a ISOLATED TRACTS @ FIELD EXAMINATION OF ISOLATED TRACTS Chiefs of Field Divisions. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, December 21, 1912. SIRS: Your attention is called to the act of March 28, 1912 (37 Stat. 77), entitled "An Act to amend section 2455 of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to isolated tracts of public land," particularly that portion contained in the proviso to the effect that legal subdivisions of public land not exceeding one-quarter section "the greater part of which is mountainous or too rough for cultivation, may * * be ordered into the market and sold upon the application of any person who owns lands or holds a valid entry of lands adjoining said tract, regardless of the fact that such tract may not be isolated or disconnected * The department has construed this proviso to apply only to lands which are both mountainous and too rough for cultivation. Accordingly, in order to enable the office to determine whether or not applications for sale under the authority of this proviso shall be granted, it will be necessary to have a field examination made of each tract applied for. The agent making the examination should determine and report specifically on these two features, as well as upon the value of the land, for under the ruling of the department the fact that the land is mountainous will not alone warrant its sale under the law. The instructions herein contained will apply only to applications which are filed under the authority of the proviso referred to. In all other cases it will not be necessary to cause a field examination to be made unless special warrant therefor appears. The Chief of Field Division should be able, from the information in his possession or that possessed by his agents, to determine and report the approximate value of the land in such cases. Very respectfully, FRED DENNETT, For instructions involving the sale of isolated tracts in the Kinkaid area, in Nebraska, see Circular No. 254, p. 551. See instructions of Apr. 17, 1913, p. 740. 739 CIRCULAR NO. 212 APPRAISEMENT OF ISOLATED TRACTS—NOTATION ON RECORDS DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE. Washington, March 11, 1913. Registers and Receivers, United States Land Offices. SIRS: Upon receipt of a report of the Chief of Field Division provided for in section 2, paragraph 23, of Circular No. 72, dated Ĵanuary 19, 1912, and in section b, paragraph 8, of Circular No. 202, dated December 18, 1912, you will make notations on your records of the price of the land as reported by the Chief of Field Division, and should no sale result based upon the application presented, any subsequent applications under said acts for the same land, presented within three years from date of the report of the Chief of Field Division, need not be referred to the Chief of the Field Division, but you will, before transmitting same to this office, note thereon the price of the land as reported by the Chief of Field Division, making reference to the serial number of the former application. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, D. C., April 17, 1913. Registers and Receivers, United States Land Offices. SIRS: In order to conform the same to the terms of the first proviso to the act of March 28, 1912 (37 Stat. 77), the regulations thereunder on page 5 of Circular No. 202, dated December 18, 1912, and page 8 of Circular No. 203, regulations under the Kinkaid Acts effective only in Nebraska, dated December 18, 1912 (41 L. D. 448, 500), are hereby amended so that wherever the words "mountainous and too rough for cultivation " appear the same shall read "mountainous or too rough for cultivation." a These instructions will apply to all supplemental circulars and regulations under said act and you will be governed accordingly in the disposition of applications thereunder. Very respectfully, Approved. Circular No. 72 of Jan. 1913. See par. 23, p. 552. Circular No. 684 of Apr. 7, FRED DENNETT, Commissioner. FRANKLIN K. LANE, Secretary. 19, 1912, has been superseded by Circular No. 254 of July 17, Circular No. 202, dated Dec. 18, 1912, has been superseded by 1928, p. 742. Circular No. 202 of Dec. 18, 1912, has been superseded by Circular No. 684 of Apr. 7. 1928, p. 742, and Circular No. 203 of Dec. 18, 1912, has been superseded by Circular No. 254 of July 17, 1913, p. 548. [Reported, 43 L. D. 220] CIRCULAR NO. 317 PUBLIC SALE OF LANDS-QUALIFICATIONS AS TO CITIZENSHIP DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, April 18, 1914. Registers and Receivers, United States Land Offices. SIRS: In accordance with departmental instructions of January 31, 1914, you are advised that the department is of the opinion that the rule announced in the case of Andrew Rafshol (38 L. D. 84), was a proper one and that it should be applied to all purchasers at public sale where the right to purchase was not limited by the statutes to native born or naturalized citizens. Therefore, in the case of all sales of public lands where the right to purchase is not thus limited, it will be sufficient if the purchaser shows that he has declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States in order to entitle him to purchase at such sale. You will be governed accordingly and will adjudicate all pending cases of purchases at public sale in accordance with this regulation. The regulation of December 18, 1912 (41 L. D. 443), requiring purchasers of isolated tracts to be citizens of the United States, is modified to conform to the foregoing. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, D. C., November 24, 1915. Registers and Receivers, United States Land Offices. SIRS: For the information of the chief of field division to whom the paper is sent, you will indorse on the margin of all applications for offering under section 2455, Revised Statutes, "Tract isolated," or "Tract not isolated." If the application is indorsed "Tract isolated," the chief of field division will understand that the tract is isolated within the meaning of paragraph 7 of Circular No. 371; if "Tract not isolated" appears, it will advise him that the application is for the offering of a tract under the first proviso to section 2455, Revised Statutes, as amended by the act of March 28, 1912 (37 Stat. 77). Very respectfully, CLAY TALLMAN, Commissioner. • Circular No. 371 has been superseded by Circular No. 684, p. 742. [Reported, 52 L. D. 340] CIRCULAR No. 684 OFFERINGS AT PUBLIC SALE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Registers, United States Land Offices. SIRS: The sale of isolated tracts of unreserved public land and tracts not isolated, but which are mountainous or too rough for cultivation, is authorized by section 2455 of the Revised Statutes (section 1171, title 43, United States Code), as amended by the acts of June 27, 1906 (34 Stat. 517), March 28, 1912 (37 Stat. 77), and March 9, 1928 (45 Stat. 253). Special provisions as to lands in western Nebraska are found in the act of March 2, 1907 (34 Stat. 1224). The present instructions constitute a revision of those of February 25, 1926 (51 L. D. 357). GENERAL REGULATIONS 1. Applications to have isolated tracts ordered into market must be filed with the register of the local land office for the district wherein the lands are situated except in the States of Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Mis souri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. These States have no district land office, and applications for land therein should be forwarded to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, Washington, D. C. 2. Applicants must show by their affidavits, corroborated by at least two witnesses, that the land contains no salines, coal, or other minerals; the amount, kind, and value of timber or stone thereon, if any; whether the land is occupied, and if so, the nature of the occupancy; for what purpose the land is chiefly valuable; why it is desired that same be sold; that applicant desires to purchase the land for his own individual use and actual occupation and not for speculative purposes; and that he has not heretofore purchased under section 2455, Revised Statutes, or the amendments thereto, isolated tracts, the area of which when added to the area applied for will exceed approximately 320 acres; and that he is a citizen of the United States or has declared his intention to become such. Also a duly corroborated affidavit showing that no spring or water hole exists, if it be a fact, upon any legal subdivision of the land applied for; or if there be any spring or water hole, the affidavit should state the exact location and size thereof, together with an estimate of the quantity of water in gallons which it is capable of producing daily. If applicant has heretofore purchased lands under the provisions of the acts relating to isolated tracts, same must be described in the application by subdivision, section, township, and range. These provisions are modified, however, in the class of cases referred to in paragraph 5 (b). 3. The affidavits of applicants to have isolated tracts ordered into market and of their corroborating witnesses may be executed before any officer having a seal and authorized to administer oaths in the county or land district in which the tracts described in the applications are situated. Affidavits relating to lands in those States having no local office may be executed anywhere within the State. 4. The officer before whom such affidavits are executed will cause each applicant and his witnesses to fully answer the questions contained upon the accompanying form and, after the answers to the questions therein contained have been reduced to writing, to sign and swear to same before him. 5. (a) No sale will be authorized upon the application of a person who has purchased under section 2455, Revised Statutes, or the amendments thereto, any lands the area of which, when added to the area applied for, shall exceed approximately 320 acres. (b) Where one or more tracts, each not exceeding 120 acres in area, are entirely surrounded by land owned by the applicant and have been isolated for five or more years, an offering may be allowed without regard to the limitations as to extent of purchases by the applicant, set forth in paragraphs 2 and 5 (a), provided the lands sought are not valuable for farming but are chiefly valuable for grazing or for special use in connection with the adjoining lands. Applicants under this subparagraph must furnish proof of ownership of the land surrounding that applied for; also detailed evidence as to the character of the land applied for, particularly with respect to its comparative values for farming, grazing, and special use in connection with the adjoining lands, which evidence must consist of an affidavit by the applicant corroborated by the affidavits of not less than two disinterested persons having actual knowledge of the facts. In other respects these cases are governed by the general regulations. 6. No tract exceeding approximately 320 acres in area will be ordered into the market. An application may include several incontiguous tracts provided their aggregate area does not exceed 320 acres. Each tract will be offered separately and certificates will be issued under different numbers unless they are bought by the same. person. 7. No tract of land will be deemed isolated and ordered into the market unless, at the time application is filed, the said tract has been subject to homestead entry for at least two years after the surrounding lands have been entered, except in cases where some extraordinary reason is advanced which may be found sufficient to warrant waiving this restriction. 8. The register will, on receipt of applications, note same upon the tract books of his office, and if the applications are not properly executed or not corroborated he will reject the same, subject to the right of appeal. Applications found to be properly executed and corroborated will be disposed of as follows: (a) If the applicant does not show himself qualified, or if the tract appears not to be subject to disposition under the provisions of paragraph 7, or if all the land is appropriated, the register will reject the application subject to the usual right of appeal; if part of the tract is appropriated, he will reject the application as to that part, and. in the absence of an appeal after the usual notice, he will eliminate the description thereof from the application and take further action as though it had never been included therein. Where an appeal is filed, |