8 ANNUAL REPORT OF 



this office desires them to comply strictly with the following rul/es 

 in the matter: 



" ' I. It is forbidden for any Indian wilfully or maliciously to 

 set on fire any timber, underbrush or grass, or any other combusti- 

 ble material upon Indian reservations, or carelessly or negligently 

 to leave or suffer fire to burn unattended near any timber or other 

 inflammable material. 



" '2. Any Indian who shall build a camp fire, or other fire, in 

 or near any forest, timber or other inflammable material upon any 

 reservation, or shall be a party thereto, shall, before breaking camp 

 or leaving said fire, totally extinguish the same. ' 



"You should instruct your Indian police that "when a forest or 

 prairie fire occurs on the reservation, it is their duty to go to, and 

 use all means in their power to extinguish, the same, and when 

 such fire occurs which is beyond their control, they must as soon 

 as possible report the fact to you or other officer of the govern- 

 ment in charge, in order that the Chief Fire Warden of the State 

 of Minnesota, whose address is St. Paul, Minnesota, may immedi- 

 ately be notified by wire or other speedy means. 



"In case persons, other than Indians, who may be living upon 

 the reservation, or railroad companies operating roads within the 

 same, cause forest or prairie fires within the limits of the reserva- 

 tion, or violate any of the laws (heretofore referred to) enacted by 

 the legislature of Minnesota ApriliS, 1895, for the protection of 

 forests within the state, you should report the facts at once to the 

 Chief Fire Warden of Minnesota, and take such other action in the 

 matter as may be necessary to have the offender turned over to the 

 proper officials of the state for trial and punishment under its laws, 

 which extend to misdemeanors and crimes committed by whites 

 upon any reservation in Minnesota. 



"It is also desired that you co-operate heartily with the said 

 ■Chief Fire Warden in this matter; and that whenever any forest or 

 prairie fire occurs on any reservation, causing material damage or 

 injury, the facts in the case be reported to this office within a rea- 

 sonable time thereafter. 



"Very respectfully, 



"W. A. JONES, Commissioner." 



