Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs - 1906

Page 152

142 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF .INDIAN AFFAES. PUBLIC ROADS. My last annual report referred to the fact that the establishment of public highways had been provided for in the Cherokee and Creek agreements, but that legislation should be procured for their estab-lishment in the other three nations. Section 24 of the act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. L.,145), provides for establishing roads along section lines, two rods in width, in the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole nation$. Allottees, purchasers, and others must take title to the land subject to this provision, and if buildings or other improvements are damaged by the establishment of nuch roads the damages accruing prior to the inauguration "of a State government shall be determined under the direction of the Sec-retary of the Interior and be paid for from the funds of said tribes." It is made a misdemeanor to obstruct any public highway. All expenses incident to the establishment of roads thru the lands belong-ing to the Five Civilized Tribes, " including clerical hire, per diem, salary, and expenses of viewers, appraisers, and others, shall be paid nnder the direction of the Secretary of the Interior from the funds of the tribe or nation in which such public highways or roads are established." The Indian agent reports that @ addition to opening roads along section lines he has considered 127 petitions for the establishment of roads in the Creek and Cherokee nations elsewhere than along section lines, and that investigation has warranted the establishment of 14 such roads in the Creek Nation and 11 in the Cherokee Nation at a total cost to the nations of $610.70 and $426, respectively. ALLOT~~~ENTASN D PATENTS. The report of the commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes, 'dated August 4,1906, shows that at the close of the fiscal year the status of the allotmentwork in the different tribes was as follows: Total ................................................................... 1- - ~ .Creek Indians and freedmen whose enrollment has been approved, including children enrolled under act of March 3, 1905.