Whereas, it is provided by section twenty-four of the act of Congress
approved March 3rd, 1891, entitled, "An act to repeal timber-culture
laws, and for other purposes," "That the President of the United States
may, from time to time, set apart and reserve, in any State or Territory
having public land bearing forests in any part of the public lands
wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of
commercial value or not, as public reservations, and the President
shall, by public proclamation, declare the establishment of such
reservations and the limits thereof;"
And whereas, the public lands in the State of Nebraska, within the
limits hereinafter described, are in part covered with timber, and it
appears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart and
reserving said lands as a public reservation;
Now, therefore, I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States,
by virtue of the power in me vested by section twenty-four of the
aforesaid act of Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there
is hereby reserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a Public
Reservation all those certain tracts, pieces or parcels of land lying
and being situate in the State of Nebraska and within the boundaries
particularly described as follows, to wit:
Beginning at the northeast corner of section ten (10), township
thirty-two (32) north, range thirty (30) west, Sixth (6th) Principal
Meridian, Nebraska; thence westerly to the southeast corner of section
six (6), said township; thence northerly to the northeast corner
of the southeast quarter of said section; thence westerly along the
quarter-section lines to the southeast corner of the northeast quarter
of section five (5), township thirty-two (32) north, range thirty-one
(31) west; thence northerly to the northeast corner of said section;
thence westerly along the township line to the northwest corner of
section six (6), township thirty-two (32) north, range thirty-three (33)
west; thence southerly to the southwest corner of the northwest quarter
of said section; thence westerly along the quarter-section line to the
northwest corner of the southwest quarter of section two (2) township
thirty-two (32) north, range thirty-four (34) west; thence southerly
along the section lines to the southwest corner of section twenty-three
(23), said township; thence easterly to the northwest corner of section
thirty (30), township thirty-two (32) north, range thirty-three (33)
west; thence southerly to the southwest corner of said section; thence
easterly to the northwest corner of section thirty-three (33), said
township; thence southerly to the southwest corner of said section;
thence easterly to the northwest corner of section two (2), township
thirty-one (31) north, range thirty-three (33) West; thence southerly to
the southwest corner of said section; thence easterly to the northwest
corner of section ten (10), township thirty-one (31) north, range
thirty-two (32) west; thence southerly to the southwest corner of the
northwest quarter of section three (3), township thirty (30) north,
range thirty-two (32) west; thence easterly along the quarter-section
lines to the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of section two
(2), township thirty (30) north, range thirty-one (31) west; thence
northerly to the northeast corner of section thirty-five (35), township
thirty-one (31) north, range thirty-one (31) west; thence easterly to
the southeast corner of section twenty-five (25), said township; thence
northerly to the southwest corner of section nineteen (19), township
thirty-one (31) north, range thirty (30) west; thence easterly to the
southeast corner of said section; thence northerly to the northeast
corner of the southeast quarter of said section; thence easterly along
the quarter-section line to the southeast corner of the northwest
quarter of section twenty (20), said township; thence northerly along
the quarter-section lines to the northeast corner of the southwest
quarter of section thirty-two (32), township thirty-two (32) north,
range thirty (30) west; thence westerly to the northwest corner of
said quarter-section; thence northerly to the southwest corner of the
northwest quarter of section twenty-nine (29), said township; thence
easterly along the quarter-section lines to the southeast corner of the
northeast quarter of section twenty-eight (28), said township; thence
northerly to the southwest corner of section fifteen (15), said
township; thence easterly to the southeast corner of said section;
thence northerly to the northeast corner of section ten (10), said
township, the place of beginning.
Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands which
may have been, prior to the date hereof, embraced in any legal entry or
covered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United States
Land Office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuant
to law, and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing of
record has not expired: _Provided_, that this exception shall not
continue to apply to any particular tract of land unless the entryman,
settler or claimant continues to comply with the law under which the
entry, filing or settlement was made.
Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to make settlement
upon the lands reserved by this proclamation.
The reservation hereby established shall be known as The Niobrara Forest
Reserve.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington this sixteenth day of April, A.D. 1902,
and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
twenty-sixth.