Archives West Finding Aid

Under regulations approved on March 20, 1915, tracts set aside as villa sites under the provisions of an act of April 12, 1910, within the former Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana, were offered for sale at public auction, beginning at Polson, Montana, on July 26, 1915. The sale was adjourned to Dayton, Montana, on August 6 and concluded at Kalispell, Montana, on August 7, 1915. There were 889 parcels of land, not less than 2 nor more than 5 acres in area, fronting on Flathead Lake, and under the regulations could be sold for the minimum of $10 per acre. All the lands, however, brought far in excess of that amount, except about 65 acres, sold for the benefit of the Grand Army of the Republic at the minimum price. None of the tracts remained unsold. The land, having a minimum valuation of less than $35,000, sold for approximately $125,000, some tracts bringing about $300 per acre. (Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office to the Secretary of the Interior for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915, p. 40, etc.)