The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1914-04-17

Flathead at this time. This
amendment, should it become a
law, will open to homestead en-
try all the lands now classified
as timber land, and will put a
stop to the long and tedious route
now necessary in order to secure
homestead on the valuable foot
hill lands in all portions of the
reservation.
The amendment the Senator
has introduced is as follows:
''Sec. II. That all merchantable
timber on said lands, returned and
classified by said commission as
timber lands, shall be sold and
disposed of by the Secretary of
the Interior, for cash, under
sealed bids or at public auction,
as the Secretary of the Interior
may determine, and under such
regulations as he may prescribe:
Provided, That after the sale and
removal of the timber such lands
as are valuable for agricultural
purposes shall be sold and dis
posed of by the Secretary of the
Interior in such manner and un-
der such regulations as he may
prescribe: Provided further.
That lands valuable for agricul-
tural or horticultural purposes
heretofore classified as timber
lands, may, in the discretion of
the Secretary of the Interior, be
appraised under the regulations
prescribed by him and be opened
to homes .ead entry under the
general provisions of section
nine, upon condition that home
stead entrymen shall at time of
making their original homestead
entries pay the full value of the
timber on the land entered as
fixed by the appraisement COM
mission, such payment to be in
addition to the appraised price
of the lands, apart from the tim
Der, as herein authorized"
At the present time there are
thousands of acres of good agri-
cultural and horticultural lands
along the mountain ranges on
three sides of the reservation,
which are classified as timber
lands. Hundreds of applications
have been filed in the local land
Offices by parties who are desirous
of homesteading the lands and in
only a few instances have any of
them been successful in securing
approved entries. In order to
secure an approved entry it has
been necessary to secure a new
examination of the land and
a favorable report concerning the
re-classifcation, and in all in
stances the prospective home
steader has been required to pay
for the timber thereon. Many
of those who instituted proceed
ings to secure the land have be-
come discouraged and abandoned
the effort. Some are still striv-
ing to induce the department to
look favorably upon their efforts
and are still hanging on. Should
such an amendment as printed
above be adopted and become a
law, it would open to entry all
such lands and would add thous-
ands of new people to the coun-
try within a few months.
Without disparaging any of
the other lands on the reserva-
tion, the Pioneer can state truth
fully that the land which comes
under the category of those de-
scribed in the amendment are
the most valuable and the most
sought after of all the lands here.
The conditions are ideal for the
home builder in every way, for
the reason that wood and water
is close at hand, the soil is deep
and rich, and the rainfall is al
ways in excess of the valleys.
The frost holds off from two
weeks to month later in the
fall and is not likely to occur so
late in the spring. The land is