of the north and south road be considered in connection with the proposed measure, and that the bill be amended in committee accordingly. Late in the session, House bill No. 9378 (prepared in this office) was reported from the Committee on Indian Affairs, which authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with the Shoshone and Bannack tribes of Indians, in such manner as he may deem most advisable, and upon just terms of compensation, for a cession to the United States of their title to so much of the lands of the Fort Hall Reservation, limited as in the bill mentioned, as are required for the purposes of the Utah and Northern Railway Company in the operation of its railroad running north and south through said reservation; also for a like cession to the United States of such additional land at Pocatello Station as shall be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior to be actually necessary to the said Utah and Northern Railway Company and the Oregon Short-Line Railway Company for railway purposes and in the transaction of their authorized and legitimate business at that point; the result of such negotiations to be embodied in a written agreement to be signed by the requisite number of Indians, in conformity with the provisions of the treaty of July 3, 1868 (15 Stats., 676), and to be returned to the Secretary of the Interior, who is directed to report his action under the bill to Congress. A similar bill (S. 2789) was introduced in the Senate, but beyond reference to committee no further action was had by Congress on either measure.

Gila River (Pima and Maricopa) Reserve, Arizona.-Late in the session the House passed a bill (H. R. 9736) granting the Maricopa and Phoenix Railway Company a right of way through this reservation. The Senate, however, failed to take action on the measure.

Indian Territory.-In the annual report of this office for 1884 mention was made of certain acts of Congress passed at the first session of the Forty-eighth Congress granting to the Southern Kansas Railway Company, and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fé Railway Company, respectively, right of way through the Indian Territory. During the past year both companies have commenced operations. Maps of the first five sections, of twenty-five miles each, of the main line, and first four sections of the branch line of the Southern Kansas Railway, and of the first section of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fé Railway, have severally received your approval.

The Cherokee Nation having, by its national council, formally dissented from the allowances made in the fifth section of the act authorizing the construction of the Southern Kansas Railway, and certified the same to the Secretary of the Interior, Messrs. J. M. Galloway, of Fort Scott, Kans., W. H. Dyer, of Van Buren, Ark., and James Brodie, of Little Rock, Ark., have been appointed by the President a board of appraisers for the purposes named in the act, and have entered upon the duties of their appointment. The general council of the Otoes and Missourias, through whose reservation the main line passes, has also filed in the Department a formal protest against the allowances provided in the act.

During the last session of Congress acts were also passed granting a right of way through the Territory to the Denison and Washita Railroad Company, the Kansas and Arkansas Valley Railroad Company, and the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad Company, respectively. The two former were approved by the President; the latter, not having been returned by the President within the time prescribed by the Constitution, became a law without his approval.

By act of Congress approved June 1, 1886, the time for completion of the Saint Louis and San Francisco Railway through the lands of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations (act of August 2, 1882) was extended two years from the date of passage of the act.

Numerous other measures granting a right of way through the Territory to various railroad companies were introduced during the last session of Congress, but, except as above mentioned, no definite action appears to have been had thereon.

Lake Traverse (Sisseton) Reserve, Dakota.-On the 12th December, 1885, I transmitted to the Department the completed agreement referred to in my last annual report, with the Indians of this reserve, for a right of way to the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railway Company, which has been so long pending, together with a draft of proposed legislation for a ratification of the agreement by Congress. December 17 the papers were transmitted by the Department to the President, and formed the subject of Executive message to Congress December 21, 1885 (Senate Ex. Doc. No. 22, Forty-ninth Congress, first session). A bill (S. 1086) was subsequently introduced in Congress for the parposes named, and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. It does not appear that Congress took any further action in the matter.

The Duluth, Huron and Denver Railroad Company has also applied for information as to obtaining a right of way through the Lake Traverse Reserve, and has been referred to Congress for necessary legislation.

Pottawatomie Diminished Reserve, Kansas.-The Chicago and Alton Railroad Company has applied for right of way through this reserve, and has been informed that, owing to the absence of any treaty stipulations with the Indians in regard to railroads, Congressional action is requisite.

Siletz Reserve, Oregon.-The Newport, Cape Foulweather and King's Valley Railroad Company has applied for a right of way through this reserve. There being no treaty provisions with the Indians in regard to the construction of railroads upon their reserve, the company has been informed that an act of Congress will be necessary.

Sioux Reserve, Dakota.-Application has recently been made by the Ordway, Bismarck and Northwestern Railway Company for authority to make a preliminary survey for a railroad projected from a point about ten miles south of Fort Yates; thence to run southwesterly through the Sioux Reservation on the most feasible route to the Black Hills. Not feeling warranted in giving my consent to the survey without previously consulting the Indians who have a common interest in these lands, I have referred the matter to the several Indian agents for the different bands of Sioux occupying the reservation, and instructed them to ascertain and report the sentiments of the Indians on the subject.

Partial and deferred legislation.-At the last session of Congress the following bills were passed by the Senate, but failed to receive action in the House, viz:

A bill (S. 1056) granting the right of way to the Carson and Colorado Railroad Company through the Walker River Reserve, Nevada.

A bill (S. 1057) granting the right of way to the Jamestown and Northern Railroad Company through the Devil's Lake Reservation, in Dakota.

A bill (S. 1211) granting the right of way to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company through the Yakama Reservation, in Washington Territory.

The agreements made with the Sioux Indians in 1880-'81 for a right of way through the Sioux Reservation, in Dakota, to the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railway Company and the Dakota Central Railway Company, respectively, still remain unconfirmed by Congress.

COMMISSION TO NEGOTIATE WITH VARIOUS TRIBES OF INDIANS.

By an item in the Indian appropriation act approved May 15, 1886 (Public No. 49, p. 17), provision was made

To enable the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with the several tribes and bands of Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota for such modification of existing treaties with said Indians and such change of their reservations as may be deemed desirable by said Indians and the Secretary of the Interior, and as to what sum shall be a just and equitable liquidation of all claims which any of said tribes now have upon the Government; and also to enable said Secretary to negotiate with the various bands or tribes of Indians in Northern Montana and at Fort Berthold, in Dakota, for a reduction of their respective reservations, or for removal therefrom to other reservations; and also to enable said Secretary to negotiate with the Upper and Middle bands of Spokane Indians and Pend d'Oreilles Indians, in Washington and Idaho Territories, for their removal to the Colville, Jocko, or Cœur d'Alène Reservations, with the consent of the Indians on said reservations; and also to enable said Secretary to negotiate with said Indians for the cession of their lands to the United States; and also to enable said Secretary to negotiate with the Cœur d'Alène Indians for the cession of their lands outside the limits of the present Cœur d'Alène Reservation to the United States, $15,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be immediately available; but no agreement shall take effect till ratified by Congress.

With a view to carrying out the provisions of this act, a commission composed of Hon. John V. Wright, Rt. Rev. H. B. Whipple, and Charles F. Larrabee, esq., was appointed to negotiate with the several bands and tribes named in the act; they are now in the field, under instructions dated July 27, 1886. It is confidently hoped that the labors of this commission will result in settling all matters of dispute between the various tribes and bands and the Government, and in the adoption of measures that will go far towards their civilization, education, and general advancement and welfare..

CENSUS.

In my last estimate for the Indian service, I had the honor to recommend that a small appropriation be made to enable this office to take a census of the Indians. Congress, however, declined to do so. I have concluded to invite your attention again to this matter, so important do I consider it.

The census of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, taken by General Sheridan in June, 1885, showed that the real number of Indians was much below the number who previously had been supposed to belong to those tribes, and that, of course, they had been drawing rations and supplies largely in excess of their dues. The recent census ordered by this office under date of May 18, 1886, taken by Captain Bell, acting agent of the Pine Ridge Agency, shows that there had been carried upon the rolls 2,241 more Sioux than really existed, and that rations had been issued accordingly; that is, as shown by the agency reports rendered quarterly. With a knowledge of this fact, I have fixed a day upon which all the Indian agents on the great Sioux Reservation will be required to take a census of their respective Indians; and it is not improbable that a reduction in numbers, similar to that at Pine Ridge, will appear at other agencies. At this writing the result of the census thus ordered has not been made known to this office.

I do not doubt that an accurate census would show a decrease in the number of Indians, below the number now claimed, throughout the country, or at least at several of the agencies. The outlay for taking the census is inconsiderable when compared with the great saving it would probably effect. The saving in the two instances quoted-Cheyenne and Arapaho and Pine Ridge-will amount to a large sum annually.

INDIAN MONEYS.

This subject demands earnest attention. I have already in my former report (Report, 1885, page xxxvi) given a brief history of these funds, but the importance of the subject is such that I deem it proper to repeat a statement of the case. The class of funds under discussion is derived from various sources, but principally from a tax imposed upon others than Indians for pasturage of cattle upon Indian reservations, from sale of dead and down timber cut on reservations by other than Indians, from sale of the natural products of the reserves not the result of Indian labor, &c. From 1876, when funds of this kind were first reported to this office, up to the latter part of 1883, these miscellaneous receipts were not covered into the Treasury, but were held by the several Indian agents into whose hands they came, to be applied, under the personal direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to the sole use and benefit of the Indians of the reservations from which they were derived. But in March, 1883, Congress, in the deficiency bill for that year (22 Stat., 590), passed an act which is the first and only legislation on the subject. The act reads thus:

The proceeds of all pasturage and sales of timber, coal, or other product of any Indian reservation, except those of the five civilized tribes, and not the result of the labor of any member of such tribe, shall be covered into the Treasury for the benefit of such tribe, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe; and the Secretary shall report his action in detail to Congress at its next session.

The then Secretary of the Interior construed this act to mean that the Department had the right to use the money thus received in such manner as it might decide to be for the benefit of the Indians on the reservation, without further legislation or specific appropriation. The act, however, being somewhat ambiguous in its terms, was submitted to the Secretary of the Treasury for his views, who construed the law to mean that the money derived from the sources specified should be covered into the Treasury, but that it could not be taken out again without further legislation by Congress. Consequently since then miscellaneous receipts of the kind in question have, from time to time, been covered into the Treasury under the general caption "Indian moneys," there to await action by Congress. Meanwhile the Indians are deprived of the benefit of money which it is not disputed is theirs, and which it is believed Congress, by the act quoted, intended they should have.

Twice since my former report I have addressed the Department with a view of procuring such legislation as will allow this money to be drawn from the Treasury and applied to its legitimate use. On the 15th of March last I forwarded to the Department a draft of a bill, with the request that it be transmitted to Congress and that an earnest attempt be made to secure its passage. The proposed bill reads as follows:

Be it enacted, &c., That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to use the money which has been or may hereafter be covered into the Treasury under the provisions of the act approved March 3, 1883, and which is carried on the books of

that Department under the caption of "Indian moneys, proceeds of labor," for the benefit of the several tribes on whose account said money was covered in, in such way and for such purposes as, in his discretion, he may think best.

On March 20, 1886, this bill, with other papers on the subject, was laid before the House of Representatives in an Executive communication dated March 19, recommending favorable action thereon, and was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. The session of Congress being near its close, and nothing having been heard from the committee having charge of the bill, I again, on the 19th of June, urged that special effort be made to secure its passage. Congress, however, adjourned without taking action. Thus the matter stands.

The dissatisfaction spoken of in my former report as existing among the Indians on account of the retention of their money by the Government has been steadily increasing, and numerous and loud complaints are received both through the regular agents and the Indian inspectors. In one instance, according to an inspector's report, the dissatisfaction has reached such a degree that the Indians, in order to evade the law and get the use of the money, have resorted to the expedient of appointing one among them, other than the regular Indian agent, as their fiduciary, to collect the money due for grazing, hay, &c., from farmers, herders, and others, and to hold the amount so collected to be divided among them when their annuity payments are made. As the person appointed by the Indians is probably not bonded, they have no other security for the safe-keeping of their money than his personal integrity. Indian agents, on the other hand, are bonded officers, and as such are held to as strict an accountability for miscellaneous funds coming into their hands as for public money intrusted to their care.

At the date of my last report the aggregate amount of Indian moneys in the Treasury was $13,096.81. Since then it has been constantly accumulating until at the present writing the aggregate probably reaches treble that amount.

The legislation asked for is not new legislation, nor does it appropriate a single dollar of public money. It is simply intended to give effect to what is believed to have been the plain intent of Congress by the passage of the act of March 3, 1883, but which intent has so far been frustrated by the construction put upon that law by the Treasury officials. Under these circumstances, and in common justice to the Indians interested, I respectfully but earnestly renew the request already made by both my predecessor and myself that Congress be urged to afford relief to the Indians and allay whatever dissatisfaction may exist among them on account of these moneys by passing the bill presented, or such other bill as will permit this money to be drawn from the Treasury and used for the benefit of the tribes to whom it rightfully belongs.

CASH PAYMENTS TO INDIANS.

During the year $244,680.38 annuity or treaty money was paid per capita to Indians, and $266,565.44 was paid for interest on funds invested for them, or held in trust in lieu of investment; altogether about $511,246, or some $11,000 less than during the previous fiscal year. Thus over half a million dollars, principally in small sums and in halfyearly payments, have been disbursed, with entire satisfaction to the Indians, so far as I can learn, and without incident worthy of special note, except it be the action of the Uncompahgre Utes at Ouray Agency, referred to elsewhere.