[In Tongue River Agency; area, 765 square miles; established by Executive orders only.] EXECUTIVE MANSION, November 26, 1884. It is hereby ordered that the following-described country, lying within the boundaries of the Territory of Montana, viz: Beginning at the point on the one hundred and seventh meridian of west longitude (said meridian being the eastern boundary of the Crow Indian Reservation) where the southern 40-mile limits of the grant to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company intersects said one hundred and seventh meridian; thence south along said meridian to a point 30 miles south of the point where the Montana base line, when extended, will intersect said meridian; thence due east to a point 12 miles east of the Rosebud River; thence in a northerly and northeasterly direction, along a line parallel with said Rosebud River and 12 miles distant therefrom, to a point on the southern 40-mile limits of the grant to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, 12 miles distant from said Rosebud River; thence westerly along the said southern limits and across the said Rosebud River to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, withheld from sale and settlement, and set apart as a reservation for the use and occupation of the Northern Cheyenne Indians, now residing in the southern portion of Montana Territory, and such other Indians as the Secretary of the Interior may see fit to locate thereon: Provided, however, That any tract or tracts of land included within the foregoing described boundaries which have been located, resided upon, and improved by bona fide settlers, prior to the 1st day of October, 1884, to the amount to which such settlers might be entitled under the laws regulating the disposition of the public lands of the United States, or to which valid rights have attached under said laws, are hereby excluded from the reservation hereby made. CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
Executive Order—Northern Cheyenne Reserve
Executive Brief • At a Glance
The following-described country, lying within the boundaries of the Territory of Montana, viz: Beginning at the point on the one hundred and seventh meridian of west longitude (said meridian being the eastern boundary of the Crow Indian Reservation) where the southern 40-mile limits of the grant to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company intersects said one hundred and seventh meridian; thence south along said meridian to a point 30 miles south of the point where the Montana base line, when extended, will intersect said meridian; thence due east to a point 12 miles east of the Rosebud River; thence in a northerly and northeasterly direction, along a line parallel with said Rosebud River and 12 miles distant therefrom, to a point on the…
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Chester A. Arthur on November 26, 1884, this order concerns Northern Cheyenne Reserve. The following-described country, lying within the boundaries of the Territory of Montana, viz: Beginning at the point on the one hundred and seventh meridian of west longitude (said meridian being the eastern boundary of the Crow Indian Reservation) where the southern 40-mile limits of the grant to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company intersects said one hundred and seventh meridian; thence south along said…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
The following-described country, lying within the boundaries of the Territory of Montana, viz: Beginning at the point on the one hundred and seventh meridian of west longitude (said meridian being the eastern boundary of the Crow Indian Reservation) where the southern 40-mile limits of the grant to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company intersects said one hundred and seventh meridian; thence south along said meridian to a point 30 miles south of the point where the Montana base line, when extended, will intersect said meridian; thence due east to a point 12 miles east of the Rosebud River; thence in a northerly and northeasterly direction, along a line parallel with said Rosebud River and 12 miles distant therefrom, to a point on the…
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)
Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)
Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order, Northern Cheyenne Reserve (Nov. 26, 1884), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-northern-cheyenne-reserve.