The Story of the Bitter Root
were entitled to the earnest consideration of a powerful republic, the Flatheads should have had that recognition; but the surrounding whites were already clamoring for the Indian possessions.
During all these seventeen years the Bitter Root Valley had not been "surveyed and examined," nor had the "judgment of the President" been obtained, as provided for in the eleventh article of their treaty. The Indians had not given the question of title another thought. Since Victor signed the treaty, every succeeding year had made the valley "better adapted to the wants of the Flathead tribe" than the Jocko or any other reservation, and the Indians held the national pledge that on this one condition the land was to be set apart for them as a separate reservation.
Still, the title had never been formally settled in the Indians; and the whites coveted the valley. Political wires were manipulated, and Washington was appealed to; the great Juggernaut which was to crush this band of Indians began to move.
To dispossess the Flatheads, their title must first be invalidated under color of law. This necessary formality required "the judgment of the President." Here it is, signed by U. S. Grant, President of the United States:
"Executive Mansion, November 14, 1871.
"The Bitter Root Valley, above the Lo-Lo Fork, in the Territory of Montana, having been carefully
