Proclamation 396—Withdrawal of Lands for the Lewis and Clark 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 the State of Montana and within the boundaries particularly described as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the southwest corner of township thirty-three (33) north, range twenty-five (25) west, principal meridian, Montana; thence easterly along the surveyed and unsurveyed eighth (8th) standard parallel north to the northeast corner of township thirty-two (32) north, range twenty-two (22) west; thence southerly along the range line between ranges twenty-one (21) and twenty-two (22) west to the southeast corner of section thirteen (13) of said township thirty-two (32) north, range twenty-two (22) west; thence easterly along the unsurveyed section line to the point for the southeast corner of section thirteen (13), township thirty-two (32) north, range eighteen (18) west; thence southerly along the unsurveyed range line between ranges seventeen (17) and eighteen (18) west to the northwest corner of township thirty-one (31) north, range seventeen (17) west; thence easterly along the township line between townships thirty-one (31) and thirty-two (32) north to the northwest corner of section two (2), township thirty-one (31) north, range seventeen (17) west; thence along the section lines southerly to the southwest corner of section twenty-three (23) and easterly to the northeast corner of section twenty-five (25), said township; thence southerly along the range line between ranges sixteen (16) and seventeen (17) west to the southeast corner of said township thirty-one (31) north, range seventeen (17) west; thence easterly along the unsurveyed township line between townships thirty (30) and thirty-one (31) north to the point for the southeast corner of township thirty-one (31) north, range sixteen (16) west; thence southerly along the unsurveyed range line between ranges fifteen (15) and sixteen (16) west to the point for the southwest corner of township thirty (30) north, range fifteen (15) west; thence easterly along the unsurveyed township line between townships twenty-nine (29) and thirty (30) north to the point for the southeast corner of said township thirty (30) north; thence northerly along the unsurveyed range line between ranges fourteen (14) and fifteen (15) west to the point for the southeast corner of section thirteen (13), said township thirty (30) north, range fifteen (15) west; thence along the unsurveyed section lines easterly to the point for the southeast corner of section sixteen (16) and northerly to the point for the northeast corner of section four (4), township thirty (30) north, range fourteen (14) west; thence easterly along the unsurveyed township line between townships thirty (30) and thirty-one (31) north to the point for the southeast corner of township thirty-one (31) north, range fourteen (14) west; thence northerly along the unsurveyed range line between ranges thirteen (13) and fourteen (14) west to the point where it will intersect the west boundary of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation as said boundary is defined and described in the act of Congress approved June 19, 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;" thence northwesterly along the boundary of said Indian reservation to its point of intersection with the international boundary line between the State of Montana and the British possessions; thence westerly along said international boundary line to the point for the unsurveyed range line between ranges twenty-five (25) and twenty-six (26) west; thence southerly along the unsurveyed range line between ranges twenty-five (25) and twenty-six (26) west to the ninth (9th) standard parallel north; thence easterly along said parallel to the northeast corner of township thirty-six (36) north, range twenty-six (26) west; thence southerly along the range line between ranges twenty-five (25) and twenty-six (26) west to the southwest corner of township thirty-three (33) north, range twenty-five (25) west, 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 .