OCR Text |
Show COMMISSIONER INDIAN AFFAIRS. 61 fiscal year 1914 partially removed this impediment, by an appro-priation of $30,000, $40,000 of which was available for use during the past year in the payment of salaries of examiners of inheritance, and necessary clerical help, at some of the larger Indian reserva-tions, namely: Uintah and Ouray, Utah; Shoshone, Wyo.; Crow and Flathead, Mont.; Jicarilla, N. Mex.; Cantonment, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Iiioma, Pawnee, Seger, and Shawnee, in Oldnhoma; Klamath, Umatilla, and Warm Springs, in Oregon; Cheyenne River and Sisseton, in South Dakota; and Cushman and Yaliima, in Wash-ington. Through this expenditure, the work has been brought cur-rent at Uintah and Ouray, Jicarilla, Seger, Umatilla, Flathead, and Cushman. The remaining $10,000 was used for an increased office force of clerlts with the necessary legal training to prepare the cases for final action. During the year over 11,000 cases were received in the office, and 11,389 letters mere written by this force. Five thousand four hundred and ninety-two estates of deceased Indians, who held their allotments under trust patents, 388 estates of deceased Indians holding their allotments under restricted fee patents, and 251 estates of deceased nonallottees leaving trust prop-erty were finally acted upon during the year by the Secretary of the Interior, and approximately $80,000 was collected or is due under the provision of law requiring that $15 shall be collected to cover the cost of determining heirs of deceased Indian allottees in each case. The Indian appropriation act of August 1, 1914 (Public, 160), for the fiscal year 1015, appropriated $100,000 for this morlt, $20,000 of which is authorized for payment of clerical assistance in the office. It is the intention to assign an increased force of examiners to the field, and it is hoped that by the end of the year a substantial gain will he made in the morlt of determininw the heirs of the, approxi-mately, 40,000 cases pending at the var9io us agencies, representing inherited property valued at more than $60,000,000. RIGHTS OF WAY. RAILROADS. l'he construction of railroads across Indian lands has not been active during the past fiscal year. No extensive lines have been pro-jected. Rights of may for several short lines have been approved, and some of the limes already in operation have acquired amended rights of way for the purpose of eliminating curves or otherwise improving their roadbeds. PIPE LIMES. The urgent need for additional facilities for the transportation and storage of oil produced from the Oklahoma oil fields still |