SCLC / Rosa #702 — 1882 “abandoned forts” were vacant posts for nomadic treaty-claim youth
The 1961 Commission Justice report’s shorthand that an 1882 law converted “abandoned army forts” omits the act’s limits. July 31, 1882, ch. 363, 22 Stat. 181 lets the War Secretary set aside vacant posts or barracks only while not required for military occupation, for normal/industrial schools for Indian youth from the nomadic tribes having educational treaty claims. It supplies no new dollar appropriation and names no particular fort conversion.
Resolution: “Abandoned” suggests permanent relinquishment for general Indian schooling; the statute is temporary vacancy + specified constituency + reassignment of existing/future education moneys. Archive: README. Standing three hundred fifty-three HOLDS.