ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

A lease of Indian lands for five years or more for mineral purposes comes to the Secretary of the Interior for approval as a lease competently executed, and he may act on that presumption, and while he may properly inquire as to the validity of its execution or the competency of the lessor, and might decline to approve if advised of fatal defects, or of the incompetency of the lessor, but he is not required to investigate and decide judicially matters lying back of and not appearing upon the face of the instrument; and if he did this his decision would not be conclusive.

Jennings v. Wood, 192 Fed. 507, p. 508.

The approval of the Secretary contemplated by this section proceeds upon a consideration of the terms of the instrument offered and whether such terms are reasonable for the interests of the Indian and were intended as an additional safeguard for his protection; and a disapproval of the Secretary is merely a veto.

Jennings v. Wood, 192 Fed. 507, p. 508.

2. LIMITATIONS ON POWER OF INDIAN ALLOTTEE TO LEASE.

The limitation and authority of this act necessarily placed a restriction upon the power and authority of the Indian allottee to lease his lands for the purposes mentioned to just such terms as would meet the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, and all Indian allottees took their lands and held them with this limitation upon their power to contract.

Dixon v. Owen (Okla.), 132 Pac. 351, p. 353.

3. TERM OF INDIAN LEASE WITH SECRETARY'S APPROVAL.

Under this statute a Cherokee citizen may lease his allotment for oil and gas purposes for a period exceeding five years, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, and any lease made in violation of the statute is void.

Alameda Oil Co. v. Kelly, 35 Okla. 525.

This statute requires the approval of the Secretary of the Interior to an oil and gas lease made by an Indian allottee for a period exceeding five years, yet the act does not provide within what time the Secretary shall be required to make the approval. Alameda Oil Co. v. Kelly, 35 Okla. 525.

Under this section leases for more than one year by Cherokee citizens for grazing and for a period longer than five years for agricultural purposes and for mining purposes can only be made with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, and any such lease not so made and approved is absolutely void.

Jennings v. Wood, 192 Fed. 507, p. 508.

4. OIL AND GAS LEASE-NATURE AND EFFECT.

Oil and gas leases under this act, unlike a grant of coal in place, do not grant the oil and gas unless found and removed during the time, and under the regulations of the Secretary governing such leases only so much of the land may be used as is reasonably necessary for the work.

Barnsdall v. Owen, 200 Fed. 519, p. 521.

5. LEASE TO EXPLORE AS A LICENSE.

An agreement in the form of a lease for a limited term of years under this act, granting the right to explore for oil and gas and to retain that found and extracted, is of

a peculiar class, and the interest of the lessee resembles a license more than an estate in the land itself.

Barnsdall v. Owen, 200 Fed. 519, p. 521.

Dickey v. Coffeyville Vitrified Brick, etc., Co., 69 Kan. 106.

Kolachny v. Galbreath, 26 Okla. 772.

Frank Oil Co. v. Belleview Co., 29 Okla. 719.

O'Neil v. Sun Co. (Tex. Civ. App.), 123 S. W. 172.

Smith v. Root, 66 W. Va. 633.

6. SUBLETTING OR TRANSFER OF LEASE PROHIBITED.

Under the regulations adopted by the Secretary of the Interior, as authorized by this act, oil and gas leases by an Indian allottee can not be sublet, transferred, or assigned without the consent and approval of the Secretary, and an applicant for the approval of such a lease is required to state under oath that he is not directly or indirectly interested in leases of similar character embracing more than 4,800 acres. Barnsdall v. Owen, 200 Fed. 519, p. 520.

A contract by which the lessee of an Indian oil and gas lease executed by authority of this act, by which the charge of the operations for oil and gas are given to a third person and by which such third person has the same privileges and is subjected to the same restrictions as were imposed upon the lessee by the lease, with the right to terminate the contract as to the lease after exploration, and requiring the operations to be carried on at the sole expense of such third person, subject to reimbursement from the proceeds of oil if found, such third person to have the benefit of any gasproducing land, excepted under the terms of the lease, the contracting parties to share equally in the net profits, is not a mere working agreement or employment of such third person for the development of the leased lands, but is a transfer of an interest in the lease, which is expressly prohibited by the regulations of the Secretary of the Interior.

Barnsdall v. Owen, 200 Fed. 519, p. 521.

A contract by which a lessee of an Indian oil and gas lease under this act parts with the management and control of the operations to another, and gives the latter a beneficial interest in the fruits of the lease, is within the regulations of the Secretary of the Interior against subletting, transferring, or assigning any such lease without the consent and approval of the Secretary.

Barnsdall v. Owen, 200 Fed. 519, p. 521.

7. LEASE BY MINOR-VALIDITY—APPROVAL BY SECRETARY EFFECT.

A lease of land for five years or more for mineral purposes by a Cherokee citizen who was a minor and incompetent to execute such lease is not validated by the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, as provided for in this section; but the incompetency of the lessor and the validity of the lease must be determined as if no such approval was provided for.

Jennings v. Wood, 192 Fed. 507, p. 508.

The approval of the lease by the Secretary as contemplated by this section does not reach back and supply or confirm all the essential, legal prerequisites of a valid contract and is not a conclusive determination that the lessor, if a minor, was in fact an adult, or that he was sound mentally, or that he belonged to the class or his land was of the character covered by the statute, if in fact these conditions were actually wanting. Jennings v. Wood, 192 U. S. 507, p. 508.

56974°-Bull. 94, pt 2-15- -13

The approval of the Secretary of the Interior of a lease of Indian lands for five years for mineral purposes is not required where such lease was executed by a minor and approved by the proper local court under section 20 of the act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. 137).

Jennings v. Wood, 192 Fed. 507, p. 509.
See Morrison v. Burnette, 154 Fed. 617.

8. FRAUDULENT CONTRACT RELATING TO LEASE NOT ENFORCED.

A contract in relation to an oil and gas lease executed by an Indian allottee under this act, made for the sole purpose of deceiving a public officer in the performance of his duty, is contrary to public policy and void, and a court of equity will neither enforce sach a contract nor aid either of the parties to regain his prior status. Barnsdall v. Owen, 200 Fed. 519, p. 522.

33 STAT. 189, p. 208, APRIL 21, 1904.

COAL AND ASPHALT 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 fiscal year ending June 30, 1905, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted, etc., * * *

And provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby granted authority to sell at public sale in tracts not exceeding 160 acres to any one purchaser, under rules and regulations to be made by the Secretary of the Interior, the residue of land in the Creek Nation belonging to the Creek Tribe of Indians, consisting of about 500,000 acres, and being the residue of lands left over after allotments of 160 acres to each of said tribe. And all the restrictions upon the alienation of lands of all allottees of either of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians who are not of Indian blood, except minors, are, except as to homesteads, hereby removed, and all restrictions upon the alienation of all other allottees of said tribes, except minors, and except as to homesteads, may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, be removed under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe, upon application to the United States Indian agent at the Union Agency in charge of the Five Civilized Tribes, if said agent is satisfied upon a full investigation of each individual case that such removal of restrictions is for the best interest of said allottee. ** *

That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed, upon the sale of lands in Indian Territory covered by coal and asphalt leases, to sell such lands subject to the right of the lessee to use so much of the surface as may be needed for coke ovens, miners' houses, store and supply buildings, and such other structures as are generally used in the production and shipment of coal and coke. Lessees may use the tipples and under ground workings located on any lease in the production of coal and coke from adjoining leases, and are hereby authorized to surrender leased premises to the owner thereof on giving 60 days' notice in writing to such owner and paying all charges and royalties due to the date of surrender: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall release the lessee from the payment of the stipulated royalty so long

as such lessee remains in possession of any of the surface of the lands included in his lease for any purpose whatever: And provided, That any lessee may remove or dispose of any machinery, tools or equipment the lessee may have upon the leased lands.

[blocks in formation]

All unleased lands which are by section 59 of an act entitled "An act to ratify and confirm an agreement with the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes of Indians, and for other purposes," approved July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. 654), directed to "be sold at public auction for cash," and all other unleased lands and deposits of like character in said nations segregated under any act of Congress, shall, instead, be sold under direction of the Secretary of the Interior in tracts not exceeding 960 acres to each person, after due advertisement, upon sealed proposals, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior and approved by the President, with authority to reject any or all proposals: Provided, That the President shall appoint a commission of three persons, one on the recommendation of the principal chief of the Choctaw Nation, who shall be a Choctaw by blood, and one upon the recommendation of the governor of the Chickasaw Nation, who shall be a Chickasaw by blood, which commission shall have a right to be present at the time of the opening of bids and be heard in relation to the acceptance or rejection thereof.

All expenses, inclusive of necessary clerical help in the Department of the Interior, connected with and incident to such sale shall be paid from the funds of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes on deposit in the Treasury of the United States: Provided, That all leased lands shall be withheld from sale until the further direction of Congress. * * *

That any private land over which an Indian reservation has been extended by Executive order, may be exchanged, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior and at the expense of the owner thereof and under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, for vacant, nonmineral, nontimbered, surveyed public lands of equal area and value and situated in the same State or Territory.

A. ALIENATION BY INDIAN ALLOTTEES.

1. RESTRICTIONS ON ALIENATION BY ALLOTTEES REMOVED.

2. OIL LEASES SUBJECT TO SECRETARY'S APPROVAL.

1. RESTRICTIONS ON ALIENATION BY ALLOTTEES REMOVED.

This statute removed restrictions on the alienation of certain lands theretofore allotted to the members of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians.

Neilson v. Alberty, 36 Okla. 490, p. 497.

2. OIL LEASES SUBJECT TO SECRETARY'S APPROVAL.

A valid oil lease of a homestead of an allottee of Indian lands can not be made without the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, as this is the express exception in this act.

Moore v. Sawyer, 167 Fed. 826, p. 837.

33 STAT. 544, APRIL 28, 1904.

COAL AND ASPHALT.

An ACT To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to add to the segregation of coal and asphalt lands in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, Indian Territory, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted, etc., That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and empowered to segregate and reserve from allotment, and to cancel any filings or applications that may heretofore have been made with a view to allotting the following-described lands, situate in the Choctaw Nation, to wit: The north half of the south half of the southeast quarter, and the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 9; the north half of the south half of the south half of section 10; the north half of the south half of the south half of section 11, and the north half of the south half of the southwest quarter of section 12, all in township 5 north, range 19 east, containing 250 acres, more or less; and the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 8, township 5 north, range 19 east, and the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section 7, township 5 north, range 19 east, containing 80 acres, more or less.

SEC. 2. That the provisions of sections 56 to 63, inclusive, of the act of Congress approved July 1, 1902, entitled "An act to ratify and confirm an agreement with the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes, etc." (32 Stat. 653, p. 655), be, and the same are hereby, made applicable to the lands above described, the same as if the said described lands had been made a part of the segregation, as contemplated by said sections 56 to 63, inclusive, of said above act approved July 1, 1902: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior may, in his discretion, add said lands to and make them a part of the coal and asphalt mining leases now in effect, and to which said lands above described are contiguous, the lands in each case to be added to and made a part of the lease to which they are adjacent and which they join, Government subdivisions being followed as nearly as possible: Provided further, That the holder or holders of the lease or leases to which such lands shall be added, shall, before the same are added, pay the Indian or Indians who have filed upon or applied for such lands as their allotments, or who are in possession thereof, the value of the improvements placed on the land, by said Indian or Indians, such value to be determined under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior: And provided further, That said lands shall be sold as other leased coal and asphalt lands in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, in the Indian Territory are sold.

SEC. 3. That the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad Co. is hereby authorized and empowered to sublet, assign, transfer, and set over the leases which it now has upon coal lands in Choctaw Nation, Ind. T., or any of them. The assignees or sublessees of said Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad Co. shall file good and sufficient bonds for the faithful performance of the terms of the original leases, to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior.

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »