OCR Text |
Show Department oi \l\t -Interior* OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. WASHINGTON, D. C, June 3, 190.1. Section 4 of the Indian Appropriation Act approved March 3, 1901 (31 Stat., p. 1058), provides: That the Secretary of the Interior*is hereby authorized to grant permission, upon compliance with such requirements as he may deem necessary, to the proper State or local Authorities for the opening and establishment of public highways, in accordance with the laws of tho State or .Territory in which the lands are situated, through any Indian reservation or through any lands which have been allotted in severalty to any individual Indians under any laws or treaties but which have not been conveyed to the allottees with full power of alienation. The laws of the several States and Territories respecting the establishment of public roads and the conditions surrounding the different reservations and allotted lands likely to be crossed by public roads, are so widely at variance that it is not deemed advisable to formulate other than general rules governing the manner of presenting the application for the grant of the permission and the showing made in support thereof. In order to secure the grant of permission to open public highways through any Indian reservation or over lands allotted in severalty to and held in trust by the United States for individual Indians, local road authorities will he required to make formal application, addressed to the Secretary of the Interior, and accompany the samo by n satisfactory showing as to the necessity for the proposed road or highway, and a map or plat thereof showing its exact location in connection with the lines of the public survey where surveyed, also its width and length within the reservation or allotted lands. Where the lands traversed have been surveyed the proposed road or highway must follow section lines as far as practicable, and satisfactory showing must be made for any departure therefrom. These applications must be filed with the Indian agent in charge of the reservation desired to bo crossed, and in case of allotted lands, where attached to an agency, with the agent in charge, and where not attached, directly with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. It shall bo the duty of the Indian agent to bring the matter to the attention of the individual Indians or tribe affected and to examine fully into the matter and make report thereon in forwarding the application to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, who, in turn, will submit the application with his recommendation thereon to tho Secretary of the- Interior for approval or disapproval. W. A. JONES, Commitsioner, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, June 11, 1903. Approved. E. A. HITCHCOCK, Secretary. |