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 Com-
mittee on Resources 
A BILL 
To correct the south boundary of the Colorado River Indian 
Reservation in Arizona, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, FINDINGS, PURPOSES. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Colorado River Indian Reservation Boundary Correction 
Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Act of March 3, 1865, created the Col-
orado River Indian Reservation (hereinafter ‘‘Res-
ervation’’) along the Colorado River in Arizona and
California for the ‘‘Indians of said river and its trib-
utaries’’. 
(2) In 1873 and 1874, President Grant issued 
Executive Orders to expand the Reservation south-
ward and to secure its southern boundary at a clear-
ly recognizable geographic location in order to fore-
stall non-Indian encroachment and conflicts with the 
Indians of the Reservation. 
(3) In 1875, Mr. Chandler Robbins surveyed 
the Reservation (hereinafter ‘‘the Robbins Survey’’) 
and delineated its new southern boundary, which in-
cluded approximately 16,000 additional acres (here-
inafter ‘‘the La Paz lands’’), as part of the Reserva-
tion. 
(4) On May 15, 1876, President Grant issued 
an Executive Order that established the Reserva-
tion’s boundaries as those delineated by the Robbins 
Survey. 
(5) In 1907, as a result of increasingly frequent 
trespasses by miners and cattle and at the request 
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the General Land 
Office of the United States provided for a resurvey 
of the southern and southeastern areas of the Res-
ervation.
(6) In 1914, the General Land Office accepted 
and approved a resurvey of the Reservation con-
ducted by Mr. Guy Harrington in 1912 (hereinafter 
the ‘‘Harrington Resurvey’’) which confirmed the 
boundaries that were delineated by the Robbins Sur-
vey and established by Executive Order in 1876. 
(7) On November 19, 1915, the Secretary of 
the Interior reversed the decision of the General 
Land Office to accept the Harrington Resurvey, and 
upon his recommendation on November 22, 1915, 
President Wilson issued Executive Order No. 2273 
‘‘. . . to correct the error in location said southern 
boundary line . . . ’’—and thus effectively excluded 
the La Paz from the Reservation. 
(8) Historical evidence compiled by the Depart-
ment of the Interior supports the conclusion that the 
reason given by the Secretary in recommending that 
the President issue the 1915 Executive Order—‘‘to 
correct an error in locating the southern bound-
ary’’—was itself in error and that the La Paz lands 
should not have been excluded from the Reservation. 
(9) The La Paz lands continue to hold cultural 
and historical significance, as well as economic devel-
opment potential, for the Colorado River Indian
tribes, who have consistently sought to have such 
lands restored to their Reservation. 
(c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are: 
(1) To correct the south boundary of the Res-
ervation by reestablishing such boundary as it was 
delineated by the Robbins Survey and affirmed by 
the Harrington Resurvey. 
(2) To restore the La Paz lands to the Reserva-
tion, subject to valid existing rights under Federal 
law and to provide for continued reasonable public 
access for recreational purposes. 
(3) To provide for the Secretary of the Interior 
to review and ensure that the corrected Reservation 
boundary is resurveyed and marked in conformance 
with the public system of surveys extended over such 
lands. 
SEC. 2. BOUNDARY CORRECTION, RESTORATION, DESCRIP-
TION. 
(a) BOUNDARY.—The boundaries of the Colorado 
River Indian Reservation are hereby declared to include 
those boundaries as were delineated by the Robbins Sur-
vey, affirmed by the Harrington Survey, and described in 
section 1. 
(b) RESTORATION.—Subject to valid existing rights 
under Federal law, all right, title, and interest of the
United States to those lands within the boundaries de-
clared in subsection (a) that were excluded from the Res-
ervation pursuant to Executive Order No. 2273 (Novem-
ber 22, 1915) are hereby restored to the Reservation and 
shall be held in trust by the United States on behalf of 
the Colorado River Indian Tribes. 
(c) DESCRIPTION.—Consistent with the provisions of 
this Act, the following described lands are hereby restored 
to the boundaries of the Colorado River Indian Reserva-
tion: 
(1) Beginning at a point at the corner common 
to townships 3 and 4 north, ranges 21 and 22 west 
of the Gila and Salt River meridian, Arizona, which 
is the designated southeast corner of the present res-
ervation pursuant to Executive Order Numbered 
2273. 
(2) Thence easterly along the township and sec-
tion line common to section 6, township and section 
line common to section 6, township 3 north, range 
21 west of the Gila and Salt river meridian for 
79.15 chains to angle point 2 established by G.P. 
Harrington in 1912 near the corner common to sec-
tion 5 and 6, township 3 north range 21 west and 
sections 31 and 32, township 4 north, range 21 west 
of the Gila and Salt River meridian.
(3) Thence south 71 degrees 30 minutes east 
31.77 chains to angle point 3 established by Har-
rington (1912) and presently located on the line 
common to lots 3 and 6 of section 5, township 3 
north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me-
ridian. 
(4) Thence north 88 degrees 15 minutes east 
73.23 chains to angle point 4 established by Har-
rington (1912) and presently located at the corner 
common to lots 3, 7, and 8 of section 4, township 
3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River 
meridian. 
(5) Thence south 81 degrees 00 minutes east 
26.32 chains to angle point 5 established by Har-
rington (1912) and presently located along the line 
common to lots 2 and 6 of section 4, township 3 
north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me-
ridian. 
(6) Thence south 63 degrees 30 minutes east 
58.83 chains to angle point 6 established by Har-
rington (1912) and presently located along the line 
common to lots 2 and 8 of section 3, township 3 
north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River me-
ridian.