Proclamation 526—Opening of Sioux Lands of the Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota

Whereas, by an agreement between the Sioux tribe of Indians on the Rosebud Reservation, in the State of South Dakota, on the one part, and James McLaughlin, a United States Indian Inspector, on the other part, amended and ratified by act of Congress approved April 23, 1904 (Public--No. 148), the said Indian tribe ceded, conveyed, transferred, relinquished, and surrendered, forever and absolutely, without any reservation whatsoever, expressed or implied, unto the United States of America, all their claim, title, and interest of every kind and character in and to the unallotted lands embraced in the following described tract of country now in the State of South Dakota, to wit:

Commencing in the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River at the intersection of the south line of Brule County; thence down said middle of the main channel of said river to the intersection of the ninety-ninth degree of west longitude from Greenwich; thence due south to the forty-third parallel of latitude; thence west along said parallel of latitude to its intersection with the tenth guide meridian; thence north along said guide meridian to its intersection with the township line between townships one hundred and one hundred and one north; thence east along said township line to the point of beginning.

The unallotted and unreserved land to be disposed of hereunder approximates three hundred and eighty-two thousand (382,000) acres, lying and being within the boundaries of Gregory County, South Dakota, as said county is at present defined and organized.

And Whereas, in pursuance of said act of Congress ratifying the agreement named, the lands necessary for sub-issue station, Indian day school, Catholic and Congregational missions are by this proclamation, as hereinafter appears, reserved for such purposes, respectively:

And Whereas, in the act of Congress ratifying the said agreement, it is provided:

SEC. 2. That the lands ceded to the United States under said agreement. excepting such tracts as may be reserved by the President. not exceeding three hundred and ninety-eight and sixty-seven one-hundredths acres in all, for sub-issue station, Indian day school, one Catholic mission, and two Congregational missions, shall be disposed of under the general provisions of the homestead and townsite laws of the United States, and shall be opened to settlement and entry by proclamation of the President, which proclamation shall prescribe the manner in which these lands may be settled upon, occupied, and entered by persons entitled to make entry thereof; and no person shall be permitted to settle upon, occupy, or enter any of said lands, except as prescribed in such proclamation, until after the expiration of sixty days from the time when the same are opened to settlement and entry: Provided , That the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors of the late civil and the Spanish war or Philippine insurrection, as defined and described in sections twenty-three hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes, as amended by the Act of March first, nineteen hundred and one, shall not be abridged; And provided further, That the price of said lands entered as homesteads under the provisions of this Act shall be as follows: Upon all lands entered or filed upon within three months after the same shall be opened for settlement and entry, four dollars per acre, to be paid as follows: One dollar per acre when entry is made; seventy-five cents per acre within two years after entry; seventy-five cents per acre within three years after entry; seventy-five cents per acre within four years after entry, and seventy-five cents per acre within six months after the expiration of five years after entry. And upon all land entered or filed upon after the expiration of three months and within six months after the same shall be opened for settlement and entry, three dollars per acre, to be paid as follows: One dollar per acre when entry is made; fifty cents per acre within two years after entry; fifty cents per acre within three years after entry; fifty cents per acre within four years after entry, and fifty cents per acre within six months after the expiration of five years after entry. After the expiration of six months after the same shall be opened for settlement and entry the price shall be two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be paid as follows: Seventy-five cents when entry is made; fifty cents per acre within two years after entry; fifty cents per acre within three years after entry; fifty cents per acre within four years after entry, and twenty-five cents per acre within six months after the expiration of five years after entry: Provided, That in case any entryman fails to make such payment or any of them within the time stated all rights in and to the land covered by his or her entry shall at once cease, and any payments theretofore made shall be forfeited, and the entry shall be forfeited and held for cancellation and the same shall be canceled: And provided, That nothing in this Act shall prevent homestead settlers from commuting their entries under section twenty-three hundred and one, Revised Statutes, by paying for the land entered the price fixed herein, receiving credit for payments previously made. In addition to the price to be paid for the land, the entryman shall pay the same fees and commissions at the time of commutation or final entry, as now provided by law, where the price of the land is one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; And provided further, That all lands herein ceded and opened to settlement under this Act, remaining undisposed of at the expiration of four years from the taking effect of this act, shall be sold and disposed of for cash, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, not more than six hundred and forty acres to any one purchaser.

SEC. 4. That sections sixteen and thirty-six of the lands hereby acquired in each township shall not be subject to entry, but shall be reserved for the use of the common schools and paid for by the United States at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, and the same are hereby granted to the State of South Dakota for such purpose; and in case any of said sections, or parts thereof, of the land in said county of Gregory are lost to said State of South Dakota by reason of allotments thereof to any Indian or Indians, now holding the same, or otherwise, the governor of said state, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, is hereby authorized, in the tract herein ceded, to locate other lands not occupied not exceeding two sections in any one township, which shall be paid for by the United States as herein provided in quantity equal to the loss, and such selections shall be made prior to the opening of such lands to settlement.

And Whereas, all of the conditions required by law to be performed prior to the opening of said tracts of land to settlement and entry have been, as I hereby declare, duly performed:

Now, Therefore, I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the power vested in me by law, do hereby declare and make known that all of the lands so as aforesaid ceded by the Sioux tribe of Indians of the Rosebud Reservation, saving and excepting sections sixteen and thirty-six in each township, and all lands located or selected by the State of South Dakota as indemnity school or educational lands, and saving and excepting the W 1/2 of the NE 1/4 and the E 1/2 of the NW 1/4 of Sec. 25, T. 96 N., R. 72 W. of the 5th P.M., which is hereby reserved for use as a sub-issue station; and the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Sec. 23, T. 96 N., R. 72 W., of the 5th P.M., which is hereby reserved for use as an Indian day school; and saving and excepting the N 1/2 of the NE 1/4 of Sec. 25, T. 95 N., R. 71 W., of the 5th P.M., and the NW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Sec. 20, T. 95 N., R. 70 W., of the 5th P.M., both of which tracts are hereby reserved for use of the American Missionary Society for mission purposes; and the N 1/2 of the NW 1/4 of Sec. 7, T. 96 N., R. 71 W., of the 5th P.M., which is hereby reserved for the Roman Catholic Church for use for mission purposes, will, on the eighth day of August, 1904, at 9 o'clock a. m., in the manner herein prescribed and not otherwise, be opened to entry and settlement and to disposition under the general provisions of the homestead and townsite laws of the United States.

Commencing at 9 o'clock a. m., Tuesday, July 5, 1904, and ending at 6 o'clock p.m., Saturday, July 23, 1904, a registration will be had at Chamberlain, Yankton, Bonesteel, and Fairfax, State of South Dakota, for the purpose of ascertaining what persons desire to enter, settle upon, and acquire title to any of said lands under the homestead law, and of ascertaining their qualifications so to do. To obtain registration each applicant will be required to show himself duly qualified, by written application to be made only on a blank form provided by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, to make homestead entry of these lands under existing laws and to give the registering officer such appropriate matters of description and identity as will protect the applicant and the government against any attempted impersonation. Registration can not be effected through the use of the mails or the employment of an agent, excepting that honorably discharged soldiers and sailors entitled to the benefits of section twenty-three hundred and four of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended by the act of Congress approved March 1, 1901, (31 Stat., 847) may present their applications for registration and due proofs of their qualifications through an agent of their own selection, having a duly executed power of attorney, but no person will be permitted to act as agent for more than one such soldier or sailor. No person will be permitted to register more than once or in any other than his true name. Each applicant who shows himself duly qualified will be registered and given a non-transferable certificate to that effect, which will entitle him to go upon and examine the lands to be opened hereunder; but the only purpose for which he can go upon and examine said lands is that of enabling him later on, as herein provided, to understandingly select the lands for which he will make entry. No one will be permitted to make settlement upon any of said lands in advance of the opening herein provided for, and during the first sixty days following said opening no one but registered applicants will be permitted to make homestead settlement upon any of said lands, and then only in pursuance of a homestead entry duly allowed by the local land officers, or of a soldier's declaratory statement duly accepted by such officers.

The order in which, during the first sixty days following the opening, the registered applicants will be permitted to make homestead entry of the lands opened hereunder, will be determined by a drawing for the district publicly held at Chamberlain, South Dakota, commencing at 9 o'clock a.m., Thursday, July 28, 1904, and continuing for such period as may be necessary to complete the same. The drawing will be had under the supervision and immediate observance of a committee of three persons whose integrity is such as to make their control of the drawing a guaranty of its fairness. The members of this committee will be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, who will prescribe suitable compensation for their services. Preparatory to this drawing the registration officers will, at the time of registering each applicant who shows himself duly qualified, make out a card, which must be signed by the applicant, and giving such a description of the applicant as will enable the local land officers to thereafter identify him. This card will be subsequently sealed in a separate envelope which will bear no other distinguishing label or mark than such as may be necessary to show that it is to go into the drawing. These envelopes will be carefully preserved and remain sealed until opened in the course of the drawing herein provided. When the registration is completed, all of these sealed envelopes will be brought together at the place of drawing and turned over to the committee in charge of the drawing, who, in such manner as in their judgment will be attended with entire fairness and equality of opportunity, shall proceed to draw out and open the separate envelopes and to give to each enclosed card a number in the order in which the envelope containing the same is drawn. The result of the drawing will be certified by the committee to the officers of the district and will determine the order in which the applicants may make homestead entry of said lands and settlement thereon.

Notice of the drawings, stating the name of each applicant and number assigned to him by the drawing, will be posted each day at the place of drawing, and each applicant will be notified of his number and of the day upon which he must make his entry, by a postal card mailed to him at the address given by him at the time of registration. The result of each day's drawing will also be given to the press to be published as a matter of news. Applications for homestead entry of said lands during the first sixty days following the opening can be made only by registered applicants and in the order established by the drawing. The land officers for the district will receive applications for entries at Bonesteel, South Dakota, in their district, beginning August 8, 1904, and until and including September 10, 1904, and thereafter at Chamberlain. Commencing Monday, August 8, 1904, at 9 o'clock a.m., the applications of those drawing numbers 1 to 100, inclusive, must be presented and will be considered in their numerical order during the first day, and the applications of those drawing numbers 101 to 200, inclusive, must be presented and will be considered in their numerical order during the second day, and so on at that rate until all of said lands subject to entry under the homestead law, and desired thereunder have been entered. If any applicant fails to appear and present his application for entry when the number assigned to him by the drawing is reached, his right to enter will be passed until after the other applications assigned for that day have been disposed of, when he will be given another opportunity to make entry, failing in which he will be deemed to have abandoned his right to make entry under such drawing. To obtain the allowance of a homestead entry, each applicant must personally present the certificate of registration theretofore issued to him, together with a regular homestead application and the necessary accompanying proofs, and make the first payment of one dollar per acre for the land embraced in his application, together with the regular land office fees, but an honorably discharged soldier or sailor may file his declaratory statement through his agent, who can represent but one soldier or sailor as in the matter of registration. The production of the certificate of registration will be dispensed with only upon satisfactory proof of its loss or destruction. If at the time of considering his regular application for entry it appear that an applicant is disqualified from making homestead entry of these lands his application will be rejected, notwithstanding his prior registration. If any applicant shall register more than once hereunder, or in any other than his true name, or shall transfer his registration certificate, he will thereby lose all the benefits of the registration and drawing herein provided for, and will be precluded from entering or settling upon any of said lands during the first sixty days following said opening.

Any person or persons desiring to found, or to suggest establishing, a townsite upon any of said ceded lands, at any point, may, at any time before the opening herein provided for, file in the land office a written application to that effect, describing by legal subdivisions the lands intended to be affected, and stating fully and under oath the necessity or propriety of rounding or establishing a town at that place. The local officers will forthwith transmit said petition to the Commissioner of the General Land Office with their recommendation in the premises. Such Commissioner, if he believes the public interests will be subserved thereby, will, if the Secretary of the Interior approve thereof, issue an order withdrawing the lands described in such petition, or any portion thereof, from homestead entry and settlement and directing that the same be held for the time being for townsite settlement, entry, and disposition only. In such event, the lands so withheld from homestead entry and settlement will, at the time of said opening and not before, become subject to settlement, entry, and disposition under the general townsite laws of the United States. None of said ceded lands will be subject to settlement, entry, or disposition under such general townsite laws except in the manner herein prescribed until after the expiration of sixty days from the time of said opening.

All persons are especially admonished that under the said act of Congress approved April 23, 1904, it is provided that no person shall be permitted to settle upon, occupy, or enter any of said ceded lands except in the manner prescribed in this proclamation until after the expiration of sixty days from the time when the same are opened to settlement and entry. After the expiration of the said period of sixty days, but not before, and until the expiration of three months after the same shall have been opened for settlement and entry, as hereinbefore prescribed, any of said lands remaining undisposed of may be settled upon, occupied, and entered under the general provisions of the homestead and townsite laws of the United States in like manner as if the manner of effecting such settlement, occupancy, and entry had not been prescribed herein in obedience to law, subject, however, to the payment of four dollars per acre for the land entered, in the manner and at the time required by the said act of Congress above mentioned. After the expiration of three months, and not before, and until the expiration of six months after the same shall have been opened for settlement and entry, as aforesaid, any of said lands remaining undisposed of may also be settled upon, occupied, and entered under the general provisions of the same laws and in the same manner, subject, however, to the payment of three dollars per acre for the land entered in the manner and at the times required by the same act of Congress. After the expiration of six months, and not before, after the same shall have been opened for settlement and entry, as aforesaid, any of said lands remaining undisposed of may also be settled upon, occupied, and entered under the general provisions of the same laws and in the same manner, subject, however, to the payment of two dollars and fifty cents per acre for the land entered, in the manner and at the times required by the same act of Congress. And after the expiration of four years from the taking effect of this act, and not before, any of said lands remaining undisposed of shall be sold and disposed of for cash, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, not more than six hundred and forty acres to any one purchaser.

The Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe all needful rules and regulations necessary to carry into effect the opening herein provided for.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United State to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this 13th day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and four, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-eighth.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

By the President:

FRANCIS B. LOOMIS,

Acting Secretary of State.