Agreement with the Crows, Appendix, 1880
May 14, 1880. | Unratified.* Indian Office, Montana C. 839 (1880).
See note a, Vol. 1, p. 195.
The chiefs of the Crow tribe of Indians now present in Washington hereby give their own consent and promise to use their best endeavors to procure the consent of the adult male members of said tribe to cede to the United States all that part of the present Crow reservation in the Territory of Montana described as follows, to wit:
Beginning in mid-channel of the Yellowstone River, at a point opposite the mouth of Boulder Creek; thence up the mid-channel of said river to the point where it crosses the southern boundary of Montana, being the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; thence east along said parallel of latitude to the one hundred and ninth meridian of longitude; thence north on said meridian, to a point six miles south of the first standard parallel south, being on the township-line between townships six and seven south; thence west on said township-line to the one hundred and tenth meridian of longitude; thence north along said meridian to a point either west or east of the source of the Eastern Branch of Boulder Creek; thence in a straight line to the source of the Eastern Branch of Boulder Creek; thence down said Eastern Branch to Boulder Creek; thence down Boulder Creek, and to the place of beginning.
The said chiefs of the Crow tribe of Indians promise to obtain the consent of their people as aforesaid to the cession of the territory of their reserve as above, on the following express conditions:
First. That the Government of the United States cause the agricultural lands remaining in their reservation to be properly surveyed and divided among the said Indians in severalty in the proportions hereinafter mentioned, and to issue patents to them respectively therefor, so soon as the necessary laws are passed by Congress. Allotments in severalty of said surveyed lands shall be made as follows: To each head of a family not more than one-quarter of a section, with an additional quantity of grazing-land, not exceeding one-quarter of a section. To each single person over eighteen years of age not more than one-eighth of a section, with an additional quantity of grazing-land not exceeding one-eighth of a section. To each orphan child under eighteen years of age not more than one-eighth of a section, with an additional quantity of grazing land not exceeding one-eighth of a section, and to each other person, under eighteen years, or who may be born prior to said allotments, one-eighth of a section, with a like quantity of grazing land. All allotments to be made with the advice of the Agent for said Indians, or such other persons as the Secretary of the Interior may designate for that purpose, upon the selection of the Indians, heads of families selecting for their minor children, and the agent making the allotment for each orphan child.
The title to be acquired by the Indians shall not be subject to alienation, lease, or incumbrance, either by voluntary conveyance of the grantee or his heirs, or by the judgment, order, or decree of any court, or subject to taxation of any character, but shall be and remain inalienable, and not subject to taxation for the period of twenty-five years, and until such time thereafter as the President may see fit to remove the restriction, which shall be incorporated in the patents.
Second. That in consideration of the cession of territory to be made by the said Crow tribe, the United States, in addition to the annuities and sums for provisions and clothing stipulated and provided for in existing treaties and laws, agrees to appropriate annually for twentyfive years, the sum of thirty thousand dollars, to be expended under the direction of the President for the benefit of the said Indians, in assisting them to erect houses, to procure seeds, farming implements, stock, or in cash, as the President may direct.
Third. That if at any time hereafter the Crow Indians shall consent to permit cattle to be driven across their reservation or grazed on the same, the Secretary of the Interior shall fix the amount to be paid by parties desiring to so drive or graze cattle; all moneys arising from this source to be paid to the Indians under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe.
Fourth. All the existing provisions of the treaty of May seventh, 1868, shall continue in force.
Done at Washington, this fourteenth day of May, anno Domini, eighteen hundred and eighty.
Plenty Coos, his x mark.
Old Crow, his x mark.
Two Belly, his x mark.
Long Elk, his x mark.
Pretty Eagle, his x mark.
Medicine Crow, his x mark.
Witnesses:
A. M. Quivly, Interpreter.
E. J. Brooks
J. F. Stoek
A. R. Keller, United States Indian Agent.
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Oklahoma State University Library
- URL: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/