Executive Mansion, March 6, 1880. It is hereby ordered that the tract of country in Washington Territory lying within the following-described boundaries, viz: Commencing at a point where the south boundary line of the reservation created for Chief Moses and bis people by Executive order dated April 19, 1879, intersects the Okinakane River; thence down said river to its confluence with the Columbia River; thence across and down the east bank of said Columbia River to a point opposite the river forming the outlet to Lake Chelan; thence across said Columbia River and along the south shore of said outlet to Lake Chelan; thence following the meanderings of the south bank of said lake to the mouth of Shehekin Creek; thence up and along the south bank of said creek to its source; thence due west to the forty-fourth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence north along said degree to the south boundary of the reservation created by Executive order of April 19, 1879; thence along the south boundary of said reservation to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, withdrawn from sale and settlement and set apart for the permanent use and occupancy of Chief Moses and his people and such other friendly Indians as may elect to settle thereon with his consent and that of the Secretary of the Interior, as ah addition to the reservation set apart for said Chief Moses and his people by Executive order dated April 19, 1879. R. B. Hayes.
Presidential Order
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order—Adding Land to Territory for Chief Moses
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (251 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The tract of country in Washington Territory lying within the following-described boundaries, viz: Commencing at a point where the south boundary line of the reservation created for Chief Moses and bis people by Executive order dated April 19, 1879, intersects the Okinakane River; thence down said river to its confluence with the Columbia River; thence across and down the east bank of said Columbia River to a point opposite the river forming the outlet to Lake Chelan; thence across said Columbia River and along the south shore of said outlet to Lake Chelan; thence following the meanderings of the south bank of said lake to the mouth of Shehekin Creek; thence up and along the south bank of said creek to its source; thence due west to the…
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Branch Departments General Body of the People
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Rutherford B. Hayes on March 6, 1880, this order concerns Adding Land to Territory for Chief Moses. The tract of country in Washington Territory lying within the following-described boundaries, viz: Commencing at a point where the south boundary line of the reservation created for Chief Moses and bis people by Executive order dated April 19, 1879, intersects the Okinakane River; thence down said river to its confluence with the Columbia River; thence across and down the east bank of said Columbia River to a point…
Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪
The tract of country in Washington Territory lying within the following-described boundaries, viz: Commencing at a point where the south boundary line of the reservation created for Chief Moses and bis people by Executive order dated April 19, 1879, intersects the Okinakane River; thence down said river to its confluence with the Columbia River; thence across and down the east bank of said Columbia River to a point opposite the river forming the outlet to Lake Chelan; thence across said Columbia River and along the south shore of said outlet to Lake Chelan; thence following the meanderings of the south bank of said lake to the mouth of Shehekin Creek; thence up and along the south bank of said creek to its source; thence due west to the…
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Branch Departments
🏛️ General Body of the People
Policy Areas & Topics
🏛️
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§
"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)
Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.
Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)
Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.
Hamiltonian Stance: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
GM
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
📐
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
26 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3
Low Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Low Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers
Moderate Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️
Audit Synthesis
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
ℹ️
How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
251
1,458 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
51.8
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order, Adding Land to Territory for Chief Moses (Mar. 6, 1880), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-adding-land-territory-for-chief-moses.
