The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-09

RfDDIQ8nt tton before long Announcing that l.. 1oo ooo acres of land in the Flathead Indian reservation. Montana, will DO opened to entry and settlement prop ably next fan. This will be done unier z speciai act of Congress. A commis- ston appointed by the President is now <nrased fin inspecting. classifying and apprAising all of the lands 10 os dis- posed of. There will be five classes or land available for distribution. .inciua- ing agricultural. timber. mineral and rraxinr. These lands may be obtained under the provisfons of the homestead, mineral and town site laws of tho United States. Most of the land is agrfcuitural and can be obtained in tracts of ls oacres each by the pay ment of an almost nominal price. st
 As there are oyer so.ooo.o0o people in ehis country who would like to set something for nothing. big demand for the Fiathead lands is expected. The method of distribution is to be prescribed by the President. It will be in the nature of lottery drawing. Uncle Sam does not tolerate private lotteries, but periodically he operates one hfmtelf, as will be the case at the Flathsad opening. This is not lott tery In its obnoxious sense, however, The government is paid nothing for the privilege of taking chance In the game. The only expense involved for participants will be the cost of trans- portation to the office of registration and a notary's fee. The function of the notary will be to take affidavits that the applicants for homesteads really wish to live on the farms they hope to obtain from the government.
 It is hoped by officials of the gen. eral land office that it will be found practicable to provide facilities for registering applications for the Flat. head lands in the leading cities of the country. That would be tnA ideal way to throw open valuable Indian lands to; the whole people. Then the Jewish immigrant at New York would have an equal chance with the cowboy of the western prairie to get farm prac- ticalIy for nothing, The expense to the government and other difficulties involved in this plan would be great and 1t may not be adopted for that reason. If 1t Is not. the plan followed at the opening of the Rosebud Indian reservation. South Dakota last year. may be adopted. In such case appli- cants for lands will have to register at various towns where there are land offices in the vicinity of the Flathead Observation. 67a
 Even under such circumstances . great crowd of eager home seekers Is expected. Men and women will pay railroad fare for hundreds of, miles with the hope of getting ap'1ook in" at inc F1athead opening. At the Rose bud opening about 11Svs00 applications were filed and only. 5000 names were drawn The last thousand of these were entitled to benefit from the draw ina only as possible substitutes for some of the 5000 and odd persons whose names were drawn first In case they failed to comply with the law and consequently forfeited their lands FuifilIment of the law includes actual residence on the land. the making of improvements. and partial payments periodically. = '
 The Flathead reservation . should furnish homes for 10000 American home builderss and 1t is likely that from ten to twenty times that number win file applications. The crucial point of the whole affair will occur when the drawing takes place. At, tho Rosebud opening that important sfunc- sion was performed by two little girls and two little boys. One of the girls was little Dema Rose. sthe real Rose of the Rosebud" as she was called, daughter of Mayor Rose of Dallas. South Dakota. q town situated on the outskirts of fathe reservation. As these children danced around in the pile of homestead applications. kicking them up with their tiny feet. the emotions of the crowd of applicants present grew alternately hot and cold. The strain was great. as the drawing lasted for several days. The names of the winners were announced by megaphone and on typewritten lists
 Those whose names are edFawns first have right to first choice of the lands thrown open and the first choice usually falls upon lands in the vicini- ty of the town sites laid out by. the government. At these town sites small buildings lots are sold to persons who prefer town life to farming. The ap- piicants for Indian lands include young bachelors, and girls, married men, seek CTS for healths and wealth, denixens of eastern cities and western farmers. and many persons who, having made a faiI- ure or lire aer anxious to begin all over again in a new country. The losers are dejected lot at first hut they generally take their medicine like men and go hack to their homes ;ie- trmined to accept the next chance of making good that is offered bys a benevolent government sef az 1..
 Besides the Flathead reservation. Congress has authorized during the past year or two, the opening Of :, a
 
 settlement. preliminary work in con nection with which Is now being car ried on In the Interior Department The total area of these reservations that are to be opened Is over. 7.S0o. 900 acres. excluding the Kiowa, Conan che and Apache reservations. Okla homa, the areas of which are not known. During the current year, the Interior Apartment estimates that besides the clathead reservation, there Will be thrown open to settlement at least four or five Indian reservations containing 672.90 acres. Other open tngs will occur in 19IO. s. t.rs
 In each case. 1t ts expected that tie system of drawing from the applica- tions received will be followed. It is probable that never again will there occur a big land rush such as hap pened number of years ago, when sthe Territory of Oklahoma was set apart from the old Indian Territory, and was occupied by a horde of hungry land seekers. In that case and in the case of certain Indian reservations In the past. huge crowds gathered along the borders of the tract to be opened and at a certain hour on a certain day and at a given signal started i'm race for the best lands. The results of the old system were not satisfactory to any but the few persons who got the most valuable lands. There were free-for-all fights over the question o1 priority of claims leading to endless litigation and other complications.
 The opening of the Indian reservation to settlement does not mean. as may be popuIarly supposed. that the Indiens h daA, le