Page:The Indian Dispossessed.pdf/283

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UNCLE SAM, TRUSTEE.

By the President of the United States of America: A Proclamation: 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. . . ."

THE public is thus informed of the manner in which a portion of the Rosebud Indian reservation was added to the public domain. The proclamation then proceeds to explain in detail the method of opening these lands to public entry under the general provisions of the homestead law.

It is proposed to show—

That the above statement intentionally conceals the truth, and misleads the public into the belief that the act of Congress taking these Indian lands was in accordance with an agreement with the Indians.

That no agreement with the Indians existed bearing the faintest resemblance to the provisions of this act.

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