Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 14.djvu/788

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

758 TREATY WITH THE SEMINOLE INDIANS. MARCH 21, 1866. Right of way their lands to any company which shall be duly authorized by Congress, ?_‘L_n’*;g5°:lfrOugh and shall: with the express consent and approbatiou of the Secretary of thayundoytho the Interior, undertake to construct 2. railroad from any point on their Seminoles- easternto their western or southern boundary ; but said railroad company_ together with all its agents and employes, shall be subject to the laws of the United States relating to the intercourse with Indian tribes, and also Q to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of “{&¤¤d¤ w¤U be thednterior, for that purpose. And the Seminoles agree to sell to the ‘ United States, or any company duly authorized as aforesaid, such lands not legally owned or occupied by a member or members of the Seminole nation lying along the line of said contemplated railroad, not exceeding on each side thereof a belt or strip of land three miles in width, at such price per acre as may be eventually agreed upon between said Seminole nation and the party or parties building said road—subject to the approval of the President of the United States: Provided, Lowever, That said land thus sold shall not be reconveycd, leased, or rented to, or be 0c- cupied by, any one not a citizen of the Seminole nation, according to its Proviso. laws and recognized usages: Provided, also, That officen., servants, and employés of said railroad necessary to its construction and management shall not be excluded from such necessary occupancy, they being subject to the provisions of the Indian intercourse laws, and such rules and regulatious as may be established by the Secretary of the Interior; nor shall any conveyance of said lands be made to the party building and managing said road, until its completion as a first··clar.s railroad and its acceptr ance as such by the Secretary of the Interior. Agency hui1d_ Anmcnn VI. Inasmuch as there are no agency buildings upon the ings. new Seminole reservation, it is therefore further agreed that the United States shall cause to be constructed, at an expense not exceeding ten thousand ($10,000) dollars, suitable agency buildings, the site whereof shall be selected by the agent of said Libe, under the direction of the superintendent of Indian affairs ; in consideration whereof, the Seminole nation hereby relinquish and cede forever to the United States one sec tion of their lands, upon which said agency buildings shall be directed [erected], which land shall revert to said nation when no longer used by the United States, upon said nation paying a fair value for said buildings at the time vacated. Seminoles A1z·r1cLE VII. The Seminole nation agrees to such legislation as

  1. $66 *9 ¤¤¤‘¤¤i¤ Congress and the President may deem necessary for the better adminis

1°g‘sm‘°°' tration of the rights of person and property within the Indian territory ; p,,,v;sO_ Provided, however, [That] said legislation shall not in any manner inter. fere with or annul their present tribal organization, rights, laws, privile s, and customs. Gensralcoun- gghe Seminole nation also agree that a general council, consisting of "U· delegates elected by each nation, a tribe lawfully resident within the Indian territory, may be annually convened in said territory, which council shall be organized in such manner and possess such powers as are hereinafter described :— gmw 1st. After the ratification of this treaty, and as soon as may be deemed practicable by the Secretary of the Interior, and prior to the first session of said council, a census or enumeration of each tribe lawfully resident · in said territory shall be taken, under the direction of the superintendent of Indian affairs, who, for that purpose, is hereby authorized to designate and appoint competent persons, whose compensation shall be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior and paid by the United States. pim Gnerul 2d. The first general council shall consist of one member from each ggngxlgéicw tribe, and an additional member for each one thousand Indians, or each ‘ fraction of a thousand reater than five hundred, bein members of an tribe lawfully resident ix? said territory, and shall be elegted by said tribez respectively who may assent to the establishment of said general council ;