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25 STAT. 783, p. 784, 1 SUPP. R. S. 670, p. 671, MARCH 1, 1889.
MINING LEASES-JURISDICTION OF COURTS.

AN ACT To establish a United States Court in the Indian Territory.

Be it enacted, etc.,

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SEC. 6. That the court hereby established shall have jurisdiction in all civil cases between citizens of the United States who are residents of the Indian Territory, or between citizens of the United States, or of any State or Territory therein, and any citizen of or person or persons residing or found in the Indian Territory, and when the value of the thing in controversy, or damages or money claimed shall amount to $100 or more: Provided, That nothing herein contained herein shall be so construed as to give the court jurisdiction over controversies between persons of Indian blood only: And provided further, That all laws having the effect to prevent the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole Nations, or either of them, from lawfully entering into leases or contracts for mining coal for a period not exceeding 10 years, are hereby repealed; and said court shall have jurisdiction over all controversies arising out of said mining leases or contracts and of all questions of mining rights or invasions thereof where the amount involved exceeds the sum of $100.

A. COURTS IN INDIAN TERRITORY.

B. COAL LEASE-POWER OF INDIAN NATION TO EXECUTE.

A. COURTS IN INDIAN TERRITORY.

1. JURISDICTION-COAL LEASES.

The Federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction with the courts of the Indian nations of actions involving the construction of leases or contracts for mining coal under this statute.

Standley v. Roberts, 59 Fed. 836, p. 845.

B. COAL LEASE-POWER OF INDIAN NATION TO EXECUTE.

A person in the lawful possession and entitled to the usufruct of lands in the Choctaw Nation can grant leases to mine coal on such lands for such royalties as might be agreed upon.

Atoka Coal & Min. Co. v. Adams, 104 Fed. 472.

See Ellis v. Fitzpatrick, 118 Fed. 430.

McBride v. Farrington, 131 Fed. 797, p. 802.

A coal lease by an Indian nation without any definite period of time for which it will run is valid and authorizes the mining of coal for a period not exceeding 10 years. McBride v. Farrington, 149 Fed. 114, p. 115.

A lease by an Indian nation for the mining of coal, iron, petroleum, oil, gas, asphaltum, and other minerals is valid as to coal though void as to all other minerals.

McBride v. Farrington, 149 Fed. 114, p. 115.

This section repeals all laws theretofore enacted to prevent the Chickasaw Indian Nation, as well as other Indian nations, from lawfully making leases for mining coal for a period not exceeding 10 years and jurisdiction over all controversies arising out of such leases is expressly vested in the Federal court established by the act, and coal

leases which do not transfer the title if made pursuant to the laws of the nation, and not in violation of some particular statute of the United States, are valid.

McBride v. Farrington, 131 Fed. 797, p. 805.

This amendment repeals all laws theretofore enacted to prevent any Indian nation from lawfully making leases for mining coal for a period not exceeding 10 years. McBride v. Farrington, 149 Fed. 114, p. 115.

26 STAT. 640, OCTOBER 1, 1890.

COAL LEASES-CHOCTAW NATION.

AN ACT Giving the assent of the United States to certain leases of rights to mine coal in the Choctaw Nation.

Be it enacted, etc., That the consent of the United States is hereby given, upon the conditions and with the limitations hereinafter set forth, and no farther, to the following described leases of coal rights, which citizens of the Choctaw Nation have made to the Choctaw Coal & Railway Co., a corporation created by the laws of the State of Minnesota, copies of which leases, 11 in number, have been filed and deposited with the Secretary of the Interior, namely: (Here follows a description of the 11 different leases.)

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Second. That no one of said leases shall continue in force for a longer period than 30 years from the passage of this act.

Third. That the lessees, or those holding under them, shall, during the first week of each month, render to the Secretary of the Interior a statement under the oath of its president, or at least one of any joint owners under said lessee (leases), showing the amount of coal taken from the mines covered by said leases as herein prescribed, for the month preceding, and the royalties paid to the said Choctaw Nation, and the individual citizens holding said rights, and the price per ton the same has been sold by those having the right to mine the same under the said leases.

Fourth. That no higher rate per ton than the average rate per ton for which such coal has for the next six months next preceding the 1st day of September, 1890, been sold by said lessees, or those holding under them, shall, during said 30 years, be exacted of any purchaser, except upon the written permission of the Secretary of the Interior.

Fifth. That all the obligations of said leases, except as the same may be herein modified or limited, shall be faithfully preserved and performed by said lessees, or those holding under them, and that no right shall be claimed or exercised in the lands covered by said leases or the surface thereof, except such as shall be proper and necessary for the profitable development and working of the mines therein, and ingress and egress to and from the same, and for the erection and maintenance of necessary and proper machinery for said purposes.

SEC. 2. That the consent hereby given shall in no way impair or affect the rights which any person or persons, or the Chickasaw Nation of Indians, may have had before the passage of this act in and to the subject-matter of said leases. And nothing in this act contained shall be construed as validating, impairing, or in any way affecting the right of the lessors to make the same, or the authority under or by virtue of which they have been executed or any other lease or leases already or hereafter made.

SEC. 3. That any violation of, or failure to conform to, any of the conditions or limitations herein set forth on the part of the said

lessees, or those holding under them, shall be taken and deemed to be a forfeiture and revocation of the consent herein given without further action on the part of the United States.

26 STAT. 794, p. 795, FEBRUARY 28, 1891.

LEASE OF ALLOTMENTS-AMENDMENT.

AN ACT To amend an act approved February 8, 1887, entitled "An act to provide for the allotment of land in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States over the Indians, and for other purposes."

Be it enacted, etc.,

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SEC. 3. That whenever it shall be made to appear to the Secretary of the Interior that, by reason of age or other disability, any allottee under the provisions of said act, or any other act or treaty can not personally and with benefit to himself occupy and improve his allotment or any part thereof the same may be leased upon such terms, regulations, and conditions as shall be prescribed by such Secretary, for a term not exceeding 3 years for farming or grazing, or 10 years for mining purposes: Provided, That where lands are occupied by Indians who have bought and paid for the same, and which lands are not needed for farming or agricultural purposes, and are not desired for individual allotments, the same may be leased by authority of the council speaking for such Indians, for a period not to exceed 5 years for grazing, or 10 years for mining purposes in such quantities and upon such terms and conditions as the agent in charge of such reservation may recommend, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

A. OIL LEASE BY OSAGE NATION TO FOSTER.

1. RIGHTS OF ASSIGNEE.

2. CONSTRUCTION-"CULTIVATED INCLOSURES."

1. RIGHTS OF ASSIGNEE.

The assignee of a part of an oil lease made by the Osage Nation to Edwin B. Foster, March 16, 1896, has the same rights to prospect for, drill, and bore wells upon the land as the original grantee would have had under the original lease and its subsequent extension.

Barnsdall Oil Co. v. Leahy, 195 Fed. 731, p. 732.

2. CONSTRUCTION—“CULTIVATED INCLOSURES."

The lease by the Osage Nation to Edwin B. Foster under the authority of this act provided, among other things, that the lessee or those acting under him should not prospect for, drill, or bore any wells for the production of oil or gas within or upon any cultivated inclosure on the reservation without the written consent of the occupant duly acknowledged before the United States Indian agent, and the term "any cultivated inclosure" includes an inclosure made and cultivated after, as well as one made and cultivated before, the date of the lease, and the purpose of the provision was to prevent detriment to the agricultural interests of the country and at the same time to permit mining for oil and gas.

Barnsdall Oil Co. v. Leahy, 195 Fed. 731, p. 735.

Under the provisions of a lease executed by the Osage Nation prohibiting the lessee from prospecting for or drilling or boring any wells for the production of oil and gas

upon any cultivated inclosure, a controversy as to whether the lessor began the cultivation of an uncultivated tract before the lessee took any steps to locate and prospect for or drill wells thereon, must be determined in favor of the lessor who first, by open and notorious acts, in good faith commenced and with diligence proceeded to subject an uncultivated tract to his use, and after such commencement all subsequent acts relate back to the initiation of his first proceeding.

Barnsdall Oil Co. v. Leahy, 195 Fed. 731, p. 736.

A provision in a lease executed by the Osage Nation under the authority of this act to the effect that neither the lessee nor his assigns shall prospect for, or drill or bore any wells for the production of oil and gas within or upon any cultivated inclosure can not be extended to include a large area of uncultivated land with a tract of cultivated land all within the same inclosure, and can not be held to prohibit the prospecting for or drilling or boring for oil and gas on an uncultivated tract within an inclosure containing a cultivated tract, if such operations do not unnecessarily interfere with the use of the cultivated tract for agricultural purposes.

Barnsdall Oil Co. v. Leahy, 195 Fed. 731, p. 736.

26 STAT. 989, pp. 1026, 1031, 1036, MARCH 3, 1891.

LEASES.

AN ACT Making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, for the year ending June 30, 1892.

Be it enacted, etc., That the following sums be, and they are hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of paying the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department for the year ending June 30, 1892, and fulfilling treaty stipulations with the various Indian tribes, namely: *

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SEC. 18. That the school lands reserved in the Territory of Oklahoma by this and former acts of Congress may be leased for a period not exceeding three years for the benefit of the school fund of said Territory by the governor thereof, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior.

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SEC. 22. That all lands so sold and released to the United States, as recited or described in both of said agreements, and not hereto fore granted or reserved from entry or location, shall, on the passage of this act, be restored to the public domain, and shall be disposed of by the United States to actual settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead law, except section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which shall not apply, and under the law relative to town-sites or to locators or purchasers under the mineral laws of the United States: Provided, That each settler or purchaser under and in accordance with the provisions of said homestead act, shall pay to the United States, for the lands so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, and within five years from the date of the first original entry, the sum of $1.50 per acre, one-half of which shall be paid within two years.

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SEC. 34. That whenever any of the lands acquired by the agree ment with the said Crow Indians hereby ratified and confirmed shall by operation of law or the proclamation of the President of the United

States be open to settlement, they shall, except mineral lands, be disposed of to actual settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead laws, except section 2301 of the Revised Statutes, which shall not apply: Provided, however, That each settler, under and in accordance with the provisions of said homestead laws, shall, before receiving a patent for his homestead, pay to the United States for the lands so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, and within five years from the date of the first original entry the sum of $1.50 for each acre thereof one-half of which shall be paid within two years; and any person otherwise qualified who has attempted to, but for any cause failed to secure a title in fee to a homestead under existing law, or who made entry under what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law, shall be qualified to make a homestead entry upon any of said lands in conformity with the provisions of this section. That any person who may be entitled to the privilege of selecting land in severalty under the provisions of article 6 of the treaty of May 7, 1868, with the Crow Indians, and which provisions were continued in force by the agreement with said Indians ratified and confirmed by the act of Congress, approved April 11, 1882, or any other act or treaty, shall have the right for a period of 60 days to make such selection in any part of the Territory by said agreement ceded, and such locations are hereby confirmed: Provided, further, That all white persons who located upon said Crow reservation by reason of an erroneous survey of the boundary and were afterward allowed to file upon their location in the United States Land Office, shall have 30 days in which to renew their filings, and their locations are hereby confirmed, and that in all cases where claims were located under the mining laws of the United States, and such location was made prior to December 1, 1890, by a locator qualified therefor who believed that he or she was so locating on lands outside the Crow Indian Reservation, such locator shall be allowed 30 days within which to relocate the said mining claims so theretofore located by them, within the limits of the ceded portion of said Crow Indian Reservation, and upon such relocating such proceedings shall be had as are conformable to law and in accordance with the provisions of this act.

A. SCHOOL LANDS-LEASING.

Section 18 of this act permits the leasing of school lands reserved in Oklahoma for a period not exceeding three years for the benefit of the school fund of Oklahoma. Shirley, In re, 35 L. D. 113, p. 114.

27 STAT. 470, FEBRUARY 20, 1893.

GAS AND OIL-NEW YORK.

AN ACT To ratify and confirm an agreement made between the Seneca Nation of Indians and William B. Barker.

Whereas, the Seneca Nation of Indians in council January 3, 1893, duly entered into an agreement with William B. Barker, whereby said nation leased to said Barker the oil springs, the Cattaraugus. and the Allegany Reservations, situate in western New York, for the purpose of boring and testing said territory for gas and oil, on condition that if oil was found in paying quantities said nation

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