OCR Text |
Show "School Sections" and that a corporation known o.s the Antelope Shearing Corral has leased all of these small scattered areas that owe available and thereby control an exceedingly large area of these unsold lands. I am a.dvised that this corn oration holds leases on something like eighty thousand \80^000) acres of these scattered homesteads and school sections and that by virtue of these leases they run 30ms eighty thousand (80,000) head of sheep from about Oct. 15 fo about April 15 of each year. The eighty thousand (30.000) acres that this corporo.fi en claims to hold under lea. se would net' support to exceed eight thousand (3,000} head of sheep during this period, hence it is securing -/.inter forage for seme seventy two (72,000) thousand head op sheep on lands that it does not hold under lease, and this office is certain that a large portion of these 3he..ey ore wintered on lands such as v/e have attempted to describe.. If small sheep-owners attempt to place their sheep on these t lands they immediately get in trouble with the Corporation and suit is instituted to collect trespass. We feel that such of these Indian lands as remain unsold should be leased for the benefit cf the Indians and should continue to be so leased until sold," The surplus land within Indian reservations, the sale cf which has been authorised by Congress, may be divided generally into two classes- (l) Those ceded to, end purchased by, the United States-outright, payment being made therefor in cash."'or- its equivalent, end- (2) Tho on ceded to the United States conditionally, or in trust, to be die-- posed of for the benefit of the Indians.. On June 27, 1911, the Indian Office wrote the Secretary of the Interior relative to the status of the unsold land within the ceded portion of the Round Valley Reservation, California, in part a3 follows: "This being the case, the Indian title apparently -3- |