The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-01-24
Northern Pacific Claims Half
the Indian Reservation.
ALL ooo-NUMBERED SECTIONS.
Red Men Have Patents i'm Fee Simple
and Cannot Be Shut Out.
Nine Thousand Acres of Valuable Soil
Involved I'm the Natter-Raiiway Men
Confident of Winning the Property.
but Treaty Stands in the way.

Z
A telegram was received here today from
Tacoma stating that General Counsel
Mcknight, of the Northern Pacific road,
claimed large part ofthe Puyailup reser-
vation for his road, thereby giving it vast
possessions adjacent to large cities in
Washington. He said:
"We claim we are entitled under direction of
the interior department. aud two decisions OF
the supreme court, TO the odd seetions in the
extinguished, and presume we will
get at least one-third OF the re-
sersation; ser att OF course that will cast
VIC shall make this claim upon decision given
by the secretary OF the department in the Gull
foTd-Miller case. and also a recent decision by
case of Butts vs. the Northern Pacific
Railroad Company, and st. Paul, Minneap-
ais Il Manitoba Railroad Company Phelps.
There IS no question OF ouT. right under these
decisions. We got about half of the Crow reser-
yation in Montana when il was thrown open
short time ago, but land there is not nearly so
valuable, being only worth about So to So per
acre. some of the Puyailup reservation is worth
all of $500 per acre
By way of explanation Counsel Nc
Naught said that their claim to the odd
sections had been forgotten for some time,
papers relating to it having been pigeon
holed for several wears.
The demand of the Northern Pacific rail-
road for the odd-numbered sections
of land in the Puyallup In
dian reservation has caused considerable
comment among sympathetic admirers of
the red man. According to the act passed
by congress in 1865. the Northern Pacific
railway is entitled to twenty miles on each
side of the track, allowing the road forty
square miles of public land to every lineal
mile of railroad. The road has acquired
considerable part of the Crow reservation,
and. if the Indians title is extin-
guished, expects to secure several
thousand acres in the Puyallup
reservation, but the condition of affairs in
the Puyallup Indian reservation is very
different from that of the Crow reserva-
ton.
The Indian claim to the land is based
upon treaty stipulations entered into with
the United States December o6, 1854, long
before grant to a railroad was
made. Under the provisions of
that treaty all lands of the res
ervation except $50 acres have been allotted
in severalty TO the Indians, for which
patents have been issued in fee simple,
without power of alienation. To ex-
tinguish the title Of these individual In
dians to their respective allotments, so
patented, it will be necessary for the gov.
ernment to purchase outright az the pres
ent market value, of which the Indians
themselves are fully apprised.
This land from the richness of soil, its
adaptability to cultivation of hops, and its
close proximity to navigation, will COM
mand price not less than 800 per acre,
and whatever conclusion the commission
may reach as to the purchase of the
Indian lands and the valuation thereof, it
must be confirmed by congress before
taking effect. 1t is not reasonable that
congress should appropriate sufficient
amount of money TO pay these Indians for
their individual holdings of land. at such
q valuation for such purpose as handing
them over to the railroad company.
Ii Mr. Mcknight is correct in his state
ment that title to the land as soon as it is
purchased from the lndians-which is the
only way left TO extinguish the Indian
title-will vest in the railroad. it may be
safely inferred that congress will not ratify
any such purchase at such valuation,
so that congress failing to ratify, the
whole proceeding becomes null and
void, the Indians retain the lands and will
hold them under their patents until they
are allowed to sell the lands owned by
them individually to any person who will
pay them full value. There are about
1900 acres involved in this matter. The
great gains accruing to the railroad COM
pany can easily be compiled.
WASHINGTON CITY, Jan. 3d. Special. l.
Unofficial opinions of officials at the In
dian bureau are against the success of the
Northern Pacific in its efforts to lay claim
to the odd-numbered sections of the lands
in the Puyallup reservation. There has
since the publication of Mr.. McNaught's
conference with the commission now at
Tacoma. The subject has been discussed
in dispatches to the Eastern press, and
some have characterized it as bold move
on the part of the company The claim of
the company for the odd sections, it is
estimated, includes 1900 acres SAID to be
worth millions of dollars.
The very value of these lands, if this is
true, would be a barrier TO their passing to
any company as their part of its land
grant. 1t would necesitate the purchase
by the government, and then the turning
over of the property to the company
The department expects that if there were
an attempt to change title other than by
actual purchase nothing short of decision
by the supreme court would settle the
question, as the property is worth fighting
for. The commission now at Tacoma can
take no final action, as the law which
created it gives il power only to investi-
gate and make recommendations to con-
gress.