78 WU5 CONDITIONS ON THE FLATHEAD AND FORT PECK INDIAN RESERVATIONS BY REV. WILLIAM H. KETCH AM -> J5oXruJ L CXSY^ iJAJrYlS LL5 CONTENTS. FL,ATHEAD INDIAN RESERVATION. PAGE 1. Letter of transmittal from Hon. George Vaux, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Indian Commissioners, to Hon. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior 16 2. Recommendations 17-18 3. Relief of homestead settlers (S. 6373) 18-24 4. Change of policy in land sales and leases 24-25 5. Homestead entry of timber lands 25-26 6. Permanent reservation of timber lands 26 7. Adequate appropriation for irrigation 26-28 8. Irrigation, 1913-1914 28-29 9. Use of reimbursable appropriations 29 10. Care of old Indians 29-30 11. Special appraisal commission 30-31 12. General comments 31-32 13. EXHIBIT A (a) List showing entries made under suspended applications in accordance with letter "K" and difference between ap praised valuations fixed by second commission and the highest valuations fixed by the first commission on simi lar lands 32-33 (b) List of applications and entries still intact, filed between Aug. 26, 1910, and June 14, 1911, Flathead Indian lands. 33-39 14. EXHIBIT B Affidavits and statements of applicants illustrating numerous controversies 39-52 15. EXHIBIT C Affidavits and statements of homestead entrymen who made suspended applications under letter "K" showing date of entry; entrymen s understanding as to appraisal and classification of the land entered ; appraised value of similar and adjacent lands, etc 52-60 16. EXHIBIT D Letter of Mr. C. F. Rathbone, U. S. Commissioner at Ronan, Montana, showing his belief that prices fixed by first com mission would govern in the case of entries made under letter "K" 61-62 17. EXHIBIT E Memorandum of a bill suggested as a substitute for S. 6373 63-65 18. EXHIBIT F Letter of Hon. H. L. Myers, Chairman of Committee on Pub lic Lands of the United States Senate, to Mr. F. H. Ab bott, Secretary of the Board of Indian Commissioners.., 65 INDEX. FL,ATHEAD INDIAN RESERVATION. PAGE Adequate appropriation for irrigation 26-27 Costs should be charged against lands benefited 27 Delay adds to burden of Indians 28 History of irrigation development on reservation 27 Present status of irrigation project 28-29 Status of white entrymen 27 Big Arm 22 Care of old Indians 29-30 Assisted by charity of Sisters, Priests and traders HO Destitute Indians at St. Ignatius and Poison 29-30 Hospital facilities needed 30 Lack of proper system a disadvantage to the old and infirm 30 Change of policy in land sales and leases 24-25 Advantage to land speculators under present system 24 Homeseekers eliminated from the bidding 24 Needed for minors and old Indians 24 Public auction and installment plan recommended 24 Short leases, defects of 25 EXHIBIT A List showing entries made under suspended applications with let ter "K" 32-33 List of applications and entries still intact, filed between August 28, 1910, and June 14, 1911, Flathead Indian lands 33-39 EXHIBIT "B" Affidavits and statements of applicants illustrating numerous con troversies 39-40 Statement of William H. Paine 40 Statement of Chester W. Howe 42 Statement of A. L. Grave 43 Statement of E. W. McCoy 43-46 Statement of S. B. Holmes 46 Statement of Jas. A. Trow 47-48 Statement of Eric Mattison 48 Statement of Jas. West 48-49 Statement of E. N. Stoughton 49 Statement of J. H. Stevens 49 Case of Patrick Normandeau, Jr 50 Mr. J. H. Stevens, in the case of Andrew L. Olsen 50 Statement by Charles Allard 50 Miscellaneous statements and complaints 51 Statement of H. M. Blair, lessee of Indian lands 51-52 PAGE EXHIBIT "C" S. B. Allen, Dayton, Mont 52 James A. McDavid 52 Corwin H. Barnett, Big Arm, Mont 53 William H. Paine, Big Arm, Mont 54 Walter C. Hobbs, Big Arm, Mont 54 George H. Sparkling, Elmo, Mont 54 John N. Marquis, Elmo, Mont 55 Charles E. Trekell, Big Arm, Mont 55 Frank Masterson, Dayton, Mont 55 Rollo T. McAlester, Elmo, Mont 55 Jesse O. Black, Dayton, Mont 55-56 William H. Sabin 56-57 Statement of Benj . F. Krantz 58 Statement of Nathan Hart 58 Statement of Ben Cramer 59 Statement of Chas. M. Mansur 59-60 Statement of Virgil A. Buchanan 60 EXHIBIT "D" Letter of Mr. C. F. Rathbone, U. S. Commissioner at Ronan, to F. H. Abbott, Secretary Board of Indian Commissioners.. 61-62 EXHIBIT "E" Memorandum of a Bill suggested as a substitute for S. 6373.... 63-65 EXHIBIT "F" Letter of Hon. H. L. Myers, Chairman Committee on Public Lands, U. S. Senate, to F. H. Abbott 65 General comments 31-32 Adverse conditions caused by difficulties of land appraisals and classifications 31 Boot-leggers eliminated 31 Glenn, special officer 31 Homestead entry of timber lands 25-26 Bill, Senate 647, recommended 25 Ketcham, Rev. William H., report of 16 Kutenai Indians 29 Lane, Hon. Franklin K., letter to 16 Letter "K" 20-22 Morgan, F. C., Supt 31 Myers, Hon. Henry L 19-65 Permanent reservation of timber lands 26 Basis for encouraging live-stock industry 26 Conditions compared with California Indians 26 Conserving the timber 26 Needed for landless Indians 26 Poison 22-29 Rathbone, C. F 22 Recommendations 17 Appraisal lands 18 PAGE Appropriation of five hundred thousand dollars for irrigation pro ject 18 Bill, Senate 6373, for the relief of homestead settlers 17 Bill, Senate 647, for homestead entries on timber lands 18 Consideration of hospitals and advantages to the sick 18 Increase in rations for dependent old and infirm Indians 18 Leasing and selling Indian lands 17 Limitation of reimbursable loan fund 18 Need of change in policy 17 Permanent reservation of timber lands 18 Sale or lease of land of old Indians 18 Special commission to classify and appraise land 18 Relief of homestead settlers 18-19 Entries under letter "K" of unappraised and unclassified lands.. 19-20 General complications 21 Lands reserved for power and reservoir sites 19 Legislation recommended 24,64,65 Method and scope of investigation 22 Relinquishment of original allotments 19 Restoration of relinquished allotments and withdrawn lands 19 Second appraisal Commission and increased prices 21 Ronan 22 Special appraisal Commission 30 Controversies regarding classification and appraisal 30 Discontinuance of reclassification recommended 30 Indian funds should not be charged with costs of reappraisals.. 30 Present values of Flathead lands 31 Reasons why representative of local Indian service should not be member of Commission 31 St. Ignatius 22,29,30 Use of reimbursable appropriations 29 Assets of reservation 29 Benefits of, only for those best using their opportunities 29 Vaux, Jr., Honorable George 16-17 Whiteside, Senator F 22 CONTENTS. FORT PECK INDIAN RESERVATION. PAGE 1. Letter of transmittal from Hon. George Vaux, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Indian Commissioners, to Hon. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior 68 2. Letter of transmittal from Rev. William H. Ketcham, member of the Board of Indian Commissioners, to Hon. George Vaux, Jr., Chairman 69 3. Scope of investigation 70-72 4. General conditions 72-76 5. Conferences with Indians and their complaints 76-84 6. General industrial policy needed 84-87 7. The proposed Missouri River gravity canal 87-89 8. Methods of handling Indian money and property 89-92 9. Rations 92 10. Summary of recommendations 93 INDEX. FORT PECK INDIAN RESERVATION. PAGE Abbott, Frederick H 69, 93 Big Arm 69 Big Muddy Creek 72 Blair, Mont 72 Brady, Chief Clerk 70 Brockton, Mont 72 Commons, Allotment Clerk 70 Conferences with Indians and their complaints 76-84 Conditions and modes of living as shown by interviews with the following Indians : Arthur, Chester 78 Archdale, James 82 Blacktail, Henry 79 Broken, Andrew 78, 82 Brugier, John 82 Brugier, William 82 Charlie Afraid-of-His-Tracks 79 Clifford, Red Dog 82 Crow, Judge 77 Dupree, Peter 82 Feather Earring 77 Flying Shield 77 Four Eagle 77 Hale, Nick 82 Harrison, Clement 82 Hayne, Paul 79,82 Henry Headdress 82 Howard Iron Bear 77 Howard Iron Leggings 77 Jackson Big Horn 78 Jones, Charles 77 Johnson, David 82 Lavatta, Louie 82 Mitchell, Dan 82 Mitchell, Martin 78 Plenty Holes 76 Thompson, Charles 78, 82 Delegation of Indians, visit from 72 Determination of heirs of decreased allottees 79 Increased rations for old Indians 79 Indian settlement visited 70 11 PAGE Industrial conditions among Indians 80-81 Oppose use of tribal moneys to reimburse government for expendi tures for irrigation 79 Use of tribal funds in purchase of live stock 79 Connor, R. M 71 Eddy, J. R., Supt 73 Evans, Rev. Mr 72 Frazer, Mont 70 General conditions 72-76 Agricultural conditions contrasted with those of five years ago.. 72-73 Education, belief in 74 Efficiency of Supt. Lohmiller and employes 73 Grazing funds for industrial purposes 73 Improvements in five years 73 Liquor traffic, suppression of 74 Poultry raising under direction of Mrs. Patton 74 Reimbursable appropriations, discussion of 73 Religion of Indians 74 General industrial policy needed 84-87 Income from sale of surplus lands recommended, use of 85 Live stock industry recommended for all Indians 85-86 Live stock, regulations to prevent killing and selling of 85-86 Live stock, killing of, by railroads 83 Open range conditions changed ; 85 Opening to white settlement, influence of 84 Reimbursable loan fund, proper use of 85-86 Relation of irrigation 85-86 Repayment of tribal funds for benefit of individual Indians 78-79 Grazing leases 79 Objection to, by Indians 79 Hayne, Paul 71 Health policy, Indian 79 Vindication of 79 Hogshead, Mr 71 Irrigation projects 71-72 Ketcham, Rev. Wm. H 68,69 Lane, Hon. Franklin K., letter to, from Hon. George Vaux, Jr., Chair man Board of Indian Commissioners 68 Liquor traffic, suppression of 71, 74, 83, 84 Badges recommended for liquor suppression officers 84 Efficient control needed 83 Logan, Supt 73 Lohmiller, C. B., Supt 70-73, 83 Methods of handling Indian money and property 71,89-90 "Indian moneys, proceeds of labor" 90-91 Loan to deserving Indians recommended 90-91 Objections to present use of 89-90 Plan for supervising live stock recommended 91-92 12 PAGE Rations for old Indians, use of recommended 91 Missouri River gravity canal, the proposed 78, 87, 88 Complaint and objections to, by Indians 87 Distribution of irrigated lands 88-89 Location of 87 Reclamation of land by irrigation 88 Unit plan for completion recommended 87-88 New born children, recent allotment of sixty-seven thousand acres to 70, 75 Patton, Clyde 70, 72, 74, 83, 84 Patton, Mrs. Clyde 74 Poison, Mont 69 Poplar, Mont 71, 72, 75 Poplar River 72 Presbyterian Mission school at Wolf Point 71, 76 Rations 72, 77, 78, 79, 82, 92 Plan for supplying, recommended 92 Reclamation Service 74-75 Assistance to Indians 74, 76 Cooperation with local Indian service 75 Porcupine proj ect 75 Wages paid by 75 Reynolds, Supt 73 Roth, Burton F 70, 72 School conditions at Blair 76 Scope of investigation 70, 72 Smith, Miss (teacher) 76 Summary of recommendations 93-94 Wolf Point 70-71 Vaux, Hon. George, Jr 68 REPORT U:PON THE CONDITIONS ON THE FLATHEAD INDIAN RESERVATION By REV. WILLIAM H. KETCHAM, Member Board of Indian Commissioners u - c ^ WASHINGTON. D. C. 1915 December 30, 1914. MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY : I take pleasure in transmitting herewith, with my approval, a report of an investigation of conditions on the Flathead Indian Reservation, by Rev. William H. Ketcham, member of the Board of Indian Commissioners. A copy of the part of this report relating to S. 6373 is also being sent to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Lands, at his request. Cordially yours, (Signed) GEORGE VAUX, JR., Chairman. Honorable Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, Washington, D. 0. Report upon the Conditions on the Flathead Indian Reservation By REV. WILLIAM H. KETCHAM December 16, 1914. HONORABLE GEORGE: VAUX, JR., Chairman, Board of Indian Commissioners, Philadelphia. SIR: Acting under your authorization and in conformity with a Reso lution of the Board of Indian Commissioners, I have visited the Flathead Indian Reservation, accompanied by the Board s secre tary, to study conditions generally and in partciular to investigate needs in connection with the irrigation and sale of surplus Indian lands upon the said reservation. In order to gain accurate and first-hand information on these subjects I visited a number of Indians in their homes, consulted the field representatives of the Indian Bureau and the Reclamation vService, conferred with a hundred or more homestead settlers and business men and made a personal inspection of the larger portion of the agricultural and irrigable area of the reservation. The most important needs of the situation as they appear to me are respectfully submitted in the following report and recom mendations : Recommendations. First. The enactment into law of S. 6373, subject to certain amendments, which are presented in a separate memorandum here with. This Bill provides for the relief of homestead settlers by the government without cost to the Indians, on account of losses suffered by said settlers resulting from widely different appraisals of similarly located land contemporaneously settled and of equal value. A full justification of this recommendation will be found under a separate head in this report. Second. A change in the present policy of leasing and selling Indian lands. There should be substituted for the present sealed bid system, sales by public auction and on the deferred payment plan where the condition of the Indian owner is not such as to absolutely require cash sale. Leases, especially those on irrigable lands owned 18 ;-: ; >; ^ by old or infirm Indians should be made for a period of at least five years and the law should be changed so as to make possible the lease of lands for at least ten years in some cases. This recom mendation will also be discussed at length at another place in this report. Third. The enactment of S. 047, a Bill providing for home stead entries on sparsely timbered lands adapted to agriculture or horticulture. Fourth. The permanent reservation of timber lands on the res ervation for the grazing of Indian stock. Fifth. An appropriation of $500,000 annually for irrigation until the irrigation projects on the reservation are completed. The appro priations to be reimbursed in accordance with conditions and recom mendations submitted by the legislative committee of the Board to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, G3d Congress, 2d Session. Sixth. Special attention to the sale or lease of the land of de pendent old or infirm Indians and the use of the proceeds for their benefit. Seventh. Doubling of the present ration for wholly dependent old or infirm Indians. Eighth. The limitation of the reimbursable loan fund to Indians who have shown a willingness and a capacity to help themselves by their own efforts. Ninth. Construction of hospitals and more systematic attention to the sick as well as to the old and infirm. Tenth. A special commission to settle definitely and finally all contests and disputes concerning classification and appraisal of lands. Relief of Homestead Settlers (S. 6373). It is difficult in brief space to set out clearly the situation that has developed in connection with the opening to settlement of the surplus lands of the Flathead Indian Reservation. The confusion and complications could hardly be more and greater than they have been. The files of the Interior Department contain much conflict ing correspondence with field representatives of the Indian Bureau and homestead settlers on the surplus lands ; numerous requests for re-classification and re-appraisal of homestead entries and re ports thereon ; bills have been introduced to relieve the situation and have met with adverse reports from the Department of the Interior, and a complicated situation has gradually grown more complicated. In an attempt to adjust the difficulties, a Bill, S. 6373 19 submitted herewith, was introduced by Senator Myers of Montana, Chairman of the Committee on Public Lands and was referred to the Board of Indian Commissioners with request "for such sug gestion or other information as they may be able to offer with re spect to the same." (See letter of Senator Myers under date of August 24, 1914, exhibit "F.") The difficulties appear to have arisen chiefly from the following facts : First. About 21,000 acres of agricultural lands originally allotted to Indians under the Act of April 23, 1904 (33 Stat., L. 302), were subsequently relinquished by them and allotments selected else where. These relinquished allotments, under the terms of the President s proclamation which opened the reservation lands to settlement, became subject to homestead entry on November 2, 1910. These lands being Indian allotments at the time of the appraisal of lands by the first Commission of 1908, were not appraised by said Commission, but were included in a subsequent appraisement approved October 13, 1913, in accordance with the Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. L., 863). Second. Under the Act of March 3, 1909 (35 Stat., 795), ap proximately 50,000 acres were also withdrawn from settlement and reserved for proposed water power and reservoir sites by letters of the Secretary of the Interior dated April 21, 1909, February 23, 1910, April 28, 1910, December 8, 1913, and December 7, 1914. A considerable portion of these lands so withdrawn were released from reservation by letters of the Secretary of the Interior under date of March 23, 1910, August 15, 1912, September 25, 1911, December 22, 1913, May 12, 1914, June 29, 1914, August 29, 1914, October 21, 1914, and October 26, 1914. Indians had selected allotments approximating 7,000 acres within the areas thus reserved for water power and reservoir sites. To provide for lieu allot ments for these Indians other lands were temporarily withdrawn from settlement and reserved. Third. The relinquished allotments and some of the lands with drawn and reserved for lieu allotments and water power and res ervoir sites, above mentioned, were subsequently restored to home stead entry and settlement by the Secretary of the Interior. These restored lands naturally were unclassified and unappraised and the Commission which made the original appraisal in 1908 had disbanded and ceased to have any legal existence. Fourth. The President s proclamation opening the surplus lands to settlement, promulgated on May 22, 1909, provided for entry by numbers prior to September 1, 1910, but that "all of said lands 20 which have not then been entered under this proclamation will become subject to settlement and entry under the general provisions of the homestead laws and the said Acts of Congress." Before the date for the opening under the President s proclamation, it was apparent that there would be more numbers presented than there were tracts of appraised and classified lands on the reservation open to settlement and that there would be a demand for the un- appraised and unclassified tracts previously withdrawn but subse quently restored. Instead of hastening to a conclusion the classi fication and appraisal of these lands at the time and prior to entry, which would have avoided the later confusion and misunderstand ing, but which it was decided could not be done under the Act of 1904 above mentioned, the Appraisal Commission which had been appointed under that Act having made its report and disbanded, the General Land Office, in order to accommodate as many as possible of the applicants for lands, pending the classification and appraisal of said lands under the Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. L,., 863), issued the following letter, known and designated generally as letter "K" : WASHINGTON, D. C, August 26, 1910. UNAPPRAISED LANDS IN FX AT HE AD INDIAN RESERVATION : REGISTER AND RECEIVER, Kalispell, Mont. SIRS : It appears that there are a number of unappraised and unclassified tracts in the Flathead Indian Reservation. These tracts cannot be entered until the lands have been formally classified and appraised. You will, however, with consent of the applicant, receive applications to enter such tracts and suspend the applications until the lands have been duly classified and ap praised. Very respectfully, FRED DENNETT, Commissioner. A similar letter was sent to the Missoula office. Acting under the advice of this letter, about 200 settlers made suspended applications on unclassified and unappraised lands within the Flathead Indian Reservation pending classification and appraisal. Furthermore, a list of the timber schedule was not furnished to the local land officers till December 20, 1910, and consequently was not received in the local land office until about December 23. The unreserved and unentered lands were opened to settlement and entry at the local land office on November 2, 1910, and in consequence of letter 21 "K" of August 20, 1910, a number of applications were filed and suspended in the local office awaiting appraisement, involving lands actually classified as timber lands. Fifth. On June 25, 1910 (3G Stat. L., 863), Congress granted the Secretary of the Interior authority to classify and appraise the previously unclassified and unappraised lands on the Flathead Indian Reservation and the appraising Commission appointed by authority of the above Act did not complete its report until about September 1, 1913. By the time the Commission began its work a general land boom was on and prices had increased to such an extent that this second Commission, taking into consideration nearness of land to market and increased values owing to the cultivation and im provements on adjoining land, appraised land from $1.00 to $30.00 an acre, whereas similar and often immediately adjacent lands entered and settled at identically the same time had been appraised by the first Commission in 1908 at from 10 cents an acre for barren land to $7 an acre for agricultural lands of the first class, and all of the settlers who had made entry under suspended applications in accordance with so-called letter "K" were called upon to pay the prices fixed by the second Commission, notwithstanding the fact that these applicants were practically all bona fide settlers, whereas many of the "number" entry men who made settlement at the same time were probably not bona fide home seekers. The difference be tween the appraisal of the second Commission on this class of lands and the highest prices for similar lands fixed by the first Commission, viz., $? an acre for first class agricultural land; $3.50 an acre for second-class agricultural land, and $1.50 an acre for grazing land, is, according to the records of the General Land Office, less than $25,000. See lists of lands entered on suspended applications tin der letter "K" and computation of differences in the appraisals, attached (exhibit "A"). Sixth. There are many other complications on this reservation which directly or indirectly affect the Indians resulting from con troversies over the appraisal of timber on lands which settlers desire to clear and utilize for farms or orchards. Other complications have grown out of the continued residence of settlers on rejected entries within power or reservoir sites or lands reserved for lieu allotments to Indians. For the purpose of this report these classes of complications need not have extensive consideration, but affi davits and statements of a number of applicants are submitted here with for purposes of illustration and to show the need of a special Commission to settle this class of controversies. (See exhibit "B"). 22 In order to get at the heart of the matter, I requested State Sena tor F. Whiteside of Kalispell, who had volunteered his assistance in the premises, to arrange with settlers interested in the enactment of S. 6373 to meet me at St. Ignatius, Ronan, Poison and Big Arm, all being centers of the principal settlements on the Flathead Indian Reservation. At the above places more than one hundred settlers were interviewed either by me or by the Board s secretary and statements from a number which are typical of all the others were taken. It became evident at the beginning of my investigation that there are two questions which constitute the crux of the whole matter. First, whether the settlers who occupied unclassified and unap- praised lands on this reservation had, in fact, any reasonable or justifiable right to entries at prices similar to those fixed by the first appraisal Commission ; Second, whether such claim, if reason able and justifiable, should be satisfied by an arbitrary reduction in the appraisal and thereby a decrease in the amounts to be paid to the Flathead Indians, or whether said claim should be paid out of the treasury of the United States. The evidence submitted at the hearings above mentioned is over whelming and convincing beyond the shadow of doubt that the settlers on the unclassified and unappraised lands of the Flathead Indian Reservation who made suspended applications under letter "K" had every reason to believe and every right to expect that classification and appraisal of the lands entered by them would be prompt and that the prices of said appraisal would not exceed prices fixed for similar lands by the first appraisal Commission. Letter "K" itself, from the Commissioner of the General Land Office, when considered in connection with the general practice of the government in fixing in advance a definite price of lands opened to settlement was a sufficient inducement to warrant this belief on the part of entrymen. Conclusive evidence on this point is contained in the affidavits and statements of settlers of this class which you are particularly advised to read. (See exhibit "C."). That this same view was held by the local representatives of the General Land Office and by the United States Commissioners before whom settlers appeared to make final proof is shown by the letter of Mr. C. F. Rathbone, United States Commissioner at Ronan, Montana. (See exhibit "D.") Words too strong cannot be found to express my conviction that these settlers should be permitted to make proof on their entries on the basis of the top prices fixed on similar lands by the first appraisal Commission. For the government to insist upon more 23 in the light of all the circumstances and the facts would, in my judg ment, be unfair. A private corporation selling lands and holding out inducements similar to those held out by the government in the opening of the lands of this reservation to settlement could un doubtedly be compelled in the Courts under similar circumstances to do what these settlers are asking the government to do for them. For the government to adhere to its present demands upon these settlers, would not only be unjust, but would undoubtedly force a large number of them to forfeit everything they have invested in improvements, together with their four years of work on their lands. Many of them settled upon so-called farm units and ex pected that water would be placed on their lands for irrigation purposes. Water has not been made available to them and will not be perhaps for years to come. They have had repeated crop fail ures; many of them have spent all the earnings of previous years which they brought with them to the country, and have borrowed money to the full limit of their credit, with the hope of holding on till they get water or until climatic conditions may change to their benefit; they have used their homestead right and cannot go elsewhere on the public domain to exercise it. The question may be raised as to whether the government should open Indian reser vations under the homestead laws. The Flathead experiment shows conclusively that no entries should be permitted on unappraised and unclassified lands and no entries on irrigable lands under so-called "farm units" prior to the completion of the irrigation projects. On the other hand, the Indians are clearly entitled, under the Act of 1904, heretofore referred to, to receive the appraised valua tion of their lands regardless of the time when that appraisal is made and it would be unjust and probably illegal to compel the Indians to accept a price lower than the price fixed by the appraisal Commis sion. The delay of the government in completing classification and appraisal of the lands withdrawn for various purposes, a delay for which Congress is partly responsible, has worked a hardship and loss to the Indians by depriving them of an earlier payment for their lands, a consideration, which, though small, is worth noting. Senate Bill 5761, introduced on June 5, 1914, which provided for eliminating the appraisal of the second commission and fixing a definite maximum price per acre for the unappraised and unclassi fied lands entered, left out of consideration the legal right and equities of the Indians and the Secretary of the Interior could do nothing else in justice to the Indians than to report adversely on that Bill as he did under date of June 27, 1914. 24 Boiling the matter down, the Indians would appear to have a just claim against the government if the actual appraised price is not paid for these lands, while the settlers referred to would have a similarly just claim if they are compelled to pay more than the prices fixed by the first commission. These conclusions appear to be so clearly established from the record and the amount involved so small, comparatively, that I do not hesitate to recommend as a just and satisfactory solution, that Congress enact S. 6373, subject to the amendments suggested. (See exhibit "E.") Change of Policy in Land Sales and Leases. Extensive discussion of this subject is unnecessary. Many minors and old Indians on the reservation are physically unable to farm their allotments. Old Indians who have no other means of sup port ought to be permitted to sell their lands and to live from the proceeds thereof, or where possible, to make leases on satis factory terms. There are also many so-called dead allotments on this reservation which have been offered for sale. Recently there has been comparatively small demand for these lands. An offer ing of some 80 tracts a short time before my visit resulted in only three sales. The policy has been to sell these lands under the sealed bid system in accordance with the regulations of the Indian Office. I am not prepared to criticise this policy as it has been applied in the past, but I am convinced that it is time for a change. Under that system, only land speculators, generally speaking, are induced to bid. The requirement of a deposit at the time of making the bid ; the uncertainty of its being the highest bid ; the frequent delay in completing the purchase after the bidding, complicated sometimes by the Indian s change of mind when he is finally called upon to execute a deed ; the practical limitation of the bidder of small means to one tract of land all working together, effectually elimi nate the home seeker from the bidding on these lands. Larger prices would be obtained by increasing competition, and competition, I believe, can be increased and actual settlers attracted by offering these surplus lands, in all cases where practicable, for sale in five annual installments and by selling the lands at public auction instead of under sealed bids. A definite agreement should be had with each Indian in advance of sale and the terms of sale, the minimum price at which he would be willing to sell, all agreed upon in writing by him. In some cases, the condition of the Indian, of course, would require cash, but in most cases, especially of inherited lands and in the case of lands of old Indians, the deferred payment plan 25 would not only result in higher prices, but be better for the Indian who would need to have his money for his support from year to year. Short leases also tend to discourage adequate rentals, tend to retard development and to keep away from the land settlers of the best sort. The cost of breaking the sod, of leveling the land for irrigation, if it is irrigable land, and of preparing the land for crops, is expensive and no returns can be expected by the lessee until the second year, and very little then. A lease on new land covering a period of only two or three years or even five years, therefore, cannot be expected to bring satisfactory returns to the Indian lessor, nor to encourage the best methods of husbandry. The present law permits five-year leases. These should be encouraged in the cases I have mentioned and I am convinced there would be advantage in changing the law so as to permit leases of ten years to be made. Homestead Entry of Timber Lands. Senate Bill 647, calendar No. 650, has been recommended both by the present Secretary of the Interior and by his predecessor. Briefly, it provides that the Secretary of the Interior may have the discretion to open to agricultural entry timber lands on the Flathead Reservation having agricultural or horticultural value whenever it appears that the best interests of the Indians would be served by such action. The wisdom of this measure is self-evident and needs no argument to support it. I am informed that among the most valuable lands on this reservation for agricultural and horticultural purposes are those timber lands along Flathead Lake on the high benches where, when the timber is cleared away, fruit trees thrive and where crops grow without irrigation. Under existing law, the timber is first advertised and sold to the highest bidder and the land does not become subject to entry till the timber is removed. These sparsely timbered tracts are isolated, and for that reason no lumber company cares to make a bid for the timber. No one other than the owner of a sawmill would want the timber, consequently no bids are received for the same, the timber is not removed, and, therefore, the land cannot be entered as agricultural lands. If S. 647 becomes a law, the entryman will be permitted to pay the appraised value of the timber and make entry of the land at the same time, and he will have the privilege of entering the land and keeping the timber standing to be subsequently used for fuel, fence posts, etc. Under the proposed law the appraised value 26 of the timber is much more likely to be secured by the Indians than under the present method. Permanent Reservation of Timber Lands. One does not have to be endowed with powers of prophecy to foresee the time in no distant future when a large portion of the allotted Indian lands on the Flathead Reservation, especially those allotted to full blood Indians, will be in white ownership and the present Indian owners, many of them, will be landless and unable to support themselves. This class will be increased by the children born on this reserva tion since the rolls were closed. Every foot of surplus unallotted agricultural land, meanwhile, will have been purchased by white men. What then is to become of the landless Indian population? Unless some steps are taken now to provide for this class, the con dition will be similar to that which now prevails throughout Cali fornia, and Congress will be called upon to purchase lands for home less Flathead Indians. The timber lands on this reservation, if properly conserved and utilized, offer a partial remedy. These lands, while not the most desirable for grazing purposes, never theless when the timber is sold and removed, will produce more grass and forage for live stock than they do now, and many of the Indians may, with proper encouragement, become stock raisers and make at least a partial living by running their stock in the tribal timber lands. Every effort, therefore, toward a further re duction of the area of this reservation by disposing of the timber lands should be discouraged and steps should be taken now toward adapting these lands to the use of Indian herds and the non-farm ing Indians encouraged to build up herds of live stock. Care should be taken also in the disposal of this body of timber, to pre vent the destruction of the water sheds, so important to the success of agriculture throughout that entire section of the country. For the purpose of purchasing live stock in accordance with this recom mendation ample tribal funds will be available from the proceeds of the sale of surplus lands, provided the legislation recommended by the Board of Indian Commissioners for reimbursing the costs of irrigation on this reservation is adopted by Congress. Adequate Appropriation for Irrigation. The Board of Indian Commissioners, last year, before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, recommended an appropriation of 27 $500,000 for a continuation of irrigation projects on this reservation upon condition that the costs be charged against the lands benefited, as provided in the so-called "Myers amendment" to the Indian Bill, 63d Congress, 2d Session. I, therefore, need not attempt to justify at length this recommendation, especially since the special Commission appointed by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to look into this subject made a similar recommendation in its report under date of September 4, 1914. However, it is evident that con siderable misunderstanding and misinformation has gained currency respecting the development of irrigation on this reservation. I, therefore, invite your special attention to some of the main facts relating to that subject. No loss appears so far to have resulted to the Indians because of the methods of financing these projects. About $1,374,000 have been expended for irrigation upon the Flathcad Reservation. Of this sum $56,005 have been returned to individual Indians for labor on the project and for products purchased from them. Under completed canals there are 48,400 acres. Of this area 30,291 acres are Indian land. A few sales of inherited Indian lands under com pleted canals have been made to white men. Out of a total of 228,22? acres which have been allotted to Indians, 90,000 acres are irrigable. Approximately one-half of the Irrigable Indian land, therefore, is under completed canals. The project engineer of the Reclamation Service estimates that it will require ten years to com plete the Flathead project, with annual appropriations of $500,000. Until this project is completed, the Indians who own approximately 40,000 acres of remaining irrigable lands not under ditch, will suffer in common with the white settlers who have made filings on similar lands. Most of this land cannot be farmed successfully without water. Approximately $700,000 have been returned to the govern ment from the sale of surplus lands and timber on this reservation, which is about one-half the amount invested in completed canals. Approximately 12,000 acres of lands entered by white settlers are under the completed projects. Therefore, approximately only $400,000 out of the sum of $1,400,000 expended in irrigation on this reservation has been expended for the benefit of white entries. Since, under existing law, appropriations for irrigation on this reservation are reimbursable from the sale of water rights under the Act of May 29, 1908 (35 Stat. L., 449), as well as from the sale of surplus lands and timber on the reservation, it is evident that reimbursement to the government could not be made from the sale of water rights to white settlers until water is brought 28 to the entered lands. Therefore, under existing law, just in pro portion as there is delay in completing the project, there will be lacking returns from the sale of water rights, and the proceeds from the sale of surplus Indian lands and timber on the reservation alone will be drawn upon to reimburse the government for the cost of construction. In other words, delay in completing the irri gation project on this reservation through small appropriations in stead of relieving the Indian funds from an improper proportion of the burden of the cost, results in increasing that burden. There fore, under the present method of charging the costs of irrigation on this reservation, unless Congress increases the appropriations so as to make available an income from the sale of water rights to white settlers, the government is placing itself in the position of financing a project for white settlers as well as for Indians, without providing adequate means of immediate reimbursement. While in theory the existing law apparently provides for advancing Indian funds for the construction of the project which equally benefits both white and Indian land, in practice and in fact, there have not been enough returns from the sale of Indian lands to reimburse the government for its expenditure for the irrigation of Indian lands alone, and for the irrigation of such lands of white entrymen as has already been accomplished, the government, and not the Indians, has in reality been advancing the cost. Therefore, it is evident that the plan recommended by the Board, of charging all irrigation costs to the land benefited, is advisable, and appropriations should be made on this reservation sufficient to make economical construc tion possible. The following table contains carefully revised data showing the exact status of irrigable and irrigated lands under the Flathead pro ject at the present time: Irrigation, 1913-1914. ALLOTMENTS. 1913 : 1914 : Number irrigable 509 517 Acres irrigable 32,600* 36,291* Allotments irrigated : By allottees 61 85 By tenants :} 4 31 By white purchasers 5 16 Acres irrigated by allottees 1,639 2,602 Acres irrigated by tenants 1,470 1,089 Acres irrigated by white purchasers 64 321 29 FARM UNITS. Number irrigable 172 262 Acres irrigable 9,800* 12,600* Number irrigated 95 132 Acres irrigated 1,259 2,128 In addition to the above there were irrigated ten tracts including State land, reservoir sites, etc., during the season of 1914, with an aggregate irrigable area of 276 acres. *Estimated. Use of Reimbursable Appropriations. The last report of the superintendent of this reservation shows 6,000 horses and 26,000 cattle owned by Indians on the reservation, and 31,497 acres farmed by them. It should be noted that most of the live stock is owned and most of the farming done by mixed bloods. The Indian Bureau has set apart $50,000 of the reimburs able appropriation to assist these Indians along industrial lines. Without attempting to judge whether this sum is adequate or inade quate, it is evident that care should be taken in the use of it to avoid rewarding or encouraging idleness. Only those who have made the best use of their opportunities should have extended to them this help. If Congress appropriates $500,000 each year for the comple tion of irrigation on this reservation an opportunity will be fur nished to every able-bodied Indian on the reservation to earn good wages for several months each year outside the farming season and those who improve their opportunities should be able to establish themselves in this manner without much additional help. While, as the figures above indicate, there is a marked tendency to im provement on the part of a few of the Indians, the evidence adduced from those long acquainted with these Indians was that the old and middle-aged full blood Indians as a class are much worse off physically and financially than the same class were twenty-five years ago. Care of Old Indians. I visited a number of old Indians in their homes at St. Ignatius and the Board s secretary visited a camp of old Kutenai Indians at Poison. Some of them almost blind from trachoma, others suffer ing probably from tuberculosis and were living under conditions 30 of abject poverty. I will not say that they were starving, but they certainly lacked sufficient food, and I do not believe that proper attention can be given them under present conditions. The super intendent of the reservation informed me that he had recommended a home for old Indians at the former agency site and that it was his idea to have a doctor or a field matron at hand to look after them. This recommendation, I think, an excellent one and action should be taken on it at once before the winter closes in. At St. Ignatius the Sisters conduct a well-equipped hospital where they minister gratis to the afflicted Indians, and the government ration was being supplemented by the charity of the Sisters, of the Priests and the traders, without whose assistance some of the old people probably would have starved. The government has not provided adequate hospital facilities for the Indians of this reservation and the ration provided is insufficient. This situation is the result of a system and not the fault of the superintendent. While great em phasis is being placed upon the matter of protecting property and encouraging industry among the able-bodied, there appears to be an utter lack of systematic attention to the old and infirm. Special Appraisal Commission. Owing to the large number of disputes and controversies regard ing classification and appraisal of lands and entries on timber lands and within the boundaries of reserves for water and reservoir pur poses, I strongly recommend the appointment of a commission or a commissioner, to go on the ground and personally investigate every controversial question. After a report has been received it should be promptly approved and the policy of making re-ap praisals and re-classifications of land upon complaint of individuals should be discontinued, unless the applicant agrees in advance to pay a definite sum as a contribution to cover at least a portion of the cost of such re-appraisal. There appears to be nothing in existing law to prevent this. The Indians funds should not be charged with costs of unnecessary re-appraisals. The enactment of S. Go7)i into law would remove from consideration a large per centage of the controversies in question and greatly simplify the work of the proposed special commission. It does not appear neces sary, therefore, to discuss in this report the merits of the contro versy over the accuracy of the appraisal of these lands. It is my opinion, however, that land on the Flathead Reservation at the present time is not worth more than the prices at which the same 31 or similar land was appraised by the second commission in 1912 and 1913 and it is my judgment that there are complaints worthy of careful and serious consideration at the hands of such a com mission as the one I am recommending. The following representa tions which were made to me are presented for such light as they may throw on the present value of Flathead land as compared with the prices fixed by the second Commission : First. Several settlers asserted their willingness to sell their homesteads for the cost of the improvements made by them, for feiting their w r ork, time and the amounts paid by them for the land. Second. At a sale of Indian lands on November 14, 1914, an advertisement of which was brought to my attention, less than five per cent, of the lands advertised were sold. The prices at which these lands were appraised ranged from $5 to $50 an acre, more than 85 per cent, of said lands being appraised below $30 an acre and only two tracts appraised at $50 an acre. As a general thing, the Indian lands are more valuable than the surplus lands which were appraised by the second commission, who valued agricultural land of the first class as high as $30 an acre. The man or men appointed for this work should not be con nected with the local Indian Service or the local service of the Land Office, but should be familiar with local conditions. The superintendent of the reservation should not be called upon to ap praise land entered by homesteaders. To do this sort of work causes him to neglect his duties to the Indians and inevitably draws upon him criticism by white settlers and leads to friction and mis understanding between him and the Indians. General Comments. The conditions on this reservation are far from what they should be, but the causes, I believe, to a great extent may be found in the conflicts and complications that have arisen from the government s policy of opening these lands to settlement previous to the com pletion of the work of appraisal and classification of the surplus lands and the completion of the irrigation projects. Superintend ent Morgan and his assistants are undoubtedly devoted to the inter ests of the Indians and are working diligently to perform their duties properly. There has been a decided improvement in many respects: The boot-legger is much less in evidence than he was formerly. Superintendent Morgan has been most diligent in prosecuting offenders and he has been ably assisted recently by 32 Mr. Glenn, a special officer of the Liquor Service, who, according to reports, has done exceptionally effective work. Health condi tions are not what they should be. The crowding together in winter of several families in poorly ventilated houses is responsible for much of the tuberculosis on the reservation, according to the state ment of the agency physician, but constant attention to cases of this kind and continuous efforts to encourage the building of better ventilated houses are producing good results. Respectfully submitted, (Signed) WM. H. KETCH AM, Member Board of Indian Commissioners. EXHIBIT "A." List showing entries made under suspended applications in ac cordance with letter "K" and difference between appraised valua tions fixed by second Commission and the highest valuations fixed by the first Commission on similar lands. Name. Entry number. Description. CJ 0) bo <rJ I* ^ Excess. V rt V-, <L> CU *rt O H $40.00 120.00 90.00 60.00 140.00 260.00 340.00 680.00 340.00 680.00 1,020.00 320.00 340.00 260.00 220.00 100.00 30.00 120.00 100.00 200.00 20.00 140.00 60.00 680.00 260.00 440.00 440.00 460.00 920.00 340.00 280.00 720.00 460.00 100.00 50.00 320.00 320.00 Albert FC. Thompson. . Guy W. Herming. . . . B. F. Kraritz R C Roark Miss. 03111 Miss. 02597 Kal. 02540 Miss. 02929 Miss. 02753 Miss. 02746 Miss. 02757 Miss. 02790 Miss. 02647 Miss. 03330 $2.00 10.00 6.00 5.00 7.00 10.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 15.00 12.00 10.00 9.00 6.00 4.25 5.00 6.00 5.00 4.00 7.00 5 00 80 40 20 40 40 40 40 80 40 80- 120 40 40 40 40 i 40 40 80 40 120 40 i 40 40 80 40 40 40 40 40 40 80 40 40 40 20 40 40 $0.50 3.00 4.50 1.50 3.50 6.50 8.50 8.50 8.50 8.50 8.50 8.00 8.50 6.50 5.50 2.50 .75 1.50 2.50 1.662/ v .50 3.50 1.50 8.50 6.50 11.00 11.00 11.50 2, 5.00 8.50 3.50 18.00 11.50 2.50 2.50 8.00 8.00 , First : class agricultural . . Grazing Second-class agricultural, do do do do . Ralph A. Manning... L,ewis A. Cox Marvin M. Marcy. . . . Geo. W. Williams Jas. F. Badgley do do . do First-class agricultural . . Second-class agricultural. do ... . Isaac Iy. DeardorfT. . . Robert K. Wartenbe. . Henry Gannon Wm. D. Engle Miss. 02649 Miss. 02561 Miss. 02562 Miss. 02915 Miss. 02613 Miss. 02566 Miss. 02542 Miss. 02545 Miss. 02660 Kal. 02286 Kal. 02291 Kal. 02325 Kal. 02678 Kal. 02970 Miss. 02822 Miss. 02839 do . . do . do Second-class agricultural. do do do Joshua S. Dillon Barbara A. Kain Morden W. Howard. . Jas. L<. Jones Owen McCabe Nathan FFart , . do . , do do 12.00 10.00 18.00 18.00 14.00 30.00 12.00 5.00 25.00 15.00 4.00 6.00 15.00 15.00 ...... do First-class agricultural . . do Second-class agricultutal. First-class agricultural . . Second-class agricultural. Grazing First-class agricultural . . Second-class agricultural. Grazing Robert W. Fleming. . Ben Cramer John B. Elie Ival L. Wright Chas. C. Codman.... Richard Christian Second-class agricultural. First-class agricultural . . do 33 Exc ess. Name. Entry number. Description. <u VH OH Acreage. > o a 2 ^ .2 SH Ernest W. Barton Miss. 03073 Kal 02978 Second-class agricultural, do 5.00 13.00 40 40 1.50 9.50 60.00 380.00 do 7.00 40 3.50 140.00 Kal 02610 do 12 00 40 8 50 340.00 Kal 02316 do 5.00 40 1.50 60.00 do . . 7 00 40 3 50 140.00 Grazing 3.00 80 1.50 120.00 Chas. M. Mansur. . . . Kal. 02342 Second-class agricultural. do 12.00 15 00 40 40 8.50 11.50 340.00 460.00 Kal 02333 do 12 00 120 8 50 1 020 00 Andrew F. Masterson Kal. 02387 First-class agricultural . . Second-class agricultural. . . , do 20.00 5.00 6.00 40 20.6 20 5 13.00 1.50 2 50 520.00 30.90 51.25 do 7 00 20 5 3 50 71 75 Sanders B Allen . . . Kal. 02388 First-class agricultural . . do 20.00 15.00 20.3 40 13.00 18.00 253.00 720.00 Walter C Hobbs Kal 02819 do 25 00 40 18 00 720 00 do 20.00 40 13.00 520.00 Kal 02301 6 00 40 2 50 100 00 do 8.00 40 4.50 180.00 6 00 40 4 50 180 00 . do . 3 00 40 1 50 60.00 Morris O. Bish Kal. 03131 do 2.50 40 1.00 40.00 Margaret Williams... Kal. 02800 do 5 00 80 3 50 280 00 Guy A Shanley Kal 02426 8 00 80 4 50 360 00 Selam E. Phorston. . . Kal. 03325 Second-class agricultural. 5.00 3 00 40 80 1.50 1 50 60.00 120 00 do 2 50 40 1 00 40 00 John W Fry Kal 02410 5 00 40 1 50 60 00 do 8 00 40 4 50 180 00 Grazing 3 50 40 2 00 80 00 John N. Marquis Kal. 02425 Second-class agricultural. do 4.00 5 00 40 40 .50 1.50 20.00 60 00 Ceo. II. Sparling. . . . Kal. 02439 do 10 00 80 6 50 520 00 Rollo T. McAllister. . Kal. 02424 do 10 00 40 6 50 260 00 do : 8.00 40 4.50 180.00 Oscar A. Baerisch. . . . Kal. 02557 Grazing do 3.50 2 00 40 105 3 2.00 50 80.00 52 65 Benjamin N. Mills. . . Kal. 03124 do 2 50 40 1 00 40 00 do 3.00 40 1.50 60 00 Second-class agricultural. do 6.00 4.00 40 40 2.50 .50 100.00 20 00 Oscar A. Ganger Kal. 0318.5 Grazing do 2.00 3 00 40 40 .50 1 50 20.00 60 00 do . 2 50 40 1 00 40 00 Jos. Ganger Kal. 03185 do 2 50 40 1 00 40 00 do 3 00 80 1 50 120 00 Butler F. Minich. . . . Kal. 03094 do 3.00 80 1 50 120 00 ... do 4 00 40 2 50 100 00 do 3.50 40 2 00 80 00 Daisy M. Allen , Kal. 03230 do 3 00 80 2 1 50 120 30 Kal 02511 5 00 40 Chas. O Neal Kal 02707 beconcl c ass agricultural. 2 50 40 1 00 40 00 Howard E. Stansbury. Jos. K. Huston D wight N. Mason.... Miss. 02737 Kal. 03304 Miss. 02972 First-class agricultural . . Second-class agricultural. First-class agricultural . . 10.00 39.78 51.13 . 40.84 3.00 6.50 3.00 119.34 332.3.. 122.52 List of Applications and Entries Still Intact, Filed Between August 26, 1910, and June 14, 1911, Flathead Indian Lands. This list includes only lands, the classification and appraisement of which were approved on October 13, 1913, and subsequently and where the appraised price is higher than the price fixed for lands of like class by the original Flathead Commission. Except where otherwise stated the reason for the non-classification and appraisement of these lands by the original Flathead Commission was that the lands were embraced in Indian allot- 34 ments at that time, which allotments have subsequently been changed to other lands. Missoula 03111, filed Jan. 23, 1911, by Albert E. Thompson for SEJ4, NE}4, Sec. 22, T. 18 N., R. 11) W. Entry allowed Dec. 17, 1913. Land classified as grazing land and appraised at $2.00 per acre. No apparent reason is found for the non-classification of this land by the original commission. Missoula 02597, filed Sept. 29, 1910, by Guy W. Herming for ~E%, SW^4, Sec. 7. T. 21 N., R. 19 W. Land classified as first-class agricultural land and appraised at $10.00 per acre. Said tract contains 19M. feet of timber; appraised at $66.50. Kalispell 02540, filed November 4, 1910. Entry allowed July 28, 1914, for NE^, SE T /4, Sec. 6, T. 22 N., R 19 W. The entire tract was treated and classified as grazing land and appraised at $6.00 per acre. It appears, however, that only the S]^, NE/4. SE/4, said Sec. 6, was so classified and appraised. The N^2, NE*4. SE^4, has not been classified or ap praised, having been embraced in a withdrawal at the time the last com mission was in the field. It is probable that the latter tract will be appraised at $6.00 per acre. Missoula 02929, filed Nov. 14, 1910, by Benjamin F. Krantz, for NEJ4, Sec. 35, T. 18 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed Dec. 8, 1913. Land classified as second-class agricultural land. The NE/4, NE/4 appraised at $12 per acre. The NWJ4, NEJ4 appraised at $10 per acre. The SE^, NEJ4 appraised at $5 per acre. The SW/4, NE/4, appraised at $7 per acre. No apparent reason for non-classification by the original commission. Missoula 02753, filed Nov. 2, 1910, by Rommie C. Roark for SE^4, NE^, Sec. 5. T. 19 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed Feb. 9, 1914. Land classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $12 per acre. Missoula 02746, filed Nov. 2, 1910, by Ralph A. Manning for NE^, $~E 1 A, Sec. 5. T. N., R. 20 W. Application 02770 filed on the same date by Eleanor Cox. Land classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $12 per acre. Missoula 02757, filed Nov. 2, 1910, by Lewis A. Cox, for NWJ4, SEJ4, Sec. 5, T. 19 N., R. 20 W. Land classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $12 per acre. Missoula 02790, filed Nov. 3, 1910, by Marvin M. Marcy, for Sj4 NW^, S\\% NE>i Sec. 11, T. 19 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed April 13, 1914. Land classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $12 per acre. Missoula 02647, filed Nov. 1, 1910, by George W. Williams for NK>, SW^4, Sec. 23, T. 19 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed Nov. 29, 1913. The NE%, SWJ4, classified as first-class agricultural land and appraised at $15 per acre and NW^4, SWJ4, classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $12 per acre. In addition the NEJ4, SW^4, has a timber value of $73.50. Missoula 03330, filed April 7, 1911, by James F. Badgley for W><, NE T /t, Sec. 32, T. 19 N., R. 20 W. Land classified as second-class agricultural land. The NWJ4, NEJ4, appraised at $10 per acre and the SWJ4, NE54, at $9 per acre. Missoula 02649, filed Nov. 1, 1910, by Isaac L. Deardorft" for SE T /4, SWJ4, Sec. 5, and NEJ4, NWJ4, Sec. 8, T. 20 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed Dec. 27, 1913. Land classified as second-class agricultural land. The 35 , was appraised at $6 per acre and the NE^4, NW% at $4.25 per acre, in addition to which the latter tract has a timber value of $138. Missoula 02561, filed Sept. 23, 1910, by Robert E. Wartenbe for W^, NE54 and NW 1 A, SE^, ,Sec. 26, T. 20 N., R. 20 W., together with 40 acres, which was appraised by the original Flathead Commission. Land classified as second-class agricultural land. The W^2, NE^4 was appraised at $5 per acre and the NW 1 /^, SE^ at $6 per acre. Missoula 02562, filed Sept. 23, 1010, by Henry Gannon for E*4 NEM and NEH, SE^4, Sec. 26, T. 20 N. R. 20 W., together with 40 acres, which were classified and appraised by the original Flathead Commission. The entry was allowed July 11, 1914. The land in question was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $5 per acre. Missoula 02915, filed Nov. 12, 1910, by William D. Engle for S}4 SW^ and SW*4 SE^4, Sec. 26, T. 20 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed April 4, 1914. Land classified as second-class agricultural land. The SE^4, SW^4 was appraised at $4 per acre, the SW>i SW^4 at $7 per acre, and the SW^, SE^4 at $5 per acre. Missoula 02613, filed October 4, 1910, by Joshua S. Dillon for H ] A, SE?4, Sec. 31, T. 20 N., R. 20 W. Land classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $12 per acre. Missoula 02566, filed Sept. 24, 1910, by Barbara A. Kain for SE x r 4, SE}4 Sec. 10, T. 21 N., R. 20 W., together with 40 acres of land classified and appraised by the original Flathead Commission. Entry allowed Feb. 9, 1914. Land classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $10 per acre. Missoula 02542, filed Sept. 21, 1910, by Morden W. Howard for NWJ4 E 1 A, Sec. 11, T. 21 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed Dec. 10, 1913. Land classi fied as first-class agricultural land and appraised at $18 per acre. Missoula 02545, filed Sept. 21, 1910, by James L. Jones for SWJ4, SE^i, Sec. 11, T. 21 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed April 6, 1914. Land classified as first-class apricultural land and appraised at $18 per acre. Missoula 02660, filed >Nov. 1, 1910, by Owen McCabe for NE T /4, SE^4, Sec. 28, T. 21 N., R. 20 W., together with 40 acres which were classified and appraised by the original Flathead Commission. Entry allowed Feb. 9. 191-1. Land classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $14 per acre. Kalispell 02286, filed Sept. 2, 1910, by Nathan Hart for NW^, SEJ4, Sec. 5, T. 22 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed Nov. 19, 1913. Land classified as first-class agricultural land and appraised at $30 per acre. Kalispell 02291, filed Sept. 6, 1910, by Robert W. Fleming for $~E%, SW 1 /^, S l /2, SE>4, Sec. 11, T. 20 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed Dec. 17, 1911. The SEJ4, SW>4, classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $12 per acre. The $ l /2, SE}4 classified as grazing land and appraised at $5 per acre. Kalispell 02325, filed Sept. 15, 1910, by Ben Cramer for NW% SW 1 ^, Sec. 14, T. 22 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed September 14, 1914. Land classi fied as first-class agricultural land and appraised at $25 per acre. Kalispell 02678, filed Nov. 17, 1910, by John B. Elie for Y 2 , NWJ4, Sec. 32, T. 22 N., R. 20 W., together with 40 acres which were classified and appraised by the original Flathead Commission. The SE>4, NW^4 was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $15 per acre. 36 The SW*4, NWJ4 was classified as grazing land and appraised at $4 per acre. Kalispell 02970, filed Jan. 24, 1911, by Ival L. Wright for E^, NWJ4, SE*4 Sec. 20, T. 23 N., R. 20 W. Entry allowed Dec. 17, 1913. Land classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $6 per acre. No apparent reason is found for the non-classification of this land by the original commission. Missoula 02822, filed Nov. 4, 1910, by Charles C. Codman for NVV% SEJ4, Sec. 1, T. 19 N., R. 21 W. Lands classified as first-class agricultural lands and appraised at $15 per acre. Missoula 02839, filed Nov. 5, 1910, by Richard Christian for NE^4, SE*4 Sec. 1, T. 19 N., R. 21 W. Entry allowed Feb. 9, 1914. Lands classified as first-class agricultural lands and appraised at $15 per acre. Missoula 03073, filed Dec 24, 1910, by Ernest W. Barton for S\\% SE^, Sec. 19, T. 19 N., R. 21 W. Entry allowed February 9, 1914. Land classi fied as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $5 per acre. No apparent reason is found for the non-classification of this land by the original commission. Kalispell 02978, filed Jan. 28, 1911, by Howard Austin for NW^f, SE^ and NEM, SWJ4, Sec. 5, T. 23 N., R. 21 W., together with 80 acres classified and appraised by the original Flathead Commission. Land classified as second-class agricultural land. The NWJ4, SE^4 appraised at $13 per acre and the NE^4, SW^4 appraised at $7 per acre. The same land is embraced in homestead application Kalispell 02399, filed Nov. 28, 1910, by Corwin H. Barnctt. Kalispell 02610, filed Nov. 9, 1910, by Charles E. Trekell for N\\% SW54, Sec. 5, T. 23 N., R. 21 W. The land was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $12 per acre. Kalispell 02316, filed Sept. 12, 1910, by James A. McDavid for NE}4, Sec. 8, T. 23 N., R. 21 W. Entry allowed Dec. 23, 1913. The NE^, NE^ classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $5 per acre. The N\\% NE^4 classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $7 per acre. The $ l / 2 , NE^ classified as grazing land and appraised at $3 per acre. Kalispell 02342, filed Sept. 19, 1910, by Charles M. Mansur for ~E l / 2 , EJ4, Sec. 25, T. 23 N., R. 21 W. Land classified as second-class agricultural land. The NE>4, SE^4 appraised at $12 per acre and the SE^4, S&A at $15 per acre. Kalispell 02333, filed Sept. 16, 1910, by Jesse O. Black for $*/ 2 , NW T /4 and Sy 2 , NEJ4, Sec. 3, T. 24 N., R. 21 W. Entry allowed July 11, 1914. The SEJ4, NWJ4 and $}/>, NE^4 were classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $12 per acre. The SWJ4, NW^4 was classified as first-class agricultural land and appraised at $20 per acre. Kalispell 02387, filed Nov. 1, 1910, by Andrew F. Masterson for Lots 1 (20.60 acres), 2 (20.52 acres), 3 (20.44 acres), and 4 (20.36 acres), Sec. 3, T. 24 N., R. 21 W. Lots 1, 2, and 3 were classified as second-class agri cultural land. Lot 1 was appraised at $5 per acre, Lot 2 at $6 per acre, and Lot 3 at $7 per acre. Lot 4 was classified as first-class agricultural land and appraised at $20 per acre. Kalispell 02388, filed Nov. 1, 1910, by Sanders B. Allen for NE^4, SE^, Sec. 4, T. 24 N,, R. 21 W, ntry allowed Dec. 3, 1913. Land classified 37 as first-class agricultural land and appraised at $25 per acre. No apparent reason is found for the non-classification of this land by the original com mission. Kalispell 02819, filed Jan. 3, 1911, by Walter C. Hobbs for ~Ey 2 , SW^, Sec. 33, T. 24 N., R. 21 W. The land was classified as first-class agricultural land. The NEJ4, SW54 was appraised at $25 per acre and the SEJ4, at $20 per acre. Kalispell 02301, filed Sept. 8, 1910, by Newton E. Miles for SWj4, NW^, SWy 4 , Sec. 4, SE*4, NE^, NE^ and NE^4, SE^, Sec. 5, T. 22 N., R. 22 W. Entry allowed Dec. 17, 1913. The SWM, NW^ was classified as second- class agricultural land and appraised at $6 per acre The NWJ4, SW>4 was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $8 per acre. The SEK, NEJ4 was classified as grazing land and appraised at $6 per acre. The NE54, SEJ4 was classified as grazing land and appraised at $3 per acre. Kalispell 03131, filed March 10, 1911, by Morris O. Bish for NEJ4, SEK, Sec. 21, T. 22 N., R. 22 W., together with 80 acres which were classified and appraised by the original Flathead Commission. Entry allowed Dec. 10, 1913. Land classified as grazing land and appraised at $2.50 per acre. Kalispell 02800, filed May 1, 1911, by Margaret Williams for NW>4, SWJ4 and SWJ4, NW54 Sec. 22, T. 22 N., R. 22 W., together with 80 acres classi fied and appraised by the original Flathead Commission. Entry allowed January 7, 1914. Land classified as grazing land and appraised at $5 per acre. Kalispell 0242G, /filed Nov. 1, 1910, by Guy A. Shanley for SE^, SE#, Sec. 22, NEJ4, NEJ4 Sec. 27, T. 23 N., R. 22 W. Entry allowed Dec. 13, 1913. Land classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $8 per acre. Kalispell 03325, filed May 2, 1911, by Selma E. Phorston for SE#, Sec. 31, T. 23 N., R. 22 W. Entry allowed Dec. 4, 1913. The NE#, SE^ was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $5 per acre. The balance of the land was classified as grazing land. The NWJ4, SE^4 and SEH, SEM was appraised at $3 per acre and the SWJ4 SE*4 at $2.50 per acre. No apparent reason is found for the non-classification of this land by the original commission. Kalispell 02410, filed Nov. 1, 1910, by John W. Fry for NE^, SE^, Sec. 15, NWJ4, Wy 4 and SW^, NW>4, Sec. 14, T. 24 N., R. 22 W. The NEJ4, SE^4 was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $5 per acre. The NWJ4, SW/4 was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $8 per acre. The SW^ NWJ4 was classified as grazing land and appraised at $3.50 per acre. On Nov. 29, 1910, James A. Parsons filed homestead application Kalispell 02730 in conflict with Fry s homestead application as to the NEJ4. SE)4, Sec. 15, and SW?4 Sec. 14, and embracing in addition the NE}4, SW^4 and SE}4, Sec. 14. The NE}4, SWJ4 was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $7 per acre. The SE^4, NWJ4 was classified as grazing land and appraised at $3.50 per acre. Kalispell 02425, filed Nov. 1, 1910, by John Marques for WJ4, NE^, Sec. 21, T. 24 N., R. 22 W., together with 80 acres which were classified and appraised by the original Flathead Commission. The land was classi- 38 fied as second-class agricultural land, the NWK, NEK being appraised at $4 per acre and the SWK, NEK at $5 per acre. Kalispell 02439, filed Nov. 3, 1910, by George H. Sparling for WK, SWK, Sec. 27, T. 24 N., R." 22 W. The land was classified as second-class agri cultural land and appraised at $10 per acre. The SWK, SWK contains 80 M. feet of timber appraised at $240. Kalispell 02424, filed Nov. 1, 1910, by Rollo T. McAllister for EK, NEK, Sec. 28, T. 24 N. R. 22 W. The land was classified as second-class agricultural land, the NEK, NEK being appraised at $10 per acre and the SEK, NEK at $8 per acre. On Jan. 17, 1911, Maurilio Roveli filed homestead application Kalispell 02849 for the same land, alleging settlement Nov. 1, 1910. Kalispell 02557, filed Nov. 5, 1910, by Oscar A. Baertsch for NWK, NEK, or Lot 2 (25.31 acres) and SWK, NEK, Sec. 4, T. 24 N., R. 23 W., and in addition 80 acres classified and appraised by the original commission. Entry allowed Dec. 19, 1913. The land was classified as grazing land and appraised at $2 per acre. Kalispell 03124, filed March 8, 1911, by Benjamin N. Mills for NK>, SEK, NK, SWK, Sec. 9, T. 24 N., R. 23 W. Entry allowed Feb. 10, 1914. The NEK, SEK was classified as grazing land and appraised at $2.50 per acre. The NWK, SEK was classified as grazing land and appraised at $3 per acre. The NEK, SWK was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $6 per acre. The NWK, SWK was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $4 per acre. The NK, SEK is in conflict with Kalispell 03186 below. Kalispell 03185, filed March 23, 1911, by Oscar A. Gagner for EK, NEK and SWK, NEK, Sec. 9, T. 24 N., R. 23 W. Entry allowed May 29, 1914. The land was classified as grazing land, the NEK NEK being appraised at $2 per acre, the SEK, NEK at $3 per acre, and the SWK, NEK at $2.50 per acre. Kalispell 03186, filed March 23, 1911, by Joseph Gagner for SEK, Sec. 9, T. 24 N., R. 23 W. The land was classified as grazing land, the NEK, SEK being appraised at $2.50 per acre, the WK, SEK at $3 per acre and the SEK, SEK at $1.50 per acre. The Nj/j, SEK is in conflict with Kalis pell 03124 above. Kalispell 03094, filed Feb. 25, 1911, by Butler F. Minich for &/>, NWK and NK, SW K, Sec. 3, T. 23 N., R. 24 W. Entry allowed Dec. 23, 1913. The land was classified as grazing land, the SEK, NWK and NEK, SWK, being appraised at $3 per acre. The SWK, NWK was appraised at $4 per acre and the NWK, SWK at $3.50 per acre. Kalispell 03230, filed March 27, 1911, by Daisy M. Allen for Lot 3 (40.10 acres) and Lot 4 (40.11 acres), Sec. 3, T. 23 N., R. 24 W., together with 80 acres which were classified and appraised by the original Flathead Com mission. Entry allowed Dec. 26, 1913. The land was classified as grazing land and appraised at $3 per acre. Kalispell 02511, filed Nov. 4, 1910, by John Fallman, for SWK, SEK, Sec. 22, T. 23 N., R. 24 W., together with 40 acres which were classified by the original Flathead Commission. Entry allowed Dec. 22, 1913. The land was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $5 per acre. Kalispell 02707, filed Nov. 23, 1910, by Charles O Neal for SWK, NEK and NWK, SEK, Sec. 22, T. 23 N., R. 24 W., together with 80 acres which were classified and appraised by the original Flathead Commission. Entry 39 allowed Dec. 13, 1913. The SW^, NE^ was classified as grazing land and appraised at $2.50 per acre. The NW>4, SE^4 was classified as second-class agricultural land and appraised at $3 per acre. There is no apparent reason for the non-classification of the SW%, NEK by the original commission. Missoula 02737, filed Nov. 2, 1010, allowed Jan. 5, 1914, by Howard E. Stansbury for Lot 4, Sec. 5, T. 20 N., R. 19 W., 39.78 acres. The land was classified as first-class agricultural land and appraised at $10 per acre, added to which is the value of 103 M feet of timber appraised at $360.50. Kalispell 03304, filed April 22, 1911, entry allowed Dec. 22, 1913, by Joseph E. Huston, for Lot 2 on NW NE section 27, township 23 N., range 24 W., containing 15.13 acres, second-class agricultural lands, appraised at $10 per acre. Missoula 02972, filed Nov. 21, 1910, entry allowed Jan. 31, 1914, by Dwight N. Mason, for Lot 1 on NE, NE section 6, township 30 N., range 19 W., containing 40.84 acres first-class agricultural lands, appraised at $10 per acre, together with 102 M feet of timber, appraised at $357. EXHIBIT "B." Affidavits and statements of applicants illustrating numerous controversies over, (a) Appraisal and classification of timber lands; (b) Rejected entries within withdrawals for power and reser voir sites and for lieu allotments. WILLIAM H. HOWE, Big Arm, Montana. Accepted Hd. Entry of No. 01953 80 A. Final proof accepted. Has applied for N/2 of SE/4 of Sec. 26, T. 24, R. 21, MM. to complete his home stead rights. Sept. 9, 1914. Howe is a married man, Spanish war soldier, came here in 1910 to get homestead, and has been endeavoring by applications No. 02368, No. 03309, No. 03700, No. 04559, and this last effort No. 04967 to complete his 160- acre right as near to his original homestead as could be done. All these applications have met with discouragement. He is hopeful that personal solicitation and examination may bring a favorable action. His present appeal on his No. 04967 application with Commissioner of General Land Office at present shows why he should have the land. Howe is not a speculator but a hard-working clerk and printer who came west to better himself. He has been sorely disappointed. He has applied for timbered lands as a last resort and not because he prefers to remove stumps. This land adjoins his brother s applied-for land and can be used to better advantage in grazing stock. Howe is just in receipt of a letter from Indian Office giving him for first time complete list of expense connected with this 80 acres, totalling $300 for the land and $255.50 for the timber thereon. This he stands ready to pay and will today go to the local Land Office and offer to pay 40 the one-third price as his first payment on the same. He has endeavored to buy the timber through the local Indian office, who advertised it, and accepted Howe s bid for same, and in mean time discovered that the local Land Office had sold timber and land of east forty to a LATER CONTEST ANT September 15. Now Howe claims priority of right because his appli cation was on record Sept. 9 to homestead this land, and on October 12 the Indian office accepted my request to buy timber. In meantime another tries to wedge in ahead. This man, Levi B. Jacobs, had filed on this land in 1910 and dropped the matter three years ago and sold his shack and removed it from the place. He is a single man and has made no improve ment on the place. Howe stands ready to make full payment for the 80; Jacobs wants only forty. Howe will begin improvements as soon as weather conditions permit, and blames the local Land Office at Kalispell for not informing him that one forty was ready for 1/3 payment on Sept. 1, when he was in Land Office for an hour inquiring about this 80 acres of land. He prays for allowance of his application at appraised prices*. September 17, 1914. Big Arm, Montana. STATEMENT OF WM. H. PAINE. State of Montana, ( ss. County of Flathead. j William H. Paine, of Big Arm, Flathead County, Montana, being duly sworn deposes and says that at the United States Land Office at Kalispell, Montana, on May 12, 1911, he made homestead application for the E^ of E^ of Section No. 11, Township No. 23 N., Range No. 22 W., M. M., H. E. 03341, that his application was rejected by the local land officials on the grounds that the land was classified as timber land, that upon appeal the Honorable Secretary of the Interior affirmed the action of the local land officials in said matter. That later he made application to the Flathead Classification and Appraise ment Commission for a re-examination of the said lands, that said Com mission made examination of the land and made a report thereon wherein it was found that the Ej^ of the NEJ4 of said Section 11 was more valuable for agriculture than for the timber growing thereon and appraised the land, 80 acres, at $5 per acre, $400, and estimated the timber thereon at 102 thou sand feet at $3 per thousand, $306, total $706; that the value placed by this commission is excessive, that the land is more adapted for grazing than for agriculture, the greater part of it is steep side hill land and is cut by two ravines running from east to west, one through the center of the land and the other through the south end thereof, that the said lands should have been classified as grazing lands, that all such lands in the vicinity of this land were appraised by the original Flathead Commission at $1.25 per acre, that this land should have been appraised at that price, that further that both the estimate of timber and the value thereof as made by this Commission is excessive, that in June, 1911, this affiant engaged 41 one James DeStaffeny, of Kalispell, Mont., an experienced timber cruiser, to make an estimate of the timber on the said EH of E^ of said Section 11, that he at that time made an affidavit that from an examination of said lands he found that there was on the EH of the NE}4 of said Section 11, 57 thousand feet of timber and that the value thereof is not worth to exceed 50 cents per thousand feet, that said affidavit is on file in the office of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, the same being part of the record made by this affiant in an appeal taken in said matter from the action of the local land officials at Kalispell, Montana, in rejecting his original homestead application in this matter, that since this estimate was made there has been considerable timber removed from this land by home steaders who reside in the vicinity of the land and who have timber permits, the timber being very handy and available to the homesteaders in that vicinity, that this affiant believes that at the present time there is not to exceed 50 thousand feet of merchantable timber on this land, the greater portion of which is small scrubby and of a very inferior quality, that it is situated more than five miles from Flathead Lake which is the nearest water to the land available for logging purposes, that in the opinion of this affiant it is not worth more than 50 cents per thousand feet. That on March 9th, last, this affiant made homestead entry to said EK> of NE54 of said Section 11 and is now residing thereon, that he made entry under protest for the reason that at that time he was, and still is, convinced that the appraisement of this land by said Commission was ex cessive, and that the estimate of the timber thereon and the value thereof was also excessive, and that when the matter was fully and fairly presented to the proper government officials he would be treated in a just manner upon a fair examination of all the facts. (Signed) WIUJAM H. PAINE. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 14th day of November, 1914. (Signed) JOHN McGRANN, [SEAI,.] United States Commissioner. Also appeared at the same time and place C. F. EBEL, ADAM J. RITZ, JAMES A. McDAVID and CORWIN H. BARNETT, all of Big Arm, Montana, who being first duly sworn, depose and say that they are well acquainted with the land embraced in the homestead entry of William II. Paine, and know from personal knowledge and observation that the statements made by the entryman in the foregoing affidavit are true. (Signed) C. F. EBEI,, ADAM J. RITZ, JAMES A. MCDAVID, CORWIN H. BARNETT. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 14th day of November, 1914. (Signed) JOHN McGRANN, [SEAI,.] United States Commissioner. 42 STATEMENT OF CHESTER W. HOWE. In the matter of Additional Hd. Application of CHESTER W. HOWE, No. 04776, for the SE/4 of SW/4 of Sec. 26, T. 24 N., R. 21 W., MM. Being an Appeal to the Secretary of the Interior from the Rejection of said Application. I, Chester W. Howe, a qualified entryman of Big Arm, Montana, hereby declare that I am the legal applicant and only one for this SE/4 of SW/4 of Sec. 26, T. 24 N., R. 21 W., MM, No. 04776, and am rejected by the Hon. Commissioner of the General Land Office for this "40" on account same being classified as timbered land. My original Hd. appli. No. 04540 for 40 A. grazing land was granted me. This additional application is for continuous, adjoining 40 A. of strictly grazing lands, vacant and needed by me. It has unfortunately 23 M. feet of timber on its southeast corner which prevents my application from being granted. In order to remove this objection, I have applied to buy this timber in regular order from Indian Agent Morgan, and will soon be in position to remove the timber off the land At present, this is a hardship, as there is only one market for logs in this locality, the Somers Lbr. Co. which pays $5.75 and $6.25 per M. ft. for their scale delivered on lake shore. Unfortunately this 23 M. ft. of timber was appraised at $5 per M. ft., while all other trees lower down the mountain and of better quality is appraised at $3.50 per M. At $5 there is nothing left for the hard work of hauling the logs off the land. No timber here has been selling except where home steaders are wanting to get grazing lands adjoining to complete their 160 rights. The timber requirements here are a drawback and discouragement to the settlers in developing this valley. On these stony grazing hill sides, a settler positively needs his full limit of 160 such acres in order to raise stock on any profitable scale. Any smaller amount is simply disastrous. Those who took 40-acre tracts in this valley have either had to go back east or are women who have other means of support. I came from Indianapolis to homestead 160 acres. There are that many acres of available land in contiguous form here for which I have applied in order to keep from making a failure of my homesteading. My application of October 26, 1914, for 80 A. balance of my right, No. 5400-Kalispell, is for NE/4 of NE/4 of Sec. 34 and SE/4 of SE/4 of Sec. 27, same T and R, and are vacant lands suitable to grazing with very limited portion that is tillable. The former 40 is disconnected from my original homestead by the latter which was withdrawn for power site, and later reserved for villa sites. There being some 32 A. between this 40 and the lake shore, it does not seem absolutely necessary that this SE/4, SE/4 of Sec. 27 be used for villa sites. It is 70 per cent, grazing land and not bordering on to the lake, I feel it should not be classified as villa site tract. I pray that this 80 which has no timber (but a pile of stones thereon) be released and ordered back into the class for homestead entry and that due notice be given the local land office, as being in the interests of the 43 settler, as well as the Indian. I very much wish to get my applications all allowed soon so I can begin homesteading with a happy heart instead of waiting thus in suspense. It will please me to know that you will order an investigation of these tracts before passing unfavorable decision thereon. (Signed) CHESTER W. HOWE, Big Arm, Montana. Dated : Nov. 21, 1914. STATEMENT OF A. L. GRAVES. Serial No N^S\\% Section 11, Township 22 N. Range 20 W. M. M. I entered the land June 1, 1914. I got my filing Jan. 6, 1914. I made my first filing on March 16, 1911, on some lieu land, unappraised. I went on the land and stayed for awhile at that time, but on account of not getting my filing I did not make a permanent home until June, after getting a filing. I have a four-room plastered house, barn and fencing. I have only plowed my garden as we went on the land so late, but I have ordered about 100 trees to put out in the spring. It is really grazing land as it is high land. It was appraised at $10.00 per acre. It was appraised at $1.25 under the first appraisement. 1 have made payment on the basis of $10.00 per acre and have not been off from it one night. I made payment under written protest. I understood at the time I offered my first filing it was not to exceed $7.00 per acre. No officer of the Land Office made such a statement to me, but it was my understanding it was to be appraised along the lines of the original appraisement. STATEMENT OF E. W. McCOY. Serial No SK>NE^, Section 5, Township 22 N. Range 20 W. M. M. It has been appraised once. This piece of land was originally allotted and the Government saw fit to set it aside for a Reservoir Site and they reimbursed the allottee, both in cash and allotted them in lieu of this in Missoula County before the reservation was opened and on the first day of November, 1910, in the general opening this particular piece of land lay on the side hill and only a small portion of it is in the original survey of the reservoir. On the first day of November, 1910, I went out on this piece of land and built a house and I learned a few days after communication with Mr. Morgan that the land was reserved with the rest of the reservoir. He advised me not to make any further improvements at that time, so I did not. Time went on and finally the land was released from the withdrawal and went back to the Government for its disposition. That was about the third of September, 1911. I did not make permanent settlement until 1912. During this time Secretary Lane was here and made a speech on the porch of the Grandview and he was asked as to the allotting of Indian children that had been born since the former allotment and he said the allotments were closed and there could not be any further allotments except those coming in conflict with power and reservoir sites. 44 During 1912, after hearing what he had to say about the allotting and knowing there was about seven thousand (7,000) acres set aside for lieu allotments, I supposed this piece of land would be open to entry. So in 1912 I fenced it and made some improvements on the house and built some other buildings and a barn and I put under cultivation fifty (50) acres which is all that is under cultivation and the rest of it runs up on the ridge and I have lived upon the land since. I have asked permission twice to get a filing on the land, expressing my desire to pay for the land and the water and also use my homestead right thereon. I have been turned down and they refused to give me a filing. In the meantime Secretary Ballinger in 1912 ordered this land open to settle ment and entry, asking the Commissioner of the General Land Office to set the date and notify the local office to this effect. Instead of doing this he evaded the order by writing the local land office that this piece of land, while it had been released, had again been set aside by the Department for reallotment to the Indian and when I got my turndown they stated that it was not classified and appraised. On the 13th of November, 1912, it was classified and appraised by a Board of Appraisers and they do not deny it, but the Department and the Indian Office do. Q. Who were the ap praisers? A. Mr. Morgan, Mr. Brown, Mr. Van Hook and Duncan Mc Donald. I asked them if they appraised that particular piece of land and they said they did. Q. Were the appraisers here in the interval between the order of Secretary Ballinger that this particular land had been opened to entry and settlement and the time when the Local Land Office notified you that it had again been withdrawn for purpose of reallotment? A. Yes. I have been on the land two years or better and I have made a failure two years, this year being almost a total failure. The crop looked good for awhile, but it parched and about the time I got it in the stack I was notified that there had been two law suits filed against me, one to attach the hay that I did have and one was to eject and kick me off the place. One suit comes before the Judge of the Federal District Court in Missoula. We got the attachment suit set aside. The other case is pending now, the eject ment case. Since these two suits have been brought against me, I wrote a personal letter to Secretary Lane asking permission to remain on the land agreeing to submit to any suggestion he should make. He sent the letter to the General Land Office and the General Land Office sent it to the Indian office and the Second Assistant in the Indian Office wrote me stating they had no knowledge of any suit and they had no jurisdiction to give me permission to stay upon the land. I have asked time and time again to be allowed to pay for the land and water and use my homestead^ right, believing that I had a homestead right. There is fifty acres that can be irrigated. The other thirty acres is taken up by a high rocky ridge and the ditch which takes up about eight acres of the land. Q. What was the price fixed by the Appraisers? A. They said they were instructed not to tell and the General Land Office claims it has never been appraised and the Indian Office has no knowledge of the appraisement. It stands now as a rejected application. Q. Your contention is that if your filing is finally approved, it should be on the basis of the prices fixed by the Appraising Commission at the time they appraised your land and not the former appraisement? A. I was under the impression that there 45 had been a previous appraisement and that the second would be similar to the first and I would not have gone on the land if I had any idea that they had the right to raise the maximum, which was $7.00 per acre, to $25 or $30 per acre because I do not believe it is worth that much. Q. Your house was built before the land was actually withdrawn for reservoir purposes and you knew at that time it was to be withdrawn? A. No. It was shown as a Reclamation Farm Unit and, of course, it had been with drawn for the reservoir and I did not know if their intention was to run the ditch on the hill, but I was told that this land above the reservoir was thrown open to homestead entry. Q. You got that information from whom? A. From two or three locaters who looked the matter up thoroughly and Mr. Glenn told me there was no question but what I would get it. Mr. Glenn showed me a map on which this was shown as Reclamation Farm Unit No. 4. Q. The first warning you had that you would be making improve ments at your own risk came from Mr. Morgan? A. Yes. Q. Would you have built your house if you had received this warning? A. I built a small house and I presume would not exceed $150 at that time. Q. This ejection proceeding you refer to, when it is determined in the Court, will, I suppose, settle your right to an entry? A. I presume it is the only way it can be settled now. Q. Who brought this ejection proceeding against 3 r ou? A. Mr. Morgan. It was on the theory that it was for re- allotment to Indians. This, he said, they were going to re-allot to the original allottee. They received $1,850.00 to relinquish and they picked land in Missoula County; in fact, better land and his mother never has sought to be re-allotted, but Mr. Morgan saw fit to put him back there. Q. You are a farmer? A. Yes. Q. You have farmed this land? A. I have farmed it two years. 1 am a contractor and builder, but I was raised on a farm. Q. You operate the farm in connection with your other work? A. Yes. Of course, they claim they have the right to re-allot this Indian, but as it has been five years since the allotment was closed I cannot see how they can assume the right to allot the Indian back on this land, five years after the allotment was closed and they had ample time if there was any such agreement and the od of December, 1911, and the 17th of August, 1912, when the Secretary ordered it opened to settlement and it was after that that the Secretary ordered it reserved. I have the exact words of the Secretary in ordering the General Land Office to set this date and I have the exact words of the Secretary in order ing the local Land Office to set the date and I will show them to you. Order of the Secretary of the Interior, September 25, 1911. Restored and reopened to settlement the land in question in the following terms : "The Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby authorized and directed to cause the records of his office and of the local land office to be indited accordingly also, to ascertain whether the land above referred to is withdrawn or reserved by law or by any other order than that hereto and if not to cause due notice to be given that such land will at the time fixed by such Commissioner in such notice be open to settlement and entry." August 24, 1912. From the Asst. Commissioner of the General Land Office to the Register and Receiver at Kalispell, Montana : "The following described lands are withdrawn, providing that said reservoir should not effect the withdrawal of any other land by such order or effect any other order 46 reserving or withdrawing the lands listed. The Department in 1903 released this land and on July 8, 1909, under Act of March, 1909, set aside the lands and reserved them for allotment in lieu of those in conflict with power and reservoir sites. No dates are fixed therefore for the settlement and entry of the land released from withdrawal under the Reclamation Act and you are directed to make proper notations on your records and acknowledge receipt hereto. " The children whom they went to were re-allotted lands in Missoula County and do not come in conflict with any reservoir site. STATEMENT OF S. B. HOLMES. Serial No S\\% Section 22, Township 23 N. Range 19 W. M. M. I filed about May 15, 1911. The nature of the land is agricultural, not under a ditch and it has timber on practically all of it. The timber is small and scattered. It has not been cruised that I know of. It was cruised under the direction of the first Appraisement Commission and I do not remember how much timber there was on it, but it was classed as timber land. Q. How did you come to file on it as agricultural land? A. Well, I heard that the land was to be opened as it had proved more suitable for agricultural than for timber purposes so I went over there and went into this land and estab lished my corners and when I went over the land I found there was not much merchantable timber so I came in and filed and they accepted my money and rejected my filing on the grounds of it being timber land and asked me to prove it something else, but kept my money. Secretary Lane wrote me December, 1912, or January, 191 ,;, as I had written him stating the case and quality of the land and the whole thing in general and I asked him what the land was being held for and he wrote me and told me that this land has been classified as timber land, appraised at so much, I do not remember the amount, but not much, but if I wanted to have it recruised and it would warrant the Government to re-classify it, they would attend to it right away. I got that letter April or May, this year, but I have not had it recruised or appraised as I could not get anyone. I do not know who cruised it, but there are plenty of men here who can make affidavit as to that. There are no improvements. I was waiting for the Government to de cide. Q. How did you come to file on this land? A. There was no other land I considered worth filing on. I could not find anything satisfactory and I considered this timber land the best, so 1 picked it. I. can make a field out of all of it. STATEMENT OF JAS. A. TROW. Serial No. 04315. I made application for part of the reservoir site on July 24, 1912, and the second time on July 28, 1913. After being rejected I made application a second time for the same land and the same kind of application. The first application was rejected principally on account of the mail and it did 47 not reach Kalispell until after the thirty days had expired, and I made a second application and went through the same process. Q. You made an application for an entry within the reservoir site? Was it reserved at the time you made your application first? A. I am not sure. The understanding was that it had been withdrawn for the purpose of a reservoir and I got this information from correspondence with an attorney at Washington and I have the copy of his brief here which explains the whole subject matter. Q. You made your application through the advise of an attorney who was of the opinion that an entry upon land that would not be used for reservoir purposes was in fact open to settlement? A. Yes. The brief of Attorney Samuel Herrick appealing from the decision of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, which decision was dated Sept. 29, 1913, using the following grounds : Error in not deciding that the General Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902, makes it impossible for the Secretary of the Interior to restore to entry upon the provisions of the General Home stead Laws any lands which have once been set aside for reservoir use, as soon as it has been determined that the land withdrawn will not be used for the purpose for which withdrawn. Second Error, in not taking into consideration the fact that the Honorable Secretary of the Interior had by an order made on the 17th day of August, 1913, restored the lands within the Pablo Reservoir under the provision of said Act of Congress. Mr. Herrick claims that the only Indian who could possibly be eligible to a change of allotment is one whose allotment comes in conflict with some other power or reservoir site. That since seven thousand acres of Indian lieu lands were reserved for allotment to Indians it is not necessary that one acre within the Pablo Reservoir Site be allotted to Indians. Q. What happened to this appeal? A. It has been rejected. During the summer of 1910 the Honorable Secretary of the Interior made an order prohibiting the changing of any Indian allotments and there is no authority of law for making such changes. I wish to say that following out these lines, I believe that this land in the reservoir could not be re-allotted and the only Indian who could be eligible is one whose lands come in con flict with power or reservoir sites. Q. What made you believe this reservoir site would ever be thrown open for settlement? A. It was generally re ported it was not to be used for a reservoir site and reading the law it was supposed it could not be re-allotted. I built a frame house 14 x 20 and a frame barn 10 x 18 and I resided there after the application was made. I was there a year ago last winter every day. It was appraised on the 13th day of November, 1912. My wife was there at the time and she was there when the appraisement was made. We have never been able to determine whether it was appraised or not and have been unable to find any record. It seems the Indian Department is very secretive and will not disclose the appraisement. Q. You knew at the time it had been reserved? A. I suppose it had been abandoned. Q. When did you get your first information it was being re served for re-allotment? A. It was after I built my house, it must have been a year after. Q. Who advised you? A. Mr. Morgan. I have a letter from him. It is under the ditch. I have not irrigated. After my application was rejected I moved my building away, but I have my fence. 48 STATEMENT OF ERIC MATTISON. Serial No. 04000. E^SE^, Section 22, Township 22 N. Range 20 W. M. M. The application was rejected for the reason that the land was withdrawn for the purpose of Indian allotment. The SE^SE^, said section is now covered by an Indian allotment which was appraised December 13, 1912. It is urged that the withdrawal was made without legal authority and was not necessary for the reason that it was done without departmental authority and under special authority and the decision appealed from was affirmed by the Secretary of the Interior on June 6, 1913. This land was never appraised or classified. I did not know, but I thought it had been opened. A letter by the Secretary dated February, 1913, ad dressed to the Register and Receiver of the Kalispell Land Office says it had not been covered at the time the appraisement was made, by an Indian allotment. The land was withdrawn on July 8, 1909, for a reservoir under Section 22, Act of March, 1909, and was again withdrawn for the same purpose February 23, 1910. In consequence of said withdrawal, the Indian allotment was changed to other lands. On October 3, 1911, lands were set aside and reserved to provide allotments in lieu of those in conflict with power and reservoir sites. On August 17, 1912, the order of February 23, 1910, was revoked and it was provided that such revocation should not affect and other order withdrawing or reserving the land Furthermore, a part of the land is covered by Indian allotment No. 1357 by Genevive Wilson, the change being approved by the Secretary December 13, 1912. I have a house out there and I go out once in awhile, but I work in town. Q. When did you make your improvements there? A. It was shortly after I filed, but I do not know exactly. I filed on the llth day of December, 1912. Q. Did you know the allotment was going to be made? A. I knew nothing of an allotment. The first word I got from the Local Office was it was not open, but I understood Genevive Wilson had been allotted east and west of mine. I built the house sometime in December, the latter part ; I do not know the exact date. Q. What year? A. In 1912. Q. Did you build after you had notice of rejection? A. No, before. STATEMENT OF JAS. WEST. Application No. 4118. S^NW^, Section 15, Township 22 N. Range 20 W. M. M. This application was rejected and the appeal was sustained in letter of July 5, 1913, for the reason that the land in question was reserved for Indian allotment. The records fail to show that the land is included in any with drawn for Indian allotment, however, same is unclassified and unappraised and for that reason is not subject to homestead entry. The applicant re quested that the land be classified and appraised and that he be permitted to enter same. The decision is that when the land shall have been regularly classified and appraised and opened to entry, it will be subject to entry by the first legal entry. It has not been reserved by any order of the De partment for Indian allotments and it was in the Reservoir site and was 49 withdrawn with the rest of this land at the same time, but not for re- allotment. I did not make any improvements on it. I have simply carried the appeal forward. STATEMENT OF E. N. STOUGHTON. Serial No S^SE 1 ^, NW^SE^, SE^SW^, Section 21-22-19. I have a rejected application and have appealed it. I have been rejected in the final appeal and I filed on the same land and appealed from the decision of the local office and have appealed again. Q. Are you alleging any other argument? A. No, the same, that it is worth more for agricultural than for timber land. Q. It was originally classified as timber land? A. Yes. There is not much, merchantable timber on it. The Indian office November 4, 1914, says that the exact classification on the two tracts amounts to 488,000 board feet and the value is $1,674, and that same have been re- examined. "In response you are informed that a re-examination has already been made and they were reclassified as timber land under date of Sep tember 26, 1913. As the land has been reclassified as timber land no further examination appears to be necessary. The matter of re-examination is being taken up with the Superintendent of Flathead Schools and when his report is received the matter will be taken up." Q. What was the date you attempted to make entry? A. It was in 1913 in the spring. Q. Since the second Appraisal Commission did its work ? A. I expect it was. STATEMENT OF J. H. STEVENS. Case of Otto P. J. Moseby. Serial No. 03507. SE^SW^, Section 27, Township 24, N. Range 21 W. M. M. This land was originally estimated as having 225,000 feet of timber, value of $665.00, as appears in letter date January 22, 1912, from the Commissioner. A letter of April 12, 1913, from the Commissioner of the General Land Office relative to this same land estimates the timber at 299,000 feet and value of $897.00. There is an increase in the price of the timber in one year of about $250 in the appraisement. Mr. Moseby contends that there is not to exceed 50,000 feet of saw timber on this land applied for and its value does not exceed $1.00 per thousand. The balance of the timber is scrubby and suitable only for fire wood. He has forty acres of land adjoining this and he has twenty acres of it in cultivation and has live stock, such as horses, hogs and chickens and is living on the land and has since the spring of 1912. His application has been rejected for an amendment and the original was for 160 acres and approved for one forty and these appeals are as to the amended 120 acres. His improvements are on the land approved. The other is fenced. Q. Was this land classified as timber land when he made entry? A. Yes, 50 CASE OF PATRICK NORMANDEAU, JR. Homestead Application No. 04449, SE^SWj4, SW^SE54; Section 21-22-19. This application was rejected for the reason that it was classified as timber land. The applicant contends that there is approximately 7,500 feet of small, scrubby timber, too small for saw timber and suitable only for fire wood on this land and has sent in affidavits of his neighbors corroborating his claims. Q. Whether land is in fact agricultural or timber is determined by whether it has more value for timber than for agriculture, is it not? A. Yes. Q. And the representative of the Department who makes the exami nation is the man whose recommendation governs as to that point? A. Yes. In the case of Otto P. J. Moseby, Mr. A. D. Maynard makes the state ment that it is poor grazing land and is not worth much. Mr. Moseby offered to pay for the timber on his land even at the appraised price as fixed by the Government first, but he considered it outrageously high. Mr. Charles Allard, an Indian allottee, makes the statement that the land classified as timber lands which the white settlers are endeavoring in some cases to prove are agricultural lands, are lands which the Government re fused to let the Indians have allotments on on the grounds that they were timber lands. MR. J. H. STEVENS, IN THE CASE OF ANDREW L. OLSEN. Homestead Entry No. 03778, E^SE^, SW*4SW J /4, Section 25, 23-23. This entry was rejected for the reason it was classified as timber land. This land is about twenty miles from Flathead Lake and the cost of cutting and hauling it to Flathead Lake, the nearest market for 1 logs, would be about $6.00 per thousand. In a letter of July 8, 1914, from the Commissioner of the General Land Office the statement is made that on the E^SE/4, Sec tion 25, there are l75 J / 2 M feet of timber, valued at $526.50 and the agri cultural value of the land is only $5.00. That on the SWJ4SEJ4 of said Section 25 is 86 M feet of timber valued at $258 and the agricultural value of the land is $2.00 per acre and that on Lot 3, Section 30 is 105J/2 M feet of timber valued at $316.50 and the agricultural value of the land is $5.00 per acre. The applicant contends that inasmuch as it would cost about $6.00 per thousand to get this timber to market, it has no such value as is claimed by the Government. STATEMENT BY CHARLES ALLARD. This land that was taken by Andrew Olsen, Jose Holt, Andrew J. Muhler, and Dennis Sear was refused to Indians as allotments. Joe Ashley, Mose Auld, and Marcel Michel applied for this. Q. The allotting agent denied their application on the ground it was timber land? A. Yes. I have an agricultural allotment on the Lake shore. It is estimated there are two hundred cases on the reservation of persons who are attempting to file on lands now classified as timber lands, upon which the claims are made that the land is more valuable for agricultural than for timber. 51 MISCELLANEOUS STATEMENTS AND COMPLAINTS. It is reported by a number of persons at the meeting that difficulties have been met with in securing right-of-ways for public roads across the allotted lands on the reservation. It is contended by the Indians on the other hand that requests are made for roads in many cases without consulting the best interests of the Indians and that attempts are made to make roads across the center of small allotments. Dr. Geo. B. Owen and Jas. Harbert call attention to an advertisement for about 100 tracts of land on the Flathead Reservation for sale November 16 and object to the cash sealed bid plan of selling deceased Indian lands, stating that the plan results in placing the lands in hands of speculators to the detriment of the Indian and settler alike and recommend the substitution of an installment plan of sale on reasonable terms at public auction. Dr. Owen calls attention to the hardship on the bidder under the present plan, stating that the bidder is out the use of 10 per cent, of his money until his bid is accepted by the Superintendent, when he has to deposit the balance and that he has to wait six months longer while the sale is being approved in the Department and the Indian often changes his mind through other people s influence and the sale is disapproved and the bidder is compelled to stand the loss of interest and other inconveniences. MR. AU.ARD. We took it up about a year ago with Mr Lipps regarding the matter Mr. Harbert spoke about and have taken it up with Senator Walsh and he recommends the lands be sold at public auction. MR. GREGG. Strangers come in from other states and they do not know if they got the land they bid on and go home and if we had public auction they could bid on other lands, but they refuse to come in and bid on these terms. Referring to Section 11, Act of April 24, 1904, and Amendment to same Section, Act of March, 1905, Mr. Harbert strongly urges that the Board support the bill now pending before Congress providing for the sale and entry of timber lands which are suitable for agricultural purposes. STATEMENT OF H. M. BLAIR, LESSEE OF INDIAN LANDS. We have a rainfall of about fifteen inches. I think experts will agree that it is impossible to farm successfully on fifteen inches of rainfall with out summer fallow or irrigation. The Department will not lease for any period longer than two years without improvements. In leasing the land we can have only a two years lease and it is impossible to summer fallow and the first year I could leave the summer fallow and seed it in the fall and the next year, I could not leave any for summer fallow, as I have no lease for the next year and could not get it until seven months before the expiration of my lease. I have lived in Washington and they follow the summer fallow plan and they summer fallow about once in three years and could we renew our lease before the end of the second year, we could plan so we could have our land ready to seed at the right time and could make more money than trying to farm the same land each year. You cannot keep the land clean that way and I think that wheat raisers will bear 52 me out that you cannot successfully farm without clean land and the only way that is successful is to summer fallow. Q. Do you think the improvement leases of this reservation have been satisfactory to the Indian? Have the improvements been up to standard and the farming up to a standard that put the Indian in a better condition? A. In most cases they have not. The improvements are not very satisfactory or very good. The soil is foul with wild oats and mustard. Q. Do you think it would be preferable to have a system of leasing by which the Indian determined whether he would want a crop share or cash? A. A good many of us have always been in favor of the crop leases as one gets more out of it and it makes it of more interest to the farmer. However, many of the Indians are not competent to lease their own land. If we had one Indian Representative with the Agent on this reservation there would be only one- half the trouble. EXHIBIT "C." Affidavits and statements of homestead entrymen who made sus pended applications under letter "K," showing date of entry, entry- man s understanding as to appraisal and classification of the land entered, appraised value of similar and adjacent lands, etc. S. B. ALLEN, Dayton, Montana. Description, NE/4 of SE/4, Sec. 4, T. 24, R. 21, MM. Made filing and settlement Nov. 1, 1910. Same was suspended entry, was allowed Dec. 5, 1913. Made first payment of one-third appraised price of $25 per acre. Improvements : Dwelling house and barn ; land all fenced ; about 18 acres plowed. Have lived continuously on the land since settle ment. This land is a farm unit in the Flathead irrigation project. No ditches built. Crops have been practically a failure, each year. Allen was led to believe that the price of the land would be $7 or less per acre accord ing to classification. Adjoining lands of same class were appraised at $2.50 per acre. Other land half mile away of same class is appraised at $1.25 per acre. JAMES A. McDAVID, Big Arm, Montana, Serial No. 02316. I, James A. McDavid, having a number for filing on a homestead in the Flathead Indian Reservation, and on Sept. 12, 1910, according to Letter "K," made entry on the NE/4, Sec. 8, T23 N., R. 21 W., MM., an aban doned Indian allotment, awaiting the homestead appraisement. After mak ing this my home and residing continuously (living in suspense) on this place for last four years, on last Dec. 10, 1913, I was notified from local land office at Kalispell that I had 30 days from that date to pay the 1/3 of the appraisement as first payment on the land, viz : 53 The NW/4, 40 acres at $7 $280 The NE/4, 40 acres at $5 200 The S/2, 80 acres at $3 240 Total $720 And in addition $75 for a few more than a dozen trees on the place. All this was a sad surprise to me. Therefore I filed under protest. I claim this appraisement is unjust. Similar lands adjoining were but $1.25 under first appraisement. There are only 25 or 30 acres that can be plowed and even that is spotted with alkali and very stony, the south half is prac tically all stone, stony ravines, ledges, pinacles, hog-backs, etc. In fact, it is poor even for grazing purposes. Had I known this in the beginning, I would have stayed in Ohio. This was the best I could do when my number and name was called. I did not think this 160 acres would be classed as agricultural land, therefore I was willing to use my homestead right. I have had to work miserably hard since on this homestead and did not come out here to purchase land. This is why I pray for relief. JAMES A. MCDAVID, Big Arm, Mont. Nov. 18, 1914. Note. I walked over this land with Mr. McDavid and can certify to the accuracy of his statement about its physical character. F. H. ABBOTT. CORWIN H. BARNETT, Big Arm, Montana. 80 acres known as of Sec T. 23 N., R. 21 W., MM. Barnett moved onto this place Nov. 1st, 1910, with family and got a suspended filing for same on same day. He has 45 acres under cultivation which is all that can be cultivated. He has spent over $1,500 for improve ments and stock required on the place. Has hauled over 100 loads of rock off said land and has put 400 loads of manure on same. Has lived con tinuously on the land ever since except for short absences of a day or so at a time when gone for supplies or at work to earn support for his family, some of whom have been on the place every day. "All the adjoining lands near this land were appraised at $1.25 per acre by the first appraisement commission and I expected to get mine at the same appraisal. However in Nov., 1913, we were notified that one 40-acre tract had just been appraised at $13 per acre and the other at $7 per acre, making a total of $800 for this 80-acre homestead, which is more than I can possibly raise, and unless I can be allowed to homestead this 80 at a more reasonable price, I will have to lose what I have already spent on this place, which is all I have." (Signed) CORWIN H. BARNETT. Nov. 18, 1914 Big Arm, Montana. Note. I walked over Mr. Barnett s land with him and verified personally his statement about the physical character of his land. I believe his state ment is all true. F. H. ABBOTT. 54 WILLIAM H. PAINE, Big Arm, Mont, No. 03341. NE/4NE/4, SE/4SE/4, of Sec. 11, T23, R. 22W. Tendered filing May 12, 1911; settled June 12, 1911. He received an accepted filing Mar. 9, 1914. House and fencing; partly plowed. Land appraised at $5 per acre and adjoining lands at $1.25 per acre. There is timber thereon, government estimate 102 M feet at $3 per M feet. Has sworn statement of James DeStaffaney who estimated this timber in 1911 that the amount of timber on this land was 57 M feet and he placed a value on this timber at 50 cents per M, being bull pine of poor quality and unmerchant able. Am still living on the land. WALTER C. HOBBS, Big Arm, Mont. East half of SW/4, Sec. 32, T. 24, R. 21, MM. Tendered filing under rights of his number drawn in land lottery on May 12, 1910. Was rejected account being unappraised and not classified. Im mediately after Oct. 31, 1910, he squatted upon this 80 acres and has lived there continuously. On Jan. 3d, 1911, he tendered a filing for this land under his squatter s rights and was suspended. Improvement : House and barn, and other necessary buildings. All fenced and under cultivation. Total ap praisement of this 80 is $1,800, while the total -appraised value of 1,100 acres of adjoining lands around him is only $1,450, or $1.25 per acre. Crops have been a failure for the past four years Has to haul water from lake for family and stock. Note. I walked over this 80 with Mr. Hobbs. He could have said truth fully that the land has black alkali, has a course gravel soil from which many loads of stone have been removed. It is almost worthless for pur poses of agriculture without irrigation. Mr. Hobbs had borrowed money to the limit of his credit and said he was unable to meet the payment due on the entry within a few days. I reported this case to Commissioner Tall- man, who acted promptly and suspended the required payment. F. H. ABBOTT. GEORGE H. SPARKLING, Elmo, Mont., No. 92,439. West half SW/4 of Sec. 27, T. 24, R. 22. Filed Nov. 1st, 1910. Settled same date. Has lived there with family ever since. Improvements : All tillable land is plowed, all fenced ; house and barn, and other outbuildings. The total value of improvements is $1,500. Land is appraised at $10 per acre. Timber is appraised at $3 per M, scrub pine, almost worthless. Only 4^ acres of one forty is tillable and rest is so steep that stock will not graze it. Crops have been a failure. Hauls water two miles for stock and household. Like others, made settlement with the understanding that the appraise ments of these lands would be from $1.25 to $7.00 per acre. 55 JOHN N. MARQUIS, Elmo, Mont, No. 02425. 160 acres, Sec. 21, T. 24, R. 22. Filed on 1st of Nov., 1910, and settled on land that midnight, and lived there ever since. Improvements : Big house and barn ; eighty acres fenced ; 25 acres tinder cultivation. This land appraised at $3 and $4 per acre on two forties. All adjoining lands round about are appraised at $1.25 per acre. Has to haul water. This land is no better than the surrounding $1.25 lands. The $4 land is not as good as some of the $1.25. CHARLES E. TREKELL, Big Arm, Mont., No. 02610. NW/4 of SW/4, Sec. 5, T. 23, R. 21. Filed Nov. 9, 1910, settled on same Nov. 1, 1910. Improvements : Good house and outbuildings, all fenced, partly plowed. Value of improvements, $1,500. Land is appraised at $12 per acre while adjoining lands of same class were appraised at $1.25 per acre. Has lived continuously thereon since settling there. FRANK MASTERSON, Dayton, Montana. Lots 1, 2, 3 and 4, of Sec. 3, T. 24, R. 21 W., MM. Filed Nov. 1st, 1910, and settled on same date, and lived thereon con tinuously ever since. Improvements : Five-room house, good barn, and other outbuildings, with a total value of about $1,500. This land appraised at from $5 to $20 per acre and adjoining lands of the same class at $1.25 and $1.50 per acre and another piece at $2.50. No water on this land. ROLLO T. McALISTER, Elmo, Montana, No. 02424. NE/4 of NE/4 and SE of NE/4, Sec. 28, T. 24, R. 22. Filed Nov. 1st, 1910. Settled on same about March, 1911. Resided con tinuously thereon. Improvements : 8-room house, barn, granary and other outhouses ; land all fenced, 45 acres plowed, no water. Hauls water about 8 miles. Value of improvements about $2,500. All lands around this land were originally appraised at $1.25 per acre and my land was appraised at $8 and $10 per acre. All the land that could be cultivated on this tract has been plowed. Am having to pay 13 1 /2 per cent, interest on money to pay on this land and want an extension of time and reduction to fair appraise ment. JESSE O. BLACK, Dayton, Montana. S3 of NE/4, S/ of NW/4, Sec. 3, T. 24, R. 21. Filed on land Sept. 16, 1910; settled March 8, 1911, and lived thereon continuously ever since. This land was appraised at $12 to $20 per acre, totalling $2,240. This land was thrown open to settlement by letter "K" Aug. 26, 1910. All this land has been fenced by me, 90 acres plowed; four- 56 room dwelling house and outbuildings, value $2,000. My number was 4915 in the Government land drawing of 1910. Adjoining lands were appraised at $1.25 and $2.50 per acre. Statement of MR. WILLIAM H. SABIN, Settler Living About Three Miles Northwest of St. Ignatius. Mr. Sabin came at the beginning with the intention of taking up land as soon as the Number Men had been accommodated, believing that there would be plenty of land remaining for settlement. Mr. Sabin made his application for filing November 1st, 1910. His was one of the "Suspended Filings." The land filed on by Mr. Sabin was not appraised at the first appraisement, being an Indian allotment relinquished in 1909. This land was appraised at Ten Dollars an acre, similar land in the vicinity having been appraised at the first appraisement at Seven Dollars an acre. Mr. Sabin has made his first payment and has also put in application for reappraisement. Mr. Sabin states as a fact, that the great majority of those who have taken up land under the reappraisement were here practically from the beginning and were lead to believe, by everything that had been published, that they would receive their lands on the basis of the first appraisement. In the appraisement of 1912 Mr. Sabin s homestead is classified as second- class land, while all the surrounding land was classified as first-class. Made at St. Ignatius, Mont., Nov. 16, 1914, in the presence of Commissioner Ketcham. Note. The following correspondence between Mr. Sabin and the General Land Office is interesting as showing why settlers had a right to believe there would be prompt appraisal at the prices fixed by the first Commission for similar lands. F. H. ABBOTT. [COPY] WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM. 2 50 P 10-20-10 Ca Washington D C William H. Sabin c/o Beckwith Merc. Co. St. Ignatius, Mont. Number two open not appraised number twenty eight not open. Dennett Comr. In reply please refer to 82514-1910 "K" F.B.W. WASHINGTON, November 18, 1910. STATUS OF LANDS. MR. WIWJAM H. SABIN, Beckwith Mercantile Company, St. Ignatius, Mont. SIR: Your letter of November 4, 1910, was duly received. The SW^ NW^4 and Lot 4, Sec. 2, T. 18 N. R. 20 W., Flathead lands, was formerly covered by an Indian allotment, since relinquished, and the land has never been 57 appraised. The land is to be appraised at some time in the near future by the Indian office, but in the meantime there is no reason why you cannot settle on the land and make your improvements. You state that your application for said land has been suspended by the local land office at Missoula, Montana. Such action is in accordance with instructions given it by this office. Very respectfully, FRED DENNETT, Commissioner. U. S. LAND OFFICE, Washington, D. C. I received telegram of the 29th ult from Com. Dennett in reply to my letter of a few days before, regarding the following land : S. W. Y^ NWP & Lot R, Sec. 2, T 18, N R, 20 W, Montana Meridian. Upon offering my application for filing at Missoula Office my filing fees were accepted but my application was suspended. I offered payment on same but was not accepted. Now as it is getting late in the season I am very anxious to get buildings up before winter and I would like of some more assurance that every thing will be O. K., so that I can go ahead and build. There was no other reason why they did not take payment other than that it was not appraised, there was no contest or such to hold it up. Could you give me any further information regarding the land so that I could be assured that it would be alright for me to go to building. If it is alright please wire me or if not also and then write me fully about it. Awaiting an early reply, I remain, Yours truly, W. H. SABIN. In reply please refer to 82514-1910 "K" F.B.W. WASHINGTON, October 29, 1910. MR. WIWJAM H. SABIN, Care Beckwith Mercantile Company, St. Ignatius, Montana. SIR: Confirming my telegram of October 29th, I have to advise you that the records of this office show that the SW^4 NW^4 and Lot 4 of Sec. 2, Twp 18, North R, 20 West are vacant, having been formerly covered by an Indian allotment which was changed to other lands, but the same has not yet been appraised. The land is subject to settlement but the local officers are not permitted to allow an entry thereof until after the appraise ment has been made. They can receive applications for the land and sus pend them pending such appraisement. It further appears that the SE}4 NEP, and the Ej4 SE^ of Sec. 28 same Twp. and R. is covered by a patented Indian allotment, No. 2316, in the name of Louis Eneas Sculkah, a Flathead Indian. Very respectfully, FRED DENNETT, Commissioner. 58 STATEMENT OF BENJAMIN F. KRANTZ, SETTLER, TWO MILES SOUTH OF ST. IGNATIUS. Mr. Krantz was on the reservation at the time of the opening. He was not one of the Number Men, but put in his application for filing November 14th, 1910. His was one of the "Suspended Filings." He believes his tract was one of the cancelled Indian allotments. The adjoining land was ap praised at the first appraisement at One Dollar and Fifty Cents an acre. His land at the second appraisement was appraised as follows: 1 forty at $12.00 1 forty at 10.00 1 forty at 7.00 1 forty at 5.00 He has been on the land practically since the application for filing. He has made one payment. Mr. Krantz states he believes the great majority of settlers who took up land under the second appraisement were here at the beginning and made application for filing in good faith, believing that when appraisement was made it would be made on the same basis as first appraisement. He does not know of any one who has come recently and filed on land since the second appraisement. According to the maps of the Locating Agents this particular property was classified as grazing land. The land of another settler, Mr. S. R. Dixon, one mile distant and three hundred feet lower in altitude, has been appraised at practically Two Dol lars an acre. This land was appraised by a special appraisement a short time after it was filed on. The settlers do not understand these special appraisements, of which there have been a number. Statement made at St. Ignatius, Mont., Nov. 16, 1914, before Commissioner Ketcham. STATEMENT OF NATHAN HART. Serial No. 02286, NW^SE^, Section 5, Township 22 N. Range 20 W. M. M., Known as Unit "C." I filed on the second day of September, 1910, and I moved onto the land the 20th day of February, 1911, and have lived there continuously ever since. The appraised value was $30.00 per acre. We supposed it would be appraised at whatever the first appraisement of the different classes of land was, not over $7.00 per acre. First-class agricultural land was appraised at $7.00 per acre, maximum. I drew No. 3197 at the drawing. In proving up, we figured my improvements at $3,000. These were on the land at the time of the second appraisement. The land that joins me on the west was appraised at $2.50 per acre and Mr. Lowary has a< forty cornering me on the northwest which was appraised at $1.25, but it is rougher land than mine. On the west end it is level and the soil is deeper than on mine. I expected to get the land at the price paid for similar land. I pro tested to the Local Land Office. I paid the price to get the thing finally settled and I had only thirty days and I had to pay or lose my improvements. It is under the irrigation or supposed to be. There is no ditch. Q. Could 59 they get water on the land? A. I do not know how they would get it on unless it was pumped. I should say my land at the lowest point is thirty (30) feet above the river. It would have to be pumped I have never re ceived any water and do not expect to. STATEMENT OF BEN CRAMER. Serial No Drawing Number 4678. When I went to file I had three or four pieces of land in view and I choose Unit "B," 47 acres in Section 14, Township 22 N. Range 20 W. M. M., and I filed on the 15th day of September, 1910, and moved onto the place about the middle of November the same year. I put on a house that cost $1,500.00, a granary 16 x 20, costing about $200, a barn costing about $500; fenced the place; broke it and put in a crop the coming spring. Q. What is the total value of your improvements ? A. When they ap praised the land they placed the valuation at $2,500 and it was cheap at that. My understanding was that they would not charge over $7.00 per acre. Q. What were the sources of your information? A. I had read the bill of the opening of the reservation and that gave me an idea and Mr. Swaney, the Register of the Land Office at Kalispell, told me it could not be over $7.00 per acre. I had also the information in Letter "K" and had read the letter several times and thought there was no chance of losing my rights if I went on the land. Q. What was the land appraised at in the second appraisement? A. $25.00 per acre. Q. You had the impression that you would pay the same appraised price as the lands already open? A Yes, and thought it would be classed the same as that already appraised, that is what Mr. Swaney told me. It is not irrigated, but could be. I have not received water. Q. You used your homestead right on the forty acres? A. Yes, I got notice that they had cut off seven acres. I proved up and I paid $25 per acre and I had to pay that or lose my improvements and they cost me more than $2,500. Q. They were on the land at the time of the second appraise ment? A. They took them into consideration at the time of the appraise ment and the report of the improvement was $2,500 and $25.00 per acre. When I filed on the land I understood from Mr. Swaney and from the in formation I could get that it would be about one and one-half or two years and it was four years before I got a filing. My intention was to make an orchard and I ordered 3,500 trees and I saw that I was tied up and I set them out on my little girl s place and after I proved up I got a chance to get almost even by selling it. My wife has an allotment on the reservation. Q. Do you use water? A. No ; I saw it was going to cost me so much for water. I did not protest. STATEMENT OF CHAS. M. MANSUR. Serial No E^SW^, Section 25, Township 21 N. Range 23 W. M. M. I filed on the 29th day of September, 1910, and established residence the 6th day of October, 1910. That has been my residence for the past four years. I put on a house, barn, ice house and granary. Fenced it, cross 60 fenced it, broke seventy acres, planted an orchard of about one hundred trees and about sixty small fruits. I do not know if it is under the irrigation or not. There is no ditch in the valley. I do not know if it is classified as irrigated land. I drew No. 5293. The locator who was operating under government supervision and the local Land Office advised me that they had been in structed on this land, under what they called Letter "K," that we would receive the same treatment as people who had filed prior to us and whose land had been appraised and that our land would be appraised as first, second or third-class land. I talked to some of the people who had filed on the higher priced land and I found it was about $2.50 per acre. Mr. Ralph Tower who drew No. 18, and in my opinion got the best land not under irrigation, and who lives a mile west of me had his land appraised at $2.00. I expected to pay about $1.00 per acre. This year it was all plowed in a very farmerlike manner, but I could not thresh and cut some of it for hay. I lost about $250.00 on my farming this year or possibly $300. I have not proved up. Q. What would be the maximum appraisement on land similar to this? A. $2.00 per acre. Q. What was your appraisement? A. $12.00 on one forty and $15.00 for the other forty. Q. What would the land bring per acre at present prices? A. I do not know, I suppose $25 or $30 per acre with the improvements. STATEMENT OF VIRGIL A. BUCHANAN. It is eight miles south and two miles west of Poison in 21-20. I went on the land February 22, 1911. Q. Did you draw a number? A. Yes. Q. Your land is among the ones that were not appraised? A. I got a sus pended filing. There was no appraised land I could secure. There was appraised land at the time I think, but I preferred to take this. It was a broken unit of 160 acres, Lots 1, 2, 3 and 4, and Lot 1 was taken up by a former location and I took the other three. I do not know how it hap pened it was not appraised. I believed that if I went ahead and took the land when it was appraised it would be the same as land adjoining of the same class. I made the first improvement in October, 1911. Q. Was Letter "K" in effect when you made your entry? A. I do not know if it was or not. Q. This was a suspended filing? A. Yes. Q. And from the fact that it was only suspended you assumed you would be able to make proof and after the appraisement was made you thought you would be able to pay for it and get title the same as other settlers? A. It was appraised at $7.00 per acre and $3.50 and the same identical land adjoining was appraised at $1.50 per acre. It is grazing land. Q. Can you get water on it ? A. I should have under the old survey, but they changed the survey and I will have but about five acres under the ditch. Q. Did it change the value of your land if you had water? A. It would save me hauling water from the place adjoining and when he has no water I have to haul it about five miles. I have made final proof and I did not protest at the time. My improve ments are valued at $3,500. They were made after the appraisement. When the appraisement was made I just had a shack, but now I have a house, barn, granary, etc. 61 EXHIBIT "D." Letter of Mr. C. F. Rathbone, U. S. Commissioner at Ronan, Montana, showing his belief that prices fixed by first Commission would govern in the case of entries made under letter "K." [COPY] RONAN, MONTANA, Nov. 14, 1914. HON. F. H. ABBOTT, Secretary Board of Indian Commissioners, Washington, D. C. SIR: Per your request for a copy of the notice sent out to those who have made homestead application for withdrawn or unappraised lands on the Flathead reservation, by the local land office, and also by the Hon. Commissioner of the General Land Office, when appeal had been taken, I have the honor to submit a true copy of one which is now in my possession, and it is enclosed herewith. Permit me to add the following: During the past four years, or since Feb. 28, 1910, I have been the U. S. Commissioner at Ronan; during that time I have been the officer whom the great majority of the homesteaders have made application to homestead all the unclassified and unappraised land which was opened to settlement and entry by Commissioner s letter of August 26, 1910, and I believe I am more fully conversant with the object and intentions of those settlers than any one other person of the Flathead reservation. I have listened to their complaints and have advised with them to the best of my ability. All of them expressed the opinion that the land would not be appraised as to exceed the maximum fixed by the original commission, when it was finally appraised. All of them honestly believed that such would be the case. I held the same opinion, for the reason that none of the Flathead lands had been appraised at to exceed $7.00 per acre by the original commission and I understood that $7.00 was the maximum. I do not believe that one single individual homesteaded the land as a speculation, or no more of a specula tion than any man indulges in when he homesteads land. It is all a specu lation in a measure, but I firmly believe that the great majority of those who came here and made homestead applications, did so in hopes of making for themselves and their families, a home. They expended every dollar they had or could borrow, to improve the land to cultivate it into crops, under the belief that all that was lacking in order to secure an approved home stead entry was the mere appraisal of the land. They expended so much money and labor that now that the appraised value is fixed as high as $25.00 per acre to my knowledge, "they are compelled to pay this exorbitant ap praisal or else lose all they have already spent, including several years of hard work. I refer to those who have settled upon the Indian lieu lands : The general supposition has been that the rolls were closed and that no more allotments were to be made. That has been the information given out, either officially or by common rumor, and it has caused the impression to prevail generally that such was the true state of affairs. Believing that eventually someone 62 would get such lieu lands as homesteads, many have settled upon, culti vated and improved such lands, and all have had hopes that ultimately it would be they who would be given approved entries. Some have already been granted approved entries on such lands, and this has induced others with knowledge of this fact, to make efforts along the same line. As I told you personally while you were in my office, I have informed each and every one of them, who made their applications before me for the land, that it was Indian lieu land, and even this information could not deter them from making a supreme effort to get the land. I have hoped all along that they would be successful, but with nothing to base such hopes upon. As to the timber land : The best agricultural and horticultural lands of the Flathead reservation are those now covered with timber and lying between the south end of Flathead lake to the north and extending as far south as Mission creek. This class of land is very desirable and very little or any of it would need irrigation. It is covered with timber and it is being eagerly sought after. The timber is appraised at from $1.50 to $3.50 per M, but the land is un- appraised. The price fixed for the timber is in excess of what logs can be purchased at per M, in every other section of Montana, where timber is to be found in quantities to afford lumbering and logging. The quality is none better. It is reported to be afflicted with the bark beetle, and many trees are already marked for destruction to eradicate this pest before it spreads to all the timber. This information I received personally from an officer in the Forestry Service. That department can supply with you a confirmation of this charge if you will make the inquiry. The act opening the Flathead reservation provided that all timber lands were reserved from homestead entry, and provided further that all the timber should be sold and the land disposed of under direction of the Secretary of the Interior. Quite a number of people have endeavored to meet the requirements of that provision in order to secure homesteads within the timbered area. They have entered into contract with the Department for the purchase and removal of the timber and have applied for homestead entries on the same tracts after having cut and removed the timber, paid for the same and been discharged from their contracts. They are still uninformed as to whether or not they are to receive approved homestead entries for the land. They should be informed on this question. I would therefore respectfully recommend that you take some action on this matter. Make such recommendations to the Hon. Secretary as you deem best that an early determination may be had. I did not intend to go so much into detail as I have, when I commenced this letter, but my duty to those who are striving so earnestly to make for themselves and their families a home, has prompted me to do and say as much as I have. I have not the slightest personal interest in having any of the lands opened to settlement and entry. I have long since exhausted every homestead right I ever had, and it will not be to my advantage either one way or the other. There are a great many here who are differently situated, however, and they are entitled to every consideration. Thanking you in advance for any assistance you may be able to render these people, and with assurance of my highest personal regards, I am, Yours very truly, (Signed) COKER F. RATHBONE. 63 EXHIBIT "E." Memorandum of a Bill suggested as a substitute for S. 6373 introduced on August 22, 1914, 63d Congress, 2d Session, by Senator Myers, to provide for the payment for certain lands within the former Flathead Indian Reservation. PROPOSED SUBSTITUTE FOR S. 6373, 63D CONGRESS, 2D SESSION. A Biu,. To provide for the payment for certain lands within the former Flathead Indian Reservation in the State of Montana. BE IT ENACTED BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRE SENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN CON GRESS ASSEMBLED, SEC. 1. That in all cases where lands within the former Flathead Indian Reservation which were classified and appraised during the years nineteen hundred and twelve and nineteen hundred and thirteen by the commission appointed for that purpose under authority of the Act of June twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred and ten, have been appraised at an amount in excess of the amount at which similar lands were appraised by the Flathead Com mission of nineteen hundred and seven and nineteen hundred and eight, persons who settled upon or entered such lands prior to June 14, 1911, on suspended applications by authority of letter "K" of the General Land Office under date of August twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and ten, shall not be required to pay more for the lands so settled upon or entered by them than the highest amount specified by the Flathead Commission of nineteen hundred and seven and nineteen hundred and eight for lands of like character and similar classification, namely, seven dollars an acre for agricultural land of the first class; three dollars and fifty cents an acre for agricultural lands of the second class, and one dollar and fifty cents an acre for grazing land. StX. 2. That in all cases where patents shall be issued for land paid for under the foregoing section of this Act there shall be transferred, from any funds belonging to the United States not otherwise appropriated, and placed to the credit of the Indians for whose benefit such lands are disposed of, upon proper certificate from the Secretary of the Interior, such an amount as shall equal the difference between the amount so paid under section one of this Act and the amount at which the lands so paid for have been appraised or reappraised by the commission of nineteen hundred and twelve and nine teen hundred and thirteen. SEC. 3. That in all cases where persons entitled to the benefits of section one of this Act have already made payment for the lands so entered by them in excess of the amounts which would have been due from them under the terms of section one of this Act, there shall be remitted to them from any funds belonging to the United States not otherwise appropriated, upon proper certificate from the Secretary of the Interior, the excess of the amounts so paid by said persons over and above the amounts which would be due from them under the said section one of this Act. 64 . Section 1 of S. 6373 may be omitted for the reason that the Sec retary of the Interior made a decision fully determining the subject-matter of said section, in the following letter: DEPARTMENT of THE INTERIOR, WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 24, 1914. THE COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. SIR: June 2, 1914, you requested instructions with reference to proper charges to be made in connection with homestead entries for lands formerly within the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, which have been reappraised under the act of June 5, 1912 (37 Stat., 125). Said communication was referred to the Indian Office for report and that office also desires instructions from the Department. It appears that the original appraisement in a number of instances was changed by the reappraisement and in some cases the price was reduced while in other cases the price was raised after entries were made. You are advised as to cases where the price of the lands was reduced by the reappraisement that the latter price only should be charged. Where the price was raised by the reappraisement of lands embraced in homestead entries the entrymen should only be required to pay the price fixed for the lands at the time the entries were made. (Signed) A. A. JONES, First Assistant Secretary. 63D CONGRESS, S. 6373 2D SESSION. In the Senate of the United States. August 22, 1914. Mr. Myers introduced the following bill ; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Public Lands. A Biu,. To provide for the payment for certain lands within the former Flathead Indian Reservation, in the State of Montana. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases where lands within the former Flathead Indian Reservation have been reappraised at an amount in excess of the amount at which they were originally appraised, persons who have heretofore settled upon or entered such lands shall not be required to pay more for the lands so settled upon or entered by them than the amount at which such lands were originally appraised. SEC. 2. That in all cases where lands within the former Flathead Indian Reservation which were classified and appraised during the years nineteen hundred and twelve and nineteen hundred and thirteen by the commission appointed for that purpose under authority of the Act of June sixth, nineteen hundred and twelve, have been appraised at an amount in excess of the amount at which similar lands were appraised by the Flathead Commission of nineteen hundred and seven and nineteen hundred and eight, persons who have heretofore settled upon or entered such lands shall not be required to pay more for the lands so settled upon or entered by them than the 65 highest amount specified by the Flathead Commission of nineteen hundred and seven and nineteen hundred and eight for lands of like character and similar classification. SEC. 3. That in all cases where patents shall be issued for land paid for under the foregoing sections of this Act there shall be transferred, from any funds belonging to the United States not otherwise appropriated, to the credit of the Indians for whose benefit such lands are disposed of, such an amount as shall equal the difference between the amount so paid under said sections and the amount at which the lands so paid for have been appraised or reappraised by the commission of nineteen hundred and twelve and nine teen hundred and thirteen. EXHIBIT "F." [COPY] UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS. WASHINGTON, D. C., August 24, 1914. DEAR MR. ABBOTT: Herewith please find enclosed S. 6373, to provide for the payment of certain lands within the former Flathead Indian Reservation, in the State of Montana, recently introduced and referred to the Committee on Public Lands. Will you kindly call this bill to the attention of the Board of Indian Commissioners for such suggestion or other information as they may be able to offer with respect to the same? Yours truly, (Signed) H. L. MYERS, Chairman. Mr. F. H. Abbott, Secretary of the Board of Indian Commissioners, City. REPORT UPON THE CONDITIONS ON THE FORT PECK INDIAN RESERVATION By REV. WILLIAM H. KETCH AM, Member Board of Indian Commissioners WASHINGTON, D. C. 1915 December 30, 1914. MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: I take pleasure in transmitting herewith, with my approval, a report of an investigation of conditions on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, by Rev. William H. Ketcham, member of the Board of Indian Commissioners and by Mr. F. H. Abbott, Secretary of the Board, under his direction. Cordially yours, (Signed) GEORGE VAUX, JR., Chairman. Honorable Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, Washington, D. C. Report upon the Conditions on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation By REV. WILLIAM H. KETCHAM December 4, 1914. HON. GEORGE; VAUX, JR., Chairman, Board of Indian Commissioners, Philadelphia, Pa. SIR: Under authorization of the Board of Indian Commissioners I undertook a visitation of the Flathead and Fort Peck Reservations of Montana with a view to inquire into conditions prevailing on the same. I called upon the Secretary of our Board to accompany and assist me in this work. My time was limited and it soon became evident that I could not go over the Fort Peck Reservation in person. On leaving the Flathead Reservation I requested the secretary to remain to conclude some hearings and then to pro ceed to Fort Peck, make personal observations on the Reservation and report to me in full. I at once proceeded to Poplar to talk over matters with Agent Lohmiller and inaugurate the work. The ideas I gained from conversation with Major Lohmiller practically have been confirmed by the secretary s report, which I enclose herewith. The report speaks for itself. I approve the secretary s conclusions and urge his recommendations. Respectfully submitted, (Signed) WM. H. KETCHAM. November 30, 1914. HON. WIWJAM H. KETCHAM, Member, Board of Indian Commissioners, 1326 New York Ave., N. W., Washington, D. C. SIR: On November 13 you left me at Poison, Mont., conducting a hear ing of settlers of the Flathead Indian Reservation. You instructed me to proceed the following day to Big Arm, Mont., to complete the hearings arranged for other settlers at that place, and then to proceed to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation to make a general inspection of conditions following your visit of one day on that Reservation on November 14. 70 Scope of Investigation. In accordance with instructions, I arrived at Poplar, the seat of the Fort Peck Indian Agency, on Sunday forenoon, November 15. I immediately got in touch with Superintendent Lohmiller, and told him it was my desire, under your direction, to make a thorough inspection of the Reservation, and to visit all Indian settlements, especially a large number of Indian allotments along the Missouri River under the proposed Missouri River gravity irrigation canal. I told him that it was also my desire to note the progress made in allotting lands to new born children in con sequence of the provision of law providing for said allotments contained in the last Indian bill. In accordance with your request, I also told him that I wished to visit as many of the homes of old Indians as possible, and to look as thoroughly as possible into the agriculture, irrigation and stock-raising on the reservation. Superintendent Lohmiller very promptly and graciously made plans to facilitate the purpose of my visit, and in order that his presence might not possibly influence the freest expression of opinion on the part of the Indians, he arranged to have me see various parts of the reservation in company with farmers and other employees. The agency automobile was placed at my disposal, and Joseph Cul- bertson, a mixed blood, intermarried member of the Blackfeet tribe, accompanied me as interpreter. On Sunday forenoon, November 15, before starting on my trip over the reservation, I spent about two hours at the agency office reviewing the statistics compiled in the office regarding the progress of fanning, the plan of handling Indian livestock, and other questions of accounting on the reservation, and also familiar ized myself with the location and number and general conditions surrounding the allotments to the new-born Indians on the reserva tion. Chief Clerk Brady and Allotment Clerk Commons assisted me in obtaining this information. Sunday at noon I started from Poplar in the automobile accom panied by Mr. Burton F. Roth, agency farmer for that district, a driver and interpreter, calling en route on approximately thirty Indians in their homes, and discussing the conditions of each, not only with the Indians themselves, but with Mr. Roth, who was thoroughly familiar with the conditions of each individual. At Wolf Point Mr. Roth left us, and Mr. Patton, the agency farmer for the Wolf Point district, joined me on a trip of 20 miles further up the Missouri River Valley, where, in like manner, we called on a number of Indians. We proceeded as far west as Frazer, which is situated within a few miles of the Western boundary of the reservation, and there had a brief conference with the irrigation farmer, Mr. Hogshead, in charge of the western district, and also made a brief call on the teacher of the day school at that place. We returned from here to Wolf Point, stopping en route to inspect the Frazer reservoir, where provision has been made to irrigate about 2,500 acres of Indian land, and where two or three Indians have already made plans in a serious way to begin irrigation farming. We reached Wolf Point at about nine o clock at night, having completed a trip of about 70 miles in zero weather, which prevailed throughout my visit there. On Sunday night, after I returned to the agency, I reviewed with Mr. Patton at his office the methods of handling the business of his Indians, and looked especially into his records of agricultural progress and ration roll. At about eleven o clock, just before we left the office, an Indian policeman came in with a suit case filled with quart bottles of whiskey and a half -gallon bottle of alcohol, which Mr. Patton con cealed in his residence during the night, awaiting the filing of com plaint the following day against the white boot-legger who was caught on the train bringing the intoxicants on to the reservation. The following morning, November 16, a part of the automobile having been broken in an effort to start it, we were detained at the. Wolf Point sub-agency till noon. This turned out to be an advan tage, for it enabled me to inspect the Presbyterian mission school at Wolf Point, to visit the warehouse, the jail and the whole agency plant, to complete the data collected the night before, and to confer at length with five or six Indians who had come to market. In the afternoon we drove back to Poplar, taking a different route for a part of the distance and inspecting a number of additional Indian allotments. On Monday night upon my arrival at the hotel I received a call from Mr. Paul Hayne, an educated Indian living near Poplar, and one of the three delegates who called upon me at my office in Washington last winter to request me to prepare the bill which ultimately resulted in securing the new-born allotments. A part of the evening I spent reviewing reservation conditions with Mr. Lohmiller, and met Mr. R. M. Conner, the project engi neer of the Reclamation Service in charge of the Fort Peck pro ject, and arranged with him for an extended trip up Poplar River and over the eastern half of the reservation the following day. Starting at eight o clock on Tuesday, November 17, we covered* a large territory, Mr. Roth accompanying me again to explain farm conditions, and Mr. Conner accompanying me from his camp 72 six miles from Poplar on the trip up the Poplar River, about twenty miles, to the diversion dam, and then east to the Big Muddy Creek, where later irrigation development has been proposed, visiting a number of occupied allotments, and seeing along the road a number of "new-born" allotments recently selected. Following down the Big Muddy to the Missouri River, I visited the day school near Blair, called at the farmer s quarters near Brockton, halfway be tween Blair and Poplar, and called at approximately a dozen Indian homes, talking with young men and old, women and children, and reaching Poplar at a little after six o clock, having been compelled to take the day s trip without stopping for lunch. Immediately after supper on Tuesday night, I received notice that a delegation of twenty-five to thirty Indians desired to see me. The parlor of the hotel was turned over to me and I conferred until about eleven o clock at night with this delegation, the subject matter of our conference being discussed later in this report. Just before the Indians called, Rev. Mr. Evans, the Presbyterian missionary at Poplar, paid me a very pleasant call. On Wednesday morning, before leaving on the nine o clock train, I was taken by Mr. Roth, the agency farmer, to the agency slaughter house, where about sixty or seventy old Indians were in line waiting for their rations. I visited briefly with a large number of these Indians and reviewed with Mr. Roth the matter of the size of the rations and the general conditions of issue, com pleting the work barely in time to catch my train. General Conditions. I had visited Fort Peck Indian Reservation about five or six years before. At that time I doubt if 200 acres, including gardens, were being actually farmed by all the Indians on the reservation put together. A few of the Indians had gone to work on the Recla mation projects which had just been started. The Indians, at that time, were reported by Mr. Lohmiller to be willing to work when they had an opportunity, but many of them lacked a market for their labor, and the ration roll was comparatively large. On a drive from Poplar north about 20 miles along Poplar Creek I had found no single field as large as ten acres. Superintendent Lohmiller himself at that time was sceptical on the adaptability of Indian lands for agriculture, as was Mr. Patton, the farmer who has since made a remarkable success with his Indians in the Wolf Point district. They thought there was insufficient moisture to produce crops, and they were also handicapped by the fact that the Indians had few teams large enough to pull a plow, poor excuses 73 for harness, insufficient money or credit to ration an able-bodied man while he did his preliminary work, and allotments had not been made and approved at that time so as to provide an individual Indian with something to sell, to convert into money. The horses on the reservation had not been bred up as they should have been, owing to the lack of stallions and lack of a plan to exchange old stallions for other younger stock. The cattle on the reservation, while their sale and killing for home use were carefully guarded by the Superintendent, were left like the horses as to the matter of up-breeding largely to the initiative of the comparatively few individual Indians who had accumulated herds sufficient to keep themselves and their families. After my visit in 1909, I took Mr. Lohmiller with me to the Crow Reservation, where there was a conference between Super intendents Lohmiller, of Fort Peck ; Eddy, of Tongue River ; Logan, of Fort Belknap; Ziebach, of Devil s Lake; Reynolds, of Crow, and myself. There, for several hours, ways and means of getting Indians started on these large unallotted reservations, where the Indians were without resources, were discussed, and the plan of asking Congress for reimbursable appropriations with which to enable Indians to buy seeds, teams and farming equipment, had its birth, the plan which has since, and especially at the hands of the last Congress when $600,000 was appropriated for this purpose, met with such generous consideration. At about the same time it was decided on the Fort Peck Reserva tion that a portion of the tribal grazing funds should be used to purchase traction engines and plows to break up the tough sod, the Indian ponies for the most part being too small for this heavy work, but able to cultivate the ground after it was once broken. From the meagre beginning five or six years ago development has been rapid and today there are on the reservation over 12,000 acres farmed by the Indians, over 2,200 head of horses, 2,100 head of cattle, a few sheep and nearly 3,000 chickens. It was an inspiring object lesson to see the changes which have been wrought in the period of five years since my former visit. A salary of $5,000 a year would be a small compensation for a man who has been able to bring about the improvement that has been brought about by Superintendent Lohmiller upon this reserva tion. Perhaps, equal credit is due to his force of employees, all of those whom I met apparently being driven by the same enthusiasm with which Superintendent Lohmiller has worked for industrial improvement upon the reservation. It was a pleasure to drive over the reservation with the farmers, Mr. Roth and Mr. 74 Patton, and to see the wonderful grasp which they had of the details in connection with the financial conditions and traits of character of the large number of Indians within their respective districts. It is worthy of note that the raising of poultry on the reservation is largely the result of the efforts of Mrs. Patton, the wife of the farmer at Wolf Point. Mrs. Patton has furnished hens in that district to the Indian women, young and educated, old and unedu cated ; has taught them how to set the hens, what to feed them, how to care for them, what kind of houses to build for them ; and likewise, by having a small hotbed in her garden, has shown these same women how to set out cabbage and tomato plants, and thus has started activity in gardening which has spread out in ever-widening circles from the center where her husband is located. Indeed, of all the reservations with which I am familiar in the United States there is none, outside of the Winnebago Reserva tion in Nebraska, where I have observed more marked progress among the Indians, and with it all there has been undoubted im provement in the moral conditions on the reservation. In spite of the difficulties in the enforcement of the laws for the suppres sion of the liquor traffic, which I shall discuss later, the boot legger is very much less in evidence than he was five years ago. Practically all the Indians I met appeared to belong to either the Presbyterian or the Catholic Church ; all seemed to believe in education; and a large majority are ready to work when they have the opportunity. The use of the grazing fund and the reim bursable appropriation, to which I have previously referred, has been a large factor in stimulating and promoting agricultural prog ress on this reservation, but the use of these two funds is by no means the whole explanation of the progress made. There is another and larger factor, which will be discussed later in detail, but which I shall only briefly mention here. I refer to the work furnished to the Indians of this reservation by the Reclamation Service. During the four seasons covered by the thirty months of actual working time the Reclamation Service, out of a total of $431,- 027.39 invested in construction, has paid for Indian labor a total of $231,610.20, and for supplies raised by the Indians on their lands, including hay and grain, $10,898.46, a grand total of $242,- 508.66, or about 56 per cent, of the total amount invested in con struction. In order to do this work for the Reclamation Service the Indians have had to have heavy teams and strong harness; good wagons and plows have been required ; and the Indians have had to work under enthusiastic and systematic direction, learning 75 what a full day s work is. Thus, without realizing it, they have become gradually equipped with the sort of implements and teams needed to farm their lands, and have had to acquire the habit of regular and systematic work necessary for them to succeed on their farms. And that is not all. There have been systematic action and co-operation between the engineers of the Reclamation Service and the Superintendent of the reservation which have been practically ideal. The project engineer, for example, upon notice from the Superintendent, would not permit an Indian to work upon the project during the days or weeks when his time was needed to plant his crops or harvest them. But he was immediately given work upon the completion of his own farm work to the satisfaction of the Superintendent or the farmer. The labor on these projects has not been limited to young men. I saw many old Indians, who could not speak a word of English, returning with the younger ones from the Porcupine project, where they were all employed until the Sunday of my visit, when the zero weather drove them to their homes. The wages for labor paid by the Reclamation project are as follows : $2.50 a day for a single man, $4.50 for a man and team, and $7.00 a day for a man with four horses. There was special rejoicing on the reservation and a general spirit of good feeling on account of a recent allotment of 67,000 acres of land to 231 new-born children, and I have never seen manifested a more genuine sentiment of appreciation than was expressed by the Indian delegation who called on me at Poplar to thank me and the Board for helping them to secure the legis lation which brought them this benefit. Irrigation on this reservation may be said merely to be started, only 410 acres of Indian land under ditch being irrigated. This area will undoubtedly be rapidly increased in the future. How ever, if not an additional acre of Indian land on this reservation should be irrigated, the construction of the project so far, on account of the remarkable contribution it has made toward estab lishing habits of thrift and industry on the reservation, has been worth tenfold the cost. This is a feature, developed on this reservation, which should not be overlooked in the construction of future irrigation projects on Indian reservations. In opening this reservation to settlement the mistake was not made, as it was on the Flathead Reservation, of opening irrigable or other lands to entry and settlement prior to the completion of the allotment to Indians and prior to the completion of the irrigation projects under which it was proposed to permit entry of irrigable 76 lands. As a result, there have been orderly development and com plete absence of confusion and friction and misunderstanding be tween white settlers and Indians. In this respect Fort Peck pre sents a model which can be safely followed in the future opening to settlement of reservations containing irrigable lands. I am not going to discuss the educational and school conditions on this reservation at length. The day school at Blair which I visited while it was in operation was well attended, the discipline was good, the plant was beyond criticism, and the children were clean and looked healthy and well fed. The Presbyterian mission school which I visited at Wolf Point also showed every evidence of a happy school condition. The employees, under the supervision of Miss Smith, all appeared to be devoted to their work and interested in exerting an influence on the character of the youth in attendance which would last beyond the period of the school term. An object lession in economy, which might be observed to advantage by the Government, is seen at this school. The man agement receives $100 per capita per pupil from the missionary organization and only $25 from the children. While Miss Smith intimated to me that it kept her guessing to make both ends meet, nevertheless, though they were not able to put on airs in dress, and many repairs and improvements to the buildings might have been made to advantage, still the children appeared to be sufficiently nourished and to be making satisfactory progress. It was interest ing to observe here the splendid spirit of friendly co-operation between the agency farmer and the management of this mission school. Conferences with Indians and Their Complaints. In order that you may get as nearly as possible in first-hand touch with the conditions and mental attitude of the Indians whom I visited, permit me to present the following brief memoranda of my interviews, and data concerning the conditions of some of the Indians visited by me during the first two days I was on the reser vation. This is typical of the other Indians visited. In camps in the river bottoms near Poplar, some living in tents, others in small log houses, a number of families, old and young, were visited. Plenty Holes, an old and very poor Indian, with his family and another family, was living in a room about 10 x 12 feet. There was one small window in the house, which had only a dirt floor, a veritable hothouse for tuberculosis germs. Two or three small children and a family of small puppies, besides the adults of the 77 family, were in the room, which was heated by a small iron stove in the center, and the door was closed tight to keep out the zero winds. Plenty Holes said he worked around town when he could get a job, and he is an applicant for some of the reimbursable funds. Flying Shield, another old Indian living in a similar small log house, showed every evidence of poverty. He told me he worked in the agency slaughter house, and the display of beef lungs, kid neys, and beef intestines cleaned and blown up and suspended from a pole in front of his house gave testimony to the truth of his statement. Charles Jones, a middle-aged, uneducated Indian, with a small amount of white blood, was living on his allotment and was en gaged in truck gardening for Poplar. His garden consisted of five or six acres. He had a small pony team, too light for extensive farming. He also works outside when he can find work. He was an applicant for some of the reimbursable funds to enable him to buy a heavier team and farm implements to enlarge his farming operations. Judge Croiv, an old man but one of the Indian judges, was visited. His house was larger and he seemed personally to be well fed, though he is on the ration roll and made an earnest appeal for an increase in rations for his people. His son, Gus Crow, a fine looking full-blood, told me that he hoped to start farming the coming year through the use of the reimbursable loan. Howard Iron Leggings thought the reimbursable loan would not be good for him. Howard Iron Bear and his wife and two children were visiting friends in the camp. His wife was a school girl and her tent was neatly kept and her children clean and well dressed. Howard has farmed his allotment successfully, having made his start prob ably by means of work on the irrigation project on the reservation. He also was an applicant for a loan from the Government. Four Eagle, another Indian found in the same camp, was anxious to secure a loan to help him in his farming operations, but was afraid he would be unable to meet the payments when they came due. Feather Earring, a man evidently past sixty-five years old, a full-blood who could not speak a word of English, was with his wife and daughter and grandchild temporarily in a little log house in the camp, his allotment being further up the river. Feather Earring s wife was a full-blood non-English-speaking woman, but she apparently was an excellent housekeeper, her temporary home being faultlessly clean. Feather Earring, I was told, is the oldest Indian on the reservation who is farming successfully. He also has worked on the Reclamation Project. 78 Jackson Big Horn was another Indian visited in the camp, but I learned nothing of his plans or conditions. Charles Thompson, an educated and progressive mixed blood, who was visiting in the camp, invited my attention to the need of increased rations for the old people especially during the winter months. On the road to Wolf Point further up the river I met Chester Arthur and his family in a spring wagon and later on passed his allotment. Chester does not farm much, but owns about 160 horses. He expressed the opinion that the increased reimbursable loan available to the Indians of the reservation would be a good thing for them. He is counted one of the most substantial and straightforward Indians on the reservation, and is wholly self-sup porting. I visited Andrew Broken at his house, but did not find him home. He was farming about 75 acres and had a good bunch of stock around his house. A few miles out of Wolf Point I visited Blacktail, a young, uneducated Indian who is one of the most progressive and success ful Indians on the reservation. He has 150 cattle, 200 horses, and is farming about 65 acres, living in a substantial, well-lighted log house of two or three rooms and building another larger house. He has several children in school. When I asked him how it came about that he had not attended school, he smiled and replied that his parents kept him hid when any Government people came around for the children. While he wanted his children to be educated, he would not admit to me that for himself he was not better off without education. Martin Mitchell, one of the most successful farmers and stock men on the reservation, having 150 horses and 100 cattle, and Charlie Afraid-of-His-Tracks, a full-blood Indian under middle age, who, like Blacktail, was without education, but one of the most successful farmers on the reservation and an elder of the Presby terian Church, gave me their views at length concerning reservation conditions. They both objected to the completion of the Missouri River gravity irrigation project on the ground that under existing law the proceeds from the sale of the surplus lands on the reserva tion would be used to pay for the same. They also objected to the Government requiring individual Indians to pay back to the tribe grazing funds used to break up the land for cultivation. When I asked them their reason for this they said that the Government requires the Indians to borrow tribal funds and to repay the sums borrowed, while at the same time it uses these funds to pay clerks 79 and buy automobiles for the Superintendent and does not pay back the money so used. Identically the same arguments were made by Charlie Thompson of Poplar. Henry Blacktail, the father of the young man referred to above, requested me to get his son out of jail at Wolf Point. His son had been given three months by the Superintendent and Indian Justice for helping to hog-tie an Indian while he, Blacktail, and three other men attempted to run away with the man s wife. Later I saw this young man in the agency jail at Wolf Point, a fine-look ing young fellow who apparently was greatly humiliated on account of his deed. Paul Haync, an educated full-blood living near Poplar, who is interested chiefly in the raising of horses, protested against the approval of any further grazing leases on the northern part of the reservation. He said his children s lands were grazed over by the sheep of the lessees, and he insisted he should have a right to the proceeds, and also that he ought to have the right to lease the lands himself, as he had an offer of 25 cents an acre for them, which was more than the proportionate share which would be derived from a tribal grazing lease covering the same land. He said that he wanted to use the proceeds of the leases to buy more cattle and horses. He also declared that four years was not a long enough term for the loans where Indians like himself were investing in horses, that the term should be at least six years. Mr. Patton, the agency farmer at Wolf Point, as well as several Indians there, made the same arguments respecting the term of the loans. In their judgment the first payment of 25 per cent, the first year would be difficult, and Charlie Afraid-of-His-Tracks argued that money should be available immediately this winter so that Indians who were buying horses would have time to break them during the winter months. I found one case at Wolf Point which was an excellent vindi cation of the Government s Indian health policy. Bear Cub, a mid dle-aged Indian in the Wolf Point district, had been totally blind from trachoma and was a complete charge on the Government. Last summer Dr. Dewey, special health supervisor, made a suc cessful operation which restored the man s eye-sight. Last spring he came voluntarily to the district farmer and surrendered his ration ticket, declaring that the Government having done so much for him by restoring his eye-sight, he did not want to draw any further rations from the Government. He raised seventeen acres of flax and five acres of oats, and has seven horses and one cow. The following data will show the industrial conditions of other Indians visited by me in my trip over the reservation: 80 d * oo ** (ft rH -O <M t~ i-H O rH . . * Ot rH rH O 00 O V O Oi t- O O rH N "*< rH t- t- 00 rH (M OO rH ,H rH t- rH CO rH -* rH (M COO OOXOOOrHCOOTHT*rHlOt-t-TtlT^5JOCOC5 *lr->O<N-<tlClC 5COO-<*<c3irHC* C* O* OJ rH N rH IO rH W rH Oi OJ CO rH rH <M rH OOrHXOl-OOrHt^OI O>OrHQOtOCCWr-lrHCOOOOt-O O * CO * * * O rH <?J S-J O O . . . -o -O -O . .00 -CO O5 O CQ (M t-O -OOOOO-^OOUOO -OCO -OSOCOOMO OOCO-^O O -O -t-OOlO t> urj 10 . -OOOO -O O t- -COO -(NiOO -OO Z> O* C4 IROQOOO OO -* -rHO-rHCOO -!-!^ rH rH -co rH . . -Ot CO rH rH cccdcecri J3.3JS45 ^ ^ rtjS5 u Q,OI"O. 000 : : :| : : : : * ""So 3 I I " Q>I!II*!I!IIv*^ti*.**^ I . . . M v r-< 81 0<NOO OJ -(MO f-O ::::::::::: i * :::::: :* :::::::*: * * (O rH r-l rH O r-l C rH I- OO rH CO OS rH t- CO rH rH ff rH iH * rH CO O <O CX3 O OO 04 *OOOOOO5iCCOt-000"*-*MCOM<MCOOOCOrtl>Ttl(OJCOt-0050 O COO* (M rH t- <M rH * C4 e<5 rH rH rH C5 rH ffl ^ t- rH m rH 0, rH* ^ tOi-nftiOiftiOiOOOrHiOOOtOQOOJOOOsW^-^QOrHlMeOffOlftCOOlOlOt- CO O ffl rH tft t> t- rH O OH> CD OS * Ot rH O* W rH t- (ft Ift rH O* rH CO rH O IO ICO lO O CJ rHrH^SrH S "^rHrHW 10 ^^ rH^ rH t- S * -MOT Srn rH rH 1 S " <ft CO rH *t-t-0 CG C GCCCC^C CCCCC c_c S^c "c c | : : : . :?j| : :j|j j j jg j j j i j : * i i ! f! - : i^l g^llil ^ g^l : |l 5- ; 11 i|l al H< || sf ^^illplffit 23 !^!^ :lll^I| IJlllIlilllllllSlsisllslllllllllft 82 The following named were among the Indians who called on me at my hotel in Poplar on November 17, 1914: Chester Arthur, Andrew Broken, Charles Thompson, Nick Hale, Paul Hayne, Peter Dupree, James Archdale, Dan Mitchell, Clifford Red Dog, David Johnson, William Bruguier, Clement Harrison, Henry Headdress, Louie Lavatta, John Bruguier. They opened the discussion by thanking me personally, and ex tending through me to the Board of Indian Commissioners, their thanks, for the assistance rendered by us in securing allotments to more than 200 new-born children on the Fort Peck Reservation. They discussed at length the conditions of the old Indians on the reservation who were unable to work, and requested that I recommend to the Secretary of the Interior that these old people be permitted to sell their lands and to use the proceeds for their comfort in their old age. As to the dead Indian lands, they requested that a special ex aminer be sent on at once to determine heirs in order that these lands might also be thrown upon the market. They unanimously requested that rations for the old and wholly dependent Indians of the reservation should be increased to at least double the present ration. They requested a term of at least six years for the repayment of the reimbursable funds to be borrowed by them, and a more liberal policy generally. They expressed themselves as being in favor of utilizing their tribal funds, where possible, to increase the live stock on the reser vation, and they were opposed to the use of tribal moneys to reim burse the Government for expenditures for irrigation. Peter Dupree, one of the delegation who visited me, told me that he had received a patent in fee for a part of his lands, and the remaining part was in trust. He said he voted at the last election. He asked me if he were a citizen of the United States and entitled to vote. I told him that I was unable to answer his question, but advised him to take the matter up with the Secretary of the Interior at any time that his right to vote should be questioned. Two classes of complaints reached me with such frequency and 83 emphasis that they deserve special consideration: One relating to the control of the liquor traffic on the reservation, and the other to live stock killed by the railroad. At least a dozen Indians from various parts of the reservation complained that the railroad com pany is not paying anywhere near the full value of stock killed on the right of way. Plenty Holes said that he had a horse worth $150 run over by the train and that the company paid him only $65. Martin Mitchell complained that one cow and one yearling worth over $100 were run over by the train and that the railroad company returned him only $40. Charlie Afraid-of-His Tracks said that he had had one cow killed in similar manner worth $60 and that the company gave him only $30. They said that the company would invariably at first offer to settle for a much smaller sum and that after repeated correspondence and long delays sometimes extending over a year the company would finally raise the amount till it would equal from one-third to one-half the actual value of the stock killed. One Indian suggested that the railroad company be required to replace the cattle killed by other cattle equally good, as there was no hope of securing the full value of the stock from the company owing to a difference of opinion as to values, even if the company were disposed to settle on the basis of full value. I learned that Mr. Fatten, the agency farmer, supported the views expressed by the Indians in his district, and that he had had similar experience. It appears to be the practice in most cases for the claim agents of the railroad to visit the reservation and appraise the damage, the agency farmer or some other employee accompanying them. I was informed that the appraisal of the Government s representative is usually from two to three times the amount finally paid. Superintendent Lohmiller and Mr. Patton, the agency farmer, invited my attention to the difficulties met by them in securing conviction in the cases of those who sold or gave liquor to Indians, even where the most conclusive evidence is obtained. They attri bute the main cause of this difficulty to the long delays which elapse between the securing of the evidence, the bringing of the case before the Grand Jury, and the final trial. They say that when the case finally comes up for trial, often six months or more after the arrest and indictment, the offender, if he could not secure bond, will nat urally have served a period in jail, and that the jury, inevitably being influenced by this punishment, does not convict. So frequent are the cases where the trial jury acquits the offender, it is diffi cult, I am told, to keep the Indian police interested in following 84 up and arresting offenders, as the same offenders often come back and hold them up to ridicule for making arrests which will not stick. Mr. Patton invited attention to another matter in this connection worthy of consideration. He said that Indian Service officials were often embarrassed in making search for liquor because they had no badges to wear to distinguish and identify them as officials clothed with authority in the premises. He said it was often em barrassing for him to stop five minutes before making an arrest to explain to the offender that he had the authority to do it, when, if he had a badge to display, no questions whatever would be asked. He recommended that badges be furnished to all Indian Service employees who were expected to handle this class of cases General Industrial Policy Needed. The report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for June 30, 1913, shows a total population on the Fort Peck Indian Reser vation of 1,857 Indians. Every Indian on the reservation, man, woman and child, has received an allotment of 320 acres of grazing land, and in addition heads of families and single adults over eighteen years of age have received not less than % l /2 nor more than 20 acres of timber lands, and all Indians living at the time of the beginning of the work of allotment, 40 acres of irrigable lands in addition to the grazing and timber lands aforesaid. The total area of the reservation is 774,967 acres. It is apparent, therefore, that about one-half of the total area of the reservation has been allotted to Indians and that the remainder will eventually be thrown open to white settlement. Already the so-called "dry" farm lands have been opened to entry and settlement, and up to November 17, 1914, the date of my visit, there had been received by the local land office on account of filing on such lands $47,868.31, and from the sale of town lots on the reservation $23,269.75, making a total of $71,138.06. This does not include amounts received from the sale of reservoir sites, station grounds and a gravel pit to the railroad company, the figures for which are not at hand. As has been heretofore said, the amount invested so far in the con struction of irrigation projects on this reservation is $431,027.39 up to December 1 of the present year. Under existing law all income from the sale of surplus lands will be returned to the Government as reimbursement for the cost of construction of irrigation ditches. In 1912 the receipts from the grazing leases on 85 this reservation amounted to $21,203.20. It is very evident that entry of the surplus lands by the white settlers will soon make further leasing of the tribal lands impracticable and this source of income, a large part of which the last few years has been used to break new lands on the reservation, will be removed. Likewise the coming of white settlers will interfere with the open range on the reservation which heretofore has been available for the Indian cattle and horses. Already the fencing of Indian allotments and the introduction of the cattle of white men on the reservation have begun to interfere with the free and easy methods under which the Indian stock owners have turned their cattle loose on the reservation to wander where they would. The immediate future will bring to these Indians the necessity of fencing their agricultural lands to keep live stock from their growing crops, and at the same time of fencing their grazing lands and providing water thereon to take care of their individual herds, and of raising tame hay on their agricultural lands for winter forage. In order to accomplish this with the least possible expense, allotments of members of the same family, or even of groups of families should be grouped together in single large pastures wherever possible. At the same time, irrigation will be found necessary for both the class of In dians who confine themselves to strictly agricultural pursuits and those who devote all or part of their energies to the raising of live stock on their allotments. The fact that few of these Indians have had sufficient experience in intensive agriculture to enable them to make a sure living alone from irrigated agricultural land con stitutes a very strong reason for encouraging all of them to engage to a limited extent at least in raising live stock. I believe that the only Indians on this reservation in the future who will succeed under the new conditions which will surround them will be those who at a very early date make a beginning in raising live stock in connection with irrigation on their irrigable allotments. If this view is correct, then the Government s chief business from this time on is to encourage among the Indians the above policy and to help them by advice, and legislation where nec essary, to activity along these lines. Only a comparative few among the Indians now have any substantial start in cattle. On the entire reservation there is one head per capita. Only a com parative few of them have surplus lands or interest in inherited lands which can be sold at any reasonably early date from which funds can be secured to invest in cattle. The income of the tribe 86 from grazing leases, as I said, will no longer be available for use in this direction. The reimbursable loan fund, for the most part, will be insufficient for some time to enable individuals to make any considerable beginning, as most of them will need the $600 which they are permitted to borrow for the purchase of farming equipment or the fences necessary before they can undertake a small live stock enterprise on a successful basis. The only other source of income for this purpose is the pro ceeds from the sale of surplus lands. For several years to come this income will be consumed to reimburse the appropriation of Congress for irrigation unless existing law is changed. If the Board s recommendation of a change in the method of charging the cost of irrigation on this reservation is enacted into law, then the present fund of some $70,000 from the sale of surplus lands and subsequent income from the same source will be available for the purchase and loan of cattle to those Indians who are pre pared by experience and otherwise to take care of them on their allotments. And since I am convinced that the raising of live stock on this reservation is the real keynote to the future advance ment of a majority of these Indians, I believe that the Board should make every possible effort to have its recommendation as to irri gation on this reservation, as well as on other reservations, enacted into law at the earliest possible date. If the land funds are thus released for use in the purchase of cattle, it is of the utmost im portance that provision should be made, not only for the ultimate return to the tribal funds of the money so used, but the Indians receiving the cattle should not be permitted to kill or to sell any of them whatever without a permit from a representative of the Government, thus guaranteeing the Government against the dissi pation of the cattle purchased, a thing which has so frequently characterized the issue of cattle by the Government to Indians in the past. To insure this result all the cattle purchased from this fund and issued to Indians should be issued under regulations similar to those prepared by the Superintendent of the Fort Peck Reservation in connection with a recent issue of a small number of heifers and bulls to his Indians, which provided that the Indians should not "sell, trade, give or kill or otherwise dispose of said animal without first receiving a written permit from the Super intendent of the Fort Peck Agency," and also "in the event of failure to properly look after and provide feed for the animal, it shall be re-issued to some other, deserving Indian." If the land funds, as suggested, can be used in this manner, and 87 if the work ,of irrigation construction on this reservation is pro gressively continued, there will be sufficient capital as well as a sufficient market for Indian labor provided to meet all the needs of these Indians without the use of very considerable amounts from any appropriations of Congress for industrial purposes. The Proposed Missouri River Gravity Canal. The Fort Peck Reservation is bounded on the south by the Missouri River, a few miles north of which runs the Great North ern Railroad, the full length of the reservation. Between the railroad and the Missouri River are approximately three-fourths of the irrigable allotments of the Fort Peck Indians. It has been proposed for several years to construct an irrigation ditch taking water from the Missouri River just west of the reservation, which would furnish water to practically all these allotments at an esti mated cost of between $;30 and $40 an acre when completed. The accessibility of these lands to the railroad and their great fertility are strong arguments per se in favor of an early completion of the proposed canal. Objection has been raised against the com pletion of this proposed canal by some of the Indians because under existing law the proceeds from the sale of surplus lands on the reservation would be used to pay for the construction. Other objections have been raised on the ground that only comparatively few of the Indians would be able to make beneficial use of their lands, and consequently that the cost of maintenance of so large and expensive a system would be out of proportion to the benefits enjoyed. The legislation recommended by the Board, which pro vides for taxing the cost of irrigation against the lands of the individual benefited, would remove the first objection of the Indians, and in a large measure would remove the second objection by making available for the benefit of the Indians their shares in the proceeds of the sale of the surplus unallotted land. To further meet the second objection, which is worthy of careful considera tion, it is my conviction that when the proposed project is con structed, instead of building the whole project at once, including the main canal and all of the laterals, as has been done in most of the Indian irrigation projects in the past, wasting money on ditches and laterals that might not be used for years and are a con stant source of expense, the necessary main canal should be com pleted and only laterals and ditches constructed where the Indians 88 were ready for and desired water. To make this suggestion still more practical an effort should be made to bring Indians who are equipped and ready to irrigate their lands, by exchange of allot ments and otherwise, within the same irrigation unit or district. By following this plan, economical construction would be possible, and the benefits of irrigation would be brought gradually to those prepared for them. There is another strong argument in favor of the completion of the proposed Missouri River gravity canal. These lands are nearly all excellent hay land, and considerable wild hay is now cut from them. The present market price of wild hay in bale on this reservation is $12 per ton. By irrigating this wild land once a year the hay product could undoubtedly be increased at least one ton per acre, which would more than return the cost to the individual owner of his share of maintenance. A very large percentage of the able-bodied Indians on this reservation could easily be induced to irrigate their wild land as many of them now cut hay from it. Another argument in favor of the early completion of the pro posed canal is the fact that these Indians selected their allotments as irrigable allotments, and those who really desire and need the advantage of irrigation are entitled to the benefits assured them when their allotments were made. The distribution of irrigable lands on the Fort Peck Reservation is shown in the following statement : 89 FORT PECK PROJECT. . ~o MH Divisions. Area in allotme Irrigable area allotments. Number of acr irrigated on all ments. Number of allc ments irrigatec 1913. S cfl o si Irrigable area i allotted 1913. Total number ( acres irrigated 1913. Poplar River: "A" Canal 580 580 11,730 9,620 "B" Canal 2,560 2,560 170 3 3,640 3,300 170 "C" Canal 5,330 5,330 60 2 5,270 3,400 60 "D" Canal 3 130 3 130 870 770 2 330 2 330 180 5 600 280 180 B. Porcupine: 4 120 4 120 2,370 1,980 B. Porcupine: 2 280 2,280 830 830 Big Muddy 12 930 12,930 6,860 6,000 Missouri River: 37 923 37 923 17,500 15,400 Total 71 183 71 183 410 10 49,570 41,580 410 NOTE. Area under "B" Canal, 2,560, and area under little orcupine, 2,330 only, were irrigable from completed canals, season 1913. Gross area of Reservation 2,094,144 Area timbered 32,356 Area reserved 33,144* Area appraised as agricultural, unallotted 486,668 Area appraised as grazing, unallotted 737,182 Area appraised as mineral, unallotted 119,559 Number of grazing allotments 1,991 Number irrigable allotments 1,780 Number of timber allotments 798 Includes reservoir sites, townsites, camp sites, coal. Methods of Handling Indian Money and Property. There appears to be justice in the complaint of some of the Indians to me that Indian moneys, proceeds from grazing, which are designated by the Indian Office as "Indian Moneys, Proceeds of Labor," are used by the Government for various administrative purposes without consulting the Indians and without returning the same to the tribe, while individual Indians who have the use of some of the funds for breaking up their lands are required to return the same. From the records of the Fort Peck Agency, it appears that plow ing agreements to break lands for the Indians total approximately $11,700, which has to be returned by the Indians, one-third each year. Since the reservation has been thrown open to settlement this fund cannot be increased from that source. It has been the practice to use this fund for settling the claims of reservation In dians where their horses have been killed for dourine and also for repairs to reservation buildings and also for repairing machinery 90 and implements, the Indian Office holding that the fund is avail able for the same purposes as "Support of Indians, Fort Peck Agency, Mont.," which is an appropriation made by Congress. In addition to the items mentioned, this fund is used also to pay salary of lease clerk, and the Indians complain that it has been used to pay for an automobile for the Superintendent. I did not inquire whether this latter statement is true or not. Under the present law and practice it would be permissible. To show exactly the disposition of this particular fund for 1915, the following statements are included: "INDIAN MONEYS, PROCEEDS OF LABOR," FORT PECK INDIANS, FORT PECK AGENCY, POPLAR, MONT., NOV. 17, 1914. Apportionment Sheet received September 26, 1914, in reply to Estimate made as per Circular No. 880: Available $2,150.16 APPORTIONED : Salary of lease clerk $1,200.00 per annum Annual Estimate itemp 880.00 Binder repairs 61.95 Thresher 144.25 Payment, horse killed, account dourine 100.00 A-72905 $2,394.20 Apparent excess to be provided from savings otherwise to be charged to "Support of Indians of Fort Peck Agency, Mont., 1915." Amount apportioned $2,394.20 Amounts authorized for fiscal year 1915 prior to the receipt of apportionment sheets : 60538 7-13-14, Gasoline for gasoline plowing outfit 250.00 831768- 7-14, Gasoline for gasoline plowing outfit 500.00 60431 { 8-18-14, Approved vouchers for purchases, sup- j plies, and for machinery repairs 94.59 60432 ( 8-18-14, Approved vouchers for traveling expenses j for employees 76.97 61921 9-26-14, Rental phone sub-agency, fiscal year 1915 18.00 60537 6-16-14, Irregular labor for plowing outfits, for fiscal year 1915 850.00 $1,789.56 Grand total $4,183.76 There is no doubt in my mind about the correctness of the policy of using this class of Indian moneys to loan to deserving Indians 91 for the breaking up of ground or the purchase of cattle, the same to be repaid to the tribe, nor is there any question about the wisdom of using the funds for improvements that can practically benefit the tribe as a whole ; but there is certainly an inconsistency and an injustice in the Government s using this fund for administrative expenses, unless it first secures the consent and approval of, or at least advises with, the business committee of the tribe concerning the same ; and I believe the policy should be stopped on this reser vation, and on every other reservation, of using this class of Indian funds for any purpose whatever without consulting the Indians. Rather than use this fund for administrative purposes, it would be much more appropriate to use it, with the consent of the Indians, which I am sure would be easily obtained, in the purchase of pro visions and rations for the old Indians who are now receiving a meagre and insufficient ration out of the general appropriation annually provided by Congress. Another improvement which, I think, could be made on this reservation is in the method of supervising live stock. I do not know of a reservation where a more strict supervision is enforced than on this one, so that the criticism made here is to the system and not to the administration, and would doubtless apply very much more forcibly on many other reservations. At present Indians are required to secure a permit before they can sell live stock. This permit is in triplicate, one copy is kept by the Indian, one by the Superintendent, and one by the permittee who buys the cattle. This permit states the names of the Indian, the number and kind of cattle and the brand, and permits the Indian to collect the proceeds of the sale. These permits are not issued by the Superintendent with out the O. K. of the district farmer, but the Superintendent has no record showing the number of cattle owned by the individual In dian, their age, sex, etc., and is therefore in the dark to a certain extent when he signs the permit. Besides, no method is provided in this system for requiring the Indian who has only a few head of cattle, to purchase other and younger stock to replace those sold. For instance, while the Superintendent now does not permit an Indian to sell a heifer or young cow or an immature steer, yet his permit invariably allows the Indian to dispose of the proceeds of all cattle sold as he sees fit, which means that in nine cases out of ten the Indian does not purchase a heifer to replace a steer or old cow that is disposed of by him, and the result is that the number of cattle on the reservation is not increasing, and the sys tem falls down right where it ought to be effective. To remedy 92 this situation I recommend that the Superintendent be authorized in his discretion to require the purchase by the Indians of heifers to replace other cattle sold by them as a condition to granting the permit. He should also have a record in his office of every in dividual Indian who has stock, with the age and sex of the stock owned, and he should require the purchase of a heifer to replace every head of cattle sold, until the Indian acquires a herd suf ficiently large for the economic needs of the particular Indian. Rations. The value of rations issued to a total of 328 Indians on the Fort Peck Reservation for 1913 was $10,044. A complaint of the In dians, which was concurred in by the Government s representatives who accompanied me, that the ration provided for these Indians is insufficient, is borne out by the following record of an issue made to 71 Indians at Wolf Point just previous to my visit, these rations to cover a period of two weeks : Ibs. per capita. Bacon 100 1.41 Beans 30 .422 Beef 1,001 14.1 Flour 500 7.05 Rice 50 .705 Sugar 75 1.055 There is not the slightest question but that authority should be given to the Superintendent to furnish a ration at least twice this size to Indians who are solely dependent, giving him at the same time discretion to handle the whole matter in accordance with local conditions and necessities. For instance, where there is danger that the young and able-bodied Indians may visit the old Indians after ration day and eat up their ration, the Superintendent should have authority to bring these old Indians to some place under the supervision of some Government employee who might distribute a daily ration or take steps necessary to keep undesirable visitors away. While, in the case of those only partially dependent upon the Government, the Superintendent should be permitted to contribute in addition to their means of self-support, an amount sufficient to guarantee against suffering. 93 Summary of Recommendations. The following summary of the above recommendations is re spectfully submitted: 1. Legislation should be enacted in accordance with the former recommendations of the Board of Indian Commissioners providing for the reimbursement to the Government of the cost of irrigation from the lands benefited instead of from tribal funds. 2. The Missouri River gravity canal should be constructed at an early date, construction to proceed on the basis of the prepared ness of the Indians to make proper use of the benefits. 3. Irrigation of Indian lands and the raising of cattle and horses by individual Indians should be given special attention and funds received from the sale of the surplus tribal lands should be loaned to individual Indians under proper regulations for that purpose. 4. Changes should be made in the present permits for the sale of live stock which will guarantee the upbuilding of Indian herds. 5. In the use of tribal Indian moneys for the benefit of individual Indians or for administrative purposes, the business council of the Indians should be first consulted. 6. A larger ration should be provided for dependent Indians and a more flexible system of distributing rations. 7. Heirs of deceased allottees should be determined promptly. 8. The liquor laws should be amended so as to avoid the present disastrous results in attempts to bring offenders to justice. This can be done by reducing the penalty now provided by the United States statutes, so that trials may be had on information before the United States Commissioner, and in this connection it would be advisable to confer upon the Indian Superintendent the authority of a United States Commissioner in the trial of all liquor cases. Representatives of the Indian Bureau who are given authority to make arrests under the Indian liquor laws should be provided with badges indicating their power and authority. Respectfully submitted, F. H. ABBOTT, Secretary. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY Return to desk from which borrowed. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. MAR 18 1948 DEC 919694* \ LD 21-100m-9, 47(A5702sl6)476 YD038259 9G308? THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY