homestead entry was unlawful and fraudulent in that it was made by said Robords in collusion with said Linnell in pursuance of a corrupt agreement between them to secure title to the land for their own use and benefit. In the departmental decision hereinbefore referred to it was held that an agreement had been made by Robords with Linnell to sell him the land and that such agreement was in violation of the homestead law and fraudulent on the part of Robords, yet that this was a matter with which the minor had nothing to do; that he was in no sense a party to such agreement; that he knew nothing of it; and that as an attempted fraud or act of bad faith it could not be in any way imputed to him. The contest was therefore dismissed and the entry was sustained for the benefit of the minor.

The present affidavit of contest charges abandonment and failure to cultivate and improve the land since July, 1895, which are matters not considered or determined in the former departmental decision, and your office decision holding them to be so is therefore to that extent

erroneous.

The record shows that Robords was appointed curator for said Charles Love, a minor, by the probate court of Greene county, Missouri, at its May term, 1894. It is expressly stated in the court's order of appointment that said Love was then a minor under twenty-one years of age, and the reasonable inference is that the curator was appointed for that

reason.

The present contest affidavit sets forth that said Charles Love became twenty-one years of age in August, 1896, fourteen months before the filing thereof, and that at the time of the initiation of the contest he was of unsound mind.

Robords having been appointed curator for Love on account of the minority of the latter, the authority of such curator necessarily ceased upon the minor becoming twenty-one years of age, which, as the contest affidavit states, was in August, 1896, long before the initiation of the contest. Furthermore, the contest affidavit avers that Love is of unsound mind.

In view, therefore, of the contestant's own showing, said Charles Love, for whose benefit the entry was made, is over twenty-one years of age and of unsound mind, and it does not appear that any guardian or curator has been appointed for him on the ground of his insanity or since he became twenty-one years of age. Under these circumstances it must be held that the present contest proceedings have been irregular from the beginning, inasmuch as there could be no legal proceedings against said Charles Love or his estate if he is as alleged of unsound mind, and has no guardian or curator through whom his interests may be protected.

For these reasons the contest must be dismissed. It is accordingly so ordered, and the papers in the case are herewith returned.

OLSON ET AL. v. HAGEMANN.

Petition for reconsideration of departmental decision of August 24, 1899, 29 L. D., 125, denied by Acting Secretary Ryan, October 31, 1899.

INDIAN LANDS-ARTICLE VI, TREATY OF FEBRUARY 22, 1855.
REUBEN GRAY.

The right of entry accorded in Article VI of the treaty of February 22, 1855, to the persons named therein, in the absence of an application for a specific tract, is no bar to subsequent Congressional provision for the disposition of a part of the lands ceded by said treaty of 1855, if a sufficient quantity thereof to satisfy all claims under said Article VI, yet remains subject thereto.

Acting Secretary Ryan to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, (W. V. D.) October 31, 1899. (W. C. P.) Reuben Gray has appealed from your office decision of July 28, 1899, rejecting his application to enter, under article six of the treaty of February 22, 1855, between the United States and the Mississippi bands of Chippewa Indians (10 Stat., 1165), the SE. of the SE. of Sec. 9, and the N. of the NE. and the SE. of the NE. of Sec. 16, T. 145 N., R. 31 W., St. Cloud land district, Minnesota.

By treaty of 1855 the Mississippi bands of Chippewa Indians ceded to the United States all the lands then owned and claimed by them in the Territory of Minnesota and included within certain boundaries therein set forth. Out of the lands included in such boundaries several tracts of land were reserved for the permanent homes of said Indians. The tract now sought to be entered was within the boundaries of the lands so ceded to the United States, but was not included in any of the reservations established by this treaty.

The provision under which this application is presented is found in Article VI of said treaty, and is as follows:

The missionaries and such other persons as are now, by authority of law, residing in the country ceded by the first article of this agreement, shall each have the privilege of entering one hundred and sixty acres of the said ceded lands, at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; said entries not to be made so as to interfere, in any manner, with the laying off of the several reservations herein provided for.

By the treaty of March 11, 1863 (12 Stat., 1249), these Indians ceded certain of the reservations set apart by the treaty of 1855, and in consideration thereof certain other lands described by metes and bounds were set aside for their future home. The land covered by Gray's application was within the boundaries of the tract thus reserved. Changes were made in the boundaries of this reservation by the subsequent treaties of May 7, 1864 (13 Stat., 693), and March 12, 1867 (16 Stat., 719), but the status of the land involved in this case was not affected thereby.

The act of January 14, 1889 (25 Stat., 642), directed the appointment of commissioners to negotiate with all the different bands or tribes of Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota for the cession of their interest in all reservations in said State except the White Earth and Red Lake reservations and so much of those as should not be required to fill allotments provided for by said act and others. It was provided that the acceptance and approval of such cession by the President of the United States should

operate as a complete extinguishment of the Indian title without any other or further act or ceremony whatsoever for the purposes and upon the terms in this act provided.

It was directed that, as soon as the cession should be obtained, all the Indians except those on Red Lake reservation should be removed to White Earth reservation, and that land should be allotted to those upon Red Lake reservation there, and to all others upon the White Earth reservation, with the proviso, however, that any Indian residing upon any reservation might in his discretion take his allotment upon the reservation where he should be living when the removal provided for should be effected, instead of being removed to White Earth reservation.

It was further provided that as soon as the cession was obtained and approved the land ceded should be surveyed and examined to ascertain upon what tracts pine timber was standing or growing, which tracts were to be termed "pine lands," while all other tracts were to be termed "agricultural lands." The "pine lands" were to be appraised and offered for sale at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, and all tracts remaining unsold after such public offering were to be sold at private sale at the appraised value thereof. The agricultural lands not allotted under said act nor reserved for the future use of the Indians, were, after thirty days' notice, to be "disposed of by the United States to actual settlers only under the provisions of the homestead law."

It was further provided:

That each settler under and in accordance with the provisions of said homestead laws shall pay to the United States for the land so taken by him the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents for each and every acre, in five equal annual payments, and shall be entitled to a patent therefor only at the expiration of five years from the date of entry, according to said homestead laws, and after the full payment of said one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre therefor, and due proof of occupancy for said period of five years.

The money accruing from the disposal of said lands was, after deducting certain expenses mentioned, to be placed in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of said Indians as a permanent fund, which should draw interest at the rate of five per cent per annum, payable annually, for the period of fifty years after the allotments provided for by said act should have been made. The interest was to be paid to, or

expended for, said Indians annually in the manner specified in said act, and at the expiration of fifty years the permanent fund was to be divided and paid to all of said Chippewa Indians and their issue, then living, in cash and equal shares.

A commission was appointed as directed, which secured from the Indians a cession of lands for the purposes and upon the terms provided in said act, which cession was approved by the President of the United States. The lands embraced in Gray's application have been examined and each of the tracts returned as agricultural.

Gray's application, together with the purchase price and fees, was presented to the local officers, who refused the same. Your office also rejected said application, from which decision an appeal was taken to this Department.

It is admitted by counsel for Gray that from the date of the treaty of March 11, 1863, until the approval by the President of the United States of the agreement for a cession procured under the provisions of the act of 1889, this land was not subject to entry under article six of the treaty of 1855. It is, however, further claimed that immediately upon the approval of said agreement the Indian title and right of occupancy were completely extinguished and the land became subject to entry under said article six.

By the act of 1889 it was provided that these lands should be disposed of in a particular manner, and these provisions are couched in such language as to preclude the possibility of their disposal in any other way, in the absence of subsequent legislation authorizing such other disposition. The "pine lands" were to be sold for cash at not less than the appraised value, and the "agricultural lands" are to be "disposed of by the United States to actual settlers only under the provisions of the homestead law."

It is urged, however, that the right given to claimants by said treaty of 1855 is the result of a solemn compact between the Indians and the government, which neither party may violate by demanding or authorizing any disposition of said lands that would interfere with that right. To carry this contention to its logical conclusion would be to say that Congress could not make any provision for the disposition of any tract within the boundaries of these ceded lands until all the claims under said article of the treaty of 1855 shall have been satisfied. The statement of this proposition is a sufficient refutation of the claim.

The right given to such claimants could not attach to any particular tract of land until application was presented. It is in the nature of a grant of a specified quantity of land to be satisfied with certain larger boundaries. In the case of such grants the government is not bound to withhold from disposition all the lands within the outer boundaries until the grant shall have been satisfied by the designation of the particular quantity needed to satisfy the grant. It is sufficient if enough land be withheld to satisfy the grant. In this case it is admitted that

there is land ceded by the treaty of 1855, and yet undisposed of, sufficient in quantity to satisfy all claims that can possibly arise under said treaty many times over.

The decision of your office rejecting Gray's application is hereby affirmed.

In arriving at this conclusion it has not been necessary to consider or pass upon the evidence as to the applicant's qualifications under said article 6.

MINING CLAIM-AMENDED ENTRY-JUDGMENT-RELINQUISHMENT.

CARRIE S. GOLD MINING CO.

A tract included in a mineral application, and in the notice given thereof, but not embraced in the entry on account of a defect in the chain of title, may be afterwards included within the entry, by way of amendment, if the defect in the title is cured.

A judgment rendered on stipulation between parties to an adverse proceeding is conclusive as to the right of possession, and the tract so awarded to an applicant may be properly included in his survey and entry.

An applicant for mineral entry may properly eliminate by way of relinquishment, or otherwise, any part of a location, not essential to its validity, without prejudice to his claim for the residue.

Secretary Hitchcock to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, (W. V. D.) November 1, 1899.

(E. B., Jr.)

This is an appeal by The Carrie S. Gold Mining Company, hereinafter for convenience called the company, from the decision of your office, dated June 14, 1898, in the matter of mineral entry No. 1554, made December 31, 1897, in the Pueblo, Colorado, land office, by the company for the Jessie May, Evening Star, and Bessie C. lode mining claims, survey No. 10,309.

The grounds set out in your office decision for denying the company's application to amend its entry so as to include therein the Baby P. lode mining claim, and for requiring it to show cause why the entry should not be canceled as to that part of the Bessie C. claim awarded the company by a judgment in an adverse suit, and for calling in question the regularity and validity of the relinquishment of a small part of the Evening Star claim, do not appear to be well taken.

The Baby P. claim was included in the company's application for patent and the notice thereof, but when the company made entry of the other claims there existed a defect in the chain of title to the Baby P., and for that reason only, it is alleged, that claim was not embraced in the entry. The defect having been cured in the meantime, the company, on March 9, 1898, made application to pay for the Baby P. and to have the same included in the entry.

The reasons given in your office decision for rejecting this application are that the entry as already made includes, as part of the Bessie C.