388 B11TER ROOT FORES T RESER VE 



22, 1897, set apart from entry or settlement the various areas as 

 recommended, one being the Bitter Root Forest Reserve. Pre- 

 vious to this there had alread}' been established by Executive 

 proclamation, in various localities in the West, reservations com- 

 prising a total area of 17,500,000 acres, or about 27,300 square 

 miles. 



Following immediately upon President Cleveland's proclama- 

 tion protests and complaints began to pour into the Executive 

 Mansion, and when President McKinley came into office he 

 found himself in a somewhat embarrassing position, people hav- 

 ing interests that were supposed to be detrimental^ affected 

 claiming that the reservations had been made without thorough 

 investigation and without consulting local requirements. In 

 order to relieve the situation and to obtain time for further in- 

 vestigation, legislation was enacted providing for the survey by 

 the U. S. Geological Survey of all lands heretofore designated as 

 forest reserves, suspending President Cleveland's proclamation, 

 except as to the reservations in California, and restoring all 

 others to the public domain, but providing that such lands not 

 otherwise disposed of before March 1, 1898, should again become 

 subject to President Cleveland's proclamation. 



The function of the Geological Survey in the matter has been 

 to ascertain and report on the facts relating to the forest reserves, 

 so that intelligent action may be taken at the proper time as to 

 the disposition of the whole question. 



There is probably no portion of the country, exclusive of 

 Alaska, about which there was so little known as of the territory 

 included in the Bitter Root Reserve. It therefore became neces- 

 sary to commence ab initio, as nothing whatever was available 

 from a geographic standpoint. In considering questions of this 

 kind the value of reliable maps cannot be overestimated. The 

 engineer, the geologist, the botanist, or any one practical^ in- 

 terested in any of the sciences, pure or applied, must have an 

 accurate map as a basis for any thoroughly satisfactory investi- 

 gation, and it thus came about that a large proportion of the 

 amount appropriated for the forestry surveys was expended in 

 the preparation of toj>ographic maps. 



The first step was to determine an astronomic position, measure 

 a base line, and expand a system of triangulation which would 

 serve to furnish starting and control points. A location for the 

 astronomic station was selected in the town of Hamilton, Mon- 

 tana, and the latitude and longitude of a masonry pier built at 



