Indians and which were not sold at the appraised value at the public sale |
