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Description
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Blue Mountain Irrigation and Improvement Company, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Oregon, may purchase so much of sections one (1) and two (2) in township one (1) south of range thirty-three (33) east Willamette meridian, in the Umatilla Indian Reservation in the State of Oregon, as may be required by said company for the purpose of a reservoir, dam and grounds accompanying, out of lands allotted to or which may have been selected for allotment by any Indians, if said company shall be able to agree with the Indian owners or allottees thereof upon the terms of such sale and the Secretary of the Interior shall approve and ratify the same; but the said company shall have no right to compel the sale by any Indian owner or allottee of any lands for the purposes of reservoir or dam, or accompanying grounds. And said company may also take of the lands in said sections one and two in said reservation which have not yet been allotted, so much additional land as shall be required for the purposes of a reservoir and dam and necessary grounds appurtenant thereto, upon making payment as hereafter provided in respect to the right of way.
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And upon and after acquiring by purchase as aforesaid, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the necessary grounds for reservoir and dam, the right of way is hereby granted to said Blue Mountain Irrigation and Improvement Company for a main ditch or canal to commence at a point on McKay Creek north, six degrees west of corner to sections one, two, eleven and twelve, township one south, range thirty-three east, Willamette meridian, thence running across said Indian reservation to the city of Pendleton, and to the Umatilla River, with the right to divert the waters of McKay Creek and its tributaries and for such other purposes to construct and maintain reservoirs, dams, flumes, ditches, and such other structures and devices as may be necessary for storing, conveying, and distributing water at such points as said company may desire to use the same.
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Sec. 2. That the right of way to said company shall be fifty feet in width on each side of the center line of said ditch or canal, together with the ground adjacent to the said right of way for distributing ditches not exceeding ten acres in the aggregate for every ten miles of said ditch or canal. The company shall also have the right to enter upon lands adjacent to said canal or reservoir to take therefrom material, stone, earth, or timber necessary for the construction of said dam, ditch, or canal. But no land belonging to any Indian owner in severalty, or which shall have been selected for allotment by any Indian, shall be taken by the said company, nor shall the company have a right to take therefrom any material, stone, earth, or timber except by agreement with the said Indian owner approved by the Secretary of the Interior, or by first making compensation for the same, and any injury thereby caused to other lands of such Indian owner or allottee, to be determined by the Secretary of the Interior, after appraisal in the manner provided in section one of this act.
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Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Interior may appoint three commissioners to fix the amount of compensation to be paid the Indian owners or allottees for right of way for the said main ditch or canal of the said company, which shall include the value of the land taken therefor and all damages to other lands of such owner or allottee caused by such taking; and also to fix the amount of compensation to be paid for any lands of the tribe, not allotted or selected for allotment by individuals which may be required by the said company for reservoir and dam and adjacent grounds or for right of way or for distributing ditches, which shall be fixed upon the same principle; and such compensation and damages shall be ascertained and adjusted and all surveys made pursuant to such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe, and shall be in all cases subject to his approval.
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Sec. 4. That said company shall not assign, transfer, or mortgage its rights of way for any purpose whatever until the said canal shall be completed except however that the company may mortgage said franchise for the purpose of raising money to construct said reservoir and canals: Provided, That the right herein granted shall be lost and forfeited by said company unless the canal is constructed across the reservation within three years from the passage of this act.
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Sec. 5. That the right of immediate entry upon the lands of said reservation for the purpose of making surveys of the line of the ditch or canal of said company is hereby granted, but no right of any kind in or to any part of the right of way or other grounds above mentioned shall vest in said company until plats thereof, made upon actual survey for the definite location of said ditch or canal, including the points for dams, reservoirs and distributing ditches, with the amount of ground requisite for such purposes, shall be filed with the Secretary of the Interior, and until the compensation for said lands and for the services of said commissioners has been fixed and paid.