USA > Alaska > Alaska, its neglected past, its brilliant future > Part 15
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ARTICLE II.
In the cession of territory and dominion made by the preceding article are included the right of prop- erty in all public lots and squares, vacant lands, and all public buildings, fortifications, barracks, and other edifices which are not private individual property. It is, however, understood and agreed, that the churches, which have been built in the ceded territory by the Russian Government, shall remain the prop- erty of such members of the Greek Oriental Church resident in the territory as may choose to worship therein. Any Government archives, papers, and doc- uments relative to the territory and dominion afore- said, which maybe now existing there, will be left in the possession of the agent of the United States; but an authenticated copy of such of them as may be re- quired, will be, at all times, given by the United States to the Russian Government, or to such Russian offi- cers or subjects as they may apply for.
ARTICLE III.
The inhabitants of the ceded territory, according to their choice reserving their natural allegiance, may
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return to Russia within three years; but if they should prefer to remain in the ceded territory, they, with the exception of uncivilized native tribes, shall be admit- ted to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the United States, and shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion. The uncivil- ized tribes will be subject to such laws and regulations as the United States may, from time to time, adopt in regard to aboriginal tribes of that country.
ARTICLE IV.
His Majesty, the Emperor of all the Russias shall appoint, with convenient dispatch, an agent or agents for the purpose of formally delivering to a similar agent or agents, appointed on behalf of the United States, the territory, dominion, property, dependen- cies, and appurtenances which are ceded as above, and for doing any other act which may be necessary in regard thereto. But the cession, with the right of immediate possession, is nevertheless to be deemed complete and absolute on the exchange of ratifica- tions, without waiting for such formal delivery.
ARTICLE V.
Immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, any fortifications or military posts which may be in the ceded territory shall be delivered to the agent of the United States, and any Russian
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troops which may be in the territory shall be with- drawn as soon as may be reasonably and conven- iently practicable.
ARTICLE VI.
In consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United States agree to pay at the Treasury in Wash- ington, within ten months after the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, to the diplomatic rep- resentative or other agent of His Majesty the Em- peror of all the Russias, duly authorized to receive the same, seven million two hundred thousand dollars in gold. The cession of territory and dominion herein made is hereby declared to be free and unincumbered by any reservations, privileges, franchises, grants or possessions, by any associated companies, whether corporate or incorporate, Russian or any other, or by any parties except merely private individual prop- erty-holders; and the cession hereby made conveys all the riglits, franchises, and privileges now belong- ing to Russia in the said territory or dominion, and appurtenances thereto.
ARTICLE VII.
When this convention shall have been duly ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, on the one part. and, on the other, by His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias the ratifications shall be exchanged
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at Washington within three months from the date hereof, or sooner if possible.
In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this convention, and thereto affixed the seals of their arnis.
Done at Washington the thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
SEAL
WILLIAM H SEWARD, EDOUARD DESTOECKL.
United States Statutes at large, page 539-543, vol- ume 15, 1869, by G. and P Sanger, by authority of Congress.
And whereas the said Treaty has been duly ratified on both parts, and the respective ratifications of the same were exchanged at Washington on this twentieth day of June, by William H. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States, and the Privy Counsellor Edward de Stoeckl, the Envoy Extraordinary of his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias on the part of their respective governments.
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew John- son, President of the United States of America, have caused the said Treaty to be made public, to the end that the same and every clause and article thereof, may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof.
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EXTRACTS FROM U. S. STATUTES. LANDS, SURVEYS, MINERAL LANDS, ETC.
United States Statutes at Large, 1889-1891, volume 26, page 1098. Law Extracts.
Scc. 7. That whenever it shall appear to the Com- missioner of the General Land Office that a clerical error has been committed in the entry of any of the public lands such entry may be suspended, upon the proper notification to the claimant, through the local land office, until the error has been corrected; and all entries made under the pre-emption, homestead, desert land, or timber-culture laws, in which final proof and payment may have been made and certificates issued, and to which there are no adverse claims originating prior to final entry and which have been sold or in- cumbered prior to the first day of March, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, and after final entry, to bona fide purchasers or incumbrances, for a valuable consideration, shall unless upon an investigation by a Government Agent, fraud on the part of the pur- chaser has been found, be confirmed and patented upon presentation of satisfactory proof to the Land Department of such sale or incumbrance;
Provided, That after the lapse of two years from the date of the issuance of the receiver's receipt upon the final entry of any tract of land under the home- stead, timber-culture, desert-land, or pre-emption laws, or under this act, and when there shall be no
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pending contest or protest against the validity of such entry, the entryman shall be entitled to a patent con- veying the land by him entered, and the same shall be issued to him; but this proviso shall not be con- strued to require the delay of two years from the date of said entry before the issuing of a patent therefor.
Sec. 8. That suits by the United States to vacate and annul any patent heretofore issued shall only be brought within five years from the passage of this act, and suits to vacate and annul patents hereafter issued shall only be brought within six years after the date of the issuance of such patents; and in the States of Colorado, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota, Wyoming, and in the District of Alaska and the gold and silver regions of Nevada, and the Terri- tory of Utah, in any criminal prosecution or civil ac- tion by the United States for a trespass on such pub- lic timber lands or to recover timber or lumber cut thereon, it shall be a defense if the defendant shall show that the said timber was so cut or removed from the timber lands for use in such State or Territory by a resident thereof for agricultural, mining, manu- facturing, or domestic purposes, and has not been transported out of the same; but nothing herein con- tained shall apply to operate to enlarge the rights of any railway company to cut timber on the public do- main;
Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior may
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make suitable rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.
Sec. 9. That hereafter no public lands of the United States, except abandoned military or other reservations, isolated and disconnected fractional tracts authorized to be sold by section twenty-four hundred and fifty-five of the Revised Statutes, and mineral and other lands, the sale of which at public auction has been authorized by acts of Congress of a special nature having local application, shall be sold at public sale.
Sec. 10. That nothing in this act shall change, re- peal, or modify any agreements or treaties made with any Indian tribes for the disposal of their lands, or of land ceded to the United States to be disposed of for the benefit of such tribes, and the proceeds thereof to be placed in the Treasury of the United States; and the disposition of such lands shall continue in accord- ance with the provisions of such treaties or agree- ments, except as provided in section 5 of this act.
Sec. II. That until otherwise ordered by Congress lands in Alaska may be entered for town-site pur- poses, for the several use and benefit of the occupants of such town sites, by such trustee or trustees as may be named by the Secretary of the Interior for that purpose, such entries to be made under the pro- visions of section twenty-three hundred and eighty- seven of the Revised Statutes as near as may be; and
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when such entries shall have been made the Secretary of the Interior shall provide by regulation for the proper execution of the trust in favor of the inhabi- tants of the town site, including the survey of the lands into lots, according to the spirit and intent of said section twenty-three hundred and eighty-seven of the Revised Statutes, whereby the same results would be reached as though the entry had been made by a county judge and the disposal of the lots in such town site and the proceeds of the sale thereof had been prescribed by the legislative authority of a State or Territory ;
Provided, That no more than six hundred and forty acres shall be embraced in one townsite entry.
Sec. 12. That any citizen of the United States Twenty-one years of age, and any association of such citizens, and any corporation, incorporated under the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory of the United States now authorized by law to hold lands in the Territories now or hereafter in possession of and occupying public lands in Alaska for the pur- pose of trade or manufacture, may purchase not ex- ceeding one hundred and sixty acres to be taken as near as practicable in a square form of such land at two dollars and fifty cents per acre;
Provided, That in case more than one person, as- sociation or corporation shall claim the same tract of land the person, association or corporation having
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the prior claim by reason of possession and continued occupation shall be entitled to purchase the same; but the entry of no person, association or corporation shall include improvements made by or in possession of another prior to the passage of this act.
Sec. 13. That it shall be the duty of any person, association, or corporation entitled to purchase land under this act to make an application to the United States Marshal, ex officio Surveyor-General of Alaska, for an estimate of the cost of making a survey of the lands occupied by such person, association, or corpo- ration, and the cost of the clerical work necessary to be done in the office of the said United States Mar- shal, ex officio Surveyor-General; and on the re- ceipt of such estimate from the United States Mar- shal, ex officio Surveyor-General, the said person, as- sociation, or corporation shall deposit the amount in a United States depository, as is required by section numbered twenty-four hundred and one, Revised Stat- utes, relating to desposits for surveys.
That on the receipt of the United States Marshal, ex officio Surveyor-General, of the said certificates of deposit, he shall employ a competent person to make such survey, under such rules and regulations as may be adopted by the Secretary of the Interior, who shall make his return of his field notes and maps to the officer of the said United States Marshal, ex- officio Surveyor-General; and the said United States
INTERIOR OF STAMP MILL, DOUGLAS ISLAND.
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Marshal, ex-officio Surveyor-General, shall cause the said field notes and plats of such surveys to be ex- amined, and, if correct, approve tlie same, and shall transmit certified copies of such maps and plats to the office of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.
That when the said field notes and plats of said sur- vey shall have been approved by the said Commis- sioner of the General Land Office, he shall notify such person, association, or corporation, who shall then within six months after such notice, pay to the said United States Marshal, ex-officio Surveyor-General, for such land, and patent shall issue for the same.
Sec. 14. That none of the provisions of the last two preceding sections of this act shall be so con- strued as to warrant the sale of any lands belonging to the United States which shall contain coal or the precious metals, or any town site, or which shall be occupied by the United States for public purposes, or which shall be reserved for such purposes, or to which the natives of Alaska have prior rights by virtue of actual occupation, or which shall be selected by the United States Commisssion of Fish and Fisheries on the islands of Kodiak and Afognak for the purpose of establishing fish-culture stations. And all tracts of land not exceeding six hundred and forty acres in any one tract now occupied as missionary stations in said district of Alaska are hereby excepted front
18
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the operation of the last three preceding sections of this act. No portion of the islands of the Pribylov Group or the Seal Islands of Alaska shall be subject to sale under this act; and the United States reserves, and there shall be reserved in all patents issued under the provisions of the last two preceding sections the right of the United States to regulate the taking of salmon and to do all things necessary to protect and prevent the destruction of salmon in all the waters of the lands granted frequented by salmon.
Sec. 15. That until otherwise provided by law the body of lands known as Annette Islands, situated in Alexander Archipelago in South-eastern Alaska, on the north side of Dixon's entrance, be, and the same is hereby, set apart as a reservation for the use of the Metlakaltla Indians, and those people known as Met- lakahtlans who have recently emigrated from British Columbia to Alaska, and such other Alaskan natives as may join them, to be held and used by them in common, under such rules and regulations, and sub- ject to sucli restrictions, as may be prescribed from time to time by the Secretary of the Interior.
Sec. 16. That town site entries may be made by incorporated towns and cities on the mineral lands of the United States, but no title shall be acquired by such towns or cities to any vein of gold, silver, cinna- bar, copper, or lead, or to any valid mining claim or possession held under existing law. When mineral
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veins are possessed within the limits of an incorpo- rated town or city, and such possession is recognized by local authority or by the laws of the United States, the title to town lots shall be subject to such recog- nized possession and the necessary use thereof and wlien entry has been made or patent issued for such town sites to such incorporated town or city, the pos- sessor of such mineral vein may enter and receive patent for such mineral vein, and the surface ground appertaining thereto;
Provided, That no entry shall be made by such mineral-vein claimant for surface ground where the owner or occupier of the surface ground shall have had possession of the same before the inception of the title of the mineral-vein applicant.
Sec. 17. That reservoir sites located or selected and to be located and selected under the provisions of "An act making appropriations for sundry civil ex- penses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine," and for other purposes and amendments thereto, shall be restricted to and shall contain only so much land as is actually necessary for the construction and main- tenance of reservoirs; excluding so far as practicable lands occupied by actual settlers at the date of the location of said reservoirs and that the provision of "An Act making appropriations for sundry civil ex- penses of the Government for the fiscal year ending
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June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and for other purposes," which reads as follows, viz: "No person who shall after the passage of this act enter upon any of the public lands with a view to oc- cupation, entry, or settlement under any of the land laws shall be permitted to acquire title to more than three hundred and twenty acres in the aggregate under all said laws," shall be construed to include in the maximum amount of lands the title to which is permitted to be acquired by one person, only agricul- tural lands and not to include lands entered or sought to be entered under mineral land laws.
Sec. 18. That the right of way through the public lands and reservations of the United States is hereby granted to any canal or ditch company formed for the purpose of irrigation and duly organized under the laws of any State or Territory, which shall have filed, or may hereafter file, with the Secretary of the Interior a copy of its articles of incorporation, and due proofs of its organization under the same, to the extent of the ground occupied by the water of the reservoir and of the canal and its laterals, and fifty feet on each side of the marginal limits thereof; also the right to take, from the public lands adjacent to the line of the canal or ditch, material, earth, and stone necessary for the construction of such canal or ditch;
Provided, That no such right of way shall be so located as to interfere with the proper occupation by
ยท
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the Government of any such reservation, and all maps of location shall be subject to the approval of the Department of the Government having jurisdic- tion of such reservation, and the privilege herein granted shall not be construed to interfere with the control of water for irrigation and other purposes under authority of the respective States or Territories.
Sec. 21. That nothing in this act shall authorize such canal or ditch company to occupy such right of way except for the purpose of said canal or ditch, and then only so far as may be necessary for the con- struction, maintenance, and care of said canal or ditch.
Sec. 24. That the President of the United States may, from time to time, set apart and reserve, in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part cov- ered with timber or undergrowth, whether of com- mercial value or not, as public reservations, and the President shall, by public proclamation, declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof.
Approved, March 3. 1891.
United States Statutes at Large, 1885-1887, volume 24, page 243.
In 1886, Congress appropriated fifteen thousand dollars for children of school age without regard to race.
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PAGE 529.
In 1887 a like sum of twenty-five thousand dollars for same purpose.
PAGE 45.
Also twenty thousand dollars for Indian pupils of both sexes at the Industrial School at Alaska.
Likewise in 1887 a similar amount.
Alaska, 1871-1873, page 530. Amendment to the law of 1867, approved 1873.
Laws of the United States relating to Customs, Commerce and Navigation extended to and over all the territory, mainland, islands and waterways ceded by Russia.
Approved March 30, 1873. The amendment reads "That the laws of the United States relating to cus- toms, commerce and navigation, and sections 20 and 21 of An Act to regulate trade and intercourse with Indian tribes and to preserve peace on the frontiers."
Approved June 30th, 1834, be and the same are hereby extended to and over all the mainland, islands and waters of the territory ceded to the United States by the Emperor of Russia by treaty concluded at Washington on the 30th day of March, 1867, so far as the same may be applicable thereto."
The Province of Louisiana ceded by France in 1803 ran from the Gulf of Mexico west of this line to the Texas border and thence northwest to the Pacific Ocean to the present line between Canada and the United States as far as the Straits of Georgia.
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England claimed and held the lower end of Van- couver Island, it being a very strong strategic point, as it commanded the straits of Juan de Fuca and the present inland passage to Alaska.
In 1845, Texas was annexed to the United States, taking in also a portion of what is now New Mexico and the eastern portion of Colorado.
In 1848, Mexico ceded a large tract to the United States, taking in almost all the territory west of this Texan annexation line, leaving the line run from the ocean at Lower California, irregularly nearly at the lower line of Arizona and New Mexico.
In 1853, the Gadsden purchase included the strip of land below that line to another line in Mexico from the Colorado River to El Paso on the Rio Grande del Norte.
In 1867, the territory of Alaska now under consid- eration was ceded by the Emperor of Russia to the United States, completing our present possessions.
SEAL ISLANDS MADE A RESERVATION.
United States Statute at Large, 1867-1869, volume 15, page 348.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the United States of America in Congress as- sembled, That the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George in Alaska be, and they are hereby, declared a special reservation for Government purposes; and that until otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlaw-
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ful for any person to band or remain on either of said islands, except by authority of the Secretary of the Treasury; and any person found on either of said islands, contrary to the provisions of this resolution shall be summarily removed; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War to carry this resolution im- mediately into effect.
Approved, March 3, 1869.
RESERVATIONS IN ALASKA-LAND, FOREST AND FISH.
United States Statutes at Large, 1891-1893, volume 27, No. 39, page 1052.
A Proclamation by the President of the United States, December 24, 1892.
Whereas, it is provided by Section 24, of the Act of Congress, approved March third, eighteen hun- dred and ninety-one, entitled, "An Act to repeal tim- ber-culture laws, and for other purposes;" that The President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve, in any State or Territory having public lands bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly, or in part covered with timber or under- growth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall, by public pro- clamation, declare the establishment of such reserva- tion, and the limits thereof.
And whereas, it is provided by section 14 of said above mentioned Act, that the public lands in the
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Territory of Alaska, reserved for public purposes, shall not be subject to occupation and sale.
And whereas, the public lands in the Territory of Alaska, known as Afognak Island, are in part covered with timber, and are required for public purposes, in order that salmon fisheries in the waters of the Island, and salmon and other fish and sea animals, and other animals and birds, and the timber, undergrowth, grass, moss and other growth in, on, and about said Island may be protected and preserved unimpaired, and it appears that the public good would be pro- moted by setting apart and reserving said lands as a public reservation.
And whereas, the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries has selected Afognak Bay, River and Lake, with their tributary streams, and the sources thereof, and the lands including the same on said Afognak Islands, and within one mile from the shores thereof, as a reserve for the purpose of estab- lishing fish culture stations, and the use of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, the boun- dary lines of which include the head springs of the tributaries above mentioned, and the lands, the drain- age of which is into the same.
Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President ot the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by sections 24 and 14, of the aforesaid Act of Congress, and by other laws of the United States
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do reserve and do hereby make known and proclaim that there is hereby reserved from occupation and sale, and set apart as a Public Reservation, including use for fish-culture stations, said Afognak Island, Alaska and its adjacent bays and rocks and territorial waters, including among others the Sea Lion Rocks, and Sea Otter Island;
Provided, That this proclamation shall not be so constructed as to deprive any bona fide inhabitant of said Island of any valid right he may possess under the treaty for the cession of the Russian possessions in North America to the United States, concluded at Washington, on the thirtieth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven.
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