The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-08-13

emphatically stated in the report of
! Colonel Randlett, dated, March 1, 1897,
and submitted to congress for their
information. As I said before these
Indians can only get about u acres of
land per capita, unless the government
FORCES them TO take the arid lands of
the reservation which are of no value,
and upon which Colonel Randlett
states, in his report, nothing can live
or exist
1T can be plainly SEEM continued
Judge Baum, that these Indians must
be cut off with far less an amount of
land than the act provides for them, or
they must be forced to take the class
of lands heretofore mentioned. In the
entire aspect of the situation, the old
story of injustice and wrong 10 the In
dian viii be repeated, only to q far
greater extert. Are the people of this
country now willing, after all the ex-
perience they have had in dealing with
the Indians. and knowing full well the
conditions of this particular tribe, will
ing to see this apparent wrong done
them?
VANpEVENTER'S OPINION.
According to the opinion rendered
a few days ago by Assistant Attorney
General Handkerchief of the Indian de-
partment, the members of the Uncom-
allotted lands under the special act re-
lating to the removal of the Uncom-
pahgres from Colorado to Utah, viz:
the act of 1880 Under the provisions
Of this act, each head of family will
be allotted 800 acres and each minor 100
acres, half of which viii be agricultural
and half grazing lands. Official statis-
tics show the UncOmphgre Utes to con-
sist of about 900 head; local statistics
divide the hand into 200 heads 0f ia mi
lies and 200 minors. 1t viii be seen that
under the act of 1889, the government
must provide $4,000 acres of grazing
and $4,000 acres of agricultural lands
to carry out the provisions of the act.
1t is also determined by Assistant
Attorney General Vandeventer that all
of. the lands so allotted must be paid
for by the aboriginees at the rate of
Sl-25 per acre. the same to be taken
from the fund now credited to the In
dams from the sale of the Colorado
lands, which they were forced to re-
inquish some is or II years ago. The
Uncompahgres, as I understand il,
were credited 121s cents per acre for
their Colorado reservation and the fund
accruing from that sale to equal an
amount sufficient for the purchase of
the $4,000 acres to be allotted, must
have been derived from the sale of
], 440 600 acres of land formerly held by
these Indians in Colorado, a monStrous-
ly absurd superstition. 1t seems a great
injustice that the rapidly decreasing
band of Uncompahgre Ute Indians
should be thus treated, that they should
have been forced to relinquish their
beautiful Colorado reserve upon the
that they were to have F,
a home in Utah in exchange, a promise |
demonstrated as impossible to keep; |
that after making the bargain, and II |
years having elapsed, they are Informed |
that they are to take the arid Uncom-
pahgre waste and pay S1.25 an acre !
therefore, price ten times as great as
a white man is required to pay for q |
homestead, including all fees"
SELF EXPLANATORY.
The following kilograms in connec-
ton with the allotment of lands TO
the Uncompahgres explain themselves.
The recent opinion of the assistant at
torneys general says the UncompahgTes
are required by the treaty made with
the general government at the time of
their removal from Colorado to pay
Sl25 per acre for all lands allotted TO I
them. TO be deducted from the proceeds
of the sale of the reservation in Colora-
do A Geographic inquiry was made a
day or two ago of the secretary of the
interior what amount if any, is due /