I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2941

To correct the south boundary of the Colorado River Indian Reservation 

in Arizona, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2003

Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. RENZI, Mr. HAYWORTH, and Mr. 

PASTOR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To correct the south boundary of the Colorado River Indian 

Reservation in Arizona, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, FINDINGS, PURPOSES. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Colorado River Indian Reservation Boundary Correction 

6 Act’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Act of March 3, 1865, created the Col9 orado River Indian Reservation (hereinafter ‘‘Res10 ervation’’) along the Colorado River in Arizona and 
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1 California for the ‘‘Indians of said river and its trib2 utaries’’. 

3 (2) In 1873 and 1874, President Grant issued 

4 Executive Orders to expand the Reservation south5 ward and to secure its southern boundary at a clear6 ly recognizable geographic location in order to fore7 stall non-Indian encroachment and conflicts with the 

8 Indians of the Reservation. 

9 (3) In 1875, Mr. Chandler Robbins surveyed 

10 the Reservation (hereinafter ‘‘the Robbins Survey’’) 

11 and delineated its new southern boundary, which in12 cluded approximately 16,000 additional acres (here13 inafter ‘‘the La Paz lands’’), as part of the Reserva14 tion. 

15 (4) On May 15, 1876, President Grant issued 

16 an Executive Order that established the Reserva17 tion’s boundaries as those delineated by the Robbins 

18 Survey. 

19 (5) In 1907, as a result of increasingly frequent 

20 trespasses by miners and cattle and at the request 

21 of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the General Land 

22 Office of the United States provided for a resurvey 

23 of the southern and southeastern areas of the Res24 ervation. 
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1 (6) In 1914, the General Land Office accepted 

2 and approved a resurvey of the Reservation con3 ducted by Mr. Guy Harrington in 1912 (hereinafter 

4 the ‘‘Harrington Resurvey’’) which confirmed the 

5 boundaries that were delineated by the Robbins Sur6 vey and established by Executive Order in 1876. 

7 (7) On November 19, 1915, the Secretary of 

8 the Interior reversed the decision of the General 

9 Land Office to accept the Harrington Resurvey, and 

10 upon his recommendation on November 22, 1915, 

11 President Wilson issued Executive Order No. 2273 

12 ‘‘. . . to correct the error in location said southern 

13 boundary line . . . ’’—and thus effectively excluded 

14 the La Paz from the Reservation. 

15 (8) Historical evidence compiled by the Depart16 ment of the Interior supports the conclusion that the 

17 reason given by the Secretary in recommending that 

18 the President issue the 1915 Executive Order—‘‘to 

19 correct an error in locating the southern bound20 ary’’—was itself in error and that the La Paz lands 

21 should not have been excluded from the Reservation. 

22 (9) The La Paz lands continue to hold cultural 

23 and historical significance, as well as economic devel24 opment potential, for the Colorado River Indian 
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1 tribes, who have consistently sought to have such 

2 lands restored to their Reservation. 

3 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are: 

4 (1) To correct the south boundary of the Res5 ervation by reestablishing such boundary as it was 

6 delineated by the Robbins Survey and affirmed by 

7 the Harrington Resurvey. 

8 (2) To restore the La Paz lands to the Reserva9 tion, subject to valid existing rights under Federal 

10 law and to provide for continued reasonable public 

11 access for recreational purposes. 

12 (3) To provide for the Secretary of the Interior 

13 to review and ensure that the corrected Reservation 

14 boundary is resurveyed and marked in conformance 

15 with the public system of surveys extended over such 

16 lands. 

17 SEC. 2. BOUNDARY CORRECTION, RESTORATION, DESCRIP18 TION. 

19 (a) BOUNDARY.—The boundaries of the Colorado 

20 River Indian Reservation are hereby declared to include 

21 those boundaries as were delineated by the Robbins Sur22 vey, affirmed by the Harrington Survey, and described in 

23 section 1. 

24 (b) RESTORATION.—Subject to valid existing rights 

25 under Federal law, all right, title, and interest of the 
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1 United States to those lands within the boundaries de2 clared in subsection (a) that were excluded from the Res3 ervation pursuant to Executive Order No. 2273 (Novem4 ber 22, 1915) are hereby restored to the Reservation and 

5 shall be held in trust by the United States on behalf of 

6 the Colorado River Indian Tribes. 

7 (c) DESCRIPTION.—Consistent with the provisions of 

8 this Act, the following described lands are hereby restored 

9 to the boundaries of the Colorado River Indian Reserva10 tion: 

11 (1) Beginning at a point at the corner common 

12 to townships 3 and 4 north, ranges 21 and 22 west 

13 of the Gila and Salt River meridian, Arizona, which 

14 is the designated southeast corner of the present res15 ervation pursuant to Executive Order Numbered 

16 2273. 

17 (2) Thence easterly along the township and sec18 tion line common to section 6, township and section 

19 line common to section 6, township 3 north, range 

20 21 west of the Gila and Salt river meridian for 

21 79.15 chains to angle point 2 established by G.P. 

22 Harrington in 1912 near the corner common to sec23 tion 5 and 6, township 3 north range 21 west and 

24 sections 31 and 32, township 4 north, range 21 west 

25 of the Gila and Salt River meridian. 
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1 (3) Thence south 71 degrees 30 minutes east 

2 31.77 chains to angle point 3 established by Har3 rington (1912) and presently located on the line 

4 common to lots 3 and 6 of section 5, township 3 

5 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me6 ridian. 

7 (4) Thence north 88 degrees 15 minutes east 

8 73.23 chains to angle point 4 established by Har9 rington (1912) and presently located at the corner 

10 common to lots 3, 7, and 8 of section 4, township 

11 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River 

12 meridian. 

13 (5) Thence south 81 degrees 00 minutes east 

14 26.32 chains to angle point 5 established by Har15 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

16 common to lots 2 and 6 of section 4, township 3 

17 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me18 ridian. 

19 (6) Thence south 63 degrees 30 minutes east 

20 58.83 chains to angle point 6 established by Har21 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

22 common to lots 2 and 8 of section 3, township 3 

23 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me24 ridian. 
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1 (7) Thence north 86 degrees 00 minutes east 

2 24.62 chains to angle point 7 established by Har3 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

4 common to lots 1 and 6 of section 3, township 3 

5 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me6 ridian. 

7 (8) Thence south 52 degrees 30 minutes east 

8 25.23 chains to angle point 8 established by Har9 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

10 common to lots 4 and 10 of section 8, township 3 

11 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me12 ridian. 

13 (9) Thence south 22 degrees 00 minutes east 

14 8.80 chains to angle point 9 established by Har15 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

16 common to lots 5 and 10 of section 3, township 3 

17 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me18 ridian. 

19 (10) Thence south 13 degrees 30 minutes east 

20 12.25 chains to angle point 10 established by Har21 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

22 common to lot 5 of section 3 and lot 1 of section 10, 

23 township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and 

24 Salt River meridian. 
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1 (11) Thence south 44 degrees 00 minutes east 

2 16.10 chains to angle point 11 established by Har3 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

4 common to lots 1 and 5 of section 11, township 3 

5 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me6 ridian. 

7 (12) Thence south 17 degrees 00 minutes east 

8 15.00 chains to angle point 12 established by Har9 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

10 common to lots 1 and 5 and approximately at the 

11 common corner of lots 1, 2, and 5 of section 11, 

12 township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and 

13 Salt River meridian. 

14 (13) Thence south 53 degrees 30 minutes east 

15 27.25 chains to angle point 13 established by Har16 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

17 common to lots 2 and 7 of section 11, township 3 

18 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me19 ridian. 

20 (14) Thence south 54 degrees 30 minutes east 

21 14.29 chains to angle point 14 established by Har22 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

23 common to lots 3 and 7 of section 11, township 3 

24 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me25 ridian. 
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1 (15) Thence south 44 degrees 30 minutes east 

2 19.21 chains to angle point 15 established by Har3 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

4 common to lots 3 and 8 of section 11, township 3 

5 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me6 ridian. 

7 (16) Thence south 53 degrees 30 minutes east 

8 159.60 chains to angle point 16 established by Har9 rington (1912) and presently located along the line 

10 common to lot 5 of section 18 and section 19 of 

11 township 3 north, range 20 west of the Gila and 

12 Salt River meridian. 

13 (17) Thence south 65 degrees 00 minutes east 

14 6.05 chains to angle point 17 established by Har15 rington (1912) and as presently located on the line 

16 common to lot 5 of section 18 and section 19 of 

17 township 3 north, range 20 west at the southeast 

18 corner of lot 5, which as reestablished will also serve 

19 as the southeast corner of the Colorado River Indian 

20 Reservation. 

21 (18) Thence north 1 degree 33 minutes east 

22 409.64 chains to angle point 18 established by Har23 rington (1912) and on the boundary line of lot 4, 

24 township 4 north, range 20 west of the Gila and 

25 Salt River meridian. 
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1 (19) Thence north 6 degrees 36 minutes east 

2 66.17 chains to the corner common to the southwest 

3 corner of lot 4, section 18 and the northeast corner 

4 of lot 1, section 19, township 4 north, range 20 west 

5 of the Gila and Salt River meridian which is the 

6 southernmost point along the east boundary of the 

7 reservation as defined in Executive Order Numbered 

8 2273. 

9 (20) Thence westerly along the south boundary 

10 line of the reservation as defined in Executive Order 

11 Numbered 2273 to the corner common to sections 

12 18 and 19, townships 4 north, range 21 west and 

13 section 13 and 24, township 4 north, range 22 west 

14 of the Gila and Salt River meridian. 

15 (21) Thence southerly along the range line 

16 which constitutes the southeast boundary line as de17 fined in Executive Order Numbered 2273 for ap18 proximately 3 miles to the point of the beginning. 

19 (d) EXCLUSION.—Excluded from those lands re20 stored to trust status on behalf of the Colorado River In21 dian Tribes that are described under subsection (c) are 

22 the lands under title to the Arizona State Lands Depart23 ment. These lands are 320 acres in the East half of Sec24 tion 36, Township 4 North, Range 21 West. 
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1 SEC. 3. RESURVEY AND MARKING. 

2 The Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the 

3 boundary for the restored La Paz lands described in sec4 tion 2 is surveyed and clearly marked in conformance with 

5 the public system of surveys extended over such lands. 

6 SEC. 4. WATER RIGHTS. 

7 The correction of the Reservation boundary and the 

8 restoration of the La Paz lands to the Reservation pursu9 ant to this Act shall be deemed not to create any new 

10 Federal reserved water right on behalf of the Colorado 

11 River Indian Tribes, nor to expand or diminish any exist12 ing Federal reserved water right held by the Colorado 

13 River Indian Tribes. 

14 SEC. 5. PUBLIC ACCESS. 

15 Continued access to the lands restored to the Res16 ervation pursuant to this Act for hunting and other exist17 ing recreational purposes shall remain available to the 

18 public under reasonable rules and regulations promulgated 

19 by the Colorado River Indian Tribes. 

20 SEC. 6. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. 

21 The correction of the Reservation boundary and the 

22 restoration of the La Paz lands to the Reservation as pro23 vided for in this Act shall be deemed not to extinguish 

24 any existing mining leases or commercial leasehold rights 

25 through the terms of the existing contractual obligation. 

26 The Colorado River Indian Tribes shall enjoy the right 
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1 to renew or cancel all and every such lease as the terms 

2 of each and every lease concludes.

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