Proclamation 395—Withdrawal of Lands for the Flathead Forest Reserve, Montana

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes"--

That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof.

And whereas the public lands in the State of Montana within the limits hereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and it appears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart and reserving said lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid act of Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is hereby reserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservation all those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and being situate in the State of Montana and within the boundaries particularly described as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the point on the south boundary of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation where said boundary line is intersected by the range line between ranges eight (8) and nine (9) west, principal meridian, Montana; thence southwesterly along the south boundary to the southwest corner of said reservation and northwesterly along the west boundary thereof as defined and described in the act of Congress approved June 10, 1896, entitled "An act making appropriations for current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, and for other purposes," to the point where the unsurveyed range line between ranges twelve (12) and thirteen (13) west will intersect said boundary line; thence southerly along said unsurveyed range line to the point for the northeast corner of township twenty-nine (29) north, range thirteen (13) west; thence westerly along the unsurveyed township line to the point for the northwest corner of said township; thence southerly along the unsurveyed range line to the point for the southwest corner of section eighteen (18), said township; thence westerly along the unsurveyed section line to the point for the northwest corner of section nineteen (19), township twenty-nine (29) north, range fourteen (14) west; thence southerly along the unsurveyed range line to the point for the southwest corner of said township twenty-nine (29) north, range fourteen (14) west; thence westerly along the unsurveyed seventh (7th) standard parallel north to the point for the southeast corner of township twenty-nine (29) north, range seventeen (17) west; thence northerly along the unsurveyed range line to the point for the northeast corner of said township; thence westerly along the unsurveyed township line to the point for the northwest corner of section three (3), said township; thence northerly along the unsurveyed section line to the point for the northeast corner of section four (4), township thirty (30) north, range seventeen (17) west; thence westerly along the unsurveyed township line to the point for the northwest corner of section three (3), township thirty (30) north, range nineteen (19) west; thence southerly along the unsurveyed and surveyed section line, subject to the proper offset on the seventh (7th) standard parallel north, to the southeast corner of section twenty-one (21), township twenty-eight (28) north, range nineteen (19) west; thence easterly along the unsurveyed section line to the point for the southeast corner of section twenty-four (24), said township; thence southerly along the unsurveyed and surveyed range line to the southeast corner of township twenty-seven (27) north, range nineteen (19) west; thence easterly along the surveyed and unsurveyed township line to the point for the northwest corner of section three (3), township twenty-six (26) north, range eighteen (18) west; thence southerly along the unsurveyed section line to the point for the southwest corner of section thirty-four (34), said township; thence westerly along the unsurveyed and surveyed township line to its intersection with the east shore of Flathead Lake; thence southerly along the shore of said lake to the north boundary of the Flathead Indian Reservation; thence easterly along the north boundary to the northeast corner of said reservation and southerly along the east boundary thereof to the point where said boundary line will be intersected by the unsurveyed fourth (4th) standard parallel north; thence easterly along said unsurveyed parallel to the point for the southeast corner of township seventeen (17) north, range seven (7) west; thence northerly along the unsurveyed range. line to the point for the northeast corner of said township; thence westerly along the unsurveyed township line to the point for the northwest corner of said township; thence northerly along the unsurveyed range line to the point for the northeast corner of township eighteen (18) north, range eight (8) west; thence westerly along the unsurveyed township line to the point for the southeast corner of township nineteen (19) north, range nine (9) west; thence northerly along the unsurveyed and surveyed range line between ranges eight (8) and nine (9) west, subject to the proper offsets on the fifth (5th), sixth (6th), and seventh (7th) standard parallels north, to the point of intersection with the south boundary of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, the place of beginning.

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands which may have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry or covered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United States land office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuant to law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing of record has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and held according to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations not in conflict therewith.

Provided , That this exception shall not continue to apply to any particular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimant continues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made.

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or make settlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation.

The rights and privileges reserved to the Indians of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation by Article I of the agreement set forth in and accepted, ratified, and confirmed by the act of Congress approved June 10, 1896, hereinbefore referred to, respecting that portion of their reservation relinquished to the United States by said Article I shall be in no way infringed or modified by reason of the fact that a part of the area so relinquished is embraced within the limits of the boundaries herein described and set apart as a forest reservation, nor shall the right of occupation, location, and purchase of said relinquished lands under the provisions of the mineral-land laws accorded by said act of Congress be abridged.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A.D. 1897, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-first.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

By the President:

RICHARD OLNEY,

Secretary of State .