144 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



the titles are yet inchoate, and still other lands where 

 the titles are in dispute. Under these circumstances, 

 it is impossible to state in definite figures the amount 

 of the lands which will thus ultimately pass out of the 

 hands of the Government. Again, there are large 

 tracts of land in the arid and sub-humid regions still 

 belonging to the General Government but which are 

 included in Indian reservations. The total area of 

 these lands is 63,000,000 acres. And yet again, there 

 are large tracts of Government land included in the 

 forest reservations. In part these forest reservations 

 are in humid regions, but they encroach upon the arid 

 regions and have a considerable extent therein, but 

 are elevated and mountainous, and constitute the 

 most important catchment area for the water supply 

 of the arid region. The total amount of these forest 



Vacanl 



Public Lands 

 In West 



Exhibiting total area of United States, exclusive of Alaska, and 



showing proportions of vacant, reserved and 



disposed of lands. 



reserves, including the Yellowstone National Park, is 

 nearly 20,000,000 acres, of which a part but not a 

 clearly defined part falls within the arid region. 



There is therefore left within the arid region an 

 area of a little more than 500,000,000 of acres yet 

 open to settlement not disposed of to individuals, 

 not in the possession of corporations, not included in 

 Indian reservations, and not included in timber 

 reservations. 



These estimates of the extent of vacant public 

 lands have been prepared from reports of the gen- 

 eral land office, and have been revised by a critical 

 examination of the original records of that bureau. 



HOW MUCH CAN BE UTILIZED ? 



Considering only the 500,000,000 acres of vacant 

 and not dedicated lands which lie wholly within arid 

 or sub-humid climates, it is of primary importance to 



determine what proportion of these can be utilized 

 by the present or coming generations, employing the 

 resources known to exist or the methods proved to be 

 feasible. In order to make an analysis of the value 

 and resources of this vacant public land, a general 

 map (shown on page 145) has been prepared, exhibit- 

 ing its location. As shown by this map, in central 

 North Dakota, central South Dakota, western Ne- 

 braska, western Kansas and Oklahoma, lands are 

 found in scattered spots. Westward the areas in- 

 crease in size and gradually join in larger blocks, 

 until in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, 

 and the States and Territories to the west, the vacant 

 lands form by far the greater part of the area, the 

 private lands appearing as scattered islands. Toward 

 the Pacific coast and northerly in the plains of Wash- 

 ington the vacant lands decrease again, broad 

 stretches of private lands occupying the great val- 

 leys of California and the States to the north. 



Crossing the vacant public lands are the broad 

 belts of lands granted to various Pacific railroads. 

 Within these bands, from 50 to more than 100 miles 

 in width, every alternate section is claimed by some 

 corporation. Although selections of millions of acres 

 have been made by the railroads, not all of these 

 selections have been patented. The total area right- 

 fully owned or claimed cannot, therefore, be" ascer- 

 tained until many pending decisions have been 

 rendered. 



RESERVATION LOCATIONS. 



Besides the railroad lands, there are two classes of 

 lands belonging to the Government which should be 

 considered, namely, the forest reservations and the 

 Indian reservations. The forest reservations are of 

 late origin, being created under the act of March 3, 

 1891. There are now eighteen of these, having a total 

 area, including the Yellowstone National Park, of 

 19,483,800 acres, or very nearly one per cent, of the 

 total area of the United States. The greater portion 

 of these reservations are in Oregon and California, 

 along the crests of the Cascade mountains and the 

 Sierra Nevada, and in Colorado, where they cover 

 parts of the higher mountain ranges. 



The Indian reservations of the West have been 

 greatly reduced within the past decade, and now 

 comprise only 63,162,283 acres of the West, being 7.2 

 per cent, of the arid and sub-humid regions, and 3.2 

 per cent, of the whole United States. The total area 

 of all Indian reservations, east and west, including 

 Indian Territory, is 4.7 per cent of the whole United 

 States. 



PRIVATE LAND IN THE STATE. 



Deducting the vacant public lands and the reserva- 

 tions as given above, there remain the private lands 

 in each State. These fall into two classes: First, 

 grant lands, including railroad selections, and the 



