Proclamation 1282—Disposal of Lands in the Crow Indian Reservation, Montana

Whereas, the Act of Congress directing the disposal of lands within a specified part of the Crow Indian Reservation, in the State of Montana, approved April 27, 1904, provides among other things:

That when, in the judgment of the President, no more of the land herein ceded can be disposed of at said price, he may by proclamation, to be repeated at his discretion, sell from time to time the remaining land subject to the provisions of the homestead law or otherwise as he may deem most advantageous, at such price or prices, in such manner, upon such conditions, with such restrictions, and upon such terms as he may deem best for all the interests concerned;

And Whereas, proclamations issued on September 9, 1910, and August 9, 1912, under said Act, directed the sale of certain lands, all of which have not been disposed of;

And Whereas, in my judgment, the undisposed of lands affected by said Proclamations can be most advantageously disposed of in the manner hereinafter prescribed;

Now, Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim and direct that all the unsold, unentered, nonmineral, unreserved lands affected by said Act, which are not withdrawn under the Reclamation Act, shall be disposed of in the following manner and not otherwise:

1. Units and fractional units. - - The lands shall be disposed of in units and fractional units. Prior to May 15, 1915, the contiguous land subject to disposition in the north or south half of any section shall be deemed a unit if it makes as much as 240 acres and a fractional unit if it makes less than that area; and on and after that date such land in any section shall be deemed a unit if it makes as much as 480 acres and a fractional unit if it makes less than that area.

2. Purchase and special additional homestead. - - On and after October 10, 1914, any person owning less than 320 acres acquired under the provisions of the homestead laws may execute an application to purchase, and any person who has a valid homestead entry for less than 320 acres, may execute an application to enter as a special additional homestead, the land in the unit or fractional unit in the half section in which the major portion of the land so owned or entered is situated, and if such land is situated in equal parts in two or more such half sections the owner thereof or entryman may elect to purchase or enter any one of such units. Beginning May 15, 1915, when a section shall constitute the unit that may be acquired hereunder, any person who, prior to that date, shall have purchased or entered the land in any half section unit may purchase or enter the remaining contiguous land in such enlarged unit if then undisposed of.

3. Special homesteads. - - After October 26, 1914, any person who is the head of a family or has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, is a citizen of the United States or has declared his intention to become such citizen, and is not the proprietor of more than 160 acres of land in the United States, may execute an application to enter as a special homestead the land in any unit or fractional unit, or the land in two or more contiguous fractional units if the combined area does not exceed approximately 320 acres; and on and after May 15, 1915, the land in any unit or fractional unit, or the land in two or more contiguous fractional units if the combined area does not exceed approximately 940 acres.

4. Omission of part of unit or fractional unit. - - No purchase, special additional homestead or special homestead will be allowed for part only of a unit or fractional unit.

5. Settlement before entry. - - No right can be acquired under the provisions of this Proclamation by settlement before entry.

6. Price of lands and terms. - - The price of the lands shall be three dollars per acre if entered or purchased prior to September 15, 1915, and two dollars per acre if entered or purchased on or after that date. One-third of the price must be paid when entry or purchase is made. In the case of a purchase, the balance of the price must be paid in two equal payments, one year and two years thereafter, unless paid sooner, and, in the case of an entry, in two equal payments three years and four years thereafter, unless paid sooner. A purchaser may make payment of the unpaid installments at any time before they become due, and final certificate will issue, in the absence of objection, upon such payment being made. An entryman must make final payment when proof is submitted, if it is submitted before four years from the date of entry.

7. Execution and presentation of applications. - - Applications to purchase or enter may be executed before the register or the receiver of the United States land office for the district in which the land is situated, or before a United States Commissioner, or a judge or a clerk of a court of record residing in the county in which the land is situated, or before any such officer who resides outside the county and in the land district and is nearest and most accessible to the land. All applications must be presented, with the required payment, to the register and receiver, in person, by mail, or otherwise.

8. Disposition of applications to purchase and to make special additional homesteads. - - All applications to purchase or to make special additional homesteads received by the register and receiver at or prior to nine o'clock a.m., standard time, on October 26, 1914, will be treated as filed simultaneously; and where there is no conflict such applications, if in proper form and accompanied by the required proofs and payments, will be allowed immediately thereafter; and, in the case of conflicts, where the applicants show that they are equally entitled to enter or purchase, the rights of the several parties shall be disposed of by a drawing, which will begin at ten o'clock a.m., standard time, on October 27, 1914, in the manner hereinafter provided for the disposition of conflicting applications to make special homesteads. Applications to purchase, or to make special additional homesteads, received after nine o'clock a.m. on October 26, 1914, will receive equal consideration with, but will not be preferred over applications to make special homesteads.

9. Allowance of applications. - - All applications received by the register and receiver after nine o'clock a.m., standard time, on October 26, 1914, and at or prior to nine o'clock a.m. on November 10, 1914, will be treated as filed simultaneously; and where there is no conflict such applications, if in proper form and accompanied by the required payments, will be allowed immediately thereafter. Where there are such applications conflicting in whole or in part, the right of the several applicants will be determined by a public drawing, which will begin at ten o'clock a.m., standard time, on November 11, 1914. The names of such applicants will be written on cards and each of these cards shall be placed in an envelope upon which there is no distinctive or identifying mark. These envelopes shall be thoroughly and impartially mixed, and then drawn, one at a time, by some disinterested person. As the envelopes are drawn, the cards shall be numbered, beginning with number 1, and fastened to the applications of the respective persons, which shall be the order in which the applications shall be acted upon and disposed of. If an applicant fails to secure any of the land applied for, his application shall be rejected. If he obtains part but not all of the land applied for, he shall, on or after November 11, 1914, be allowed thirty days from receipt of notice within which to notify the register and receiver whether to allow his application for the part obtained or to reject it in whole. If he does not notify the register and receiver within the time allowed, the application will be rejected in whole. If any other fractional unit or fractional units are subject to disposal and to inclusion in an entry with the land secured by such applicant, he may amend his application to include such lands, provided he is the prior applicant therefor and makes the necessary payment. Applications to purchase, to make special additional homesteads, and to make special homesteads, presented after nine o'clock a.m., standard time, on November 10, 1914, will be received and noted in the order of their filing and acted upon and disposed of after all applications presented at or before that time have been acted upon and disposed of.

10. Payments. - - Each person presenting an application to purchase or enter must accompany such application with the required first payment. If an application is not allowed in whole, but is allowed in part, the moneys deposited in excess of the required payment will be returned; and if an application is rejected in whole the sum will be returned. The payment must be made in cash, by a certified check on a national or state bank or trust company which can be cashed without cost to the Government, or by a postoffice money order, made payable to the receiver of the land office. No other form of payment will be accepted.

11. Requirements. - - In order to obtain title to an entry allowed under the provisions of this Proclamation, the entryman must comply with the general provisions of the homestead laws and regulations not in conflict herewith for three years. No entry allowed under the provisions of this Proclamation shall be subject to commutation. The requirements as to residence must be strictly complied with, but the Secretary of the Interior may reduce the prescribed area of cultivation if proper application and sufficient showing are made to warrant such reduction. In the case of a special additional homestead, the residence of the entryman may be upon the land used as a base in the allowance thereof and nothing herein shall prevent such entryman from making full payment and acquiring title to the additional homestead when he can complete title to the base or the original entry.

12. Forfeitures. - - If an entryman fails to make any payment when it becomes due, or fails to comply with the requirements of the homestead law as herein modified, his entry will be canceled and all payments theretofore made on the purchase price of the land will be forfeited; and such payments will also be forfeited if the entry is canceled for any other reason and repayment is not authorized under the law.

13. Lands re-entered. - - If any entry heretofore made for nonmineral lands under the provisions of the Act of April 27, 1904, supra, or if any entry or purchase made under the provisions of this Proclamation is canceled, the land may be re-entered or purchased at the price at which it was formerly entered or purchased and not otherwise.

14. Forms, rules and regulations. - - The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to make and prescribe such forms, rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry the provisions of this Proclamation into full force and effect.

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 twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fourteen and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and thirty-ninth.

WOODROW WILSON

By the President,

W. J. BRYAN

Secretary of State.