Agreement with The Crows
May 14, 1880
Margin Notes:
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.
NOTE. - This agreement was not ratified, but substituted by that
of June 12, 1880, which was ratified April 11, 1882 (22 Stat., 42.)
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