History Documentation:
WISCONSIN-MINNESOTA LIGHT & POWER FLOWAGE PROPOSAL 1916 December, 5
December 5, 1916 –
Proposition of Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company,
a Wisconsin Corporation to the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
The Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company,
desiring to obtain flowage rights upon tribal and allotted lands in the
Lac Courte Oreilles Indian Reservation, in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, for
a storage reservoir dam to be built in the Chippewa River, below the junction
of the East and West Forks, in Town 39 North, Range 6 West, with the crest
of said dam at an elevation not to exceed 1315 feet above sea level, according
to the United State Geological Survey; makes to the Lac Courte Oreilles
Indians and to the members of said tribe owning allotment which will be
overflowed in whole or in part by the construction and operation of said
storage dam, the following proposition, which when accepted by the tribe
and approved by the Secretary of the Interior of the United States; shall
become a binding and valid contract.
In consideration for the right to perpetually
overflow the tribal or unallotted lands and the highways within the reservation
within the 1315 foot contour line shown upon the map hereto attached and
made a part hereof, the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company, hereafter
called the Company, hereby agrees that:
1. The Company will convey, or cause to be conveyed to
the United States in Trust for the Lac Courte Oreilles tribe of Chippewa
Indians, the so-called Huss Townsite located on the East side of Court
Oreilles Lake in Town 29 North, Range 8 West, Sawyer County, Wisconsin,
being the whole of Lots 4 and 5, Section 5, and Government Lot 2 Section
6, Township 39 North, Range 8 West of the Fourth Principal Meridian, Sawyer
County, Wisconsin, being 100 acres more or less, including the platted
subdivision known as the Village of Reserve and the First Addition to the
Village of Reserve, and the amend the plat of Block 7 in the Village of
Reserve, except: Lots 11 and 15 in Block 3, Lots 1 and 2 in Block 4, and
Lot 7 in Block 6, and Lots 15, 16, 17 and 18 in Block 15, Lot 3 in Block
16, and Lots 18 and the west 50 feet of 19 in Block 17 of the Village
of Reserve; and Lots 3, 4, 5 ,6, 7 and 8 of Block 9 of The First Addition
of the Village of Reserve; and Lots 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the amended plat
of Block 7 in the Village of Reserve, all according to the recorded plats
thereof on file in the office of the Register of Deeds of said County;
And except accept a parcel of land bounded and described
as follows: Beginning at the water line of Lac Courte Oreilles 20 feet
west of the northeast corner of Government Lot 5 and running thence east
20 feet to said northeast corner thence south along the east line of Government
Lot 5, 420 feet, thence west 210 feet to the waterline of Lac Courte Oreilles,
thence northeasterly along said water line approximately 470 feet to point
of beginning, being 1 acre more or less all in Government Lot 5, Section
5,
And except a parcel of land bounded and described as
follows: Beginning at a point on the north line of Farm(?) Street of the
Village of Reserve 283 feet east of the northeast corner of Main and Ebbert
Streets and running thence northeasterly 50 feet along the north side of
Main Street thence northwesterly at a right angle to Main Street, 145 feet,
thence southwesterly parallel to Main Street 43.7 feet thence southeasterly
140 feet to the beginning, being .15 of one acre, all in Government Lot
5, Section 5;
And except a parcel of land bounded and described as
follows: Beginning at a point 66 feet easterly along the south side of
Main Street from the northeast corner of Lot 1, Block 17, Village of Reserve
and running thence southeasterly 140 feet to the east line of Lot 1, Block
17, thence northeasterly 59.3 feet, thence northwesterly 140 feet, thence
southwesterly along the south side of Main Street to the beginning, being
.18 of an acre all in Government Lot 5, Section 5;
And except a parcel of land bounded and described as
follows: Beginning at a point on the south line of Lot 7, Block 9 First
Addition to Reserve, 50 feet east of the southwest corner of said Lot 7
running thence southeasterly to the water line of Little Couderay Lake
on a line parallel to the west line of Lot 7 thence westerly along said
water line to the southwest corner of Lot 8, Block 9 First Addition of
Reserve, thence easterly along the south line of said Lots 8 and 7 to the
point of beginning, except the highways, being 1½ acres more or
less, all in Government Lot 2, Section 6, Township 39 North, Range 8 West
of the 4th Principal Meridian.
A blue print map of the land above described marked
‘Exhibit A’, is hereto attached and made
a part hereof. Upon said map the lands excepted are shown in red.
2. The Company will erect upon this Townsite for each
Indian owning a house or other building upon tribal lands at the Indian
Village now located Sections 31 and 32, of Township 40 North, Range 6 West
hereinafter called the Post, a new house or building now located at the
Post, or the company will pay the Indian owner of such building in cash
the amount it would cost the Company to build the new building or buildings
at the New Village.
3. The Company will build upon this new Townsite, or
other location to be properly designated for that purpose, a new Catholic
Church of sufficient size to afford all the Indians of the Lac Courte Oreilles
tribe or at the election of the proper authorities in the Catholic Church,
pay to the properly designated representative of said church in cash the
fair estimated cost of build such new church.
4. The Company will pay to the properly designated representative
of the Presbyterian Church the fair value of the Presbyterian mission building
located at the Post.
5. The Company will pay the cost of removing the remains
of all the deceased Indians, whose graves are in the cemetery at the Post
or upon land that will be overflowed by the construction of said storage
dam, to a new cemetery located at the new village, or to the high ground
at the Post, or to any other point within the Reservation which shall be
selected by the tribe. If the tribe shall elect to have (7 words illegible)
of the existing cemetery at the Post (5 words illegible) said graves the
Company will erect around such cemetery at the Post a fence consisting
of substantial concrete posts and connected by a substantial iron rod or
chain.
6. (a) The Company will open up and construct, with the
consent of the Indians, whose allotments will be affected, a new highway
running east and west approximately running along the center line of Sections
8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 in Town 39 North, Range 8 West, and Section 7 in Town
39 North, Range 7 West, from the Indian Village located near the center
of Section 8, Town 39 North, Range 8 West, to the center of Section 7,
Town 39 North, Range 7 West, and running thence in a northeasterly direction
from the center of Section 7 to the existing highway on the northeast quarter
of Section 5 is said township.
(b) The Company will also open up and construct a new
public highway partially across land owned or to be acquired by the Company
and not now included in the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation, extending
to a northerly direction from the existing highway on the northeast quarter
of Section of Section 6, in Town 39 North, Range 7 West, approximately
along the west boundary line of the East one half to the East one half
of Section 31, to a new bridge to be constructed across the Chief River
on the southeast quarter of Section 30, Town 40 North, Range 7 West, and
thence northwesterly across sections 30 and 19 in Town 40 North, Range
7 West, to the east boundary line of the Reservation and thence northerly
approximately along the east boundary line of the reservation to the existing
highway on the southeast one-quarter of Section 12, Town 40 North, Range
8 West.
(c) The Company will also open up and construct a new
highway from the high land at the south end of Chief Lake across the east
one half of southeast one-quarter of Section 1, and the east one half of
the northeast one-quarter of Section 12 to the new highway described in
paragraph (a) above.
The new highways will be constructed by the Company
shall be located approximately along the lines marked in red upon the map
marked ‘Exhibit B’ hereto attached and made a part here of.
7. The Company will build new bridges or culverts upon
plans to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior wherever the same
shall be necessary for the use of the highways now existing or to be constructed
upon the Reservation or upon Sections 19, 30 and 31 of Town 40 North, Range
7 West, under this agreement, whenever said new bridges or highways shall
be made necessary by reason of raising of the water by said storage reservoir
dam except that the Company shall not be required to build culverts or
bridges upon the portions of the highways, hereinafter specifically described
as the highways may be overflowed.
8. The Company will, at the election of the Indian owner
of any allotment which would be wholly or partially overflowed by said
reservoir dam, convey to the United States in trust for the said Indian
owner in exchange for the fee title to the said allotment, as many acres
of land located within or adjoining the boundaries of the reservation as
there are in the allotment so over-flowed and, will pay to said Indian
owner in cash, the amount, if any, that his allotments with the improvements
thereon shall exceed in value the land conveyed in exchange thereof, or,
at the (6 words illegible) former owner whose allotment shall be wholly
or partially overflowed, the Company shall purchase from the said Indian
owner, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the fee title
to said allotment and pay therefore the fair cash value of said allotment,
or the Company will pay cash to such Indian owner the damage to his allotment
resulting from the construction and operation of said storage reservoir
dam. If in any case the Company and the Indian owner of the allotment shall
not be able to agree to the amount to be paid to the owner, such amount
shall be determined by three appraisers, one of whom shall be select by
the owner, one by the company and the third by the two so selected.
9. The Company will cause all lands which shall be conveyed
to the United States in trust for the tribe, or for any member of the tribe
under the previsions of this agreement, to be made tax exempt by the act
of the Legislature of the State of Wisconsin in the same manner and to
the same extent that the lands now within the Reservation, or, if the Company
shall be unable to obtain such legislation, it will pay all taxes assessed
on such lands as long as they shall continue to be owned by said tribe,
or member thereof, and its right to exercise flowage rights upon Indian
lands, which it shall obtain pursuant to this agreement, shall be conditioned
on such payment of such taxes and shall terminate if it shall neglect or
fail to have such lands made tax-exempt or itself pay the taxed assessed
thereon.
10. The highways on the Indian reservation which
the Company shall the right to overflow without providing embankments,
bridges, or culverts under this agreement are located as follows:
(a) (6½ lines illegible) quarter of Section 34,
in Town 40 North, Range 6 West.
(b) So much of the highway extending around the southerly
edge of Chief Lake across Section 6 in Town 39 North, Range 7 West and
Section 1 in Town 39 North, Range 8 West as will be overflowed by said
storage reservoir dam.
The highways which will be overflowed under this
provision of the agreement are indicated by green lines upon the map hereto
attached and made a part hereof.
11. This agreement except those parts which from
their nature cannot be performed, shall be substantially performed by the
Company before any of the tribal or allotted lands are overflowed.
EXECUTED at Grand Rapids, Michigan this 5th Day of December
1916.
Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company
(signed) – (Joseph Brewer)
President
ATTEST:
(signed)-( Willis J. Redding)
Assistant Secretary
(Corporate Seal Attached)