F.—Statem ut showing amount expended for rent of office, books, stationery, fuel, and other incidental expenses for the fiscal year Ending June 30, 1878, DR. 1877. G.-Statement showing amount expended in survey of private land grants for the fiscal year DR. ending June 30, 1578. CR. UNITED STATES SURVEYOR GENERAL'S OFFICE, SIR: In compliance with instructions in your letter E, dated May 1, 1878, I have the honor to submit herewith my annual report of the surveying opertions in this district, with accompanying statements, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. SURVEYS. The following base, standard, and meridian lines have been established during the fiscal year, viz: The base line through a portion of range No. 16 east, and ranges Nos. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25 east. The first standard parallel north through a portion of range Nos. 13 east, ranges Nos. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 east, and a portion of range No. 33 east, to the point of its intersection with the Yellowstone River. The second standard parallel north through a portion of range No. 32 east, ranges Nos. 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 east, and a portion of range No. 47 east, to the point of its intersection with the Yellowstone River. The third standard parallel north through a portion of ranges Nos, 8 and 9 west. The Blackfoot guide meridian through a portion of township No. 12 north, and townships Nos. 13 and 14 north between ranges Nos. 8 and 9 west. The Judith guide meridian through townships Nos. 5 and 6 north, between ranges Nos. 15 and 16 east. The Valley Creek guide meridian through townships Nos. 1 and 2 south, and Nos. 1, 2, and 3 north, between ranges Nos. 20 and 21 east. The Buffalo Creek guide meridian through townships Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8 north, between ranges Nos. 32 and 33 east. I entered upon my official duties October 8, 1877, and at that date, contracts for the entire amount of the appropriation for the fiscal year, viz, $17,700, had been made by my predecessor. The unfulfilled portion of contract No. 77, dated July 21, 1877, with Demas L. McFarland, United States deputy surveyor, was canceled by me January 5, 1878, with the consent of himself and bondsmen, and subject to your approval. Said approval was duly received, dated January 24, 1878. I entered into a new contract, No. 79, with the same deputy, March 5, 1878, for the survey of portions of the base line and first and second standard parallels north, with guide meridians connecting same, &c., for the purpose of exploring the valley of the Yellowstone River, and establishing standard lines, from which subsequent surveys could be extended. This action was taken in answer to petitions, signed by a large number of actual settlers in the Yellowstone Valley, requesting that the public lands in that portion of Montana should be surveyed, and the informati on gained fromthe report of surveys made under said contract, No. 79, has proved its wisdom. The townships subdivided during the fiscal year are those along, and south of, the Musselshell River, between ranges Nos. 12 and 20 east; in the valley of the Blackfoot River; some timber lands near the town of Helena; and fractional townships in the big bend of the Yellowstone River, north of the Crow Indian Agency, comprising a total area of 624,713.36 acres. The total amount paid for surveys during the fiscal year, including the standard lines embraced in contract No. 79, the expense of running which should properly be considered as pertaining to future surveys of townships, was $17,403.53; the expense of inspecting surveys, $997.21; and office expenses, including salaries, $6,950.68; thus making the cost of field work 2.8 cents per acre; inspecting same, one tenth of a cent per acre; office work on same 1.1 cents per acre; and the total expense to the government, 4 cents per acre. In this connection it should also be stated that a large part of the surveyor general's time is occupied in work arising from mineral surveys, and, therefore, only a portion of his salary should be considered as pertaining to the expense of agricultural surveys. The act of Congress making the appropriation, approved June 20, 1878, specifies the following classes of lands as surveyable, viz: First. Those adapted to agriculture without irrigation. Second. Irrigable lands, or such as can be redeemed, and for which there is sufficient accessible water for the reclamation and cultivation of the same, not otherwise claimed. Third. Timber lands bearing timber of commercial value, either foreign or domestic. Fourth. Coal lands containing coal of commercial value. Fifth. Exterior boundaries of town sites. Sixth. Private land claims. The special instructions issued under this law require the surveyor general, in the selection of lands under the third clause, to confine his field operations to non-mineral timber lands; direct him not to contract "for the survey of lands which subserve merely pastoral interests;" and inform him that if he should let contracts for the survey of lands not authorized by the appropriation act he will be held to strict account for so doing, and therefore instruct him to be vigilant in the selection of the lands to be surveyed, taking only those which are known to him to be of the classes specified, either of his own knowledge or from that derived from actual settlers applying to him for the extension of public lines over their settlements. Except through information acquired by inspection of surveys in the field, to which I refer hereafter in this report, it is manifestly impossible for the surveyor general to have a personal knowledge of the character of lands in his district, and information derived from the application of actual settlers is, to some extent, unreliable, for the reason that they are not aware of the above restrictions, and when a contract is let for the subdivision of a township containing such settlements, it is often the case that the deputy surveyor, upon reaching the ground, will find that only a portion of it is surveyable. The surveyor general therefore selects the locus of a contract according to his best information and judgment, and in the special instructions accompanying the contract, which are made a part of same and always approved by the Commissioner of the General Land Office before the surveys are commenced, makes the deputy surveyor the judge of the character of the land. Said special instructions in this surveying district are as follows: "In the execution of work under your contract, you will be guided by the above classification of surveyable lands, and not include in your surveys any land that cannot be classed as surveyable under the six heads heretofore mentioned, excluding all barren wastes, bad lands, &c., unfit for classification in the above category. Lands which merely subserve pastoral interests are not of the character authorized by law to be subdivided. "As confidence is placed in your judgment, it is expected that you will not violate the same by any act contrary to law and instructions. In this you will be held strictly accountable, and unless your work under the present contract is executed in strict accordance with the terms of your contract and the laws and instructions governing you in your work in the field, payment therefor will not be made, and you will be debarred from any future contracts. In case any townships or portions of townships embraced in your contract are unsurveyable, you are authorized to substitute in lieu of same, other townships which are surveyable, preference being given to those upon which settlement has been made, or toward which settlement is tending." I am unable to see what other course the surveyor general can pursue under his instructions; yet, in my judgment, it is wrong, and the deputy surveyor should not be made the judge, for two reasons: First. He is employed to do specific work, and he should no more be the judge of its value than a contractor on a railroad should be the judge of the engineering skill with which the work has been laid out. Second. It is opposed to his interests. In this surveying district the deputy employs assistants at a certain rate per month, giving them transportation to and from the locus of the contract, rations for the entire period, and wages from the time the work is commenced until it is completed. Now, suppose that when he arrives on the ground instead of five or six townships adjoining and easy to work, he finds only one or two that can properly be classed as surveyable. When the survey of these is completed, he must spend days in finding other townships to substitute, during which time his men are lying idle, but drawing pay. The temptation is great to proceed with the subdivision of townships included in his contract, irrespective of the character of the land, especially when, as has been the case for the last two years, the appropriation for surveys is made so late that the deputy cannot get into the field until long after the fiscal year commences, has to work in the late fall and winter, until the snow drives him in, and go out again to finish the work in the spring, when the weather is, if possible, worse. The instructions require the survey of timber land to be confined to that which is non-mineral in character and "where depredations have been practiced or are liable to be carried on by unlawful parties." This, in my judgment, is an unwise restriction, for the reason that timber on mineral lands is that first used for mining and milling purposes. It is true that by the act of Congress approved June 3, 1878, citizens and bona fide residents are authorized to fell and remove such timber, yet, if surveyed, such lands would be entered and purchased by owners of mills and mines, for the purpose of securing the timber thereon for their exclusive use. In this way mineral timber lands which now yield nothing to the government except the amount paid for the areas of mining claims would be a source of revenue. The instructions forbid the survey of pastoral land. In this country it is almost always associated with agricultural land, on which are raised hay, oats, and vegetables, and it is with the greatest difficulty that an experienced man can tell what land is worthless, and what cannot be cultivated. The most worthless ground in this country can and does support sheep and cattle, with a little irrigation from the mountain streams, and it is only a question of a few years, if the necessary legislation can be had, when large tracts of land will be taken up for stock ranges. Anywhere on the table lands can be found swales covered with fine grass, and plenty of good land. The introduction of sheep culture into this country has completely revolutionized the ideas of the inhabitants as to land, and a great number of farms have been taken up as hay ranches, many of them on ground left unsurveyed as worthless. Walter W. de Lacy, United States deputy surveyor, a gentleman of thorough seientific acquirements and long practical experience as a civil engineer and land surveyor, writes me relative to this subject, as follows: "In 1863, I was one of the first to enter the Stinking Water Valley, on my way to the far famed Alder Gulch. I thought then that I had never seen a more desolate or worthless looking valley. It was covered with sage brush. Within two years this sage-brush land proved to be excellent farming land, and to-day the valley contains many thriving farms, well cultivated, has at least two towns and a large number of herds of cattle, horses, and sheep, besides mines on every side of it. "I have seen the same thing in other places in this Territory, in California, in Idaho, and in Washington Territory. My experience has been a very varied one, yet withal I might survey land and declare that it was agricultural; it might be inspected by some one who had no experience in this country and rejected as such, and I might lose my time, my money, and my employment. "The true way, in my opinion, would be to survey the whole country into townships, subdividing such as are found to contain valuable land. Let the township lines be run first. The surveyor, in returning surveys of exterior lines, should furnish notes of the different parts, as far as he has the opportunity to see them. The deseriptions should be as minute as possible, showing the character of the land embraced in the township. This would, in the first place, give a very good topographical idea of the whole country, and would also designate effectively the agricultural, pastoral, mineral, and timber lands. The department and the surveyor general could then act understandingly in giving contracts and describing the country. "As for the surveyors to whom contracts are awarded, they should have a rigid examination in mathematics, use of instruments, calculation of areas and draughting, the method of making public land surveys, with regulations governing the same, and have had some previous experience. The only exceptions should be old and reliable surveyors who have already been long in service and proved their capability. There have been many bad surveys made throughout the western country, but this is not wonderful. Many of the surveyors were men who were not educated to the business, who cared for nothing but making money; there were no inspections, no accountability, and no punishment for wrong doing. With a different system the public surveys can be made a credit to the country." I thoroughly indorse the views of Deputy Surveyor De Lacy, as set forth in above letter, which was written at my request, and would add that, in my judgment, the prices allowed for field work are entirely too low to afford a fair compensation to the deputy surveyor for the thorough and faithful performance of his duties, and contrast very unfavorably with those paid by other governments. I could cite several instances to prove this statement, but confine myself to referring to the Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, as the one nearest at hand. There, under the contract system, the price paid to deputy surveyors for field work is seven cents per acre. In this surveying district, as previously stated in this report, the amount paid is about two and eight-tenths cents per acre. INSPECTION OF SURVEYS. During the past spring and early summer, in accordance with the requirements of section 2223, United States Revised Statutes, I personally inspected a large portion of the work in the field, then under contract, satisfying myself that the same had been faithfully executed in accordance with the law and instructions. In this connection I desire to state that, in my judgment, the provision of law above referred to requiring the surveyor general, “so far as is compatible with the desk duties of his office," to "occasionally inspect the surveying operations in the field,” is a very wise one. Such inspections by the surveyor-general are a direct check upon any possible carelessness or neglect of duty upon the part of the deputy surveyor; his willingness, thus shown to all the employés in his district, to personally endure the discomforts and often hardships of field work, tends to increase the efficiency of the service; and it gives him an opportunity to acquire a personal knowledge of the wants of his surveying district, which could not be obtained in any other way. Deputy Surveyor De Lacy, in the letter above referred to, says, relative to inspections: "The surveys should be thoroughly inspected. The inspector should come to the ground either when the surveyor is there or directly after, should test a certain number of lines, look at the corners, examine triangulations, and see whether the notes agree with the lines. A certain percentage of errors found should be sufficient to exclude the surveyor from future contracts. The mineral surveys should also be inspected; that is, a certain number should be examined in each district of those which are surveyed during the year. If the examiner did his duty there would very soon be a marked improvement in government surveys." MINERAL SURVEYS. During the past fiscal year 118 surveys of lode and placer claims have been returned to this office, worked up and approved. The amount of deposits made for office work on mining claims was $3,150, and amount paid to clerks from that fund was $2,187.90, showing a surplus of $962.10. During the previous fiscal year, ending June 30, 1877, 71 survey of lode and placer claims were returned to this office, worked up and approved. The amount of deposits made for office work on mining claims was $1,810, and amount paid to clerks from that fund was $4,075, showing a deficit of $2,255. This comparison is respectfully submitted for the purpose of showing that no part of the deficiency of 8×53.93 now existing in special deposit fund, as per Exhibit J, was incurred since I assumed charge of this surveying district, and also that, during the fiscal year, 118 surveys have been worked up and approved, at a cost of $2,187.90, as against 77 surveys worked up and approved, at a cost of $4,075, during the previous fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. OFFICE WORK. A detailed statement of the work performed in this office during the fiscal year is given in Exhibit P. In addition to the regular work therein enumerated, much time and labor have been spent in arranging the records of this office, which were, and are still to some extent, in an inconvenient and incomplete state. The work has been promptly, carefully, and thoroughly executed, STATEMENTS, The following statements are transmitted as a part of this report, viz: A. Showing condition of appropriation for surveys of public land in the Territory of Montana during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. B. Showing amount of special deposits for office work on mining claims in Montana for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. C. Showing description of public land surveyed in Montana Territory during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. D. Showing condition of the public surveys contracted for by the surveyor general for Montana Territory, under appropriation by Congress for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. E. Showing condition of appointments made for the survey of mineral claims in Montana, under acts of Congress during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. F. Showing the description of land for which township plats and descriptive lists have been furnished the Helena and Bozeman land offices during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. G. Showing the condition of the appropriation for the salary of the surveyor general for Montana during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. H. Showing the condition of the appropriation for the clerks in the office of the surveyor general for Montana, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. I. Showing the condition of the appropriation for incidental expenses for the office of the surveyor general for Montana, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. J. Showing the condition of the account of special deposits for office work on mining claims in the office of the surveyor general for Montana during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. K. Showing the number of plats made in the office of the surveyor general for Montana, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. L. Showing the number of acres of public land surveyed in Montana Territory from the inception of surveys to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. M. Showing the number of linear miles run, the rate per mile, and the total cost of surveys, in the Territory of Montana, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. N. Giving names, nativity, &c., of the surveyor general and the employés in his office at Helena, Montana, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. O. Showing the number of letters recorded in the office of the surveyor general for Montana, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. P. Showing the work performed in the office of the surveyor general for Montana, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. Q. Estimates for surveying services and office expenses in the district of Montana, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880. ESTIMATES. My estimate for field work is based upon what I regard the actual necessities of this district, and the prices named are those established by law, with the exception of meander lines, which I have estimated at $10 per mile, same as standard. The work of running, measuring, and marking meander lines, and the office work of the deputysurveyor on same, is far more difficult than standard lines. As it will be necessary to do a large amount of meandering in this district, in the near future, I trust that Congress, in justice to the deputy surveyors, will increase the rate from $6 per mile to that named above. My estimate for my own salary is based upon that paid my predecessors up to July 1, 1877, and in view of the work and responsibility required, and the cost of living in this Territory, it is, in my judgment, as small an amount as should be paid for the services rendered. The same remark will apply to the salaries of the clerks. The estimate for incidental expenses is the same as allowed during the present fiscal year, and it is only by the exercise of strict economy that it will cover the actual necessary expenses of the office. The estimate for binding and preserving the original records of surveys has been so often made and indorsed by the Commissioner and, as often, stricken out of the appropriation, that it seems almost useless to ask for it again, yet I deem it my duty to once more call attention to its necessity. AGRICULTURE. The land under cultivation in this Territory comprises only a very small portion of that capable of being so used, and this important branch of industry can scarcely be said to have kept pace with the wants of the people. This is not a strange state of affairs in so new a country, originally supposed to be valuable only for its minerals. Within the past year or two there has been a marked increase in the amount of agricultural products, and this will doubtless continue until the supply equals the demand. The climate of Montana has undergone a marked change during the past four years, the rain-fall increasing from year to year, and many lands supposed to be utterly worthless for agricultural purposes are now bearing fine crops of hay, grain, vegetables, &c. PLACER MINES, Although the days for making large fortunes in placer mining have probably gone by, it is still an important source of wealth and, owing to the increased rain-fall, more ground is now being worked than for several years previous. There is a vast amount of placer-mining ground in this Territory which would pay from $1.50 to $2 per man per diem, and, with an increase of population and reduction in the cost of living, this will undoubtedly all be worked. New and rich mines are said to have been discovered in the Bear Paw Mountains, but, as yet, sufficient work has not been done to prove their permanence or value. GOLD LODES. There has also been a marked increase in the amount of gold ore worked in the Territory. The exceedingly rich body of ore struck in the Penobscot mine, situated in township 11 north, range 6 west, has caused great excitement, not only in Montana, |