Chapter CCCX. to confirm to the Great and Little Osage Indians a Reservation in the Indian Territory
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CHAP. CCCX.— An Act to confirm to the Great and Little Osage Indians a Reservation in the Indian Territory.June 5, 1872.See *Post,* p. 538. Whereas by the treaty of eighteen hundred and sixty-six between thePreamble.Vol. xiv. pp. 799, 804. United States and the Cherokee nation of Indians, said nation ceded to the United States all its lands west of the ninety-sixth meridian west longitude, for the settlement of friendly Indians thereon: and whereas by act of Congress approved July fifteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy,1870, ch. 296, § 12.Vol. xvi. p. 362. the President was authorized and directed to remove the Great and Little Osage Indians to a location in the Cherokee country west of the ninety-sixth meridian, to be designated for them by the United States authorities; and whereas it was provided by the same act of Congress that the lands of the Osages in Kansas should be sold by the United States, and so much of the proceeds thereof as were necessary should be appropriated for the payment to the Cherokees for the lands set apart for the said Osages west of the ninety-sixth meridian; and whereas under the provisions of the above-mentioned treaty and act of Congress and229FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 310, 311. 1872. concurrent action of the authorities of the United States and the CherokeeReservation of the Great and Little Osage Indians. nation, the said Osages were removed from their former homes in the State of Kansas to a reservation set apart for them in the Indian Territory, at the time of the removal supposed to lie west of the said ninety-sixth meridian, and bounded on the east thereby, and upon which said Osages have made substantial and valuable improvements; and whereas by a recent survey and establishment of the ninety-sixth meridian it appears that the most valuable portion of said Osage reservation, and upon which all their improvements are situated, lies east of the said meridian; and whereas it therefore became necessary to select other lands in lieu of those found to be east of the established ninety-sixth meridian for said Osage Indians; and whereas a tract has accordingly been selected, lying between the western boundary of the reservations heretofore set apart for said Indians and the main channel of the Arkansas river, with the south line of the State of Kansas for a northern boundary, and the north line of the Creek country and the main channel of the Arkansas river for a southern and western boundary; and whereas the act of Congress approved July fifteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy, restricts the said reservation for said Osage Indians to “a tract of land in compact form equal in quantity to one hundred and sixty acres for each member of said tribe;” and whereas in a letter of the Cherokee delegation, addressed to the Secretary of the Interior on the eighth day of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-two on behalf of the Cherokee nation, containing their approval of and assent to the proposition to provide for the settlement of the Osage and Kaw Indians on that portion of the Cherokee country lying west of the ninety-sixth degree west longitude, south of Kansas, east and north of the Arkansas river:
Therefore, *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That in order to provide saidA tract of land west of the 96th meridian set apart as a reservation for the Great and Little Osage Indians.Boundaries. Osage tribe of Indians with a reservation, and secure to them a sufficient quantity of land suitable for cultivation, the following-described tract of country, west of the established ninety-sixth meridian, in the Indian Territory, be, and the same is hereby, set apart for and confirmed as their reservation, namely:
Bounded on the east by the ninety-sixth meridian, on the south and west by the north line of the Creek country and the main channel of the Arkansas river, and on the north by the south line of the State of Kansas: *Provided,* That the location as aforesaid shall beLocation. made under the provisions of article sixteen of the treaty of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, so far as the same may be applicable thereto: *And provided further,* That said Great and Little Osage tribe of IndiansKansas Indians may be settled on the tract of the Great and Little Osage tribes. shall permit the settlement within the limits of said tract of land [of] the Kansas tribe of Indians, the lands so settled and occupied by said Kansas Indians, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres for each member of said tribe, to be paid for by said Kansas tribe of Indians out of the proceeds of the sales of their lands in Kansas, at a price not exceeding that paid by the Great and Little Osage Indians to the Cherokee nation of Indians.
Approved, June 5, 1872.