Articles of agreement, made and entered into at Fort Washakie, in the State of Wyoming, on the second day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, by and between John D. Woodruff, Charles H. Merillat and Joseph H. Brigham, commissioners on the part of the United States, and the Shoshone and Arapahoe tribes of Indians in the State of Wyoming.
Article I.
For the consideration hereinafter named the said Shoshone and Arapahoe tribes of Indians hereby cede, convey, transfer, relinquish, and surrender, forever and absolutely, subject to certain conditions hereinafter named respecting the right of individual Indians to retain allotments heretofore taken on the ceded part of the reservation, all their right, title, and interest, of every kind and character, in and to the lands, and the water rights appertaining thereunto, embraced in the following- described tract of country in the State of Wyoming:
All that portion of the Shoshone reservation lying north and east of the following-described lines, to wit: Beginning in the mid-channel of the Big Wind River at a point where the river crosses the western boundary line of the reservation; thence in a southeasterly direction, following the mid-channel of the Big Wind River to a point known as the Wood Flat Crossing, thence in a line due east to the eastern boundary of the reservation; then, beginning where the line run due east from Wood Flat Crossing intersects the Big Wind River, thence in a line due south to the southern boundary of the reservation.
Article II.
In consideration for the lands ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed, as aforesaid, the United States stipulates and agrees to pay to the Shoshone and Arapahoe tribes of Indians the sum of six hundred thousand dollars, to bear interest until paid at the rate of five per cent per annum, and to be expended for the benefit of the Indians in the manner hereinafter described.
Article III.
Of the said six hundred thousand dollars, one hundred and seventy thousand dollars is hereby set apart as a cattle fund, the interest on which at five per cent per annum shall be annually expended, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in the purchase, maintenance, and support of a herd of cattle, to be held in common for the benefit of said Shoshone and Arapahoe tribes of Indians. The Indian agent shall select an appropriate and legal brand for the cattle and it shall be his duty to see that all the cattle delivered at the agency for the Shoshone and Arapahoe Indians are suitably branded before being turned on the range. The Indian agent shall have full jurisdiction over the management of said herd of cattle. It shall be his duty to employ all necessary help and he shall have power to discharge said help at any time. The range management of the herd shall be intrusted to the Indian or half-breed member of either of the tribes whom the Indian agent shall select as the person best qualified for the purpose: Provided, however, that if it be deemed advisable at any time for the proper care of said cattle, the agent shall have power to employ a well-qualified white man as foreman. The employés under this foreman shall be selected from the Indian and half-breed members of the tribes. The foreman and herders shall furnish their own ponies, and shall receive a reasonable compensation, to be fixed by the agent, and paid out of the money available each year for the running expenses of the cattle herd. The Indian agent alone shall have power to sell cattle from said Indian herd, under the following restrictions: No cattle bearing said Indian brand shall be sold or transferred in the State of Wyoming, except for immediate slaughter. All cattle so sold or transferred shall be delivered by the Indian agent at some agreed-upon corral, and no claim or title of any individual company or corporation to any of said brand of cattle running upon the open range can be acquired or shall be recognized. The Indian agent, however, shall have power to ship beef cattle to Eastern markets for sale whenever in his opinion such shipment would be to the advantage of the Indians. All sales of cattle shall be for cash, and the proceeds shall be turned into what shall be known as the Shoshone and Arapahoe cattle fund, and held by the agent for pro rata distribution to the Indians whenever said fund reaches an amount equal to two dollars per capita.
Any unauthorized person found in possession of cattle from the Indian herd shall be liable to prosecution under the laws of the United States, and on conviction may be fined not exceeding $1,000, or imprisoned for not exceeding three years, in the discretion of the court. The penalties provided for defacement of the Government brand on cattle shall apply to cases of defacement of the brand selected for cattle belonging to the Indian herd. Each year it shall be the duty of the Indian agent to make and forward to the Secretary of the Interior a careful estimate of the running expenses of the herd for the coming season, and the amount so estimated shall be reserved from the annual fund, and the balance used, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, in the purchase of stock cattle.
Article IV.
The further amount of $80,000 is hereby set apart as an irrigation fund, the interest on which, at 5 per cent per annum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, shall be annually expended, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in building dams, constructing ditches and canals for irrigation within the diminished reservation, and in maintenance, enlargement, repair, and management of such system of irrigation as may be established: Provided, that in the employment of persons for work, Indians, members of the Shoshone and Arapahoe tribes, shall be employed whenever practicable, and shall be paid the average wages paid to white laborers for the same service rendered.
Article V.
The further amount of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars is hereby set apart as a general, welfare and improvement fund, the interest on which, at five per cent per annum shall be annually expended, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, for the civilization, industrial education, comfort, and improvement of the Indians, the money to be expended in the purchase of such articles and for such purposes as the Indians may request and the Secretary of the Interior approve: Provided, however, that a reasonable amount of money may be expended each year in the erection, repair, and maintenance of bridges needed on the reservation, and in conducting an experimental farm on the reservation for the benefit of the Indians.
Article VI.
The further amount of fifty thousand dollars is hereby set apart as a school fund, the interest on which, at five per cent per annum, shall be annually expended, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, for the benefit of the industrial school on the reservation. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall designate some person to have under his or her charge the management and care of all property, of every kind and character, purchased under this article.
Article VII.
The funds provided for in the four preceding articles shall each run eight years, or until the expiration of the present treaty with the Shoshones, and the future disposition of the funds shall then be subject to agreement between the United States and the Indians.
Article VIII.
The amount of fifty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, to be immediately available, and shall be distributed per capita in cash among the Indians belonging on the reservation within sixty days after the ratification of this treaty.
Article IX.
It is further stipulated and agreed that the United States shall pay one hundred dollars each quarter to Washakie, the head chief of the Shoshones, this payment to continue during Washakie's lifetime.
Article X.
Five sections of land in proximity to the site selected for the new Government industrial-school building is hereby reserved to the United States and set apart to be used for the purpose of instructing the Indians in the knowledge of agriculture and stock-raising, and for such other uses of an educational character as the Government may deem for the welfare of the Indians. The five sections of land shall be surveyed and set apart as Indian school lands at as early a date as the Secretary of the Interior may find practicable. No Indian or other person shall, from the date of signing of this treaty on the part of the commissioners representing the United States, be permitted to settle upon any of the lands which in the opinion of the Indian agent are likely to be embraced within the five sections hereby reserved to the United States.
Article XI.
Any individual Indian or member of the Shoshone or Arapahoe tribes of Indians who has, under existing laws or treaty stipulations, selected a tract of land which falls within the ceded portion of the reservation, shall be entitled to have the same allotted to him or her under the terms of the act of February 28, 1891, upon application at the local land office for the district in which the lands are located within one year after the ratification of this agreement.
The list of names submitted by the Shoshones of Indians who have made locations, with the water rights appertaining to said locations, is as follows: Mrs. Agnes Lanigan and two children, Mrs. Louisa Boyd and seven children, Peter Robinson, William Brazill, Mrs. Stagner and children, John Enos and children, Louis Enos and children, George Enos and children, John Seminole, John Casouse and children, Poinyogo and children, Mrs. Belle Kinnear and children, Emily Creighton and children, Mrs. Harris and children, Bob Oneill, Mrs. Aragon and children, Mrs. George Wesaw, and Mrs. J. J. Atkins.
Article XII.
Nothing in this agreement shall be construed to deprive the Indians of any annuities or benefits to which they are now entitled under existing treaty stipulations. It is further stipulated and agreed that the United States shall maintain a garrison within the limits of such diminished reservation until after full investigation the Government shall determine that a removal of such garrison will not endanger the peace which now prevails between the two tribes located on the reservation, and also until such time as the Indians shall be adjudged to be qualified to protect their interests against the encroachments of unscrupulous persons of all classes.
Article XIII.
All public highways shall be kept open for travel, and passage along them shall be free and unobstructed.
Article XIV.
Persons whose cattle break into the properly enclosed farms, fields, or gardens of any Indian shall be liable for the damages sustained thereby, and the Secretary of the Interior may make suitable regulations for the carrying out of this provision.
Article XV.
The State of Wyoming shall have jurisdiction on this diminished reservation over all persons other than Indians, and the property of such persons, except that of the agents and employés of the Government used in the course of such agency or employment.
Article XVI.
The lands, except mineral lands, ceded, sold, relinquished and conveyed to the United States by this agreement shall, upon proclamation of the President of the United States, be opened to settlement under the homestead and townsite laws only: Provided, however, that one section of land embracing within its limits the Owl Creek Hot Springs on the Big Hom River about three miles below the cañon where the Wind River passes through the Owl Creek Mountains, be and the same is hereby reserved from settlement and entry, and forever dedicated to the public. The Secretary of the Interior may lease this section of land and the springs for the maintenance of a hotel or hotels and bath-houses, but ample facilities shall always be maintained by which the free use of a part of the baths may be enjoyed by the public and by the Indians: And, provided further, that a half section of land shall also be and the same is hereby reserved around each other spring having medicinal properties, and may be leased under the same restrictions as are provided in the case of the Owl Creek Hot Springs.
Article XVII.
The boundaries of the diminished reservation, not already sufficiently marked by natural boundaries, shall be surveyed as soon as practicable, and definitely marked by suitable permanent monuments.
Article XVIII.
This agreement shall not be binding upon either party until ratified by the Congress of the United States.
Done at Fort Washakie in the State of Wyoming, on the second day of October, A.D. eighteen hundred and ninety one.
Joseph H. Brigham,
Charles H. Merillat,
Commissioners.
Washakie, his x mark, seal.
Black Coal, his x mark, seal.
Shonedyrgwah, his x mark, seal
Bill Friday, his x mark, seal.
Markok, his x mark, seal.
Sitting Bear, his x mark, seal.
Dick Washakie, his x mark, seal.
Tomvook, his x mark, seal.
Sharp Nose, his x mark, seal.
Sherman Coolidge.
[NOTE: And 273 additional signers.]
I certify that at the request of the Indians I read the foregoing treaty to them in joint council, and that it was explained to the interpreters paragraph by paragraph.
James K. Moore.
We certify that the foregoing treaty was fully explained in joint council to the Indians of the Shoshone and Arapahoe tribes, that they fully understand the nature of the treaty and agree to the same.
Henry Reed,
Arapahoe Interpreter
Nonkok (his x mark),
Shoshone Interpreter.
Witness:
J. J. Atkins.
John Pesher.
I certify that the foregoing names, though in some cases duplicate, in every instance represent different individuals.
John C. Burnet,
Special Interpreter.
Witnesses:
J. K. Moore.
R. H. Ray, Captain Eighth Infantry.
V. W. Welty, United States Agency Physician.
L. A. Houestein.
S. R. Stagner.
E. A. Gustin.
J. J. Atkins.