1866." This section also contains
an appropriation in furtherance of its purpose, and requires that the
action of the President thereunder should be reported to Congress.

The "unassigned" lands thus referred to should be construed to be those
which have not been transferred by the United States in pursuance of the
treaties mentioned in the section quoted.

The treaty with the Creeks is dated June 14, 1866. It was confirmed by a
Senate resolution passed July 19, 1866, and was proclaimed August 11,
1866 (14 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 785).

The third article of the treaty makes a cession of lands in the
following words:

In compliance with the desire of the United States to locate other
Indians and freedmen thereon, the Creeks hereby cede and convey to the
United States, to be sold to and used as homes for such other civilized
Indians as the United States may choose to settle thereon, the west half
of their entire domain, to be divided by a line running north and south;
the eastern half of said Creek lands, being retained by them, shall,
except as herein otherwise stipulated, be forever set apart as a home
for said Creek Nation; and in consideration of said cession of the west
half of their lands, estimated to contain 3,250,560 acres, the United
States agree to pay the sum of 30 cents per acre, amounting to $975,168.

The provision that the lands conveyed were "_to be sold to_ and
used as homes for such other civilized Indians," etc., has been steadily
regarded as a limitation upon the grant made to the United States. Such
a construction is admitted to be the true one in many ways, especially
by the continual reservation of the ceded lands from settlement by the
whites, by the sale of a portion of the same to Indians, by the use of
other portions as the home of Indians, and also by various provisions
in proposed legislation in Congress. Thus the bill now pending for the
organization of Oklahoma provides for the payment to the Creeks and
Seminoles of the ordinary Government price of $1.25 per acre, less the
amount heretofore paid.

The section of the law of 1885 first above quoted appears also to have
been passed in contemplation not only of the existence of a claim on the
part of the Creeks, but of the substantial foundation of that claim in
equity, if not in law, and in acknowledgment of the duty of the
Government to satisfactorily discharge the claim of the Indian people
before putting the