James Mooney - Native Americans - 22 Books on History, Mythology, Culture & Linguistic Studies

Table of Contents

In addition to the provision contained in the treaty of 1866 concerning the location of civilized Indians east of 96°, the sixteenth article of that treaty made further provision enabling the United States to locate friendly tribes on Cherokee lands west of that meridian. The conditions of this concession were that any tracts selected for such location should be in compact form and in quantity not exceeding 160 acres for each member of the tribe so located, and that the boundaries of the tracts should be surveyed and marked and should be conveyed in fee simple to the tribes respectively located thereon. It was further stipulated that the price to be paid for the lands so set apart should be such as might be agreed upon between the Cherokees and the immigrant tribes, subject to the approval of the President of the United States, who, in case of a disagreement between the parties in interest, was authorized to fix the value.

Osages. —The treaty of September 29, 1865, 634with the Osages, having in view the possibility of some early arrangement whereby the Kansas tribes might be removed to Indian Territory, made provision that in case such a removal of the Osages should take place their remaining lands in Kansas should be disposed of and 50 per cent. of the proceeds might be applied to the purchase of their new home. Nothing was done in the line of carrying out this idea until the spring of 1868, when, in reply 635to a communication from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs on the subject, the Cherokee delegation asserted the willingness of their nation to dispose of a tract for the future home of the Osages not exceeding 600,000 acres in extent and lying west of 96°, provided a reasonable price could be agreed upon for the same. A few weeks later 636a treaty was concluded between the United States and the Osages, which made provision for setting apart a tract for their occupation in the district of country in question, but the treaty failed of ratification. The necessity for their removal from Kansas, however, increased in correspondence with the demands of advancing settlements, and Congress, by an act approved July 15, 1870, 637provided that, whenever the Osages should give their assent, a tract should be set apart for their permanent occupancy in the Indian Territory equal in extent to 160 acres for each member of the tribe who should remove there. For this tract they were to pay a price not exceeding that paid by the United States, the cost to be defrayed out of the proceeds arising from the sale of their Kansas lands. The assent of the Osages to the provisions of this act was promptly secured through the medium of a commission consisting of J. V. Farwell, J. D. Lang, and Vincent Colyer, of the President's Board of Indian Commissioners. A tract was selected in the Cherokee country immediately west of 96°, as was supposed, and the Osages were removed to it. Their condition was for a time, however, most unsatisfactory. Many trespassers were found to be upon the lands selected for them. To crown this trouble, a new survey located the line of the 96th meridian a considerable distance to the west of what had previously been presumed its proper location. This survey deprived the Osages of the greater part of the tillable land upon which they had settled and included the most valuable of their improvements. To a proposition allowing the Osages to retain the lands thus found to be east of 96°, the Cherokees returned an emphatic refusal, on the ground that the former were not "civilized Indians." 638Another subject of annoyance was the inability of the Osages and Cherokees to agree upon a price for the lands selected by the former. The matter was therefore laid before the President, who, by executive order, 639fixed the price to be paid at 50 cents per acre. To this action the Cherokees strenuously objected, urging that not only was the price too low, but that a uniform valuation ought to be fixed for all the Cherokee lands west of 96°. 640To remedy the evils arising from these complications, legislation was asked of Congress approving a new selection for the Osages, and, by act approved June 5, 1872, 641such selection was affirmed (the previous consent of the Cherokees having been obtained), 642to include the tract of country "bounded on the east by the 96th 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."

Kansas or Kaws. —This act contained a proviso that the Osages should permit the settlement within the limits of this tract of the Kansas or Kaw tribe of Indians, and a reservation was accordingly set off for them in the northwest corner, bounded on the west by the Arkansas River. The area of the country thus assigned to the Kaws was 100,137 acres, and of that portion intended for the occupation of the Osages 1,470,059 acres. 643

The question of the future location of these Indians having been definitely settled, it only remained for an agreement to be reached concerning the price to be paid to the Cherokees for the tract so purchased. The value fixed by the President on the tract originally selected was considered as having no application to the lands set apart by the act of 1872. As in the first instance no agreement was reached between the Osages and Cherokees, and the President was again called on to establish the price. This he did, after much discussion of the subject, on the 14th of February, 1873. The price fixed was 70 cents per acre, and applied to the "Kaw reserve" as well as to that of the Osages.

Pawnees. —In further pursuance of the privilege accorded by the treaty of 1866, the Pawnee tribe has also been located on Cherokee lands west of 96°. The Pawnees are natives of Nebraska, and possessed as the remnant of their original domain a reservation on the Platte River, in that State. Their principal reliance as a food supply had been the buffalo, though to a very limited extent they cultivated corn and vegetables.

For two years prior to 1874, however, their efforts in the chase were almost wholly unrewarded, and during the summer of that year their small crops were entirely destroyed by the ravages of the grasshoppers. The winter and spring of 1874—'75 found them, to the number of about three thousand, in a starving condition. In this dilemma they held a council and voted to remove to Indian Territory, asking permission at the same time to send the male portion of the tribe in advance to select a home and to break the necessary ground for planting crops. They also voted a request that the United States should proceed to sell their reserve in Nebraska, and thus secure funds for their proper establishment in the Indian Territory. Permission was granted them in accordance with their request, and legislation was asked of Congress to enable the desired arrangement to be carried into effect. Congress failed to take any action in relation to the subject during the session ending March 3, 1875. It therefore became necessary to feed the Pawnees during the ensuing season. 644

The following year, by an act approved April 10, 645Congress provided for the sale of the Pawnee lands in Nebraska, as a means of securing funds for their relief and establishment in their new home, the boundaries of which are therein described. It consists of a tract of country in the forks of the Arkansas and Cimarron Rivers comprising an area of 283,020 acres. Of this tract, 230,014 acres were originally a portion of the Cherokee domain west of 96° and were paid for at the rate of 70 cents per acre. The remainder was ceded to the United States by the Creek treaty of 1866.

Appraisal of the lands west of 96°. —By the 5th section of the Indian appropriation act of May 29, 1872, 646the President of the United States was authorized to cause an appraisement to be made of that portion of the Cherokee lands lying west of 96° west longitude and west of the Osage lands, or, in other words, all of the Cherokee lands lying west of the Arkansas River and south of Kansas mentioned in the 16th article of the Cherokee treaty of July 19, 1866. No appropriation, however, was made to defray the expense of such an appraisal, and in consequence no steps were taken toward a compliance with the terms of the act. This legislation was had in deference to the long continued complaints of the Cherokees that the United States had, without their consent, appropriated to the use of other tribes a large portion of these lands, for which they (the Cherokees) had received no compensation. The history of these alleged unlawful appropriations of the Cherokee domain may be thus briefly summarized: