26 March 1804. of the United States. And any grant which may hereafter be made for a tract of land Salt springs to be containing a salt spring which had been discovered previous to the purchase of such tract from the United States, shall be considered as fraudulent and null.

reserved.

8 March 1805 2 Stat. 345.

Ibid. 27.

lands.

6.

335. The governor of the Michigan territory shall act as one of the superintendents of the sales of public lands at Detroit, in lieu of the governor of the Indiana territory. 336. All the sections heretofore reserved for the future disposition of congress, and Sales of reserved lying within either of the districts established for the disposal of public lands in the state of Ohio, with the exception of the section No. 16, of the salt springs, and lands reserved for the use of the same, and of the other sections or tracts of land otherwise heretofore specially appropriated, shall be offered for sale in that district within which such reserved sections may lie, on the same terms, and under the same regulations, as other lands in the same district: Provided, That such sections shall previously be offered to the highest bidder, at public sales to be held under the superintendence of the register and receiver of the land offices, respectively, to which they are attached, on the same terms as has been provided for the public sales of the other public lands of the United States, and on such day or days as shall, by a public proclamation of the president of the United States be designated for that purpose: And provided also, That no such heretofore reserved section shall be sold either at public or private sale for less than eight dollars per acre.

Price.

80 April 1810 36. 2 Stat. 591.

Tract at Shaw-
Leetown to be

lots

337. A tract of land in the Illinois territory, at and including Shawneetown, on the Ohio river, shall, under the direction of the surveyor-general, be laid off into town lots, streets and avenues, and into out-lots, in such manner, and of such dimensions, as he laid off into town may judge proper: Provided, The tract so to be laid off shall not exceed the quantity of land contained in two entire sections, nor the town lots one-quarter of an acre each. When the survey of the lots shall be completed, a plat thereof shall be returned to the surveyor-general, on which the town lots and out-lots shall respectively be designated by progressive numbers, who shall cause two copies to be made, one to be transmitted to the secretary of the treasury, and the other to the register of the land office; and the Lots to be offered lots shall be offered to the highest bidder at public sale, at the same time and place, on the at public sale. same terms and conditions, (except as to the quantity of land), as have or may be provided for the sale of the other public lands in the said territory: Provided, That no town lot shall be sold for a less price than eight dollars, nor any out-lot for less than at the rate of five dollars per acre.

27 April 1816 2 1. 8 Stat. 317.

338. That the register and receiver of the land office for the district of Jeffersonville be and they are hereby authorized to expose to public sale, to the highest bidder, at Sales of forfeited the land office aforesaid, any tract or tracts of land which may hereafter become forfeited to the United States for non-payment, under such terms and conditions as are, or may be, prescribed by law.

lauds.

Ibid. 2.

339. That so much of any former act of congress as requires the register and receiver Sales need not be of the district aforesaid, to expose to public sale, at the court-house of the county in which the said land office is established, any tract or tracts of land which may become forfeited to the United States for non-payment, be and the same is hereby repealed.

made at courthouse.

3 March 181923. 3 Stat. 522.

of Piqua, Dela

and Terre Haute.

340. All the public lands within the aforesaid several districts, (a) to which the Indian title has been extinguished, and which have not been granted to or reserved for the use Sales in districts of any individual or individuals, or appropriated and reserved for any other purpose, by ware, Indianapo- any existing treaties or laws, and, with the exception of section numbered sixteen, in lis, Brookville each township, which shall be reserved for the support of schools therein, shall be offered for sale, to the highest bidder, at the land offices for the respective districts, under the direction of the register of the land office and receiver of public moneys, on such day or days as shall, by proclamation of the president of the United States, be designated for that purpose; the sales shall remain open at each place for three weeks, and no longer; the lands shall not be sold for less than two dollars an acre; and shall, in every other respect, be sold in tracts of the same size, on the same terms and conditions, as have been or may be, by law, provided for the sale of the lands of the United When subject to States in the states of Ohio and Indiana. All the public lands in the said districts, private entry. with these exceptions above mentioned, remaining unsold at the close of the public sales, may be disposed of at private sale, by the register of the respective land offices, in the same manner, under the same regulations, for the same price, and on the same terms and conditions, in every respect, as are or may be provided by law for the sale of the lands of the United States in the states of Ohio and Indiana: and patents shall be obtained, for the lands sold in the said districts, in the same manner, and on the same terms, as are or may be by law provided for other public lands sold in the states of Ohio and Indiana.

(a) See supra, 263-4.

E. MINERAL LANDS IN MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN.

I. LAND OFFICES.

9 Stat. 146.

district.

341. All that portion of the public lands in the state of Michigan lying north of the 1 March 1847 § 1. boundaries of the Saginaw and Grand River land districts in said state, commonly called the northern peninsula of the state of Michigan, with the islands in Lakes Superior, Lake Superior Huron and Michigan, and in Green Bay, the Straits of Michilimackinac, and the river St. Mary's, within the jurisdiction of said state, be and the same are hereby included in a land district, to be called the Lake Superior land district; and for the sale of the lands in said district, there shall be a land office established at such point therein as the president of the United States may select.

Ibid. 26.

342. The president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, so soon as a sufficient number of townships are surveyed, and returns thereof made to the general Register and reland office, to authorize the commencement of the sales in said district, shall appoint one ceiver. register and one receiver for the land office in said district, who shall reside at the place designated by the president for the land office, receive such compensation, give security, and discharge all duties pertaining to such office as are prescribed by law.

9 Stat. 179.

trict.

343. All that portion of the public lands lying within the territory of Wisconsin, north 3 March 1847 8 L and west of the following boundary, to wit: commencing at the Mississippi river on the line between townships twenty-two and twenty-three north, running thence east along Chippewa dissaid line to the fourth principal meridian, thence north along said meridian line to the line dividing townships twenty-nine and thirty, thence east along said township line to the Wisconsin river, thence up the main channel of said river to the boundary line between the state of Michigan and the territory of Wisconsin, shall form a land district, to be called the Chippewa land district; and, for the sale of the lands in said district, a land office shall be established at such place therein as the president of the United States may select. II. LAND SALES.

9 Stat. 146.

amination and

made.

lands.

344. The secretary of the treasury shall cause a geological examination and survey of 1 March 1847 8 2 the lands embraced in said district to be made and reported to the commissioner of the general land office. And the president is hereby authorized to cause such of said lands Geological exas may contain copper lead or other valuable ores, (a) to be exposed to sale, giving six survey to be months' notice of the times and places of sales in such newspapers of general circulation, in the several states, as he may deem expedient, with a brief description of the Sales of mineral lands to be offered, showing the number and localities of the mines known, the probability of discovering others, the quality of the ores, the facilities of working the mines, and the means and expense of transporting their products to the principal markets in the United States. And all the lands embraced in said district, not reported as aforesaid, Sales of other shall be sold in the same manner as other lands, under the laws now in force for the sale of the public lands, excepting and reserving from such sales section sixteen in each township for the use of schools, and such reservations as the president shall deem necessary for public uses.(b)

lands.

tion.

Ibid. 23.

345. All those persons who are in possession, by actual occupancy, of any portion (c) of the district described in the first section of this act, under authority of a lease from Lessees to have the secretary of war, for the purpose of mining thereon, and who have fully complied right of pre-emp with all the conditions and stipulations of said lease, may enter and purchase the same at any time during the continuance of such lease, to the extent of such lease, and no less, by paying to the United States therefor at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre: Provided, That said entry and purchase shall be made to include the original survey of such lease, as near as may be, conforming to the lines of the public surveys of sections and subdivisions thereof. And all those persons who are in possession, by And those in pos actual occupancy, of any of said lands, for mining purposes, under authority of a written session under permits. permit from the secretary of war, and who have visible landmarks and muniments as boundaries thereon, and who have, in all other respects, complied with the conditions and stipulations contained in such permit, may enter and purchase the same, to the extent of the tract selected by them and reported to the secretary of war, as required by said permit, and no less, in the same manner as those who hold under leases, and at the same price: Provided, Such entry and purchase be made before the day said lands shall be offered for sale by order of the president. And all those persons who shall be in pos- Or by occupation. session, by actual occupancy, of a mine or mines actually discovered before the passage of this act, and who shall pay the same per centum of rents as those who hold under leases, as aforesaid, shall be permitted to enter and purchase one section of land, and not

(a) Lands containing iron ore merely, are not to be considered as mineral lands, within the meaning of this act; but they are to be disposed of according to the laws in relation to the disposition of other public lands. 5 Opin. 247.

(b) See also act 11 July 1846, to authorize the president to sell

the reserved mineral lands in the states of Illinois and Arkansas, and territories of Wisconsin and Iowa, supposed to contain lead ore. 9. Stat. 37.

(c) This does not include section sixteen, reserved for the use of schools. Cooper v. Roberts, 18 How. 173.

1 March 1847. less, to include such mine or mines discovered and occupied as aforesaid, by them, by paying to the United States the same price, and at the same time, as required of those who hold under permits aforesaid; and all rents accruing from such lessees or occupants shall be paid and delivered to such officers of the government as the secretary of the Proof to be made. treasury shall direct: Provided, That prior to any such purchase being made under the provisions of this section, proof of possession and occupancy, as aforesaid, of the mine or mines claimed, shall be made to the register and receiver of the land district, together with the evidence of the payment of all rents due the United States, agreeably to such rules as may be prescribed by the secretary of the treasury for that purpose, which register and receiver shall each be entitled to receive one dollar for his services therein: Provided, That an appeal from the decision of the register and receiver to the secretary of the treasury may be had, under such regulations as the said secretary may prescribe. Preference to be And if two or more persons are in possession of the same section, the first occupant shall given to first be entitled to a preference, unless the same can be so divided by legal subdivisions as to give to each the discovery claimed by him.

Appeals.

occupant.

Ibid. 24. Sales of mineral

346. The said mineral lands shall be offered for sale in quarter-sections, and no bid shall be received at a less rate than five dollars per acre; (a) and if such lands shall not lands regulated. be sold at public sale at such price, they shall thereafter be entered at private sale at that price: Provided, That no legal division or subdivision of any of said lands upon which there may be an outstanding lease or leases from the secretary of war unexpired or undetermined, and which is actually occupied for mining purposes, and the occupants of which have complied with all the requisites of such lease or leases, and continue to perform the same, shall be sold until after the determination of such lease or leases by efflux of time, voluntary surrender, or other legal extinguishment thereof, except in such cases as are provided for in the third section of this act; and the lessees respectively shall be entitled to the privileges secured by said section upon the voluntary surrender of the lease or leases held by them.

Ibid. 25. Management transferred to treasury department.

3 March 18478 2. 9 Stat. 180.

triot.

Sales of mineral and other lands

347. The management and control of the mineral lands shall be transferred from the war department, and placed under the jurisdiction and control of the treasury department; (b) and all books, maps, papers, instruments and other property procured, to be used and employed in the management, survey, exploring or conducting of said mineral lands by the war department, shall be delivered over and made subject to the disposition of the secretary of the treasury.

348. The secretary of the treasury shall cause a geological examination and survey of the lands embraced in said district (c) to be made and reported to the commissioner Geological survey of the general office. And the president is hereby authorized to cause such of said of Chippewa dis- lands as may contain copper, lead or other valuable ores, to be exposed to sale, giving six months' notice of the times and places of sales, in such newspapers of general circulation in the several states as he may deem expedient, with a brief description of the lands to be offered, showing the number and localities of the mines known, the probability of discovering others, the quality of the ores, the facilities of working the mines, and the means and expense of transporting their products to the principal markets in the United States. And all the lands embraced in said district, not reported as afore said, shall be sold in the same manner as other lands under the laws now in force for the sale of the public lands, excepting and reserving from such sales section sixteen in each township, for the use of schools, and such reservations as the president shall deem necessary for public uses.

Ibid. 23. Occupants to emption.

349. Every person or persons who shall be in possession, by actual occupancy, of a mine or mines, actually discovered previous to the passage of this act, and who shall pay have right of pre- the same rents as those who hold under leases from the secretary of war, and which rents accruing from such occupants and lessees shall be paid and delivered to such officer of the government as the secretary of the treasury shall direct, shall be entitled to purchase the lands on which the same is or are situated, at any time prior to the day of sale fixed by the president, in legal subdivisions, not exceeding in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres, to include such mine or mines, paying to the United States therefor at the rate of five dollars per acre: Provided, That prior to any entry being made under the provisions of this section, proof of possession and occupancy as aforesaid of the mine of mines claimed, shall be made to the register and receiver of the land district, together with the evidence of the payment of all rents due the United States, agreeably to such rules as may be prescribed by the secretary of the treasury for that purpose; which register and receiver shall each be entitled to receive one dollar for his services therein: Provided, That an appeal from the decision of the register and receiver to the secretary of the treasury may be had, under such regulations as the said secretary may prescribe.

Proof of tion.

Appeals.

эссира

(a) But see infra, 351.

(b) Transferred to the department of the interior, by act 3 March 1849. See tit. "Interior Department," B. (c) See supra, 343.

And if two or more persons are in possession of the same quarter-section, the first occu- 3 March 1847. pant shall be entitled to a preference, unless the same can be so divided by legal subdi- Preference to visions as to give to each the discovery claimed by him. first occupant.

350. The said mineral lands shall be offered for sale in subdivisions of quarter-quarterIbid. 24. sections, and no bid shall be received at a less rate than five dollars per acre; (a) and if Sales of mineral such lands shall not be sold at public sale, they shall be subject to entry at private sale lands regulated. at that price: Provided, That no legal division or subdivision of any of said lands, upon which there may be an outstanding lease or leases from the secretary of war, unexpired ɔr undetermined, and which is actually occupied for mining purposes, and the occupants of which have complied with all the requisites of such lease or leases, and continued to perform the same, shall be sold, until after the determination of such lease or leases by efflux of time, voluntary surrender, or other legal extinguishment thereof, except in such cases as are provided for in the third section of this act; and the lessees, respectively, shall be entitled to the privilege secured by said section upon the voluntary surrender of the lease or leases held by them.

9 Stat. 472.

be subject to the same minimum

351. The mineral lands in the Lake Superior district in Michigan, and in the Chip- 26 Sept. 1850 ? L pewa district in Wisconsin, shall be offered for public sale in the same manner, and be subject to the same minimum price, and the same rights of pre-emption, as the other Mineral lands to public lands of the United States; and such portions of the act of 1st March 1847, "to establish a land office in the northern part of Michigan, and to provide for the sale of price, and rights of pre-emption, the mineral lands in the state of Michigan," and of the act of the 3d March 1847, "to as others. create an additional land district in the territory of Wisconsin, and for other purposes," as are inconsistent with the provisions of this act, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed: Provided however, That the right given by those acts of 1st and 3d March 1847, to lessees, occupants and permittees to enter to the extent of their leases and permits, and no less, shall not be considered as impaired by this act; but said lessees, occupants and permittees shall be authorized to enter the land covered by their leases, occupancy and permits, respectively, as therein provided, at the minimum price fixed by this act.

Ibid. 2.

Holders of leases

352. The holder of a lease or permit covering more than one full section of the mineral lands, as aforesaid, shall be entitled, on the surrender and annulment of said lease or permit at the proper land office, to purchase, if he shall elect to do so, one full may surrender and purchase one section, and no more, of the land covered by said lease or permit, at a minimum price of full section at two dollars and fifty cents per acre. minimum price.

F. OF LANDS SOUTH OF TENNESSEE.

I. CONFIRMATION OF CLAIMS.

2 Stat. 229.

British and

353. Any person or persons, and the legal representatives of any person or persons 3 March 1803 2 1 who were resident in the Mississippi territory on the 27th day of October, in the year 1795, (b) and who had, prior to that day, obtained, either from the British government Claims under of West Florida (c) or from the Spanish government, any warrant or order of survey, Spanish grants, for lands lying within the said territory, to which the Indian title had been extinguished, to be confirmed. and which were on that day actually inhabited and cultivated by such person or persons, or for his or their use, (d) shall be confirmed in their claims to such lands in the same manner as if their titles had been completed: Provided however, That no such incomplete title shall be confirmed unless the person in whose name such warrant or order of survey had been granted was, at the time of its date, either the head of a family or above the age of twenty-one years.

Ibid. 32.

354. To every person, or to the legal representative or representatives of every person who, being either the head of a family or of twenty-one years of age, did, on that day Grants to actual of the year 1797, when the Mississippi territory was finally evacuated by the Spanish settlers at the troops, (e) actually inhabit and cultivate a tract of land in the said territory, not claimed tion by the

(a) But see infra, 351.

(b) This is the date of the treaty of San Lorenzo, whereby Spain admitted she had no right to the territory north of the thirty-first degree of north latitude; as a consequence of which all the grants made by her authority within that territory were void. Hickey's Lessee v. Stewart. 3 How. 760. La Roche v. Jones. 9 Ibid. 155. The treaty ascertained and established an existing but disputed Doundary. Robinson v. Minor, 10 Ibid. 643. And no Spanish grant, made while the country was wrongfully occupied by Spain, can be valid unless it was confirmed by the compact between the United States and Georgia, of the 24 April 1802, or has been laid before the board of commissioners constituted by the act in the text. Henderson v. Poindexter's Lessee. 12 Wh. 530.

(c) A grant made by the British governor of Florida. after the declaration of independence, within the territory lying between the Mississippi and the Chatabouchee river, and between the 31st degree of north latitude, and a line drawn from the mouth of the Yazoo river due east to the Chatahouchee, is invalid as the foun

time of evacua.

dation of title in the courts of the United States. Harcourt v. Gaillard. 12 Wh. 523.

(d) In Henderson v. Poindexter's Lessee, 12 Wh. 542-3, Chief Justice Marshall says that no law has, in express terms, imparted validity to Spanish titles held by persons who were non-residents of the country, on the 27 October 1795; yet it is not easy to resist the conviction that the government has legislated on the idea that they might be valid.

(e) It is a matter of public history, that there were Spanish troops, garrisons and settlements north of the disputed boundary and within the territory of the United States, which were not withdrawn till long after the time stipulated by the treaty. And the language of this act shows plainly that although congress, at the time of passing the law, was certain of the fact of evacuation by the Spanish troops, that body was not informed of the precise time when the evacuation took place. It was settled by the deci sion of the commissioners under this act, that the final evacuation of the country by the Spanish troops took place on the 30 March 1798. Ross v. Barland, 1 Pet. 665-9.

3 March 1803. Spanish forces.

30 June 1812 1. 2 Stat. 765.

claims regularly filed.

Certificates of confirmation to be issued.

by virtue either of the preceding section or of any British grant, or of the articles of agreement and cession between the United States and the state of Georgia,(a) the said tract of land thus inhabited and cultivated shall be granted:(b) Provided however, That not more than one tract shall be thus granted to any one person, and the same shall not contain more than six hundred and forty acres: And provided also, That this donation shall not be made to any person who claims any other tract of land in the said territory by virtue of any British or Spanish grant, or order of survey.

355. Every person, and the legal representative of every person claiming lands in the Mississippi territory, by virtue of a British or Spanish warrant or order of survey, Confirmation of granted prior to the 27th day of October 1795, who were on that day actually resident in the said territory, and whose claims have been regularly filed with the proper register of the land office east and west of Pearl river, according to law, and reported to congress, agreeably to the fourth section of the act entitled "An act concerning the sale of the lands of the United States, and for other purposes," passed on the 31st day of March 1808, be and they are hereby confirmed in their rights to land so claimed. And the register and receiver of public moneys for the district within which the lands may lie, are authorized and required to make out to such claimant or claimants, entitled thereto by the provisions of this act, a certificate of confirmation, (for each of which certificates the register and receiver shall each receive one dollar) directed to the commissioner of the general land office; and if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the said commissioner that such certificates have been fairly obtained, according to the true intent and meaning of this act, then and in that case patents shall be granted in like manner as is provided Who entitled to by law for the other lands of the United States: Provided, That no person shall be entitled to the benefit of this act who shall not appear by the report made to congress as aforesaid, or by the records of the boards of commissioners for the said territory, to have been a resident of said territory on the 27th day of October 1795; nor shall any person be entitled to the benefit thereof who has received a donation grant from the United States: Provided also, That not more than six hundred and forty acres shall by virtue of this act be granted to any one claim.

Patents.

the benefit of this act.

No more than 640

acres to be grant

ed to one claim. Ibid. 2.

356. Nothing in this act contained shall be construed to affect the decisions of the Judicial decisions courts of justice in the said territory, heretofore made respecting the claims, or any part not to be affected. thereof, embraced by the preceding section, or to prevent a judicial decision between the holder of a British patent, legally and fully executed, and recorded with the register of the land office east or west of Pearl river, and the persons whose claims are confirmed by the preceding section, where such claims interfere.

5 July 1812 31. 2 Stat. 776.

Certain claims under British grants confirmed.

2 Stat. 230.

Claimants to give notice in

ter.

Evidence to be recorded.

357. Citizens of the United States, claiming lands in the Mississippi territory, by virtue of grants legally and fully executed, derived from the British government of West Florida, whose lands have not been subsequently regranted by the Spanish government or claimed in right of donation or pre-emption certificates granted by the boards of commissioners east and west of Pearl river, and whose claims have been regularly filed according to law, with the proper register of the land office in the said territory, and are embraced in the report of the commissioners laid before congress, according to law, be and they are hereby confirmed in their respective claims, according to the said grants: Provided, That nothing in any law of the United States shall be construed to prevent a judicial decision of controversies under the respective claims aforesaid.

II. ASCERTAINMENT AND SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS.

8 March 1803 25. 358. Every person claiming lands by virtue of any British grant, or of the three first sections of this act, (c) or of the articles of agreement and cession between the United States and the state of Georgia, shall, before the last day of March in the year 1804, writing to regis deliver to the register of the land office within whose district the land may be, a notice, in writing, stating the nature and extent of his claims, together with a plot of the tract or tracts claimed; and shall also, on or before that day, deliver to the said register, for the purpose of being recorded, every grant, order of survey, deed, conveyance or other written evidence of his claim, and the same shall be recorded by the said register, in books to be kept for that purpose, on receiving from the parties at the rate of twelve and a half cents for every hundred words contained in such written evidence of their In default, claim claim. And if such person(d) shall neglect to deliver such notice, in writing, of his claim, together with a plot as aforesaid, or cause to be recorded such written evidence of the same, all his right, so far as the same is derived from the above-mentioned articles of agreement, or from the three first sections of this act, shall become void, and for ever

tc be barred.

(a) In the deed of cession, (1 Land Laws, 558), it was stipulated "that all persons who, on the 27th of October 1795, were actual Bettlers within the territory thus ceded, shall be confirmed in all the grants legally and fully executed prior to that day. by the former British government, or the government of Spain." Robinson v. Minor, 10 How. 642.

(b) A donation certificate, under this act, gives a title superior to that acquired by a purchase at a public land sale. Ross . Barland, 1 Pet. 655. And see Robinson v. Minor, 10 How. 627. (c) See supra, 353-4; and infra, 388.

(d) See Henderson Poindexter's Lessee, 12 Wh. 542-3 Hickey's Lessee v. Stewart, 3 How. 761.