Whereas, by an Executive order bearing date the 27th day of February,
1885, it was ordered that "all that tract of country in the Territory
of Dakota known as the Old Winnebago Reservation and the Sioux or Crow
Creek Reservation, and lying on the east bank of the Missouri River, set
apart and reserved by Executive order dated January 11, 1875, and which
is not covered by the Executive order dated August 9, 1879, restoring
certain of the lands reserved by the order of January 11, 1875, except
the following-described tracts: Townships No. 108 north, range 71 west;
108 north, range 72 west; fractional township 108 north, range 73 west;
the west half of section 4, sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
21, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33 of township 107 north, range 70 west;
fractional townships 107 north, range 71 west; 107 north, range 72 west;
107 north, range 73 west; the west half of township 106 north, range 70
west; and fractional township 106 north, range 71 west; and except also
all tracts within the limits of the aforesaid Old Winnebago Reservation
and the Sioux or Crow Creek Reservation which are outside of the limits
of the above-described tracts, and which may have heretofore been
allotted to the Indians residing upon said reservation, or which may
have heretofore been selected or occupied by the said Indians under and
in accordance with the provisions of article 6 of the treaty with the
Sioux Indians of April 29, 1868, be, and the same is hereby, restored
to the public domain;" and
Whereas upon the claim being made that said order is illegal and in
violation of the plighted faith and obligations of the United States
contained in sundry treaties heretofore entered into with the Indian
tribes or bands occupants of said reservation, and that the further
execution of said order will not only occasion much distress and
suffering to peaceable Indians, but retard the work of their
civilization and engender amongst them a distrust of the National
Government, I have determined, after a careful examination of the
several treaties, acts of Congress, and other official data bearing on
the subject, aided and assisted therein by the advice and opinion of the
Attorney-General of the United States duly rendered in that behalf, that
the lands so proposed to be restored to the public domain by said
Executive order of February 27, 1885, are included as existing Indian
reservations on the east bank of the Missouri River by the terms of the
second article of the treaty with the Sioux Indians concluded April 29,
1868, and that consequently, being treaty reservations, the Executive
was without lawful power to restore them to the public domain by said
Executive order, which is therefore deemed and considered to be wholly
inoperative and void; and
Whereas the laws of the United States provide for the removal of all
persons residing or being found upon Indian lands and territory without
permission expressly and legally obtained of the Interior Department:
Now, therefore, in order to maintain inviolate the solemn pledges and
plighted faith of the Government as given in the treaties in question,
and for the purpose of properly protecting the interests of the Indian
tribes as well as of the United States in the premises, and to the end
that no person or persons may be induced to enter upon said lands,
where they will not be allowed to remain without the permission of
the authority aforesaid, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United
States, do hereby declare and proclaim the said Executive order of
February 27, 1885, to be in contravention of the treaty obligations of
the United States with the Sioux tribe of Indians, and therefore to
be inoperative and of no effect; and I further declare that the lands
intended to be embraced therein are existing Indian reservations,
and as such available for Indian purposes alone and subject to the
Indian-intercourse acts of the United States. I do further warn and
admonish all and every person or persons now in the occupation of said
lands under color of said Executive order, and all such person or
persons as are intending or preparing to enter and settle upon the same
thereunder, that they will neither be permitted to remain or enter upon
said lands, and such persons as are already there are hereby required to
vacate and remove therefrom with their effects within sixty days from
the date hereof; and in case a due regard for and voluntary obedience
to the laws and treaties of the United States and this admonition and
warning be not sufficient to effect the purpose and intentions as herein
declared, all the power of the Government will be employed to carry into
proper execution the treaties and laws of the United States herein
referred to.
In testimony thereof I hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 17th day of April, 1885, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninth.