Proclamation 511—Establishment of the Highwood Mountains 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 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, 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 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 north-west corner of Section thirty-four (34), Township twenty (20) North, Range eight (8) East, Principal Meridian, Montana; thence easterly to the north-east corner of the north-west quarter of the north-east quarter of Section thirty-five (35), said township; thence southerly to the south-east corner of the south-west quarter of the north-east quarter of said section; thence easterly to the north-east corner of the south-east quarter of said section; thence southerly to the south-east corner of said section; thence easterly to the south-east corner of said township; thence northerly to the point for the north-west corner of the south-west quarter of Section nineteen (19), Township twenty (20) North, Range nine (9) East; thence easterly to the point for the north-east corner of the south-west quarter of Section twenty (20), said township; thence northerly to the point for the north-west corner of the north-east quarter of Section seventeen (17), said township; thence easterly along the surveyed and unsurveyed section lines to the north-east corner of the north-west quarter of Section seventeen (17), Township twenty (20) North, Range ten (10) East; thence southerly to the south-east corner of the south-west quarter of said section; thence easterly to the north-east corner of Section twenty-one (21), said township; thence southerly to the north-east corner of the south-east quarter of the north-east quarter of said section; thence easterly to the north-east corner of the south-east quarter of the north-west quarter of Section twenty-three (23), said township; thence southerly to the south-east corner of the north-west quarter of Section twenty-six (26), said township; thence westerly to the south-east corner of the north-east quarter of Section twenty-nine (29), said township; thence southerly to the south-east corner of said section; thence westerly to the north-east corner of the north-west quarter of Section thirty-two (32), said township; thence southerly to the south-east corner of the south-west quarter of said section; thence easterly to the north-east corner of the north-west quarter of the north-east quarter of Section five (5), Township nineteen (19) North, Range ten (10) East; thence southerly to the south-east corner of the north-west quarter of the north-east quarter of said section; thence easterly to the north-east corner of the south-east quarter of the north-east quarter of said section; thence southerly to the south-east corner of the north-east quarter of said section; thence easterly to the north-east corner of the south-west quarter of Section four (4), said township; thence southerly to the south-east corner of the south-west quarter of said section; thence easterly to the north-east corner of Section nine (9), said township; thence southerly to the south-east corner of said section; thence westerly to the south-west corner of Section seven (7), said township; thence southerly to the point for the south-east corner of Section twenty-four (24), Township nineteen (19) North, Range nine (9) East; thence westerly to the point for the south-west corner of said section; thence northerly to the point for the north-west corner of the south-west quarter of said section; thence westerly to the point for the south-west corner of the north-west quarter of Section twenty-two (22), said township; thence northerly to the point for the north-west corner of said section; thence westerly to the point for the north-east corner of Section twenty (20), said township; thence southerly to the point for the south-east corner of the northeast quarter of said section; thence westerly to the point for the south-west corner of the north-east quarter of said section; thence southerly to the point for the south-east corner of the south-west quarter of Section twenty-nine (29), said township; thence westerly along the unsurveyed section. lines to the point for the south-west corner of the south-east quarter of Section twenty-five (25), Township nineteen (19) North, Range eight (8) East; thence northerly to the north-west corner of the north-east quarter of said section; thence easterly to the north-east corner of said section; thence northerly to the south-east corner of Section thirteen (13), said township; thence westerly to the south-west corner of the south-east quarter of said section; thence northerly to the north-west corner of the north-east quarter of said section; thence westerly to the north-west corner of Section fourteen (14), said township; thence northerly to the point for the north-east corner of the south-east quarter of Section ten (10), said township; thence westerly to the north-east corner of the southeast quarter of Section eight (8), said township; thence northerly to the south-west corner of Section thirty-three (33), Township twenty (20) North, Range eight (8) East; thence easterly to the south-west corner of Section thirty-four (34), said township; thence northerly to the north-west corner of said section, 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: 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 Highwood Mountains 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 12th day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and three, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-eighth.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

By the President:

FRANCIS B. LOOMIS,

Acting Secretary of State.