The Daily Missoulian., 1917-08-08
SALE Of RESERVATION
LAND HELD YESTERDAY
Nearly 4,5OO Acres on Flat
head Auctioned at Coun-
ty Courthouse.
MANY CITY LOTS SOLD
Old Gray. : Haired Farmer
Fights for One Offering
But Loses Out.

Nearly $500 acres of state lands, all
lying within the bounds OF the old
tlathcad Indian reservation, were sold
at public auction at the county court
house yesterday by Sidney Miller. reg
lister OF state lands.
The 4,4o6 acres sold brought $780,
s0l.5o at auction. an average OF $22.7S
an acre. This sum is far in excess of
the prices set by state appraisers as
minirnums. Mr. Miller Offered 1855
acres for sale, but the minimum price
set on the unsold land did not attract
any bidders.
Buyers Crowd Courtroom.
The courtroom Of depa rtmcnt No. l
OF the district court, loaned to Mr..
Miller by Judge Asa l.. Duncan, was
crowded to the doors by buyers, and
bidding on many OF the tracts was
lively. The sale was not completed
until 1890 in the afternoon.
Much OF the land sold yesterday liz 3
upon the Flathead Reclamation prof.
ect. Indeed, every project irrigated
tract was snapped up by buyers. lr-
risated land naturally commanded the
hest prices. one S0-acre unit sold for
SCI an acre, and a 4O-acre piece sold
for $50 an acre.
City Lots Sold, Too.
In addition to the t1athead lands
Mr.. Miller sold 2S Missoula lots. For
these he received 1886, the lots bring
ing an average of $lls.i0 apiece. The
total receipts OF the days sale were
$lO4,ll6.5O.
All of these lands were school allot-
ments. When the reservation was
opened Indians selected land in school
sections in many cases, but the state
was allowed to choose tracts else
where TO make up for such losses, al
though no choice outside the reserva-
ton was given.
Farmers Largest Buyers.
Flathead farmers formed the bulk of
the crowd at the auction, many OF them
seeking lands adjoining their ranches.
The bidding was keen for some of the
more desirable units.
The scene was rich with human in
terest. Drowned ranchers, their wives
beside them, waited tensely for call of
the tracts on which their hearts were
set They bid timidly at first rs if
afraid of stirring up a hornets nest of
competition by letting their voices be-
''"s thV VI tHt llnu. ana
rarely did they permit rivalry to dis
turb their outward calm. however
alarmed they may have been.
Old Man Fights for Tract.
One old man, gray haired and bent
by long toll, waited all morning before
the land he wanted was offered. Then
he met competition. His bids came
slowly, barely rising above his rivals;
the opposition offers were shot back at
him without hesitation and in generous
Heaps. The old man stuck for a long
time. figuring frantically on paper at
the end. He made one strong advance,
APPARENTLY hoping to frighten his rival
but the others bid came almost before
his had been heard. The old man made
no sign. but he put away his pencil
and went out, followed by a woman
as old and almost as bent as himself
and the auction went on.
Woman Misse. Comedy.
George b. Hopkins, deputy register.
acted as auctioneer and kept the crowd
laughing with his clever monologue.
From one buyer. however, he failed to
get a smile. She was a city worker.
well known in Missoula. who had ap-
paTently set ncr neart upon q falm
with cows and chickens and complete
relief from the grind of town. But she
had chosen the wrong tract. Others
wanted it, and others jumped the
price in n flash beyond the limit of the
woman's means. She hardly finished
figuring that $40 an acre was her max
imum when the tract was sold at SOL
an acre the high price of the day.
Unit 70" Gets Top Price.
This tract was unit "D'. the south
west quarter of the southwest quarter
of section IS and the northwest quar-
ter of the northwest quarter Of section
80. township 10 north, 10 west. Other
high priced tracts We're unit &C." 40
acres. $50 an acre; H" so acres, $40
per acre., unit b" 100 acres, $32;
unit &C." l20 acres, $36.
Mr.. Miller and Mr.. Hopkins go to-
day to Thompson Falls to conduct n
sale. They will hold an auction in SUI
perior Thursday.
The state is interested in 1900
acres" said Mr.. Miller. "and no coun-
ty will be overlooked in these sales"
~0AU nvV n ~Ar0Yrr0