Executive Mansion, June 14, 1879. In lieu of an executive order dated January 10, 1879, setting apart certain lands in the Territory of Arizona as a reservation for the Pima and Maricopa Indians, which order is hereby canceled, it is hereby ordered that there be withdrawn from sale and settlement and set apart for the use of said Pima and Maricopa Indians, as an addition to the reservation set apart for said Indians by act of Congress approved February 28, 1859 (11 Stat., 401), the several tracts of country in said Territory of Arizona lying within the following boundaries, viz: Beginning at the point where the range-line between ranges 4 and 5 east crosses the Salt River; thence up and along the middle of said river to a point where the easterly line of Camp McDowell military reservation, if prolonged south, would strike said river; thence northerly to the southeast corner of Camp McDowell reservation; thence west along the southern boundary-line of said Camp McDowell reservation to the southwest corner thereof; thence up and along the west boundary line of said reservation until it intersects the north boundary of the southern tier of sections in township 3 north, range 6 east; thence west along the north boundary of the southern tier of sections in township 3 north, ranges 5 and 6 east, to the northwest corner of section 31, township 3 north, range 5 east; thence south along the rangeline between ranges 4 and 5 east to the place of beginning. Also all the land in said Territory bounded and described as follows, viz: Beginning at the northwest corner of the old Gila Reservation; thence by a direct line running northwesterly until it strikes Salt River 4 miles east from the intersection of said river with the Gila River; thence down and along the middle of said Salt River to the mouth of the Gila River; thence up and along the middle of said Gila River to its intersection with the northwesterly boundary line of the old Gila Reservation; thence northwesterly along the said last-described boundary line to the place of beginning. It is hereby ordered that so much of townships 1 and 2 north, ranges 5 and 6 east, lying south of the Salt River as are now occupied and improved by said Indians, be temporarily withdrawn from sale and settlement until such time as they may severally dispose of and receive payment for the improvements made by them on said lands. R. B. Hayes.
Executive Order—Expansion of Pima and Maricopa Indian Reservation
Executive Brief • At a Glance
There be withdrawn from sale and settlement and set apart for the use of said Pima and Maricopa Indians, as an addition to the reservation set apart for said Indians by act of Congress approved February 28, 1859 (11 Stat., 401), the several tracts of country in said Territory of Arizona lying within the following boundaries, viz: Beginning at the point where the range-line between ranges 4 and 5 east crosses the Salt River; thence up and along the middle of said river to a point where the easterly line of Camp McDowell military reservation, if prolonged south, would strike said river; thence northerly to the southeast corner of Camp McDowell reservation; thence west along the southern boundary-line of said Camp McDowell reservation to the…
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 June 14, 1879, this order concerns Expansion of Pima and Maricopa Indian Reservation. There be withdrawn from sale and settlement and set apart for the use of said Pima and Maricopa Indians, as an addition to the reservation set apart for said Indians by act of Congress approved February 28, 1859 (11 Stat., 401), the several tracts of country in said Territory of Arizona lying within the following boundaries, viz: Beginning at the point where the range-line between ranges 4 and 5 east crosses the…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
There be withdrawn from sale and settlement and set apart for the use of said Pima and Maricopa Indians, as an addition to the reservation set apart for said Indians by act of Congress approved February 28, 1859 (11 Stat., 401), the several tracts of country in said Territory of Arizona lying within the following boundaries, viz: Beginning at the point where the range-line between ranges 4 and 5 east crosses the Salt River; thence up and along the middle of said river to a point where the easterly line of Camp McDowell military reservation, if prolonged south, would strike said river; thence northerly to the southeast corner of Camp McDowell reservation; thence west along the southern boundary-line of said Camp McDowell reservation to the…
Also all the land in said Territory bounded and described as follows, viz: Beginning at the northwest corner of the old Gila Reservation; thence by a direct line running northwesterly until it strikes Salt River 4 miles east from the intersection of said river with the Gila River; thence down and along the middle of said Salt River to the mouth of the Gila River; thence up and along the middle of said Gila River to its intersection with the northwesterly boundary line of the old Gila Reservation; thence northwesterly along the said last-described boundary line to the place of beginning.
That so much of townships 1 and 2 north, ranges 5 and 6 east, lying south of the Salt River as are now occupied and improved by said Indians, be temporarily withdrawn from sale and settlement until such time as they may severally dispose of and receive payment for the improvements made by them on said lands.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
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.
"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."
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.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)
Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.
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.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
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.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order, Expansion of Pima and Maricopa Indian Reservation (June 14, 1879), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-expansion-pima-and-maricopa-indian-reservation.