Treasury, Secretary of. Letters-Continued. Recommending the extension of the limit of cost of certain public Recommending the extension of the limit of cost of public build- List of persons employed in the Treasury Department during the Recommending the extension of the limit of cost of public build- Recommending the extension of the limit of cost of the public build- Allowance of the tenth installment of the war claim of Massachu- Estimate of appropriation to refund to persons money collected Report on the allowance of claim of John Finn Estimate of appropriation to pay the claim of Miss Emma Dowell.. Deficiency estimate received from the Commissioner of Fish and Estimates of appropriations for completing the new naval cruisers Allowance of the twelfth installment of the war claim of the State Estimate for appropriation for completing the ordnance of the new Recommending an appropriation to compensate William Schuchardt Estimate of appropriation for the relief of Sampson P. Bayly.. Supplemental list of claims allowed by the accounting officers of the Estimate of appropriation for a combined coal-shed and store-house Treasury Department. List of all persons employed in the, during the Treaties between the United States and foreign powers. Message from Turtle, Thomas, captain of Engineers. Report relative to the channel U. Union Pacific Railroad for 1884. Letter Secretary of the Interior rela- Union Pacific Railroad Company and the Western Union Telegraph Vanderbilt, W. H., letter of, relative to the military and civil testimo- Venezuela. Message from the President of the United States concern- W. Walker, J. G., Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department. Transmitting report of the commission to select a site and super- Transmitting official report of Lieutenant Schwatka of his military In relation to a system of telegraph and telephone service in Wash- Report of "Tests of iron and steel and other materials for industrial (Only letter of the Secretary printed.) Report of the "Armament Board" upon the various kinds of ordnance Expenditures at the Springfield Armory during the fiscal year end- Transmitting letter of the Surgeon-General with petitions of hospital (Only letter of transmittal printed.) Portage Lake and Lake Superior Ship-Canal Regarding the damage done the breakwater in Oswego Harbor by Regarding the work done upon the Buckhannon River, West Transmitting the annual report of the Missouri River Commission. Necessity for the enlargement of the basin at Block Island, Rhode Relative to the establishment of signal stations upon the island of Papers relative to the completion of the monument at Yorktown... List of clerks and other persons employed in the War Department. Contracts made by the War Department during the fiscal year ended (Only letter of the Secretary printed.) Requesting the printing of additional copies of Lieutenant Ray's (Only letter of transmittal printed.) Report on the subject of a new lock at Saint Mary's Falls Canal in Relating to Senate bill 2442 to increase the efficiency of the infantry (Only letter of transmittal printed.) Relative to obstructions to navigation through the draw of the rail- War claim of Massachusetts. Allowance of the tenth installment of the. the 96 War Department. List of clerks and other persons employed in the.... 33 War Department. Contracts made by the, during the fiscal year ended (Only letter of the Secretary printed.) Washington. Letter of Attorney-General relative to proceedings under the West Indies. Foreign trade of the Spanish Wichita, Kiowa, and Comanche Indian Agency. Condition of affairs (Letter of the Secretary only printed.) Winnebago Indians. Claims of Omaha Indians against the... Y. Yakama Reservation in the Washington Territory. Draft of a bill to Yorktown. Papers relative to the completion of the monument at. 88 2d Session. SENATE. MESSAGE No. 50. FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TRANSMITTING Communications of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Interior, relative to certain lands in the Indian Territory acquired by treaty from the Creek and Seminole Indians. JANUARY 28, 1885.-Read and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and ordered to be printed. To the Senate of the United States: In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 22d instant, setting forth that Whereas the United States, in 1866, acquired from the Creek and Seminole Indians by treaty certain lands situate in the Indian Territory, a portion of which have remained unoccupied until the present time; and Whereas a widely extended belief exists that such unoccupied lands are public lands of the United States, and as such subject to homestead and pre-emption settlement, and pursuant to such belief a large number of citizens of the United States have gone upon them claiming the right to settle and acquire title thereto under the general land laws of the United States; and Whereas it is understood that the President of the United States does not regard said lands as open to settlement, and believes it to be his duty to remove all persons who go upon the same claiming the right to settle thereon, and for that purpose has directed the expulsion of the persons now on said lands by the use of military force, and there seems to be a probability of a conflict growing out of the attempt to expeĺ said persons so claiming right and attempting to settle: Therefore, Resolved, That the President be requested to advise the Senate as to the status of the lands in question as viewed by the Executive, the action taken, if any, to expel persons seeking to settle thereon, and the reasons for the same, together with any other information in his possession bearing upon the existing controversy I have the honor to state that the matter was referred to the Secretaries of War and the Interior, and to transmit herewith their respective reports thereon, dated the 26th instant. The report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, accompanying that of the Secretary of the Interior, recites fully the provisions of the treaties made with the Indian tribes ceding the lands in question to the United States, showing the condition and purposes expressed in said treaties regarding said lands, as well as the action taken with reference thereto, from which it will be seen that they are not open to settlement under any laws of the United States. The report of the Secretary of War shows the action of the military authorities at the request of the Interior Department under section 2147 of the Revised Statutes. The status of these lands was considered by my predecessor, President Hayes, who, on the 26th day of April, 1879, issued a proclamation warning all persons intending to go upon said lands without proper permission of the Interior Department that they would be speedily and immediately removed therefrom according to the laws made and provided, and that if necessary the aid and assistance of the military forces of the United States would be invoked to carry into proper execution the laws of the United States referring thereto. A similar proclamation was issued by President Hayes on the 12th day of February, 1880. On the 1st day of July, 1884, I considered it to be my duty to issue a proclamation of like import. These several proclamations were at the request of the Secretary of the Interior. As will be seen by the report of the Secretary of War, the military forces of the United States have been repeatedly employed to remove intruders from the lands in question, and that, notwithstanding such removals and in disregard of law and the Executive proclamations, a large body of intruders is now within the territory in question, and that an adequate force of troops has been ordered to remove the intruders and is now being concentrated for that purpose. None of the land or general laws of the United States have been extended over these lands, except as to the punishment for crimes and other provisions contained in the intercourse act, which relate to trade and the introduction of spirituous liquors and arms among Indians, and do not sanction settlement. It is clear that no authorized settlement can be made by any person in the Territory in question. Until the existing status of these lands shall have been changed by agreement with the Indians interested, or in some other manner, as may be determined by Congress, the treaties heretefore made with the Indians should be maintained, and the power of the Government to the extent necessary should be exercised to keep off intruders and all unauthorized persons. CHESTER A. ARTHUR. EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 27, 1885. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, January 26, 1885. SIR: I have the honor to return to you the resolution of the Senate, adopted January 22, 1885, in relation to the lands situated in the Indian Territory acquired from the Creek and Seminole Indians by treaty, a portion of which have remained unoccupied until the present time, in which the President is requested to advise the Senate as to the status of the lands in question, as viewed by the Executive, the action taken, if any, to expel persons seeking to settle thereon, and the reason for the same, together with any other information in his possession bearing upon the existing controversy. The lands in question are understood to include the unassigned portion of the lands ceded to the United States by the treaties of 1866, with the Creek and Seminole Nations of Indians, respectively, such unassigned portion extending from the Canadian River on the south to the Cimarron River on the north, and from the country of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes on the west to the country occupied by the Kiowas, Kickapoos, and Pottawatomies on the east; and in reference to the in |