25 U.S.C. § 320 — Acquisition of lands for reservoirs or materials

submitted 117 years ago by ch. 263 to r/title-25-INDIANS · 484 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

This law lets the Secretary of the Interior grant railway companies land inside Indian reservations for reservoirs, material pits, or tree planting. Companies must apply, pay a set price, and follow acreage limits. Money paid goes to the tribe or to individual Indians who are harmed.

This section covers when a railway company can get land inside an Indian reservation for its railway. If the Secretary of the Interior decides it is necessary, a railway company that owns or runs a railway line through an Indian reservation may get land there for reservoirs, material or ballast pits, or for planting trees to protect its line. The Secretary can grant this land under whatever terms, conditions, and rules the Secretary sets. A company that wants this land must file an application with the Secretary describing the land it wants to buy. Once the company pays the agreed price, the Secretary has the land conveyed to the company on terms the Secretary thinks are proper. There are limits: no more than 40 acres for any one reservoir, and no more than 160 acres for any one material or ballast pit. A railway can only get one reservoir and one material or gravel pit for every 10 miles of its line inside a reservation. Land for tree planting can only be taken where the Secretary judges it necessary, must be in strips next to and parallel with the railway's right of way, and cannot be wider than 150 feet. All money paid for this land goes into the U.S. Treasury, credited to the tribe or tribes. If individual tribal members are harmed by the land being taken, the Secretary figures out the damages, the railway company pays them, and the Secretary passes that money on to the harmed individuals. This section also applies to land that has been allotted to an individual Indian under a law or treaty, but not yet fully transferred to that person with full rights to sell it. In that case, the Secretary decides how to figure the damages and compensation owed to the individual allottee. The railway company pays that amount to the Secretary, who then pays it to the allottee who was harmed.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

When, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Interior, it is necessary for any railway company owning or operating a line of railway in any Indian reservation to acquire lands in such Indian reservation for reservoirs, material, or ballast pits for the construction, repair, and maintenance of its railway, or for the purpose of planting and growing thereon trees to protect its line of railway, the said Secretary is authorized to grant such lands to any such railway company under such terms and conditions and such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the said Secretary.

When any railway company desiring to secure the benefits of this provision shall file with the Secretary of the Interior an application describing the lands which it desires to purchase, upon the payment of the price agreed upon the said Secretary shall cause such lands to be conveyed to the railway company applying therefor upon such terms and conditions as he may deem proper: Provided, That no lands shall be acquired under the terms of this provision in greater quantities than forty acres for any one reservoir, and one hundred and sixty acres for any material or ballast pit, to the extent of not more than one reservoir and one material or gravel pit in any one section of ten miles of any such railway in any Indian reservation: And provided further, That the lands acquired for tree planting shall be taken only at such places along the line of the railway company applying therefor as in the judgment of the said Secretary may be necessary, and shall be taken in strips adjoining and parallel with the right of way of the railway company taking the same, and shall not exceed one hundred and fifty feet in width.

All moneys paid for such lands shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the tribe or tribes, and the moneys received by said Secretary as damages sustained by individual members of the Indian tribe, which damages shall be ascertained by the Secretary of the Interior and paid by the railway company taking such lands, shall be paid by said Secretary to the Indian or Indians sustaining such damages. The provisions of this section are extended and made applicable to any lands which have been allotted in severalty to any individual Indian under any law or treaty, but which have not been conveyed to the allottee with full power of alienation; the damages and compensation to be paid to any Indian allottee shall be ascertained and fixed in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior may direct and shall be paid by the railway company to said Secretary; the damages and compensation paid to the Secretary of the Interior by the railway company taking any such land shall be paid by said Secretary to the allottee sustaining such damages.

Source credit: (Mar. 3, 1909, ch. 263, 35 Stat. 781, 782; May 6, 1910, ch. 204, 36 Stat. 349.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1909Enacted · Act of Mar. 3, 1909, ch. 263 · 35 Stat. 781, 782
1910Amended · Act of May 6, 1910, ch. 204 · 36 Stat. 349

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 263 on 1909-03-03.

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