Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1863-02-27

Laws OF THE UNITED STATES
assed at the Third Session of the Thirty-Seventh
Congress.

[PUBLIo-No. SO.
AN ACT for the removal ofthe Winnebago In
dians, and for the sale of their reservations
in Minnesota for their benefit
Be it enacted by the senate and house of
representatives Of the United States of Amer
lea in congress assembled, that the presi-
dent of the United States is authorized to as
sigh to and set apart for the Winnebago Indi-
ans tract of unoccupied land beyond the
limits of any state, in extent equal to their
diminished reservation, the same to be well
adapted for agricultural purposes. And it
shall be lawful for the president to take such
steps as he may deem proper to effect the
peaceful and quiet removal of the said Indians
from the state of Minnesota, and to settle
them upon the lands which may be assigned
to them under the provisions of this act.
Sect. 2. And be it further enacted, that
upon the removal or the sad Indians RON tho
reservation where they now reside, ii shall bo
the duty of the secretary of the interior to
cause each legal subdivision of the said lands
to be appraised by discreet persons to be APP
pointed by him for that purpose. And in
each instance where there are improvements
upon any legal subdivision of said lands the
improvements shall be separately appraised.
But no portion Of the said lands shall be sub.
ject to presumption, settlement entry or To-
cation under the act of congress, unless the
party pre-empting, settling upon, or locating
any portion of said lands shall pay therefor
the full appraised value thereof, including the
value of the said improvements, under such
regulations as hereinafter provided.
Sect. 3. And be it further enacted that after
appraisal of the said reservation the same
shall be opened to pre- .empton, entry, and
settlement, inthe same manner as other pub
lie lands: Provided, that before any person
sholI ho aOtitlpd In ouu Of ha
said lands, by presumption or otherwise, pre-
vious to their exposure to sale to the highest
bidder, at public cutlery, he shall become an
actual bona tide settler thereon, and shall
conform to all the regulations now provided
by law in cases of presumption, and shall pay,
within the term of one year from the date of
his settlement, the full appraised value of the
land, and the improvements thereon, to the
land officer of the district where the said lands
are situated. And the portion of the said res.
ervatiOn which may not be settled upon,
as aforesaid, lmay be sold at public
auction, as other public lands are sold,
after which they shall be subject to sale at
private entry, as other public lands of the
United States, but no portion thereof shall be
sold for a sum less than their appraised value
before the first of January, Ammo Domini
eighteen hundred and sixty-fvc, nor for a less
price than one dollar and twenty-five cents
per acre, unless otherwise provided by law
Provided, that where improvements have
been made upon said lands bypersOns author
lied by law to trade with said Indians, the
value of such improvements or the price for
which the same may be sold, shall be paid to
the parties making the same: and in case the
land upon which such improvements shall
have been made, shall be purchased by the
parties making the same, at the appraised
value as aforesaid, the value of the improve
ments so made by him, shall form no part
of the purchase price to be paid for the said
land.
Sect 4. And be it further enacted, that the
lands of said Indians which have been set
apart for the payment of the debts ofthe said
Indians, shall be sold on sealed bids for the
best price the same will bring but no bid
shall be received for said lands until the first
day of January, ammo Domini eighteen hun
bred and sixty-fve, for less than two dollars
and fifty cents per acre. Bids shall be receiv-
ed foE tracts of quarter sections; and for such
tracts conforming to the government surveys
less than one hundred and sixty acres as will
secure the largest price tor said lands, the sec
rotary is authorized to receive, in payment of
said lands, certificates of Indebtedness of said
Indians, issued by the commissioner of In.
dian affairs, for the debts of said Indians,
secured to be paid out Of the sale of said
lands by the third article of the treaty of said
Indians with the United States, concluded
at Washington on the fifteenth day of April,
eighteen hundred and fifty-nine. The money
arising from the sale of their said lands, after
paying the Indebtedness required by said
treaty to be paid, shall be paid into the treas
ury of the United States, and shall be expend-
ed as the same is received, under the direc-
ton of the secretary of the interior, in neces-
sary improvements upon their new reserva-
ton; and it shall be the duty of the secretary
of the interior to allot to said Indians in sew
crafty lands which they may respectively cul-
tivate and improve, not exceeding eighty acres
to each head of a family other than to the
chiefs, to whom larger allotments may be
made which lands, when so allotted, shall be
vested in said Indian andhis heirs, without the
right of alienation, and shall be evidenced by
patent.
Sect. 5. And be it further enacted, that the
money to be annually appropriated for the
henaft of tha said Tndians sb,Il bo o,...c.,, IL