of his employés, threatened them with a stoppage or diminution of rations if they did not sign the lease. Neither do we understand said Indians or any of them were impelled to sign said lease by a fear that the rations furnished by the Government, or any part thereof would be withheld. What we do understand them (the Indians) to have meant is this: that C. H. Barstow, clerk at Crow Agency, during the council which considered the said lease, explained to all the Indians present that the beef rations furnished by the Government would, at the accustomed rate of issue, be exhausted by or about April 1, 1885, and that the money to be obtained from the lease could be used to buy beef to subsist them until the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 1885, and that they (the Indians aforementioned) were impelled by fear of short rations or no rations of beef after April to sign the said lease. We would further state that we are satisfied that neither Agent Armstrong nor any of his employés did any act inconsistent with official duty or personal integrity to induce any Indian to sign the Blake-Wilson lease. PAUL MCCORMICK. J. BRENCHAUD. Witnesses: HENRY WARD. H. A. RUSSELL. We certify on honor that the above is a true and correct copy of a statement signed by Messrs. McCormick, Matheson, Brenchaud, and Quivy, at Crow Agency, Montana Territory, January 31, 1885. CROW AGENCY, MONT., February 6, 1885. S. S. BENEDICT. C. H. BARSTOW. [Inclosure-Exhibit C.] CROW AGENCY, Territory of Montana, 88: Personally appeared before me this 9th day of February, 1885, Mr. R. T. Stewart, who after being sworn deposes and says: I am a resident of the Crow Reservation; have lived among the Crows nearly twenty years, and am generally acquainted with the whole tribe; was about the agency more or less, while the Blake and Wilson lease was being signed. With the exception of Spotted Horse and Bear Wolf all the Crows seem pleased with the idea of leasing their lands. I speak the Crow language, and on a few occasions acted as interpreter for the leasers. The lease was fully explained to them-the amount they were to receive per yearand I am satisfied there was not an Indian in camp that did not understand it as it was when they signed it. Heard Mr. Barstow, the agency clerk, tell the Indians that they received a letter from Honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs, saying no more beef could be furnished for present fiscal year, and that the amount on hand would be exhausted by April 1, 1885; but I do not think that had much, if any, influence with them in obtaining their signatures, because at the time of siguing many of the chiefs wanted to be paid their share in stock cattle, and talked about it to all present. A few days after the lease was signed a party of Indians went to the river, and shortly returned and harrangued the camp that they had sold the land instead of the grass; that the people up at the agency had lied to them, and they wanted the lease stopped. They said the white people on the Yellowstone River had told them so, and had also told them that they, the Indians, ought to kick Agent Armstrong and interpreter Bravo off the reservation, and that if they killed them there would be nothing done. Such talk went through the camp until the Indians were greatly excited, fearing they had sold their lands. The result was, they all wanted the lease stopped. I know the Crows would be in favor of this lease if they knew they were not losing their land. Their opposition to it now is owing entirely to the misrepresentations made by the whites on the Yellowstone River. I am satisfied that it is for the best interests of the Crows to lease their unused lands. Witness to signature: HENRY WARD. R. G. STEWART, his x mark. Sul scribed and sworn to before me this 9th day of February, 1885. S. S. BENEDICT, CROW AGENCY, Territory of Montana, 88: (Inclosure.-Exhibit D.] Personally apppeared C. T. Babcock, who, after being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am engaged in trading with the Crows at New Agency; have been trading with them five years next September; while I do not speak the Crow language fluently, I can understand about all they say when conversing with each other. Was aware there were parties here last fall negotiating for a lease of the unused lands of the Crows. Heard the Indians talking about it every day in my store while the lease was being signed. They would sit and talk about it with one another in store; never heard any of them say they were opposed to the lease at that time. They all seemed to desire the lease to be made, the only difference of opinion among them that I noticed was whether they should take their pay in money or stock cattle. They all seemed satisfied with the lease until a party of Indians visited the settlements on Yellowstone River. Little Wolf was one of the visiting party; he is a bright Indian and speaks some English. On his return to the agency from the river he gave me an account of the talk they had with the whites on the river. He told me in presence of some agency employés that the whites told them that if the cattle came on their reservation they would never get them off; that they would take their land from them; that the people on the river were the only friends the Crows had; that the employés were thieves and liars, and were interested in getting their land from them, and that they would see that they had a good man for agent. I knew that when they went to the river they were satisfied with the lease, and that when they returned they wanted it stopped. I am satisfied that unless misrepresentations had been made by the people on the Yellowstone River to the Indians regarding the lease they had made they would all have been in favor of it to-day. I am conversant with their entire reservation, and am fully satisfied that it is for the best interests of the Crows as a tribe to lease their lands described in lease, as there is little arable land on said tract, being almost wholly unfit for any other purpose than grazing. C. T. BABCOCK. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 9th day of February, 1885. S. S. BENEDICT, United States Indian Inspector. [Inclosure.-Exhibit E.] FORT CUSTER, Territory of Montana, 88: J. A. Campbell, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I am forty years old; am Government guide and scout, and have been stationed at this place since June 1877. I am well acquainted with that part of the Crow Indian Reservation of Montana lying west of a line from Pompey's Pillar and the Yellowstone River southwesterly to a point 10 miles west of Fort C. F. Smith, and thence to the Wyoming boundary. The general character of the country is rolling and grassy, with some bad lands. East of Pryor's Creek there is very little water. None for farming purposes, except along the mountains, where there are small streams and small bottoms. Pryor's Creek is a good stream, with a considerable extent of bottom that could be farmed. Between Pryor's Creek and Clark's Fork, is a high rolling divide, with considerable bad lands, and timber and rocks, fit for nothing but grazing. There are some very pretty bottoms on Clark's Fork, for 30 miles from its mouth. There are also small bottoms on its tributaries from the west that could be irrigated and farmed. From the above mentioned point on Clark's Fork to the Wyoming line, the bottom is worthless for farming, and almost for grazing. The hills on either side are partly grassy and partly bad lands; a good deal of bad lands. From Clark's Fork west to Stillwater River, it is a rolling, grassy country, good for grazing. There is some timber and rocks. There is not much farming land along this stream, as the soil is gravelly and very light, but it is a good grazing country. From Stillwater to the Big Boulder, the western boundary, it is a rolling, hilly country with some timber. Outside of the Yellowstone Bottom there is not much farming land. From the Big Boulder east to the Stillwater, I should think the mountains were on an average 30 miles from the Yellowstone; of the whole section under consideration, I should think that from a fourth to a third was mountainous and rocky, worthless for grazing. The rest of the section, I should consider as good grazing land as the average of the graz ing lands of Montana. Outside of the Yellowstone Bottom there is very little farming land. I have had some experience in cattle-raising. As I have always figured, 20 acres of land are required to graze one head of stock a year, and that is the rule I have heard other cattlemen lay down. J. A. CAMPBELL. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 21st day of January, 1885. HENRY WARD, United States Indian Inspector. CROW AGENCY, [Inclosure-Exhibit F.] Territory of Montana, 88: ALAIN MORRISON, being duly sworn, deposes as follows: Question. Where do you live?-Answer. On Grass Lodge Creek, in the southwestern part of the Crow Indian Reservation. Q. How long have you lived on the reservation ?-A. About seven years. Q. What is your business?-A. Farming. Q. How old are you?-A. I am thirty-eight years of age. Q. Are you familiar with the reservation west of Fort Smith ?-A. Yes, I have been over it, I think, a hundred times; have hunted over it. Q. Describe that country as well as you can, telling its character, whether mountainous or level, &c.-A. From Fort Smith west on the north side of the mountains it is a rolling country, till you get nearly to Pryor Creek, full of little springs and streams. From the mountains along Pryor Creek about 10 miles, it is good bench land with a little bottom land, then the bad lands commence, and continue down to within 5 miles of the Yellowstone. These bad lands consist of a succession of hills and deep hollows. The hills are sometimes high and sometimes small. The water is all alkaline. There are frequent miry places. It is always more or less miry where there is Alkali. I would call the lands generally alkali lands. On the hills there is sometimes some grass, and on portions of the hills there is no grass. There are some small benches in these lands that afford good grazing. The hollows are generally of no account. This tract of bad land, I should say, was about 25 miles long, and from 8 to 10 miles wide. The mountains I speak of, which the old hunters call Pryor's Mountain, extend from a little north of Fort Smith nearly due west to Pryor's Creek. These mountains are rough and rocky with deep cañons. Portions of them are of no account at all. The mountain sides afford good grazing in summer, but are of no account in winter. There is no smooth country south of these mountains on the reservation. West of Pryor's Creek the country is rolling, to Baudin's Creek, with frequent benches, that are generally smooth and level. Along the streams-Clark's Fork, Rocky Fork, Rosebud Creek, Little Rosebud Creek, Stillwater Creek, Red Lodge Creek and Bridge's Creek-there are some farming lands. It consists of the bottom lands. On Clark's Fork I should think the bottoms were on an average a mile wide; and along the course of the creek from the mountains to the Yellowstone, I should think there might be 25 miles in length of those bottom lands that could be farmed. On Rocky Fork I think the bottoms average hardly half a mile in width, and there is less than 10 miles in length of them. On Red Lodge Creek there are bottoms probably aggregating 10 miles in length, and less than half a mile wide on the average. On Rosebud and Little Rosebud there is not enough farming land to count. On Stillwater there is good farming lands, aggregating in length 12 miles and averaging in width half a mile. On these streams the bottom lands are never continuous. They will shut up entirely in places and then widen out. On all the streams there is a succession of bottoms instead of continuous bottoms. Sometimes the bottoms are small and sometimes of good size. South of Pryor's Mountain, between Sage Creek and Clark's Fork, there is another piece of level lands, similar in character to the above described. It is, I think, about 10 miles wide and 7 miles long. There is a range of mountains running from Clark's Fork northwesterly to Big Boulder Creek. I think they are mostly off the reservation. Up Clark's Fork it is about 50 miles from the Yellowstone to these mountains. At Stillwater Station, on the Yellowstone, I think it is not over 25 miles to the mountains; and that, I should think, would be about the average distance from the Yellowstone to the mountains between Stillwater and Big Boulder, though at the latter point the mountains come some nearer to the river. These mountains are rough and rocky, good for nothing to speak of for grazing. The country aside from the mountains I would call generally good grazing country. There is no farming country except the bottom lands. ALAIN MORRISON. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 17th day of January, 1885. S. Ex. 80-2 HENRY WARD, EXHIBIT No. 7. WASHINGTON, D. C., February 13, 1885. SIR: In the matter of the proposed lease of a portion of the Crow Reservation, situated in Montana Territory, we desire to submit in addition the following: When the contract with the Crow Indians was entered into the amouut proposed to be paid at that time, to wit, $30,000 per annum, was thought by us to be ample remuneration, but since then circumstances aud conditions have arisen whereby we feel justified in making an increased payment over that sum. Our proposition now is to pay for the Territory described in the lease now on file in your Department, for the first year, $40,000, and for each year thereafter the sum of $50,000. The payments of said moneys to be made in the same manner as set forth in said lease. Papers additional to those transmitted on the 17th instant, relative to leasing Indian lands in the Crow Reservation, Montana. FEBRUARY 19, 1885.-Referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and ordered to be printed. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SIR Referring to my letter of the 17th instant, submitting certain papers relating to the leasing of lands on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana Territory, I have the honor to present herewith a copy of a letter from Agent Armstrong on the subject, dated February 10, 1885; also a report from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of January 27, 1885, submitting a proposition made by John T. Murphy to lease lands on said reservation. I respectfully request that these papers be attached to and printed with the documents sent with my said report of the 17th instant. Very respectfully, H. M. TELLER, Secretary. The PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE UNITED STATES SENATE. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith the application of John T. Murphy, of Montana, for permission to graze cattle on the Crow Reservation, and to recommend that if it is decided by you to lease any part of this reservation for such purposes it be done by public auction after due public notice is given, and the contract or lease be given to the highest bidder. My opinion is that 3,000,000 acres of the west end of this reservation can be leased for $100,000 per annum. Very respectfully, Hon. H. M. TELLER, Secretary of the Interior. H. PRICE, |