The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1909-06-30
THE OPENING.

It is the belief of government officials
and railroad immigration agents that
the opening of the Flathead reserva.
ton will attract q bigger crowd OF
homeseekers than has ever been wit.
messed on similar occasions. It will
be the last big opening of desirable
Indian lands, and the wide publicity
given to the event promises to bring
thousands of people to Montana dur
ing the next few weeks. The residents
OF Missoula and Kalispell, where reg.
istr ation for the Flathead drawing
must be made, are already preparing
accommoda atoms for the crowds that
will need shelter and food upon their
arrival.
The registration beRins July Is and
ends August S. Instructions az to the
proper method Of procedure have been
Issued by Jas. W. Witten, of the gen.
eral land Office, who will be in charge
OF the repatriation and drawing, and
who will establish q temporary Office
at Occur d'Alene, Idaho. These in.
structions are in part as follows:
Applications for registration may
be sworn to before any notary public
designated by me for that purpose,
and should not be sworn to before n
other officer. The notaries before whom
applicants are sworn will furnish
blank forms of application for regis.
tration and printed envelopes In which
to mail the applications to me at Occur
d'Alene, Idaho, which is the only
place at which applications will be
received, and they must be forwarded
by ordinary mail and not by registered
mail. No envelope will be received
which bears q return card or any
other words which indicate the name
of the person who mailed it.
All applications for registration
must reach me through ordinary mail
at Occur d'Alene, Idaho, before Au.
gust 9 and all of the envelopes received
prior to that date which contain appli.
cations for registration will then be
thoroughly mixed and envelopes will
be selected therefrom Unfortunately,
n at a time, and the application
therein numbered as selected. The
numbers thus assigned will control
the order in which entries may be
made. For instance, the person whose
application Is numbered one will be
given the first choice of all the lands
subject to entry in theIreservation for
which the application was presented,
the person to whom number two is
assigned will be given the second
choice and so on.
No entries will be made before April
l, 1910, and all persons given the priv
ilege of making entry will be notified
of the exact date when they must ap.
pear and enter, and If they fail to
appear On that date they lose all
right under the number assigned them.
The right acquired under numbers as
signed cannot be sold or transferred
to other persons, but if any person
holding a number dies before the day
he is required to make entry, his
widow or any n of his heirs may
make entry in their own right, on that
day.
No charge will be madesfor the reg
iofuotinr h,t Of thn <;~o 80 ronl;o~
entry, persons who apply for Flat
head lands will be required to pay
one-third of the appraised value and
persons who apply for either Occur
d'Alene or Spokane lands will be re.
quired to pay one.ifth of the ap-
praised value. The remainder of the
purchase money on all these lands
may be paid in five equal, annua al in
stallments and failure to make any
payment, when it comes due, will re.
suit In the cancellation of the entry
and the forfeiture of all former pay
ments.
Residence must be begun within six
months after the date on which the
entry is made and continued, with
GUILTY. alton, until a patent has been
earned. either by a five years. resi-
dence and cultivation and the pay
ments of the installments annually
or by fourteen months actual and
continuous residence and cultiv atior
and the payment of the unpaid pur'
chase money.
Commissioners appointed by thu
government have classified the lands
/ .AsooA "a o.A-- l.. AAa $500