Chapter 434. to provide for the sale of a part of the reservation of the Omaha tribo of Indians in the State of Nebraska, and for other purposes
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CHAP. 434.— An Act to provide for the sale of a part of the reservation of the Omaha tribo of Indians in the State of Nebraska, and for other purposes.August 7, 1882. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Sale of portion of reservation of Omaha Indians in Nebraska.Survey and sale with consent of Indians, etc. That with the consent of the Omaha tribe of Indians, expressed in open council, the Secretary of the Interior be, and he hereby is, authorized to cause to be surveyed, if necessary, and sold, all that portion of their reservation in the State of Nebraska lying west of the right of way granted by said Indians to the Sioux City and Nebraska Railroad Company under the agreement of April nineteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty, approved by the Acting Secretary of the Interior, July twenty-seventh eighteen hundred and eighty.
The said lauds shall be appraised, in tracts of forty acres each, by three competent commissioners, one of whom shall be selected byTo be appraised in tracts of 40 acres by commissioners, etc.Unallotted lands opened up for settlement by proclamation, etc. the Omaha tribo of Indians, and the other two shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. Sec. 2. That after the survey and appraisement of said lands the Secretary of the Interior shall be, and he hereby is authorized to issue proclamation to the effect that unallotted lands are open for settlement under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe.
That at any time within one year after the date of such proclamation, each bona fide settler, occupying any portion of said lands, and having madeRights of settlers, etc., to purchase. valuable improvements thereon, or the heirs-at law of such settler, who is a citizen of the United States, or who has declared his intention to become such, shall be entitled to purchase, for cash, through the United States public land-office at Neligh, Nebraska, the land so occupied and improved by him, not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres in each ease, according to the survey and appraised value of said lands as provided for in section one of this act; *Provided*, That the Secretary of*Proviso.*Terms of payment. the Interior may dispose of the same upon the following terms as to payments, that is to say, one-third of the price of said land to become due and payable one year from the date of entry, one-third in two years, and one-third in three years, from said date, with interest at the rate of five per centum per annum; but in case of default in either of said payments the person thus defaulting for a period of sixty daysForfeiture in case of default, etc.*Proviso.*Purchase not to be rejected on account of fractional excess, etc. shall forfeit absolutely his right to the tract which he has purchased and any payment or payments he might have made: *And provided further*, That whenever any person shall under the provisions of this act settle upon a tract containing a fractional excess over one hundred and sixty acres, if the excess is less than forty acres, is contiguous, and results from inability in survey to make township and section lines conform to the boundary lines of the reservation, his purchase shall not be rejected on account of such excess, but shall be allowed as in other cases: *And provided further*, That no portion of said land shall be soldLand to be sold at appraised value, etc. at less than the appraised value thereof, and in no case for less than two dollars and fifty cents per acre: *And provided further*, That all land in township twenty-four, range seven east, remaining unallotted on the first day of June, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, shall be appraised and sold as other lands under the provisions of this act.
Sec. 3. That the proceeds of such sale, alter paying all expensesProceeds placed in Treasury the united States to credit of Indians, bearing interest, etc. incident to and necessary for carrying out the provisions of this act, including such clerk hire as the Secretary of the Interior may deem necessary, shall be placed to the credit of said Indians in the Treasury of the United States, and shall bear interest at the rate of five per centum per annum, which income shall be annually expended for the benefit of said Indians, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior.
Sec. 4. That when purchasers of said lands shall have complied withPatents, when to issue. the provisions of this act as to payment, improvement, and so forth, proof thereof shall be received by the local land office at Neligh, Nebraska, and patents shall be issued as in the case of public lands offered for settlement under the homestead and preemption acts: *Provided,**Proviso.* 342 That any right in severalty acquired by any Indian under existingIndian rights in severalty under existing treaties preserved. treaties shall not be affected by this act.
Sec. 5. That with the consent of said Indians as aforesaid the secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized, either through the Allotment in severalty, etc., distribution.agent of said tribe or such other person as he may designate, to allot the lands lying east of the right of way granted to the Sionx City and Nebraska Railroad Company, under the agreement of April nineteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty, approved by the Acting Secretary of the Interior July twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty, in severalty to the Indians of said tribe in quantity as follows:
To each head of a fandly, one quarter of a section; to each single person over eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section; to each orphan child under eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section; and to each other person under eighteen years of age, one sixteenth of a section; which allotments shall be deemed and held to be in lieu of the allotments or assignments provided for in the fourth article of the treaty with the Omahas, concluded March sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and for which, for the most part, certificates in the names of14 Stat., 668. individual Indians to whom tracts have been assigned, have been issued by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, as in said article provided: *Provided*, That any Indian to whom a tract of land has been assigned and certificate issued, or who was entitled to receive the same, under the provisions of said fourth article, and who has made valuable improvements thereon, and any *Proviso.*Indian who being entitled to an assignment and certificate under said article, has settled and made valuable improvements upon a tract assigned to any Indian who has never occupied or improved such tract, shall have a preference right to select the tract upon which his improvements are situated, for allotment under the provisions of this section:*Proviso.* *Provided further*, That all allotments made under the provisions of this section shall be selected by the Indians, heads of fandlies selecting for their minor children, and the agent shall select for each orphan child; after which the certificates issued by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs as aforesaid shall be deemed and held to be null and void.
Sec. 6. That upon the approval of the allotments provided for in thePatents for allotted lands to issue upon approval, etc.; lands to be bold by United States in trust for twenty-five years, etc. preceding section by the Secretary of the Interior, he shall cause patents to issue therefor in the name of the allottees, which patents shall be of the legal effect and declare that the United States does and will hold the laud thus allotted for the period of tweutyflve years in trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indians to whom such allotment shall have been made, or in case of his decease, of his heirs according to the laws of the State of Nebraska, and that at the expiration of said period the United States will convey the same by patent to said Indian or his heirs as aforesaid, in fee discharged of said trust and free of all charge or incumbrance whatsoever.
And if any conveyance shall be made of the lands set apart and alloted as herein provided, or any contract made touching the same before the expiration of the time above mentioned, such *Proviso.*conveyance or contract shall be absolutely null and void: *Provided*, That, the law of descent and partition in force in the said State shall apply thereto after patents therefor have been executed and delivered. Sec. 7. That-upon the completion of said allotments and the patentingIndians subject to laws, civil and criminal, of State ofNebraska, when. of the lands to said allottees, each and every member of said tribe of Indians shall have the benefit of and be subject to the laws, both civil and criminal, of the State of Nebraska; and said State shall not pass or enforce any law denying any Indian of said tribe the equal protection of the law.
Sec. 8. That the residue of lands lying east of the said right of wayResidue of lands, etc., patented to Omahas and held in trust, etc. of the Sioux City and Nebraska Railroad, after all allottments have been made, as hr the fifth section of this act provided, shall be patented to the said Omaha tribo of Indians, which patent shall be of the legal effect and declare that the United States does and will hold the kind thus patented for the period of twenty-five years in trust for the solo use and benefit of the said Omaha tribe of Indians, and that at the ex- 343piration of said period the United States will convey the same by patent to said Omaha tribe of Indians, in fee discharged of said trust and free of all charge or incumbrance whatsoever: *Provided*, That from the*Proviso.* residue of lands thus patented to the tribe in common, allotmentsAllotmont of laud made to each Omaha child born during and prior to expiration of time of trust, etc. shall be made and patented to each Omaha child who may be born prior to the expiration of the time during which it is provided that said lands shall be held in trust by the United States, in quantity and upon the same conditions, restrictions, and limitations as are provided in section six of this act, touching patents to allottees therein mentioned.
But such conditions, restrictions, and limitations shall not extend beyond the expiration of the time expressed in the patent herein authorized to be issued to the tribe in common: *And provided further*, That these patents,*Proviso.* when issued, shall override the patent authorized to be issued to the tribe as aforesaid, and shall separate the individual allotment from the lands held in common, which proviso shall be incorporated in the patent issued to the tribe: *Provided*, That said Indians or any part of them may, if they shall so elect, select the laud which shall be allotted to them in severalty in any part of said reservation either east or west of said right of way mentioned in the first section of this act.
Sec. 9. That the commissioners to be appointed by the Secretary of theCommissioners to receive compensation, etc. Interior under the provisions of this act shall receive compensation for their services at the rate of five dollars for each day actually engaged in the duties herein designated, in addition to the amount paid by them for actual traveling and other necessary expenses. Sec. 10. That in addition to the purchase, each purchaser of saidFees to register and receiver. Omaha Indian lands shall pay two dollars, the same to be retained by the receiver and register of the land office-at Neligh, Nebraska, as their fees for services rendered.
Approved, August 7, 1882.