668 



RESERVATIONS, INDIAN. 



had been made previously under special laws and 

 treaties, and the admission to citizenship of all 

 Indians who had voluntarily taken up their resi- 

 dence apart from their tribes and adopted the 

 habits of civilized life. By special laws and trea- 

 ties 3,072 Indians of various tribes had previously 

 become citizens. Under the allotment act 22,639 

 allotments of land have been patented and delivered 

 to Indians on reservations, and under the same act 

 allotments are also made to nonreservation Indians. 

 During 1896 2,364 patents for allotments were de- 

 livered to Indians on reservations. 



Since May 14, 1855, reservations for Indians have 

 been made by executive order (with or without the 

 authority of Congress) in addition to treaty or agree- 

 ment ; and when they are no longer required, they 

 are restored to the public domain by order of the 

 President and disposed of like other public lands. 

 The largest area of Indian land lies within Indian 

 and Arizona Territories, South Dakota, Montana, 

 Oklahoma, Washington, Utah, and North Dakota. 



The total Indian population of the United States, 

 exclusive of Alaska, was shown by a census of the 

 tribes taken by the Indian Office in 1895 to be 

 248,340. or, exclusive of the Five Civilized Tribes, 

 182,370. Of this number, 81,202 wear citizen's dress 

 wholly and 31,701 in part ; those who can read 

 number 33,115, and 41,242 can use English enough 

 for ordinary purposes. During the year 23,462 

 dwelling houses were occupied by Indians and 

 1,944 were built by Indians, and 269 church build- 

 ings were owned by Indians. The births during 

 the year were placed at 3,502, and the deaths at 

 2.974, only partial reports having been made of 

 either; 734 formal marriages took place and 48 

 divorces were granted. Sixteen suicides occurred. 

 Twenty-three Indians were killed by Indians, and 

 5 by whites. Four whites were killed by Indians. 

 By the court of Indian offenses, 762 Indian crimi- 

 nals were punished; by civil courts, 218; and by 

 other methods, 371 ; while 400 whisky-sellers were 

 prosecuted. 



History. Indian reservations within the United 

 States have their origin in the right of Indian occu- 

 pancy of lands, acknowledged by Great Britain and 

 subsequently by the United States, which requires, 

 preliminary" to survey or disposition of public lands, 

 the extinguishment of the Indian title and claims. 

 A uniform course has been pursued in making such 

 extinguishment by purchase only. In but one in- 

 stance has the right of conquest been exercised 

 that of the Sioux Indians in Minnesota, after the 

 outbreak of 1862 ; and in this case even the Indians 

 were provided with another reservation, and were 

 paid the net proceeds of sales of their lands. 

 Early reservations were made by treaty only. The 

 Plymouth Colony, in 1640, set aside from a large 

 tract purchased from surrounding tribes a home 

 for the grantees and their children forever, and 

 other instances of the sort abound. Prior to 1776 

 the colonies conducted their Indian relations indi- 

 vidually, negotiating for cessions of land and ex- 

 tinguishing the Indian title ; but by the Articles 

 of Confederation "the sole and exclusive right and 

 power of regulating the trade and managing all 

 affairs with the Indians " was transferred to the 

 Federal Government, which at once proceeded to 

 put in force principles defined by George III in a 

 proclamation of Oct. 7, 1763, viz., the right to ex- 

 pel intruders upon Indian lands and the right of 

 the Government solely to purchase Indian lands. 



The first treaty made with Indians by the I'nitrd 

 States as a nation was that of 1778 with the Dela- 

 wares, looking to assistance from them during the 

 War of Independence and to the organization of a 

 fourteenth (Indian) State, with representation in 

 Congress. In 1783 commissioners were appointed 



to make treaties with all the Indian nations (then 

 recognized as such) in due convention with all the 

 tribes ; but as this proved impossible, treaties were 

 entered into with these severally a system con- 

 tinued until 1871, to which date more than 360 

 treaties were made. From that time the Indian 

 has been considered the nation's ward. 



The majority of earlier treaties looked mainly to 

 the acquisition of land, and it is claimed that in 

 the first twenty-five years of national existence the 

 ratification of 38 treaties secured 200,000,000 acres. 

 Encroachments of whites upon lands north of the 

 Ohio river, claimed by the Indians as the boundary 

 between their possessions and those of the whites, 

 and the rejection by United States commissioners 

 of the remonstrance of the confederated Indian na- 

 tions in council at the foot of the Mauniee rapids, 

 Aug. 13, 1793, led to the bloody wars that were 

 closed by the treaty of Greenville, Aug. 3, 1795, 

 and to the subsequent outbreak of Tecumseh. 



Conflict between State and Federal authority in 

 the control of Indians was obviated to all practical 

 effect by cessions of Western lands made by the 

 thirteen" States, and by the proposed removal of In- 

 dians within State boundaries thither, stipulated 

 for in particular by Georgia in 1802. The ordi- 

 nance of 1787 for the government of the Northwest 

 Territory provided for the maintenance of gooc. 

 faith toward the Indians, secured to them their 

 property and lands, and protected them against 

 unjust wars; and the provision or its principle was 

 repeated or embodied in acts organizing the ma- 

 jority of the Territories subsequently erected within 

 the limits of the original cessions from the colonies. 

 The States containing such provisions in their in- 

 .cipient organization were Indiana, Michigan, Illi- 

 nois, Mississippi, Alabama, Wisconsin, Iowa. Minne- 

 sota, Oregon, Kansas, Nebraska, C'olorado, Dakota, 

 Nevada, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. 



As regards the Indian title to domain afterward 

 acquired by the United States by the treaty of pur- 

 chase of Louisiana from France, April 30, 1803. the 

 United States pledged itself to execute and re- 

 all existing treaties with Indian tribes until by mn- 

 tual consent " other suitable articles shall have been 

 agreed upon"; but in tHe cessions from Mexico no 

 such stipulation was made, that republic holding no 

 treaty relations with Indian tribes, nor ever having 

 recognized the Indian right of occupancy. The 

 States and Territories covered by the treaty of 

 Guadalupe Hidalgo are California. Nevada. Arizona, 

 New Mexico, and Utah. Within these limits reser- 

 vations have been set aside for Indians, but the 

 only tribes with whom treaties have been made for 

 cessions of lands are the Navajos, Comanches, anr 

 Kiowas; and in California, in particular, no com 

 pensation has ever been made to Indians for lands 

 taken forcibly from them. The long-disputec 

 tenure of the Mission Indians of that State wa-; 

 established by a decision of the Supreme Court o:' 

 California. Jan. 31, 1888. though their claims, eon 

 flicting with those of settlers, are still the sul>.j< j < : 

 of legislation by Congress. 



Stringent laws regarding trade and intercom'"'- 

 enacte'd by Congress in 1790. 1793, and 1796 initi- 

 ated the policy of seclusion, with provisions for at 

 tempts at civilization of the Indian by the (ioveni 

 ment, more fully defined by the act of June -W. 

 1834, which was framed to meet the exigencies 

 arising after the removal of the Indians east of the 

 Mississippi to lands westward of that stream. 



Such removal, as has been said, was early con 

 templated. and provision was made for it i>\ act o 

 Congress, March 26, 1805. A grant of lands wesi 

 of the Mississippi was also made to the Choctaus 

 for a home in 1820. But difficulties, particularly 

 in Georgia with the Cherokees in their relation " 



