eb. 15, 1854. NUMBER 4. Joint Resolution for the Relief of William B. Dodd. Relief of Wilam B. Dodd. Resolved, By the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Minnesota, (the Council concurring,) That, whereas, Capt. William B. Dodd, has opened and constructed a road from St. Paul to Travérse des Sioux, which he claims to have been adopted as a part of the Government road from Mendota to the Mouth of the Big Sioux River, on the Missouri: Therefore, the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Minnesota, respectfully ask Congress to appropriate to the said William B. Dodd, such sum as the Engineers appointed to open said road, may deem just and reasonable. I hereby certify the foregoing to be a correct copy of the original resolution on file in this office. J. TRAVIS ROSSER, Secretary of Minnesota Territory. MEMORIALS. NUMBER 1. Memorial to Congress, praying for Pre-Emption Rights on unsurveyed Lands. Feb. 21, 1854. To the Honorable, Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress Assembled: The Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Minnesota, respectfully represents Pre-emption That the laws regulating pre-emption rights are of little value to this Territory, as those of our citizens who desire to avail themselves of the provisions of that act, are deprived of its benefits, by rights, the fact, that all the most valuable portion of the lands of the United States, which are subject to pre-emption, have been entered; and many of our citizens are thus driven to the necessity of settling on unsurveyed lands, and are rendered liable to the pains and penalties attached to trespassers on the public domain. A class of the most deserving of our fellow citizens are thus left without any legal protection for their homes and property-giving the voracious speculator the means of depriving them of that which every freeman holds most dear, Your memorialists would therefore respectfully recommend that the law granting pre-emption rights, be so amended as to allow preemption privileges to actual settlers on the unsurveyed lands of the United States in this Territory. N. C. D. TAYLOR, President of the Council. APPROVED-February twenty-first, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four. W. A. GORMAN. SECRETARY'S OFFICE, St. Paul, March 30th, 1854. I hereby certify the foregoing to be a correct copy of the original resolution on file in this office. J. TRAVIS ROSSER, Secretary of Minnesota Territory. En eb. 27, 1854. NUMBER 2. A Memorial to Congress, relative to the Half-Breed Lands of Preamblc. To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress Assembled: The memorial of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Minnesota, respectfully sheweth That by a treaty made with the Sioux of the Mississippi, and other Indians, by Commissioners on the part of the United States, and dated July 15th, 1830, the following article was incorporated in said treaty : ARTICLE 9th. The Sioux bands in Council, having earnestly solicited that they might have permission to bestow upon the HalfBreeds of their nation, the tract of land within the following limits, viz; Beginning at a place called the Barn below the village of Red Wing, and running back fifteen miles; thence in a parallel line with Lake Pepin and the Mississippi, about thirty-two miles, to a point opposite Beef and or Boeuf river; thence fifteen miles to the Grand Encampment, opposite the river aforesaid; the United States agree to suffer said Half Breeds to occupy said tract of country; they holding by the same title and in the same manner that other Indian titles are held. In Article 10, of same treaty, it is provided that the "President of the United States may hereafter assign to any of the said. Half Breeds to be held by him or them in fee simple, any portion of said tract, not exceeding a section of six hundred and forty acres to each individual. That from the date of said treaty, to the present time, no dispotion has been made of the land so given to the relations of the Sioux as contemplated by said treaty. That applications have been made to the President, to set off a portion of the grant to each claimant, as provided by the 10th article of said treaty but no such disposition has been made of any portion of said land for the reason as given by the President, that the claimants were not sufficiently advanced in civilization to have the care of their own property. That although this was a decided error, the result of a want of a proper knowledge of the character of the claimants, they being at that time, as well as now, able to take their place in the community as men of business, and many of them distinguished for their talent, yet no remonstrance was made. That several attempts have been since made to effect a sale of the land to the Government of the United States, but with outsuc cess. That many of the claimants have entered on the grant, and im- Preamble, &c. proved portions of it very extensively, whilst others have been deterred from doing so by the uncertainty of the tenure, and the difficulty of excluding other claimants, all having equal rights. but That the pressure of immigration and the great inducements held out from the very desirable situations of the land have led many citizens, not claimants under the Sioux treaty, to trespass on the land and make improvements, and in opposition to the remonstrances of the just claimants and threatened proceedings on the part of the Governor of this Territory. That this tract of land now forms a gap in the settlement of the country, and as it contains two or three good sites for towns, its present unproductive state is very unfavorable to those for whose benefit it was originally reserved, and is particularly injurious to the interests of this Territory. That it is understood here, that a bill is now before Congress, in which it is proposed on the part of the Sioux claimants to join in granting the land to the United States, in consideration of Land Warrants, for an equal amount of United States land, to be selected by each claimant from the tract recently purchased from the Sioux Indians. That the interest of this Territory, as well as from a sense of justice towards this body of our citizens, urge upon Congress the necessity of some measures to dispose of this tract. And being well acquainted with all the circumstances connected with the grant, as well as the value of the land intrinsically, and with a view to the settlement of that part of the United States land, that lies immediately at the back and to the south-west of it, your memorialists desire to express their convictions that it will materially assist the Territory and also lead to the early settlement of a large quantity of wild land, if Congress accepts the proposition of the claimants and thus throw open this valuable tract to settlement, and at the same time enable the mixed blood to locate in the more immediate vicinity of the Sioux Reservation. That an equal quantity of government land be granted to the Sioux Half-Breeds, by issuiug Land Warrants covering an equal quantity of land to be divided among the claimants, pro rata, but no more than three sections in any one township. That your memorialists, wish to call the attention of Congress to the fact that the body of men now asking for relief, are the very persons to whom the Government have always looked, when desirous to exercise any influence over the Indians, they are the connecting link between the white man and the Indian, and their location on the frontier will tend to the continuation of those peaceful relations which have, happily, so long existed between the settlers and the Sioux who granted this tract to their mixed blood relations. The original grant was made to enable the relations of the Sioux to settle down where it was thought, at that time, they would be in the neighborhood of their relatives, and in a position to assist the Indians, and promote their civilization. Their removal to a home further north and west, will deprive the Indian of this benefit unless their relatives can follow, and the rapid spread of emigration to the Territory makes this tract of great importance to the settlement of the country around it. It is the geographical outlet of that part of the Territory of Minnesota, which has filled up most rapidly the past season, and to which the attention of all new settlers is at present directed. Prayer, &c. Your memorialists would therefore respectfully but urgently re- N. C. D. TAYLOR, President of the Council. APPROVED-February twenty-seven, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four. W. A. GORMAN, SECRETARY'S OFFICE, Saint Paul, April 4th, 1854. } I hereby certify the foregoing to be a correct copy of the original memorial on file in this office. Feb. 27, 1854. J. TRAVIS ROSSER, Secretary of the Territory of Minnesota, NUMBER 3. A memorial to Congress, for an Appropriation for the construction of roads in the To the Honorable, Senate and House of Representatives of the United States That the appropriations heretofore made for the opening and con- 4 |