§ 1776. — Findings and purpose.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 25USC1776]
TITLE 25--INDIANS
CHAPTER 19--INDIAN LAND CLAIMS SETTLEMENTS
SUBCHAPTER X--CROW LAND CLAIMS SETTLEMENT
Sec. 1776. Findings and purpose
(a) Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1) Under the treaty between the United States of America and
the Crow Tribe of Indians concluded May 7, 1868 (commonly known as
the ``Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868''; 15 Stat. 649), the eastern
boundary of the Crow Indian Reservation was established as the 107th
meridian for approximately 90 miles from the Yellowstone River to
the boundary between Montana and Wyoming.
(2) Under Executive orders issued in 1884 and 1900, the western
boundary of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation was established as the
107th meridian. The 107th meridian was intended to be the common
boundary between the Crow Reservation and Northern Cheyenne
Reservation for approximately 25 miles.
(3) From 1889 through 1891, a survey was conducted of the
eastern boundary of the Crow Reservation. The 1891 survey line
strayed to the west, and resulted in the exclusion from the Crow
Indian Reservation of a strip of land of approximately 36,164 acres.
Approximately 12,964 acres of such strip of land were included in
the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. Deposits of low sulphur coal
underlie the land excluded from the Crow Indian Reservation,
including the land included in the Northern Cheyenne Indian
Reservation.
(4)(A) The erroneous nature of the survey was not discovered for
several decades. Meanwhile, the areas along the 107th meridian to
the north and south of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation were
opened to settlement in the late nineteenth century and early part
of the twentieth century. Patents were issued to non-Indian persons
and to the State of Montana for most of the surface land and a
significant portion of the minerals in these areas between the 107th
meridian and the 1891 survey line.
(B) The 12,964 acres included in the Northern Cheyenne
Reservation have been treated as part of the Northern Cheyenne
Reservation and occupied by the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and the
Northern Cheyenne allottees, and their successors in interest.
(5) Legislation to resolve the 107th meridian boundary dispute
was introduced in Congress in the 1960's and 1970's, and again in
1992, but no such legislation was enacted into law.
(b) Purpose
The purpose of this subchapter is to settle the 107th meridian
boundary dispute created by the erroneous survey of the eastern boundary
of the Crow Indian Reservation made by the Federal Government described
in subsection (a)(3) of this section.
(Pub. L. 103-444, Sec. 2, Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4632.)
Short Title
Section 1 of Pub. L. 103-444 provided that: ``This Act [enacting
this subchapter] may be cited as the `Crow Boundary Settlement Act of
1994'.''
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 1776j of this title.
