evidence of title thereto, and that such claimants have been and continue to be loyal to the Government of the United States: And provided further, That such certificates and floats shall not exceed in gross seventeen thousand four hundred and seventy-seven and sixty-two hundredths acres. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect immediately.

Approved, March 17, 1862.

No. 38 B.-An Act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, and who has never borne arms against the United States Government or given aid and comfort to its enemies, shall, from and after the first of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be entitled to enter one quarter section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which said person may have filed a pre-emption claim, or which may, at the time the application is made, be subject to pre-emption at one dollar and twenty-five cents, or less, per acre; or eighty acres or less of such unappropriated lands, at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after the same shall have been surveyed: Provided, That any person owning and residing on land may, under the provisions of this act, enter other land lying contiguous to his or her said land, which shall not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the person applying for the benefit of this act shall, upon application to the register of the land office in which he or she is about to make such entry, make affidavit before the said register or receiver that he or she is the head of a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, or shall have performed service in the army or navy of the United States, and that he has never borne arms against the Government of the United States or given aid and comfort to its enemies, and that such application is made for his or her exclusive use and benefit, and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; and upon filing the said affidavit with the register or receiver, and on payment of ten dollars, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity of land specified: Provided, however, That no certificate shall be given or patent issued therefor until the expiration of five years from the date of such entry; and if, at the expiration of such time, or at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry; or, if he be dead, his widow; or in case of her death, her heirs or devisee; or in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of her death; shall prove by two credible witnesses that he, she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of five years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit aforesaid, and shall make affidavit

that no part of said land has been alienated, and that he has borne true allegiance to the Government of the United States; then in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time a citizen of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided for by law : And provided further, That in case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child, or children, under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall enure to the benefit of said infant child or children; and the executor, administrator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the State in which such children for the time being have their domicil, sell said land for the benefit of said infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United States, on payment of the office fees and sum of money herein specified.

SEO. 3. And be it further enacted, That the register of the land office shall note all such applications on the tract books and plats of his office, and keep a register of all such entries, and make return thereof to the General Land Office, together with the proof upon which they have been founded.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That no lands acquired under the provisions of this act shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of the patent. therefor.

SEO. 5. And be it further enacted, That if, at any time after the filing of the affidavit, as required in the second section of this act, and before the expiration of the five years aforesaid, it shall be proven, after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the register of the land office, that the person having filed such affidavit shall have actually changed his or her residence, or abandoned the said land for more than six months at any time, then and in that event the land so entered shall revert to the Government.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That no individual shall be permitted to acquire title to more than one quarter section under the provisions of this act; and that the Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby required to prepare and issue such rules and regulations, consistent with this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry its provisions into effect; and that the registers and receivers of the several land offices shall be entitled to receive the same compensation for any lands entered under the provisions of this act that they are now entitled to receive when the same quantity of land is entered with money, one-half to be paid by the person making the application at the time of so doing, and the other half on the issue of the certificate by the person to whom it may be issued; but this shall not be construed to enlarge the maximum of compensation now prescribed by law for any register or receiver: Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to impair or interfere in any manner whatever with existing pre-emption rights: And provided further, That all persons who may have filed their applications for a pre-emption right prior to the passage of this act, shall be entitled to all privileges of this act: Provided further, That no person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a period of not less than fourteen days in the army or navy of the United States, either regular or volunteer, under the laws thereof, during the existence of an actual war, domestic or foreign, shall be deprived of the benefits of this act on account of not having attained the age of twenty-one years.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the fifth section of the act entitled "An act in addition to an act more effectually to provide for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, and for other purposes," approved the third of March, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall extend to all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits required or authorized by this act.*

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent any person who has availed him or herself of the benefits of the first section of this act, from paying the minimum price, or the price to which the same may have graduated, for the quantity of land so entered at any time before the expiration of the five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the Government, as in other cases provided by law, on making proof of settlement and cultivation as provided by existing laws granting pre-emption rights.†

Approved, May 20, 1862.

No. 39 B.-An Act to reduce the expenses of the survey and sale of the public lands in the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That contracts for the survey of the public lands shall not become binding upon the United States until approved by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, except in such cases as said commissioner shall otherwise specially order.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, the printed manual of instructions relating to the public surveys, prepared at the General Land Office, and bearing the date February twenty-second, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, the instructions of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and the special instructions of the surveyor-general, when not in conflict with said printed manual, or the instructions of said Commissioner, shall be taken and deemed to be a part of every contract for surveying the public lands of the United States. I

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall have power, and it shall be his duty, to fix the prices per mile for public surveys, which shall in no case exceed the maximum established by law; and that, under instructions to be prepared by said commissioner, an accurate account shall be kept by each surveyorgeneral of the cost of surveying and platting private land claims, to be reported to the General Land Office, with the map of such claim, and that patents shall not issue for any such private claim until the cost of survey and platting shall have been paid into the Treasury of the United States by the claimant.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of July next, and upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, approved by the Secretary of the Interior, the President may order that the Territories of Utah and Colorado shall constitute one surveying district, the duties of surveyor-general in said district to be performed by the Surveyor-Geueral of Colorado; and the surveying

* Vol. I.-page 733-No. 332.

Vol. I. No. 702.

† Amended, No. 76 B, and No. 146 B.

district of Nevada shall be united to that of California, the duties of the Surveyor-General of the former to be transferred to the Surveyor-General of California; and the transfer of the effects and archives of the offices to be made under the instructions of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, approved by the Secretary of the Interior, the President may order the discontinuance of any land office, and the transfer of its business and archives to any other land office within the same State or Territory.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of July next, the compensation of registers and receivers in all the land offices in the United States shall be an annual salary of five hundred dollars to each, with the fees and commissions now prescribed by law, and to be paid by claimants, an additional fee in donation cases of five dollars for each final certificate for one hundred and sixty acres, ten dollars for three hundred and twenty acres, and fifteen dollars for six hundred and forty acres; to be accounted for in the same manner as fees and commissions in warrant and pre-emption locations, with limitations as to maximum of salary prescribed by existing laws, and in accordance with such instructions as shall be given by the Commissioner of the General [Land] Office.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That in regard to settlements which by existing laws are authorized in certain States and Territories upon unsurveyed lands, which privilege is hereby extended to California, the pre-emption claimant shall be, and is hereby, in all cases, required, from and after the first day of September, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, to file his declaratory statement within three months from the date of the receipt at the district land office of the approved plat of the township embracing such pre-emption settlement: Provided, The provisions of this section shall not be held to authorize pre-emption and settlement of mineral lands, which are hereby exempted from the provisions of this act.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of July next, and until otherwise ordered by the President, the duties of the register and receiver of New Mexico shall be transferred to and devolve upon the Surveyor-General of that Territory, and it shall and may be lawful for the President, in like manner, to transfer the duties of register and receiver in any district to the Surveyor-General where the public interest may require such transfer.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of July next, the salary of the Surveyor-General of California shall not exceed three thousand dollars per annum, and [the] salaries of the SurveyorGeneral of Oregon and Washington shall not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars each per annum, and should the surveying districts of Utah and Nevada be hereafter established by order of the President, each as an independent district, the salaries of the surveyor-general shall not exceed three thousand dollars each for said districts.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That when the settlers in any township or townships, not mineral or reserved by Government, shall desire a survey made of the same, under the authority of the SurveyorGeneral of the United States, and shall file an application therefor in writing, and deposit in a proper United States depository, to the credit of the United States, a sum sufficient to pay for such survey, together with all expenses incident thereto, without cost or claim for indemnity on the United States, it shall and may be lawful for said Surveyor-General, under such instructions as may be given him by the Commissioner of the

General Land Office, and in accordance with existing laws and instructions, to survey such township or townships, and make return thereof to the general and proper local land office: Provided, The townships so proposed to be surveyed are within the range of the regular progress of the public surveys embraced by existing standard lines or bases for the township and sub-divisional surveys. Approved, May 30, 1862.

*

No. 40 B.-An Act for the survey of grants or claims of land.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all claims or grants of land in any of the States or Territories of the United States, derived from any foreign country or government, shall be surveyed under the direction of the proper officers of the Government of the United States upon the application of the parties claiming or owning the same, and at their expense, which shall be paid or secured to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior before the work shall be performed; but nothing in the law requiring the executive officers to survey land claimed or granted under any laws of the United States shall be construed either to authorize such officers to pass upon the validity of the titles granted by or under such laws, or to give any greater effect to the surveys made by them than to make such surveys primâ facie evidence of the true location of the land claimed or granted, nor shall any such grant be deemed incomplete for the want of a survey or patent when the land granted may be ascertained without a survey or patent. Approved, June 2, 1862.

No. 41 B.-An Act to establish a land office in Colorado Territory, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all the lands belonging to the United States to which the Indian title has been or shall be extinguished shall be subject to the operations of the pre-emption act of the fourth of September, eighteen hundred and forty-one, and under the conditions, restrictions, and stipulations therein mentioned: Provided, however, That when unsurveyed lands are claimed by pre-emption, notice of the specific tracts claimed shall be filed within six months after the survey has been made in the field; and on failure to file such notice, or to pay for the tract claimed within twelve months from the filing of such notice, the parties claiming such lands shall forfeit all right thereto, provided said notices may be filed with the Surveyor-General, and to be noted by him on the township plats, until other arrangements have been made by law for that purpose.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the public lands within the Territory of Colorado to which the Indian title is or shall be extinguished

*See No. 121 B.