Proclamation 518—Establishing the Slim Buttes Forest Reserve

Whereas, it is provided by section twenty-four of the Act of Congress, approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, 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 South Dakota, 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, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by section twenty-four of the aforesaid act of Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there are 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 South Dakota and particularly described as follows, to wit:

In Township seventeen (17) North, Range seven (7) East, Sections one (1), twelve (12), and thirteen (13), the south half of the north-east quarter and the south-east quarter of Section fourteen (14), the south-west quarter and the east half of Section twenty-three (23), Sections twenty-four (24), twenty-five (25), twenty-six (26), and thirty-five (35); in Township eighteen (18) North, Range seven (7) East, Section one (1), the east half of Section two (2), the south half of the north-east quarter, the south half of the north-west quarter and the south half of Section twenty-four (24) and Section twenty-five (25); in Township nineteen (19) North, Range seven (7) East, the east half of Section eleven (11), Sections twelve(12) and thirteen (13), the east half of Sections fourteen (14) and twenty-three (23), Section twenty-four (24), the north half of the south-east quarter, the north half of the south-west quarter and the north half of Section twenty-five (25) and the north half of the south-east quarter and the north-east quarter of Section twenty-six (26); in Township sixteen (16) North, Range eight (8) East, the west half of Section one (1), Sections two (2) to eleven (11), both inclusive, the west half and the south-east quarter of Section twelve (12), Sections thirteen (13), fourteen (14) and fifteen (15), the north half of Sections seventeen (17) and eighteen (18) and Section twenty-four (24); in Township seventeen (17) North, Range eight (8) East, Sections six (6), seven (7), eighteen (18), nineteen (19), twenty-nine (29), thirty (30), thirty-one (31) and thirty-two (32), the south half of Sections thirty-three (33), thirty-four (34) and thirty-five (35); in Township eighteen (18) North, Range eight (8) East, the north-west quarter of Section three (3), the north half of Section four (4), the west half of Section five (5), Sections six (6) and seven (7), the west half of Section eight (8), Sections seventeen (17), eighteen (18), nineteen (19) and twenty (20), the west half of Sections twenty-one (21) and twenty-eight (28), Sections twenty-nine (29), thirty (30), thirty-one (31) and. thirty-two (32) and the west half of Section thirty-three (33); in Township nineteen (19) North, Range eight (8) East, the south half of Section three (3), the south-east quarter of Section four (4), Sections seven (7), eight (8), nine (9), ten (10) and eleven (11), the west half of Section thirteen (13), Sections fourteen (14) to twenty-three (23), both inclusive, the west half of Sections twenty-four (24) and twenty-five (25), Sections twenty-six (26) to twenty-nine (29), both inclusive, the south-east quarter of the south-east quarter, the north half of the south-east quarter, the north half of the south-west quarter and the north half of Section thirty (30). the north-east quarter of the north-east quarter, the south half of the north-east quarter, the south half of the north-west quarter and the south half of Section thirty-one (31), Sections thirty-two (32) and thirty-three (33) and the west half of Section thirty-four (34); and in Township sixteen (16) North, Range nine (9) East, the south-west quarter of Section fifteen (15), the south half of Sections seventeen (17) and eighteen (18), Sections nineteen (19), twenty (20), twenty-one (21) and twenty-two (22), the south-west quarter of Section twenty-three (23), the west half of Section twenty-six (26), Sections twenty-seven (27) and twenty-eight (28), the east half of the north-west quarter of Section twenty-nine (29), the north half of Section thirty-three (33) and the north-west quarter of Section thirty-four (34); all of Black Hills Meridian, South Dakota.

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: 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 or settlement was made.

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to make settlement upon the lands reserved by this proclamation.

The reservation hereby established shall be known as The Slim Buttes Forest Reserve.

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 5th day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and four, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-eighth.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

By the President:

JOHN HAY

Secretary of State.