340 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



8,406 VIRGIN FARMS UNCLE SAM'S OFFER 



Nearly 9,000 160-acre farm homes will be drawn 

 by the "lucky ones'' as the result of the throwing open 

 of 1,345,000 acres of land upon the Ft. Peck Indian 

 reservation in northeastern Montana. This is the last 

 great land drawing Uncle Sam has to offer his people 

 and one of the greatest in the history of government 



Exhibit of Andrew Red Timber, at Indian Fair, Poplar, Mont. 



land openings in point of fertility. Government agri- 

 cultural experts estimate that when this vast stretch 

 of virgin soil is tilled it will add about 25,000,000 bush- 

 els of grain annually to the production of the United 

 States enough to feed an entire nation. 



The Interior Department is making extensive 

 preparations to rush a big corps of clerks to Glasgow, 

 Havre and Great Falls, Mont., which are to be the 

 registration points. These land offices will be open 

 September 1 and the work of filing for this land 

 will then begin. The people will have a chance to 

 continue filing until September 20. 



The vastness of the area opened to white settle- 

 ment is expected to make this one of the most alluring 

 land openings ever presented to the people inasmuch 

 as their opportunity to getting something in the draw- 

 ings will be much better than in any previous land 

 opening. For instance when the Coeur D'Alene, Flat- 

 head and Spokane land drawings were held last year a 

 total of 90,000 people filed and drew for the lands in 

 those three Indian reservations, the total area of which 

 was about one-fourth of the area to be opened upon the 

 Ft. Peck reservation. Government officials do not think 

 that more than 75,000 people will file for the Ft. Peck 

 land. Hence the chances of drawing a quarter section 

 in the Ft. Peck reservation "lottery" are about four 

 times as good as they have been in previous govern- 

 ment land drawings. The actual value of this land is 

 said by government agricultural experts to average 

 about $25 an acre. However, the government's ap- 

 praisal for its opening to white settlement is only from 

 $2.50 to $7 per acre, thus making real prizes for those 

 who draw this land. 



The drawing will take place in this way : The 

 names of all who file for land will be placed in a big 



box and the envelopes drawn out one by one and num- 

 bered, until enough envelopes are taken from the box 

 to correspond with the number of quarter sections 

 available 8,406. Those getting the early numbers will, 

 of course, get first pick of the land, in rotation, accord- 

 ing to the numbers drawn. Then actual settlement of 

 the land will begin May 1, 1914. Settlement is the 

 same as under the homestead law, except that the ap- 

 praised valuation must be paid from $2.50 to $7 per 

 acre, at these terms : One-fifth of the total down at 

 time of entry and the rest in five annual payments. 

 The settler, however, has the option of taking advan- 

 tage of the new three-year homestead law by paying 

 for his land at the end of three years and thus proving 

 up on it. This gives the man of small means a chance 

 for his "white alley." 



Half a dozen modern town-sites already have 

 been located by the government at points along the 

 main transcontinental line of the Great Northern Rail- 

 way which runs through the Ft. Peck reservation for 

 100 miles. 



FACTS ABOUT FT. PECK INDIAN RESERVATION WHICH IS 

 TO OPEN FOR SETTLEMENT SEPT. 1, 1913. 



President Wilson on August 5 issued a proclama- 

 tion for the opening of Ft. Peck Indian Reservation in 

 Eastern Montana. Filings will be made beginning 

 September 1, 1913, and continue to September 20. The 

 land will be open to actual settlement May 1, 1914. 

 The registration places are Glasgow, Havre and Great 

 Falls, Mont. The final drawing is to be at Glasgow, 

 commencing September 23. The reservation is located 

 in Sheridan and Valley counties. 



The opening of Ft. Peck Reservation will mark 

 the last big opening of agricultural land in the United 



Ft. Peck Indian Agricultural School and Products They Raised 

 for Fair at Poplar, Mont. 



States. Six new towns will be started on this big land 

 area. 



The total acreage of the Ft. Peck Indian Reserva- 

 tion is 2,068,693. 



Land allotted to the Indians is 723,693 acres. 



Land remaining vacant or unoccupied is 1,345.000 

 acres. 



Land now under cultivation is 3,800 acres. Last 

 year there were only 1,500 acres under cultivation and 

 the year before practically none. 



It is estimated by agricultural experts that when 



