Restoration of mineral rights in 480 acres on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming to the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes of that reservation was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton.
The lands involved in the restoration were originally among the unallotted and unreserved lands of the Wind River Reservation and were homesteaded by non-Indians during the 1930's. Mineral rights, however, were reserved to the United States.
In 1940 the lands were reacquired by the United States in trust for the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes but the minerals were not at that time restored to tribal ownership.
The restoration was requested by the Shoshone and Arapaho Indians through their tribal councils and was recommended by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons.
