Year: 1866

CHAP. LII.


An Act for the Removal of the Winnebago In


dians, and for the Sale of their Reservation in


Minnesota for their Benefit.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep
resentatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled, That the President OF the
United States is authorized to assign to and set
apart for the Winnebago Indians tract of un-
occupied land beyond the limits of any State, in
extent at least equal to their diminished
ton, the same to be well adapted for agricultural
purposes. And it shall be lawful for the Presi-
dent 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 set
tie them upon the lands which may be assigned
to them under the provisions of this act


Sec. 2. And be it further enacted That upon
the removal of the said Indians from the reserva-
tion where they reside, it shall be 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 appointed 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 subject to the preemption, settlement, entry,
or location under any act OF Congress, unless the
party preempting, 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


Sec. g. And be it further enacted, That after
the appraised of the said reservation the same
shall be opened to precmption, entry, and settle
ment, in the same manner as other public lands
That before any person shall be entitled to enter
any portion of the said lands, by preemption or
otherwise, previous to their exposure to sale to
the highest bidder at public outcry, he shall be,
conform to all the regulations now provided by
law in cases of preemption, and shall pay, with
in the term of one year from the date of his set
tlement, the full appraised value of the land and
the Improvements thereon, to the land officers of
the district where the SAID lands are situated
And the portion of the said reservation which
may not be settled upon, aforesaid. may be
sold at public auction other public lands
sold after which they shall be subject to sale at
private try, as other public lands of the United
States, but no portion thereof shall be sold for
not less than their appraised value before the
first of January, Ammo Domini eighteen hundred
and sixty five, nor for less price than one dollar
and twenty-five cents per acre. unless otherwise
provided by law Provided, That where improve
ments have been made upon said lands by persons
authorized by law to trade with said Indians, the
value of such Improvements, or the price for
which the same may b. 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 Improvements made by him shall
form no part of the purchase price to be paid for
said land.


Sec. 4. And be it further enated, That the lands
of said Indians which have been set apart for the
payment of the debts of the said Indians, shall
be sold on sealed bids for the best price the same
will bring; but no bids shall be received for said
lands until the first day of January, Ammo Domini
eighteen hundred and siXty-fve, for less than two
dollars ane fifty cents per acre. Bids shall be re-





tracts conforming to the Government surveys less
than one hundred and sixty acres will secure
the largest price for said lands the Secretary is
authorized to receive, in payment of said lands,
certificates of Indebtedness OF said Indians, issued
by the Commissioner of Inc ian 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 the 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 indebtness required by said treaty
to be paid, shall be paid into the treasury of the
United States, and shall be expended as the same
is received, under the direction OF the Secretary
OF the Interior, in necessary improveme nts upon
their new reservation: and it shall be the duty OF
the Secretary of the Interior to alot to said In
dianS in severalty lands which they may respec-
lively cultivate 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 and his heirs, without the right OF
alienation, and shall be evidenced by patent;


Sec. s. And be it further enacted, That the
money to be annually appropriated for the bene-
fit of the said Indians shall be expended in such
mrnner will, in the Judgment OF the President,
best advance the said Indians in agricultural and
mechanical pursuits, and enable them to sustain
themselves without the aid of the Government.
And in such expenditure reasonable tliscrimina-
ton may be made in favor of the chiefs who shall
be found faithful to the Government OF the Uni
ted States, and efficient in maintaining its author
ity and the peace of the Indians. Said Indians
shall be subject to the laws of the United States,
and to the criminal laws of the State or Territory
in which thu may happen to reside. They shall
also be subject to such rules and regulations for
their government as the Secretary of the Interior
may prescribe; but they shall be deemed incapa-
Bile of making any valid civil contract \" ith amy
person other than native member of their tribe
without the conseut of the President OF the Uni
ted States The Secretary of the Interior shall
also make reasonable provision for the education
of said Indians, according to their capacity and
the means at his command.


Approved, February II, 1868.


CHAP. LIV.


An At to divide the State of Michigan into two