April 20, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 33. CHAPTER 117. AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE INSPECTION OF THE DISBURSEMENTS OF APPROPRIA- SECTION 1. Secretary of War to make frequent inquiries Be it enacted, &c. SECTION 2. Secretary of War to report thereon to Congress annually. and Secretary of War [SECTION 1], That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War to to make frequent cause frequent inquiries to be made as to the necessity, economy, inquiries as to ne- propriety of all disbursements made by disbursing officers of the Army, &c., of disburse- and as to their strict conformity to the law appropriating the money; ments by Army also to ascertain whether the disbursing officers of the Army comply officers, &c. cessity, economy, with the law in keeping their accounts and making their deposits; such inquiries to be made by officers of the inspection department of the Army, or others detailed for that purpose: Provided, That no officer so detailed shall be in any way connected with the department or corps making the disbursement. SEC. 2. That the reports of such inspections shall be made out and forwarded to Congress with the annual report of the Secretary of War. [April 20, 1874.] CHAPTER 127. April 24, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 34. AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE BISMARCK LAND DISTRICT IN THE TERRITORY OF DA- Bismarck land district in Dakota, and land office therein. [SECTION 1], That all that portion of Dakota Territory lying north of R. S., § 2256, 2d the seventh standard parallel and west of the ninth guide-meridian be, ed., p. 411. and the same is hereby, created into a separate land district, to be known as the Bismarck district; and the land office for said district shall be located at the town of Bismarck, where the North Pacific Railroad intersects the Missouri River. -register and receiver of. SEC. 2. That a register and a receiver shall be appointed for said district land office, who shall be governed by the same laws and receive R. S., §§ 2234- the same compensation as prescribed for similar officers in the other land districts of said Territory. [April 24, 1874.] 2247. CHAPTER 135. April 29, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 35. Contracts with Indians prior to AN ACT RELATIVE TO PRIVATE CONTRACTS OR AGREEMENTS MADE WITH INDIANS [SECTION 1], That hereafter it shall not be lawful for any United to be recognized by States officer, or other person under its employ or control, to recognize public officers, ex- the binding force or legality, or in any manner sustain or enforce or cept in cases speci- counsel, or give any aid or assistance to sustain or enforce, any contract R. S., §§ 2103, or agreement made by any person or persons, or corporation, with any 2104, 2106. band, tribe, or nation of Indians, or individual Indian or Indians, not fied. a citizen of the United States, entered into prior to the date of the act of Congress entitled (1) "An act regulating the mode of making private contracts with Indians," approved May twenty-first, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, for the payment or delivery of any money or other thing of value, in present or prospective, or for the granting or procuring any privilege to him or her, or any other person or persons, or corporation, in consideration of services for, or advancements made to, said Indians relative to their lands, or to any claim growing out of or in reference to annuities, instalments, or other moneys, claims, demand, or thing under laws or treaties with the United States, or official acts of any officer thereof, or in any way connected with or due from the United States, unless such contract or agreement was reduced to writing and duly signed by the parties in interest thereto at the time it was entered into and fully made known to the parties at the time the contract was signed, and then not until such original written contract shall first have been presented to and examined by the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and these facts by them severally endorsed thereon, and a copy of said contract and of any assignments that may have been made thereon duly entered of record in the office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. - statements of to be filed in Commissioner's office. SEC. 2. That in addition thereto there shall also be filed in said Commissioner's office, and retained therein as official papers, and be exam- facts concerning, ined by said Commissioner and Secretary, and that fact indorsed on them, the following statement of facts touching each and all such contracts and agreements so presented; which statements shall be sworn to specially by all and severally the person or persons claiming interest in and seeking the support and enforcement of such contract or agreement, and not by agent or attorney: First, that the writing presented for examination and record, as provided for in the first section of this act, and purporting to be the original contract or agreement, is in fact such, and that it was entered into and reduced to writing at the date and for the purposes it purports to have been made and executed; Secondly, such sworn statement shall give particularly the names of the real parties in interest in the original contract or agreement, naming them if not named in the written contract or agreement, and if either of the contracting parties is a band, tribe, or nation of Indians, or a corporation or firm, the name of the person, officer, or agent contracting in their behalf, together with his authority for so doing, shall be specially stated; Thirdly, a particular statement of all and singular the services rendered or the thing or things done under such contract or agreement prior to said filing, with those things to be done or rendered, together with a particular statement of any and all moneys paid or advanced by either party under such contract or agreement, giving in all cases the time, place, and real value of services rendered, or thing or things done, or the kind and manner of payment, whether in money, property, or credits, up to the date of the filing of the said sworn statement; Fourthly, state specifically whether the original contract or agreement had been submitted to any Secretary of the Interior, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, superintendent of Indian affairs, Indian agent, commissioner, or other person having official control of or connection with Indian affairs, giving the time when, place where, and person by name to whom such submission was made, and whether by said officer indorsed or not, or whether any such officer was cognizant of such contract or agreement having been made, though not submitted to him for approval. SEC. 3. That the Secretary or Commissioner of Indian Affairs is hereby - additional facts empowered to require, in writing, any additional facts or proofs that may and proofs may be be necessary to aid in determining the true character of the contract or agreement, or assignment thereof. required. SEC. 4. That no such contract or agreement shall be recognized by any terior to determine Secretary of Inofficer or employee of the United States until the Secretary of the Inte. terior to determine rior shall, after full consideration of any such contract or agreement, before they can be together with the proofs and papers in this act required to be filed, and recognized. such as the Secretary of the Interior or Commissioner of Indian Affairs may require in addition thereto, the Secretary of the Interior shall consider to be just and reasonable, and not tainted with fraud, and not exorbitant in its demands: NOTE.-(1) The provisions of the act of 1872, ch. 177 (17 Stat. L., p. 136), here referred to, are incorporated into Revised Statutes in the sections noted in the margin. Secretary of In record his official statement. Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior shall in all cases enter, in terior to enter of writing, on such original contract, on the record in the office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs wherein such original contract is recorded, an official statement, showing that the contract or agreement and proofs have been filed in accordance with the provisions of this act and considered by him, and in his opinion said contract or agreement or assignments thereof are not exorbitant and not fraudulent, and that they are just, the same shall be valid. -may reject any But if, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, such contract or contract as exorbi- agreement, or the assignment thereof, is fraudulent or exorbitant, he shall tant or fraudulent. officially enter his rejection, in writing, upon the record of such contract or agreement, and they shall not be considered of binding force by any officer or employee of the United States. -to cause investi gation to be made of existing contracts, &c. SEC. 5. That it is hereby made the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to cause an investigation to be made of all existing contracts or agreements, within the purview of this act, now on file in his office, or of the office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, or any other office or bureau under his control, and by special notice to the party or parties in interest compel, in the case of each such contract or agreement so found on file, the same strictness of official examination, and indorsement, record and sworn statement of fact, as is required by the several provisions of this act: Provided, That the investigation of facts touching the character of any may be appointed contract or agreement contemplated by this act may be made by a comto make investiga-missioner appointed by the President for that purpose, who shall report all such facts to the Secretary of the Interior in writing. [April 29, 1874.] Commissioner tions. April 29, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 36. Articles of agreement with Ute Indians in Colorado. Ratified again 1880, June 15, ch. 223. Preamble. Treaty (15 Stat. L., 619). Stat. L., 55). CHAPTER 136. AN ACT TO RATIFY AN AGREEMENT WITH CERTAIN UTE INDIANS IN COLORADO, AND [SECTION 1], That a certain agreement made by Felix R. Brunot, commissioner on the part of the United States, with certain Ute Indians in Colorado, be, and the same is hereby, ratified and confirmed. Said agreement is in words and figures following, namely: Articles of convention made and entered into at the Los Pinos agency for the Ute Indians, on the thirteenth day of September, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, by and between Felix R. Brunot, commissioner in behalf of the United States, and the chiefs, head men, and men of the Tabequache, Muache, Capote, Weeminuche, Yampa, Grand River, and Uintah bands of Ute Indians, witnesseth: That whereas a treaty was made with the confederated bands of the Ute Nation on the second day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and 1872, ch. 115 (17 proclaimed by the President of the United States on the sixth day of Novem ber, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, the second article of which defines by certain lines the limits of a reservation to be owned and occupied by the Ute Indians; and whereas by act of Congress approved April twenty three, eighteen hundred and seventy two, the Secretary of the Interior was authorized and empowered to enter into negotiations with the Ute Indians in Colorado for the extinguishment of their right to a certain portion of said reservation, and a commission was appointed on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy two, to conduct said negotiation; and whereas said negotiation having failed, owing to the refusal of said Indians to relinquish their right to any portion of said reservation, a new commission was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, by letter of June second, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, to conduct said negotiation: Now, therefore, Felix R. Brunot, commissioner in behalf of the United States, and the chiefs and people of the Tabequache, Muache, Capote, Weeminuche, Yampa, Grand River, and Uintah, the confederated bands of the Ute Nation, do enter into the following agreement: Article I. The confederated band of the Ute Nation hereby relinquish Ute Indians reto the United States all right, title, and claim and interest in and to the lease certain lands. following described portion of the reservation heretofore conveyed to them by the United States, viz: Beginning at a point on the eastern boundary of said reservation fifteen miles due north of the southern boundary of the Territory of Colorado, and running thence west on a line parallel to the said southern boundary to a point on said line twenty miles due east of the western boundary of Colorado Territory; thence north by a line parallel with the western boundary to a point ten miles north of the point where said line intersects the thirty-eighth parallel of north latitude; thence east to the eastern boundary of the Ute reservation; thence south along said boundary to the place of beginning: Provided, That if any part of the Uncopagre Park shall be found to extend south of the north line of said described country, the same is reserved. not intended to be included therein, and is hereby reserved and retained as a portion of the Ute reservation. Article II. The United States shall permit the Ute Indians to hunt upon said lands so long as the game lasts and the Indians are at peace with the white people. Article III. The United States agrees to set apart and hold, as a per Uncopagre Park Indians permitted to hunt. annuity to be in petual trust for the Ute Indians, a sum of money, or its equivalent in disbursed or vested for. bonds, which shall be sufficient to produce the sum of twenty-five thou- Reaffirmed 1880, sand dollars per annum; which sum of twenty-five thousand dollars June 15, ch. 223. per annum shall be disbursed or invested at the discretion of the President, or as he may direct, for the use and benefit of the Ute Indians annually forever. Article IV. The United States agrees, so soon as the President may-agency for, to be deem it necessary or expedient, to erect proper buildings and establish established. an agency for the Weeminuché, Muache, and Capote bands of Ute Indians at some suitable point, to be hereafter selected, on the southern part of the Ute reservation. Article V. All the provisions of the treaty of eighteen hundred and Provisions of sixty-eight not altered by this agreement shall continue in force; and treaty of, reaffirmthe following words, from article two of said treaty, viz, ed. "The United States now solemnly agrees that no persons except those Stat. L., 619). herein authorized to do so, and except such officers, agents, and employees of the Government as may be authorized to enter upon Indian reservations in discharge of duties enjoined by law, shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article, except as herein otherwise provided," are hereby expressly re-affirmed, except so far as they applied to the country herein relinquished. Article VI. In consideration of the services of Ouray, head chief of Salary of Ouray, the Ute Nation, he shall receive a salary of one thousand dollars per annum for the term of ten years, or so long as he shall remain head chief of the Utes and at peace with the people of the United States. Article VII. This agreement is subject to ratification or rejection by Subject to ratifithe Congress of the United States and of the President. (1) chief of Ute Nation. cation. Bonds to be is SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue, set apart, and hold, as a perpetual fund, in trust for the Ute Indians, a sufficient sued and held for NOTE.-(1) This agreement is signed and sealed by the Commissioner of the United States and by 254 Indians. payment of nuity, &c. an- amount of five-per-centum bonds of the United States, the interest on which shall be twenty-five thousand dollars per annum; which interest shall be paid annually, as the President of the United States may direct, for the benefit of said Indians. Appropriation for payment of salary to Chief Ouray. SEC. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall cause to be paid to Ouray one thousand dollars, as the first installment due him annually, so long as he shall be chief of said Ute Indians; and there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, one thousand dollars for that purpose. [April 29, 1874.] April 29, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 41. Time of making tended to Jan. 1, CHAPTER 137. AN ACT FOR THE RELIEF OF SETTLERS ON THE CHEROKEE STRIP IN KANSAS. Be it enacted, &c., That all persons who, by the provisions of the proof of settle- second section of the act entitled "An act to carry out certain proment, &c., for visions of the Cherokee treaty of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and Cherokee lands exfor the relief of settlers on the Cherokee lands in the State of Kansas," approved May eleventh, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, who have 2 become entitled at any time to enter and purchase any portion of the lands mentioned in said act, but who have failed to make proof of settlement, entry, and payment within the times provided by said act, 1875. 1872, ch. 157, § (17 S. L., 98). Treaty (14 S. L., 799). Rights not forfeited. Interest to be paid. shall have and be allowed additional time within which to make such proof of settlement, entry, and payment to the first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy-five; And no forfeiture of any rights of such persons shall be had or have effect by reason of failure heretofore to make such proof of settlement, entry, and payment within the time provided by said act, anything in the said act to the contrary notwithstanding; And all persons availing themselves of the provisions of this act shall, at the time of entry and payment, pay interest on the purchase money of their lands at the rate of five per centum per annum from the time at which such payments should have been made by the terms of the aforesaid act to the time that payment shall be made. [April 29, 1874.] May 7, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 42. CHAPTER 149. AN ACT TO AMEND THE ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO REGULATE THE CARRIAGE OF Collectors of customs to make returns to Secretary of Treasury of lists of passengers arriving in vessels. Collectors of cus- Be it enacted, &c., That the thirteenth section (1) of the act entitled toms to make re- "An act to regulate the carriage of passengers in steamships and other turns to Secretary vessels," approved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, be, and of Treasury of lists the same is hereby, repealed; and that hereafter each and every colriving in vessels. lector of customs to whom shall be delivered the manifests or lists of R.S., 208, par.6. passengers prescribed by the twelfth section of the act aforesaid, apR. S., §§ 4266, proved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, shall make returns of passengers ar 4267. from such manifests or lists of passengers to the Secretary of the Treas ury of the United States, in such manner as shall be prescribed by that officer, under whose direction statements of the same shall be prepared and published. [May 7, 1874.] NOTE.-(1) Section thirteen of the act of 1855, ch. 213 (10 Stat. L., 719), here referred to, is incorporated into the Revised Statutes, where it constitutes section 4267 and the sixth paragraph of section 208, which seem to be superseded or repealed by this act. |