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A communication of the Secretary of the Interior, with accompanying papers, with reference to legislation to carry out a certain agreement with Indians in Washington Territory.

FEBRUARY 19, 1885.-Read and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and ordered to be printed, omitting maps.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a communication of the 16th instant from the Secretary of the Interior submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill to accept and ratify an agreement with the confederated tribes and bands of Indians occupying the Yakama Reservation, in the Territory of Washington, for the extinguishment of their title to so much of said reservation as is required for the use of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and to make the necessary appropriation for carrying out the same."

The matter is presented for the consideration and action of the Congress.

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, February 16, 1885.

SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith copy of letter of 14th instant from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, submitting a draft of a bill to accept and ratify an agreement with the confederated tribes and bands of Indians occupying the Yakama Reservation, in the Territory of Washington, for the extinguishment of their title to so much of said reservation as is required for the use of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and to make the necessary appropriations for carrying out the same," together with the inclosures (maps and other papers) noted therein.

Concurring in the object of the proposed legislation, I respectfully recommend that the matter may be presented to the Congress for the early and favorable consideration and action of that body.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

The PRESIDENT.

H. M. TELLER,

Secretary.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS,
Washington, February 14, 1885.

SIR: I am in receipt, by Department reference, of a letter dated the 17th ultimo, from United States Indian Inspector Garduer, who was specially detailed by you on the 17th November last to negotiate on behalf of the Government with the confederated tribes and bands of Yakama Indians, occupying the Yakama Reservation in Washington Territory, for the extinguishment of their title to lands of the reservation required for the purposes of the Northern Pacific Railroad, in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of the act of Congress approved July 2, 1864 (13 Stat., 365), transmitting as the result of his negotiations an agreement (with accompanying papers) entered into by him on behalf of the United States with said confederated tribes and bands, represented by their chiefs, headmen, and delegates, on the 13th January, 1885.

By the terms of this agreement the confederated tribes and bands of Yakama Indians surrender and relinquish to the United States all the estate, right, title, and interest which they now have under and by virtue of the treaty made with the United States June 9, 1855 (12 Stat. at L., page 951), in and to all that part of the Yakama Reservation situate in the Territory of Washington, described as follows, viz:

A strip of land not exceeding 250 feet in width; that is to say, 125 feet on each side of the line laid down on the map of definite location of the route of the Northern Pacific Railroad, as filed in this Department, wherever said line runs through said reservation, entering the same at the presumed southeasterly boundary thereof, on the right bank of the Yakama River, 8 miles below the mouth of Satass River, thence following through said reservation to the north boundary thereof at or near the mouth of the Atahnum River, said strip of land being intended to be used by the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company, its successors or assigns, as a right of way and road-bed, and containing 1,000 acres or thereabouts.

Also in and to three several pieces or parcels of land situate along and adjoining the said strip of land hereinbefore described, as the same are respectively delineated on the three several plats or maps thereof filed in this Department, containing, respectively, the following areas, that is to say: Tract A ("Satass"), 20.60 acres; Tract B ("Toppenish"), 20.60 acres; and Tract C (“Simcoe”), 20.60 acres; the same being intended to be used by the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company for the purposes of depots, station houses, sidings, &c.

In consideration of such surrender and relinquishment of lands, amounting in the aggregate to 1,061.80 acres, the United States agrees to pay to said confederated tribes and bands of Indians the sum of $5,309, being at the rate of $5 per acre, to be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the said confederated tribes and bands of Yakama Indians upon ratification of said agreement by Congress and necessary appropriations therefor, said sum to be expended for the benefit of said Indians in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior may direct.

The United States further agrees, upon ratification of the said agreement by Congress, and necessary appropriations therefor, to pay to the individual members of said confederated tribes and bands, parties thereto, whose names appear in the schedule thereto annexed, marked E, the reasonable value of all improvements, whether of buildings, fences, crops, cultivated fields, or otherwise falling within the limits of the lands

thereby agreed to be surrendered, as the same shall be appraised and determined by a board of arbitrators, to be composed of Inspector Gardner, on behalf of the Government, the agent for the time being on behalf of the Indians, and such other person as they two shall mutually agree upon, the amount of compensation so determined upon, and thereby agreed to be paid, to be expended for the benefit of such individual Indians, or paid to them in cash in the proportions to which they may be severally entitled appearing by said schedule, as the Secretary of the Interior may direct.

It is further provided by said agreement that all provisions of existing treaties with said confederated tribes and bands not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect, and that said agreement is made subject to ratification by Congress.

Accompanying said agreement is a descriptive schedule and valuation (marked E) of improvements made by individual Indians of said confederated tribes and bands within the limits of the lands so surrendered and relinquished, as made by the appraisers whose certificate is thereto appended, amounting to the sum of $2,986.80.

I have caused said agreement to be carefully examined, and have the honor to submit herewith, in duplicate, the draught of a bill to accept and ratify the same, and for the granting of a right of way and grounds for station purposes on the Yakama Reservation to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company upon the terms and conditions therein mentioned, which I respectfully recommend be transmitted to Congress for its action.

I also inclose duplicate copies of the agreement, maps, schedule of appraisement, and other papers referred to in this report.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

H. PRICE,
Commissioner.

A BILL to accept and ratify an agreement made with the confederated tribes and bands of Indiaus occupying the Yakama Reservation, in the Territory of Washington, for the extinguishment of their title to so much of said reservation as is required for the use of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and to make the necessary appropriations for carrying out the same.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a certain agreement now on file in the office of the Secretary of the Interior, bearing date the 13th day of January in the year of our Lord 1885, made between Robert S. Gardner, United States Indian inspector, on the part of the United States, duly appointed by the Secretary of the Interior in that behalf, of the one part, and the head chief, chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the Yakama and other confederate tribes and bands of Indians resident on the Yakama Reservation in Washington Territory, of the other part, be and the same is, hereby ratified and confirmed; said agreement is in the words and figures following, namely:

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Whereas by section 1 of an act of Congress, approved July 2, 1864, entitled ‘An act granting lands to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from Lake Superior to Puget Sound, on the Pacific Coast, by the northern route' (13th Statutes at Large, page 365), the Northern Pacific Railroad Company was authorized and empowered to lay out, locate, construct, furnish, maintain, and enjoy a continnous railroad and telegraph line, with the appurtenances, namely: Beginning at a point on Lake Superior, in the State of Minnesota or Wisconsin, thence westerly by the most eligible railroad route as shall be determined by said company, within the territory of the United States, on a line north of the forty-fifth degree of latitude to some point on Puget Sound; and

"Whereas by section 2 of said act, Congress granted to said company the right of way for the construction of said railroad and telegraph line to the extent of 200 feet in width on each side of said railroad where it may pass through the public domain, including all necessary ground for station buildings, workshops, depots, machine shops, switches, side-tracks, turn-tables, and water-stations; and

"Whereas by said section 2, Congress provided that the United States should extin

guish as rapidly as may be consistent with public policy and the welfare of the Indians, the Indian titles to all lands falling under the operation of this act and acquired in the donation to the road named in the act; and

"Whereas by treaty between the United States and certain confederated tribes and bands of Indians therein designated as the Yakama nation of Indians, concluded at Camp Stevens, Walla Walla Valley, June 9, 1855, duly ratified and proclaimed (12th Statutes at Large, page 951,) a tract of land therein described situate in the Territory of Washington, was reserved from the land thereby ceded, for the use and occupation of said confederate tribes and bands of Indians, as an Indian reservation; and "Whereas by article 3 of said treaty it is provided that if necessary for the public convenience roads may be run through said reservation, and on the other hand the right of way with free access from the same to the nearest public highway is secured to them, as also the right in common with citizens of the United States to travel upon all public highways;' and

"Whereas the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company did on or about the 20th day of October, 1884, file in the Department of the Interior, a certified map showing the definite location of its line of railroad through the Yakama Indian reservation from the presumed southeasterly boundary of said reservation on the right bank of the Yakama River, 8 miles below the month of Satass River, to its north boundary near the mouth of Atah-uum River, all being in Washington Territory, as definitely fixed and determined in compliance with the several acts and resolutions of Congress relat ing to the Northern Pacific Railroad, and as approved by the board of directors of said company by resolution passed June 21, 1883; also three several descriptive plats of ground required by said railroad company for station purposes, designated as 'Satass,' 'Toppenish' and 'Simcoe,' respectively, and severally containing an area of 20.60 acres exclusive of a right of way of 125 feet in width on each side of the cen ter line of said railroad; and

"Whereas the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company now desires to construct its line of railroad through the Yakama Reservation upon the route so designated, and claims the right by virtue of said recited act so to do:

"Now, therefore, in order to fulfill the obligations of the Government in the premises, this agreement made at the Yakama Agency, Washingtou Territory, this 13th day of January, in the year of our Lord 1885, by and between Robert S. Gardner, United States Indian inspector, on the part of the United States, and the undersigned head chief, chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the Yakama and other confederate tribes and bands of Indians resident on the Yakama Reservation, in Washington Territory, and interested in lands hereinafter described, witnesseth:

"That, for the considerations hereinafter mentioned, the said confederate tribes and bands of Indians do hereby surrender and relinquish to the United States all the estate, right, title, and interest which they now have under and by virtue of the aforesaid treaty of June 9, 1855, in and to all that part of the Yakama Reservation situate in the Territory of Washington, described as follows, viz:

"A strip of land not exceeding 250 feet in width, that is to say, 125 feet on each side of the line laid down on the map of definite location of the route of the Northern Pacific Railroad wherever said line runs through said reservation, entering the same at the presumed southeasterly boundary thereof, on the right bank of the Yakama River, 8 miles below the month of Satass River, thence following throngh said reservation to the north boundary thereof at or near the mouth of the Atah-num River, said strip of land being intended to be used by the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company, its successors or assigns, as a right of way and road-bed, and containing 1,000 acres, or thereabouts. A copy of said map of definite location was on the day of the date hereof produced and shown to said Indians in council assembled, and is hereto annexed, marked with the letter 'D,' and made a part of this agreement.

"Also in and to the three several pieces or parcels of land situate along and adjoining the said strip of land hereinbefore described, as the same are respectively delineated on the three several copies of plats or maps thereof, also now produced and shown to said Indians and hereto attached and made a part of this agreement, marked respectively with the letters 'A,' 'B' and 'C,' and containing respectively the following areas, that is to say: Tract A' ('Satass') 20.60 acres. TractB(Toppenish')

20.60 acres; and Tract "C" (Simcoe') 20.60 acres; the same being intended to be used by the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company for the purposes of depots, station-houses, sidings, &c.

"In consideration of such surrender and relinquishment of lands as aforesaid, amounting in the aggregate to 1,061.80 acres, the United States agrees to pay to the said confederated tribes and bands of Indians the sum of $5,309, being at the rate of $5 per acre to be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the said confederate tribes and bands of Yakama Indians upon ratification of this agreement by Congress and necessary appropriations therefor, the aforesaid sum to be expended for the benefit of said Indiaus in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior may direct. And for the considerations aforesaid, the United States further agrees upon ratification of this agreement by Congress and necessary appropriations therefor, to pay to

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the individual members of said confederate tribes and bands parties hereto, whose names appear in the schedule hereto annexed marked with the letter E,' the reasonable value of all improvements, whether of buildings fences, crops, cultivated fields, or otherwise, falling within the limits of the lands hereby agreed to be surrendered, as the same shall be appraised and determined by a board of arbitrators to be composed of the said Robert S. Gardner, party hereto on behalf of the United States, the agent for the time being on behalf of said Indians, and such other person as they two shall mutually agree upon, the amount of compensation so determined upon and hereby agreed to be paid to be expended for the benefit of such individual Indians, or paid to them in cash in the proportions to which they may be severally entitled appearing by said schedule, as the Secretary of the Interior may direct.

"All provisions of existing treaties with the said confederated tribes and bands not affected by this agreement to remain in full force and effect, and this agreement to be subject to ratification by Congress.

"In testimony whereof the said Robert S. Gardner, United States Indian inspector, and the undersigned head chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the aforesaid confederated tribes and bands of Indians have hereunto set their hands and seals at the place and on the day and year aforesaid.

"ROBERT S. GARDNER, United States Indian inspector; JOE STUIRE, his x mark; ENEAS, his x mark; CHET-U-MAU-NENE, his x mark; WEALLEPT, his x mark; GEORGE LOCEA, his x mark; JOSEPH EYENUCKSA, his x mark; COCEA, his x mark; SNETUPS COLULA, his x mark; WACHAUCA, his x mark; THOMAS PEARNE, WILLI-PI-PI, his x mark; WILLIE SHUESTER, his x mark; WILLIAM WAUTO, his x mark; THOMAS SIMPSON, his x mark; THOMAS CREE, his x mark; GEO. WATERS, TECUMSEH TAKOTOWIT, WE-HI-POO, his x mark.

"Signed and sealed in presence of—

VIRGIL G. BOGUE; HENRY D. COCK; WALTER J. MILROY; CHARLEY OLNEY.
"YAKAMA AGENCY, WASHINGTON TERRITORY,
"January 13, 1885.

"I certify that the foregoing agreement was read and explained by me, and was fully understood by all the above-named Indians of the confederated tribes and bands constituting what are known as the Yakama Indians, before signing, and that the same was signed by said Indians in my presence.

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"ANDREW RIDDLE, his x mark,
"Official Interpreter.

SEC. 2. That for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this act into effect, the sum of $8,295.80 is hereby set aside out of any moneys in the United States Treasury not otherwise appropriated $5,309, whereof shall be deposited in the United States Treasury to the credit of the confederated tribes and bands of Yakama Indians and be expended for the benefit of said Indians in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior may direct; and the balance or sum of $2,986.80 shall be deposited in the United States Treasury to the credit of the individual Indians, members of the said confederated tribes, whose names appear on the Schedule E referred to in said recited agreement, to be expended for the benefit of such individual Indians or paid to them in cash, in the proportions to which they may severally be entitled appearing by said schedule, as the Secretary of the Interior may direct.

SEC. 3. That the right of way over the land relinquished by said agreement to the United States for the construction of the said Northern Pacific Railroad and the use of the several parcels of land so relinquished intended to be used for depots, stations, sidings and so forth, for said railroad, are hereby granted to the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company, its successors and assigns, for the uses and purposes in said agreement set forth: Provided, That the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company, its successors or assigns, shall, within sixty days from the taking effect of this act, pay to the Treasurer of the United States said sum of $8,295.80 hereby appropriated to be paid by the United States for the lands and improvements so as aforesaid relinquished to the United States by said agreement, and shall within the same time file with the Secretary of the Interior its written acceptance of the conditions of this action: And provided further, That the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company, its successors and assigns, do and shall pay any and all damages which the United States, or said Indians, individually or in their tribal capacity, or any other Indians lawfully occupying said reservation may sustain by reason or on account of the act or acts of the said Railroad Company, its successors or assigns, agents or employés, or on account of fires originating by or in the construction or operation of said railroad, the damages in all cases to be recovered in any court of the Territory of Washington having jurisdiction of the amount claimed, upon suit or action instituted by the proper United States

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