One of the more basic tasks faced by federal authorities in their administration of western lands was the setting aside of reserves for the exclusive use of Indian bands which had signed treaties. Title to reserve lands was to be (and still is) vested in the Crown, and in order for the lands to be withdrawn from future sale, a complete legal description of the land, which included a map, had to be filed with federal agencies and the local land registry office. Because the amount of land chosen for a reserve was to be prorated according to the size of the band, the surveyors often took a band census (shown here in the upper left corner) before setting down the reserve boundaries.