the Canadian River and the North Fork of the Canadian, and the south line (dotted) of the Cherokee country (No. 14), and the 100°. By the same article the United States ceded to the Seminoles 200,000 acres of the lands obtained from the Creeks by the treaty of 1866, being that portion of No. 5 on the map which lies west of the dotted line. That portion of No. 19 on the map which was obtained from the Seminoles, and which lies west of the dotted line, was assigned to the Pottawatomies and absentee Shawnees, under the act of 1872. (17 Stat., 159.) No. 21 is unassigned. It contains 495,093.37 acres. That portion of No. 22 which is covered by the Seminole cession, as hereinbefore described, was assigned to the Cheyennes and Arapahoes by the Executive order of August 10, 1869. CHOCTAWS AND CHICKASAWS, Nos. 3 AND 4. In the preamble to the treaty of 1855 (11 Stat., 611), it is recited that"The United States desire that the Choctaw Indians shall relinquish all claim to any territory west of the one hundredth degree of west longitude, and also to make provision for the permanent settlement within the Cherokee country of the Wichita and certain other tribes or bands of Indians, for which purpose the Choctaws and Chickasaws are willing to lease, on reasonable terms to the United States, that portion of their common territory which is west of the ninety-eighth degree of west longitude," &c. By the first article of that treaty the reservation for the Choctaws and Chickasaws is described and defined, and by the ninth article the Choctaws cede and relinquish their rights to any and all lands west of the 100° of west longitude, and the Choctaws and Chickasaws leased to the United States all that portion of their common territory west of the ninety-eighth degree of west longitude for the permanent settlement of the Wichitas and such other tribes or bands of Indians as the Government may desire to locate thereon, excluding from such settlement certain Indians as therein set forth. The tracts leased to the United States by the treaty of 1855 are indicated on the map as follows: That portion of No. 22 which lies on the right bank of the Canadian River, and all of 23, 24, and 25. These tracts were ceded to the Choctaws by the treaty of 1833. (7 Stat., 333.) It is proper to state in this connection that by the treaty of 1837 (11 Stat., 573), the Chickasaws became equally interested in the common domain of the Choctaws. By the third article of the treaty of 1866 (14 Stat., 769), the Choctaws and Chickasaws ceded to the United States the territory west of 98° of west longitude, known as the leased district, being the tracts of country last above referred to. Of the land ceded by the Choctaws and Chickasaws, the following dispositions have been made: That part of the tract No. 22 on the map which lies on the right bank of the Canadian River, and the whole of tract numbered 23, are embraced in the reservation set apart for the Cheyennes and Arapahoes by the Executive order of August 10, 1869, herein before referred to. Tract numbered 23 is occupied by the Wichita and affiliated bands under an unratified agreement, dated October 19, 1872. The area of the whole of tract numbered 22, which includes a portion of the country ceded by the Choctaws and Chickasaws, the Creeks and the Seminoles, respectively, as herein before indicated, contains an area of 4,297,771 acres. Tract numbered 23 contains an area of 743,610 acres. Tract numbered 24, which contains an area of 2,968,893 acres, was set apart for the Kiowa and Comanche Indians by the second article of the treaty of October 21, 1867. (15 Stat., 582.) Tract numbered 25 contains an area of 1,511,576.17 acres, and is unassigned. There is some question as to the status of this tract. The State of Texas claims and attempts to exercise jurisdiction over it. It is called Greer County. I do not think the claim of the State to this tract of country is well founded. Article 3 of the treaty of 1819 (8 Stat., 254), between the United States and Spain, defines the boundary between the two countries as beginning "On the Gulf of Mexico at the month of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north along the western bank of that river, to the 23d degree of latitude; thence, by a due line north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of Nachitoches or Red River; thence following the course of the Rio Roxo westward, to the degree of longitude 100° west from London and 23 from Washington; then crossing the said Red River, and running thence, by a due line north, to the river Arkansas. The whole being as laid down in Melish's map of the United States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the first of January, 1818." # # * The treaty of 1828, between the United States of America and the United Mexican States (8 Stat., 374), confirms the validity of the limits described in the treaty with Spain of 1819, and in the second article the boundary line between the two countries is described and defined as follows: * * * "Then following the course of the Rio Roxo (or Red River) westward, to the degree of longitude 100 west from London, and 23 from Washington; then crossing the said Red River, and running thence by a line due north to the Arkansas." It is understood that the State of Texas claims that the North Fork of the Red River, as laid down on the inclosed map, is the main branch of the Red River, and the one referred to in the before-mentioned treaties. The fact is that the Red River mentioned in the treaty of 1819 with Spain, as laid down on Melish's map, referred to in that treaty, and which is now on file in the State Department, is identical with the present main Red River as delineated on the maps of the United States. Additional evidence of the identity of the Red River as represented on the Melish map, with the main Red River, as shown on the maps of the United States, consists in the fact that the map of the United states of the Republic of Mexico, by Disturnell, published in Spanish in 1848, compiled from the best authorities and laws of Mexico, and which was used in the Mexican boundary commission in surveying the boundary between the United States and the Republic of Mexico, corroborates the course of the Red River as laid down on Melish's map referred to in the treaty with Spain. In fact, neither the Melish map nor that of Disturnell shows the North Fork of the Red River, and hence the latter could not have been regarded at the contemporaneous dates of the treaties as the boundary between the United States, Spain, Mexico, or finally by the Republic of Texas. The fact that this tract having been ceded by Spain to the United States in the treaty of 1819, subsequently ratified and confirmed by the United Mexican States by the treaty of 1828, and not claimed by Mexico since her independence from Spain, stops the State of Texas from claiming it. (See letter of Commisgioner of the General Land Office to Secretary of the Interior, dated May 10, 1877.) The Judiciary Committee of the House, to whom was referred H. R. 1715, in their report, No. 1282, Forty-seventh Congress, first session, to accompany House resolution No. 223, state that if the data which they had been considering are correct, there would seem to be no doubt of the claim of the United States to the tract in dispute, and the committee reports adversely on the bill. But for reasons stated the committee were of the opinion that the State should be heard and given an opportunity to co-operate with the United States in settling the facts upon which the question in dispute rests. A substitute was reported for the appointment of a Joint Commission, the passage of which the committee recommended. (See also House Report No. 63, present Congress.) No final settlement of this question appears ever to have been made. A copy of House Report 1282 is herewith inclosed, accompanying which may be found a copy of the letter of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, above referred to, as well as of one from that officer, dated January 5, 1882, and a tracing of. Melish's map referred to in the treaty of 1819 with Spain. By the second article of the treaty of 1833, with the Quapaws, the United States agreed to convey to those Indians one hundred and fifty sections of land west of the State line of Missouri. By the fourth article of the treaty of 1867 (15 Stat., 514), the boundaries of the Quapaw lands were modified and reduced. That tribe now occupies and owns the tract on the map numbered 26, which contains an area of 56,685 acres. Tract numbered 27, containing an area of 50,301 acres, was granted to the Peorias, Kaskaskias, Weas, and Piankeshaws by the twenty-first article of the treaty of 1867. (Id., 518.) Tract numbered 28, containing an area of 14,860 acres, was granted to the Ottawas by the sixteenth article of he same treaty. Tract numbered 29, containing an area of 13,048 acres, is the reservation of the Shawnees as diminished by the third article of the aforesaid treaty. Tract numbered 30, containing 4,040 acres, was purchased by the Modocs from the Shawnees, by agreement dated June 23, 1874, and confirmed by an item in the Indian appropriation act, approved March 3, 1875. (18 Stat., 447.) Tract numbered 31, containing an area of 21,406 acres, was given to the Wyandottes by the thirteenth article of the treaty of 1867. (15 Stat., 516.) Tract numbered 32, containing an area of 51,958 acres, is the reservation of the Senecas as modified by the same treaty. In the foregoing the status and area is given of each tract in the Indian Territory outside of those owned by the five civilized tribes. None of the lands in the Indian Territory, while they maintain their present status, are subject to entry under the land laws of the United States, and none can be made so subject to entry by the action of the Executive. Upon the question of the status of these lands I quote from Department letter to this office dated April 25, 1879: "By the intercourse act of June 30, 1834, this tract of territory, with others, was declared Indian country, and for its government the basis was created of the present intercourse laws as embodied in the Revised Statutes, sections 2111 to 2157. Since the Canadian River and the North Fork of the Canadian, and the south line (dotted) of the Cherokee country (No. 14), and the 100°. By the same article the United States ceded to the Seminoles 200,000 acres of the lands obtained from the Creeks by the treaty of 1866, being that portion of No. 5 ong the map which lies west of the dotted line. That portion of No. 19 on the map which was obtained from the Seminoles, and which lies west of the dotted line, was assigned to the Pottawatomies and absentee Shawnees, under the act of 1872. (17 Stat., 159.) No. 21 is unassigned. It contains 495,093.37 acres. | That portion of No. 22 which is covered by the Seminole cession, as herein before described, was assigned to the Cheyennes and Arapahoes by the Executive order of August 10, 1869. CHOCTAWS AND CHICKASAWS, Nos. 3 AND 4. In the preamble to the treaty of 1855 (11 Stat., 611), it is recited that"The United States desire that the Choctaw Indians shall relinquish all claim to any territory west of the one hundredth degree of west longitude, and also to make provision for the permanent settlement within the Cherokee country of the Wichita and certain other tribes or bands of Indians, for which purpose the Choctaws and Chickasaws are willing to lease, on reasonable terms to the United States, that portion of their common territory which is west of the ninety-eighth degree of west longitude," &c. By the first article of that treaty the reservation for the Choctaws and Chickasaws is described and defined, and by the ninth article the Choctaws cede and relinquish their rights to any and all lands west of the 100 of west longitude, and the Choctaws and Chickasaws leased to the United States all that portion of their common territory west of the ninety-eighth degree of west longitude for the permanent settlement of the Wichitas and such other tribes or bands of Indians as the Government may desire to locate thereon, excluding from such settlement certain Indians as therein set forth. The tracts leased to the United States by the treaty of 1855 are indicated on the map as follows: That portion of No. 22 which lies on the right bank of the Canadian River, and all of 23, 24, and 25. These tracts were ceded to the Choctaws by the treaty of 1833. (7 Stat., 333.) It is proper to state in this connection that by the treaty of 1837 (11 Stat., 573), the Chickasaws became equally interested in the common domain of the Choctaws. By the third article of the treaty of 1866 (14 Stat., 769), the Choctaws and Chicka. saws ceded to the United States the territory west of 980 of west longitude, known as the leased district, being the tracts of country last above referred to. Of the land ceded by the Choctaws and Chickasaws, the following dispositions have been made: That part of the tract No. 22 on the map which lies on the right bank of the Canadian River, and the whole of tract numbered 23, are embraced in the reservation set apart for the Cheyennes and Arapahoes by the Executive order of August 10, 1869, herein before referred to. Tract numbered 23 is occupied by the Wichita and affiliated bands under an unratified agreement, dated October 19, 1872. The area of the whole of tract numbered 22, which includes a portion of the country ceded by the Choctaws and Chickasaws, the Creeks and the Seminoles, respectively, as herein before indicated, contains an area of 4,297,771 acres. Tract numbered 23 contains an area of 743,610 acres. Tract numbered 24, which contains an area of 2,968,893 acres, was set apart for Kiowa and Comanche Indians by the second article of the treaty of October 21, (15 Stat., 582.) Tract numbered 25 contains an area of 1,511,576.17 acres, and is unassigned. There is some question as to the status of this tract. The State of Texas clai attempts to exercise jurisdiction over it. It is called Greer County. I do no the claim of the State to this tract of country is well founded. Article 3 of the treaty of 1819 (8 Stat., 254), between the United States an defines the boundary between the two countries as beginning "On the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the river Sabine north along the western bank of that river, to the 23d degre a due line north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the or Red River; thence following the course of the Rio Roxo v longitude 100° west from London and 23 from Washington; River, and running thence, by a due line north, to the rive whole being as laid down in Melish's map of the United delphia, improved to the first of January, 1818." The treaty of 1828, between the United States of Ameri States (8 Stat., 374), confirms the validity of the limits d Spain of 1819, and in the second article the boundary line between the two countries described and defined as follows: ***"Then following the course of the Rio Roxo (or Red River) westward, to the degree of longitude 100 west from London, and 23 from Washington; then crossing the and Red River, and running thence by a line due north to the Arkansas." ** It is understood that the State of Texas claims that the North Fork of the Red liver, as laid down on the inclosed map, is the main branch of the Red River, and the one referred to in the before-mentioned treaties. The fact is that the Red River entioned in the treaty of 1819 with Spain, as laid down on Melish's map, referred to that treaty, and which is now on file in the State Department, is identical with the present main Red River as delineated on the maps of the United States. Additional dence of the identity of the Red River as represented on the Melish map, with the main Red River, as shown on the maps of the United States, consists in the fact that the map of the United states of the Republic of Mexico, by Disturnell, published in panish in 1848, compiled from the best authorities and laws of Mexico, and which vas used in the Mexican boundary commission in surveying the boundary between the United States and the Republic of Mexico, corroborates the course of the Red River as laid down on Melish's map referred to in the treaty with Spain. In fact, either the Melish map nor that of Disturnell shows the North Fork of the Red River, and hence the latter could not have been regarded at the contemporaneous dates of the treaties as the boundary between the United States, Spain, Mexico, or finally by the Republic of Texas. The fact that this tract having been ceded by Spain to the United States in the treaty of 1819, subsequently ratified and confirmed by the United Mexican States by the treaty of 1828, and not claimed by Mexico since her independce from Spain, stops the State of Texas from claiming it. (See letter of Commisoner of the General Land Office to Secretary of the Interior, dated May 10, 1877.) The Judiciary Committee of the House, to whom was referred H. R. 1715, in their report, No. 1282, Forty-seventh Congress, first session, to accompany House resolution No. 223, state that if the data which they had been considering are correct, there would seem to be no doubt of the claim of the United States to the tract in dispute, and the committee reports adversely on the bill. But for reasons stated the committee were of the opinion that the State should be heard and given an opportunity to co-operate with the United States in settling the facts upon which the question in dispute rests. A substitute was reported for the appointment of a Joint Commission, the passage of which the committee recommended. (See also House Report No. 63, present Congress.) No final settlement of this question appears ever to have been made. A copy of House Report 1282 is herewith inclosed, accompanying which may be found a copy of the letter of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, above referred to, as well as of one from that officer, dated January 5, 1882, and a tracing of Melish's map referred to in the treaty of 1819 with Spain. By the second article of the treaty of 1833, with the Quapaws, the United States agreed to convey to those Indians one hundred and fifty sections of land west of the State line of Missouri. By the fourth article of the treaty of 1867 (15 Stat., 514), the boundaries of the Quapaw lands were modified and reduced. That tribe now occupies and owns the tract on the map numbered 26, which contains an area of 56,685 Tract numbered 27, containing an area of 50,301 acres, was granted to the Peorias, Kaskaskias, Weas, and Piankeshaws by the twenty-first article of the treaty of 1867. (Id., 518.) 360 acres, was granted to the Ottawas 048 acres, is the reservation of the purchased by the Modocs from the e Wyandottes vation of the ian Territory in the Indian try under the by the action nent letter to with others, was ed of the present .1 to 2157. Since the Canadian River and the North Fork of the Canadian, and the south line (dotted) of the Cherokee country (No. 14), and the 100°. By the same article the United States ceded to the Seminoles 200,000 acres of the lands obtained from the Creeks by the treaty of 1866, being that portion of No. 5 on the map which lies west of the dotted line. That portion of No. 19 on the map which was obtained from the Seminoles, and which lies west of the dotted line, was assigned to the Pottawatomies and absentee Shawnees, under the act of 1872. (17 Stat., 159.) No. 21 is unassigned. It contains 495,093.37 acres. That portion of No. 22 which is covered by the Seminole cession, as hereinbefore described, was assigned to the Cheyennes and Arapahoes by the Executive order of August 10, 1869. CHOCTAWS AND CHICKASAWS, Nos. 3 AND 4. In the preamble to the treaty of 1855 (11 Stat., 611), it is recited that"The United States desire that the Choctaw Indians shall relinquish all claim to any territory west of the one hundredth degree of west longitude, and also to make provision for the permanent settlement within the Cherokee country of the Wichita and certain other tribes or bands of Indians, for which purpose the Choctaws and Chickasaws are willing to lease, on reasonable terms to the United States, that portion of their common territory which is west of the ninety-eighth degree of west longitude," &c. By the first article of that treaty the reservation for the Choctaws and Chickasaws is described and defined, and by the ninth article the Choctaws cede and relinquish their rights to any and all lands west of the 100 of west longitude, and the Choctaws and Chickasaws leased to the United States all that portion of their common territory west of the ninety-eighth degree of west longitude for the permanent settlement of the Wichitas and such other tribes or bands of Indians as the Government may desire to locate thereon, excluding from such settlement certain Indians as therein set forth. The tracts leased to the United States by the treaty of 1855 are indicated on the map as follows: That portion of No. 22 which lies on the right bank of the Canadian River, and all of 23, 24, and 25. These tracts were ceded to the Choctaws by the treaty of 1833. (7 Stat., 333.) It is proper to state in this connection that by the treaty of 1837 (11 Stat., 573), the Chickasaws became equally interested in the common domain of the Choctaws. By the third article of the treaty of 1866 (14 Stat., 769), the Choctaws and Chicka. saws ceded to the United States the territory west of 98° of west longitude, known as the leased district, being the tracts of country last above referred to. Of the land ceded by the Choctaws and Chickasaws, the following dispositions have been made: That part of the tract No. 22 on the map which lies on the right bank of the Canadian River, and the whole of tract numbered 23, are embraced in the reservation set apart for the Cheyennes and Arapahoes by the Executive order of August 10, 1869, herein before referred to. Tract numbered 23 is occupied by the Wichita and affiliated bands under an unratified agreement, dated October 19, 1872. The area of the whole of tract numbered 22, which includes a portion of the country ceded by the Choctaws and Chickasaws, the Creeks and the Seminoles, respectively, as hereinbefore indicated, contains an area of 4,297,771 acres. Tract numbered 23 contains an area of 743,610 acres. Tract numbered 24, which contains an area of 2,968,893 acres, was set apart for the Kiowa and Comanche Indians by the second article of the treaty of October 21, 1867. (15 Stat., 582.) Tract numbered 25 contains an area of 1,511,576.17 acres, and is unassigned. There is some question as to the status of this tract. The State of Texas claims and attempts to exercise jurisdiction over it. It is called Greer County. I do not think the claim of the State to this tract of country is well founded. Article 3 of the treaty of 1819 (8 Stat., 254), between the United States and Spain, defines the boundary between the two countries as beginning "On the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north along the western bank of that river, to the 23d degree of latitude; thence, by a due line north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of Nachitoches or Red River; thence following the course of the Rio Roxo westward, to the degree of longitude 1000 west from London and 23 from Washington; then crossing the said Red River, and running thence, by a due line north, to the river Arkansas. The whole being as laid down in Melish's map of the United States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the first of January, 1818." * * The treaty of 1828, between the United States of America and the United Mexican States (8 Stat., 374), confirms the validity of the limits described in the treaty with |