308 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



THE FLATH BAD RESERVATION 



Picturesque and Fertile Valley, Which the Government Is to Open Up for Settlement. A Trip Around the Shore of 



the Largest Inland Lake West of the Mississippi. 



Probably no tract about to be opened by the gov- 

 ernment is attracting more attention on the part of irri- 

 gationists and prospective western settlers than the 

 Flathead Indian Reservation, the greater part of which 

 the government will throw open to settlement within 

 a few months. It is located in Plathead county, Mont., 

 in the northwestern part of the state, on the west side 

 of the main range of the Rocky Mountains. It is fifty 

 miles in length, north and south, and thirty-five miles 

 in width, east and west. Flathead county contains about 

 8,000 square miles. 



The bill providing for the opening of the reserva- 

 tion has passed both houses of Congress, been signed by 

 the President and become a law. It provided for an im- 

 mediate survey of all the lands within the reservation. 

 It is estimated that there are about a million and a 

 quarter acres of land within the reservation. As soon 

 as all the lands embraced were surveyed, allotments 

 were made under the provisions of the allotment laws of 



the lands may be settled upon, entered and occupied by 

 persons entitled to make entry thereof. No one will be 

 permitted to settle upon or make entry of the lands 

 except as provided by the proclamation. The price of 

 the lands shall be the appraised value as fixed by the 

 commission. Settlers under the homestead law who 

 shall reside upon and cultivate the lands for five years, 

 as required by the homestead laws, shall pay one-third 

 of the appraised value in cash at the time of entry and 

 the remainder in equal installments to be paid one, two, 

 three, four, and five years, respectively, from and after 

 the date of entry, with the usual homestead fees and 

 commissions. If it is desired, commutation proof can 

 be made at the end of fourteen months' residence and 

 cultivation. Timber lands shall be sold and disposed 

 of to the highest bidder for cash at public auction. 



The Flathead reservation is a continuation of the 

 fertile and beautiful Flathead valley, which has at- 

 tained its position as one of the most productive sec- 



Kalispell, the Gateway of the Region. 



the United States, to all persons holding tribal relations 

 and belonging on the reservation. About a quarter 

 million acres were thus alloted, leaving about a million 

 acres of land for disposal. After the completion of the 

 allotment to the Indians, a commission, consisting of 

 five ihembers and appointed by the President, proceeded 

 to inspect, classify and appraise all of the remaining 

 lands on the reservation, which were divided into the 

 following classes, to-wit: First, agricultural land of 

 the first class ; second, agricultural land of the second 

 class; third, timber land; fourth, mineral land; fifth, 

 grazing land. After the classification had been ap- 

 proved by the secretary of the interior the lands were 

 to be disposed of under the provisions of the homestead, 

 mineral and townsite laws of the United States, except 

 timber lands, and sections 16 and 36, which said sec- 

 tions in each township were granted to the state of 

 Montana for school purposes. The lands are opened to 

 settlement and entry by proclamation of the President, 

 which described the time when and the manner in which 



tions of the country within the past fifteen years. Some 

 idea of the fertility and attractiveness of the region 

 may be had from the accompanying illustrations of 

 Flathead valley lands. Kalispell, on the Great North- 

 ern railway, is the gateway of the reservation, and great 

 efforts are being put forth by the Chamber of Com- 

 merce of that city to interest prospective home buyers. 

 The city is at the north end of Flathead lake, the 

 largest body of water west of the Mississippi river, 

 having a superficial area of more than 350 square miles. 

 The length of this body of water is thirty-five miles, 

 and its width varies from ten to twelve miles, while in 

 some places it is as much as 600 feet deep. Secretary 

 George F. Stannard of the Kalispell Chamber of Com- 

 merce, like all other people of the valley, is enthusiastic 

 over the possibilities of the region, and writes most 

 interestingly of them. He says: 



"People who came here from states east of the 

 Mississippi say they would not want to go back there 

 to live again. Our winters are so mild that the men 



Cuts illustrating this article are used by courtesy of Great Northern Railway. 



