§320 Acquisition of Lands for Reservoirs or Materials

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior can let a railroad company acquire land inside an Indian reservation for reservoirs, material or ballast pits, or for planting trees to protect the railroad. A company must apply and pay the agreed price, and the Secretary will transfer the land under the terms he sets. No more than 40 acres may be taken for any one reservoir, and no more than 160 acres for any material or ballast pit. At most one reservoir and one material or gravel pit may be taken in any 10-mile stretch of the railroad. Land for tree planting must be strips next to and alongside the railroad and may not be wider than 150 feet. Money paid for the land is put in the U.S. Treasury for the tribe. Any money for damage to individual Indians is decided by the Secretary, paid by the railroad to the Secretary, and then given to the injured Indian. The same rules apply to lands already allotted to individual Indians that are not yet fully transferable; compensation for those allotments is fixed and paid in the same way.