By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
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 Territory of Arizona, 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 Territory of Arizona, and within the boundaries particularly described as follows, to wit:
Beginning at the north-west corner of township fifteen (15) south, range fourteen (14) east, Gila and Salt River Meridian, Arizona; thence southerly along the range line to its intersection with the third (3d) Standard Parallel south; thence easterly along said parallel to the north-west corner of section five (5), township sixteen (16) south, range fourteen (14) east; thence southerly along the section lines to the south-west corner of section twenty (20), said township; thence easterly to the south-east corner of said section; thence southerly along the section lines to the north-east corner of section eight (8), township seventeen (17) south, range fourteen (14) east; thence westerly to the north-west corner of said section; thence southerly along the section lines to the north-east corner of section thirty-one (31), said township; thence westerly to the north-west corner of said section; thence southerly along the range line to its intersection with the northern boundary of the San Ygnacio de la Canon Grant, as confirmed by the United States Court of Private Land Claims; thence in a south-east erly and south-westerly direction along the boundary of said grant to its intersection with the range line between ranges thirteen (13) and fourteen (14) east; thence southerly to the north-east corner of township nineteen (19) south, range thirteen (13) east; thence westerly along the township line to its intersection with the boundary of said grant; thence in a south-westerly and northwesterly direction along said boundary to its intersection with the section lines between sections twenty-eight (28) and twenty-nine (29) and thirty-two (32) and thirty-three (33), said township; thence southerly to the north-east corner of section eight (8), township twenty (20) south, range thirteen (13) east; thence westerly to the north-west corner of said section; thence southerly to the south-west corner of section twenty (20), said township; thence easterly to the south-east corner of said section; thence southerly to the south-west corner of section thirty-three (33), said township; thence easterly to the south-east corner of section thirty-five (35), said township; thence northerly to the north-east corner of said section; thence easterly to the south-east corner of section twenty-five (25), said township; thence southerly along the range line to its intersection with the fourth (4th) Standard Parallel south; thence easterly, along the said surveyed and unsurveyed parallel, to the point for its intersection with the range line between ranges fifteen (15) east and sixteen (16) east; thence northerly along said range line to the north-west corner of township nineteen (19) south, range sixteen (16) east; thence easterly to the south-east corner of section thirty-four (34), township eighteen (18) south, range seventeen (17) east; thence northerly along the section lines to the south-west corner of section fourteen (14), said township; thence easterly to the south-east corner of said section; thence northerly to the south-west corner of section one (1), said township; thence easterly to the south-east corner of said section; thence northerly to the north-east corner of said section; thence westerly to the south-east corner of section thirty-five (35), township seventeen (17) south, range seventeen (17) east; thence northerly to the north-east corner of said section; thence easterly to the south-east corner of section twenty-five (25), said township; thence northerly to the north-east corner of section twelve (12), said township; thence westerly to the north-west corner of said section; thence northerly to the north-east corner of section two (2), said township; thence westerly to the south-east corner of section thirty-three (33), township sixteen (16) south, range seventeen (17) east; thence northerly to the north-east corner of said section; thence westerly to the north-west corner of said section; thence northerly to the north-east corner of the south-east quarter of section twenty-nine (29), said township; thence westerly along the quarter-section lines to the north-east corner of the south-east quarter of section twenty-five (25), township sixteen (16) south, range sixteen (16) east; thence northerly to the north-east corner of said section; thence westerly to the north-west corner of said section; thence northerly to the north-east corner of section twenty-three (23), said township; thence westerly to the south-east corner of section seventeen (17), said township; thence northerly to the north-east corner of section eight (8), said township; thence westerly to the north-west corner of said section; thence northerly to the north-east corner of section six (6), said township; thence westerly along the third (3d) Standard Parallel south to the south-east corner of section thirty-five (35), township fifteen (15) south, range fifteen (15) east; thence northerly to the north-east corner of section twenty-six (26), said township; thence westerly to the north-west corner of said section; thence northerly to the north-east corner of section twenty-two (22), said township; thence westerly to the south-east corner of section seventeen (17), said township; thence northerly to the north-east corner of section eight (8), said township; thence westerly to the north-west corner of said section; thence northerly to the north-east corner of section six (6), said township; thence westerly to the south-east corner of section thirty-five (35), township fourteen (14) south, range fourteen (14) east; thence northerly to the north-east corner of section twenty-six (26), said township; thence westerly to the north-west corner of section twenty-seven (27), said township; thence southerly to the south-west corner of section thirty-four (34), said township; thence westerly to the north-west corner of township fifteen (15) south, range fourteen (14) east, 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 tract of land reserved by this proclamation.
The reservation hereby established shall be known as The Santa Rita 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 eleventh day of April, A. D. 1902, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-sixth.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
By the President:
DAVID J. HILL,
Acting Secretary of State.
Theodore Roosevelt, Proclamation 468—Establishing the Santa Rita Forest Reserve Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/206302