MINERAL LANDS OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. Sickels' Mining Decisions, 1880, A. L. Bancroft & Co., San Francisco. Blanchard and Weeks's leading cases in Mines, Minerals, and Mining Water Rights. Skidmore's Mining Decisions. De Fooz on the Laws of Mines. Yates's Legal Titles to Mining Claims and Water Rights in California. Land Laws in California, Oregon, Texas, &c.; Joseph M. White, 2 vols. FORM OF PATENT FOR PLACER CLAIM. General Land Office, No. 4,458. Mineral certificate No. 448. The United States of America to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Whereas, in pursuance of the provisions of the Revised Statutes of the United States, chapter six, title thirty-two, there has been deposited in the General Land Office of the United States the certificate of the register of the land office at Helena, in the Territory of Montana, whereby it appears that, in pursuance of the said Revised Statutes of the United States, James G. Hammond did, on the ninth day of June, A. D. 1879, enter and pay for certain placer mining premises, being mineral entry number four hundred and forty-eight (448) in the series of said office, embracing the west half of the southeast quarter and the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section twenty-three (23), and the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section twenty-eight (28), in township ten (10) north, of range four (4) east of the principal meridian, containing one hundred and sixty (160) acres of land, more or less, as shown by the official survey and plat of said township; said placer mining claim or lot of land being situate in the Summit Valley mining district, in the county of Lewis and Clarke, and Territory of Montana, in the district of lands subject to sale at Helena, and commonly known as the "Jennie Placer Mine." Now know ye, that the United States of America, in consideration of the premises and in conformity with said Revised Statutes of the United States, have given and granted, and by these presents do give and grant, unto the said James G. Hammond, and to his heirs and assigns, the said placer mining premises above described as the west half of the southeast quarter and the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section twenty-three (23), and the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section twenty-eight (23), in township ten (10) north, of range four (4) east of the principál meridian. To have and to hold said mining premises, together with all the rights, privileges, immunities and appurtenances of whatsoever nature thereunto belonging, unto the said James G. Hammond, and to his heirs and assigns forever; subject, nevertheless, to the following conditions and stipulations: First. That the grant hereby made is restricted in its exterior limits to the boundaries of the said legal subdivisions, as hereinbefore described, and to any veins or lodes of quartz or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable deposits, which may hereafter be discovered within said limits, and which are not claimed or known to exist at the date hereof. Second. That should any vein or lode of quartz or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable deposits, be claimed or known to exist within the above-described premises at the date hereof, the same is expressly excepted and excluded from these presents. Third. That the premises hereby conveyed may be entered by the proprietor of any vein or lode of quartz or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable deposits, for the purpose of extracting and removing the ore from such vein, lode, or deposit, should the same, or any part thereof, be found to penetrate, intersect, pass through, or dip into the mining ground or premises hereby granted. Fourth. That the premises hereby conveyed shall be held subject to any vested and accrued water rights for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, or other purposes, and rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water rights as may be recognized and acknowledged by the local laws, customs, and decisions of courts. Fifth. That in the absence of necessary legislation by Congress, the legislature of Montana may provide rules for working the mining claim or premises hereby granted, involving easements, drainage, and other necessary means to the complete development thereof. In testimony whereof, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States of America, have caused these letters to be made patent, and the seal of the General Land Office to be hereunto affixed. Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and fifth. General Land Office No. 4398.-Mineral Certificate No. 419. The United States of America, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Whereas, in pursuance of the provisions of the Revised Statutes of the United States, chapter six, title thirty-two, there have been deposited in the General Land Office of the United States the plat and field notes of survey of the claim of John W. Roe upon the Brooklyn lode, accompanied by the certificate of the register of the land-office at Salt Lake City, in the Territory of Utah, whereby it appears that, in pursuance of the said Revised Statutes of the United States, John W. Roe did, on the thirty-first day of December, A. D. 1879, enter and pay for said mining claim or premises, being mineral entry No. 419, in the series of said office, designated by the Surveyor-General as lot No. 60, embracing a portion of the unsurveyed public domain, in the Ophir Mining District in the county of Tooele and Territory of Utah, in the district of lands subject to sale at Salt Lake City, containing one (1) acre and eighty-four hundredths (b) of an acre of land, more or less, and, according to the returns on file in the General Land Office, bounded, described, and platted as follows, with magnetic variation at sixteen (16) degrees and thirty-five (35) minutes east, to wit: Beginning at corner No. 1, a cottonwood post, four (4) inches in diameter, marked "U. S. L. 60, No. 1"; thence north sixty-five (65) degrees thirty (30) minutes west, fifty (50) feet to centre of southwesterly boundary of the claim, from which discovery bears north twenty-six (26) degrees east, at the distance of four hundred (400) feet, ninety-eight and seven-tenths (985) feet to a point on easterly boundary of lot No. 63, made for the Noyes lode, from which corner No. 1 of lot No. 63 bears south fourteen (14) degrees west at the distance of seventeen and seven-tenths (17) feet, one hundred (100) feet to corner No. 2, a cottonwood post four (4) inches in diameter, in mound of stones, marked "U. S. L. 60, No. 2," from which U. S. Mineral Monument No. 6 bears south ten (10) degrees west at the distance of nine hundred and ninetyeight (998) feet; thence from said corner No. 2 north twenty-six (26) degrees east, six (6) feet to a point on easterly boundary of said lot No. 63, from which corner No. 1 of said lot No. 63 bears south fourteen (14) degrees west, at the distance of twenty-three and eight-tenths (23) feet, eight hundred (800) feet to corner No. 3, a cottonwood post four (4) inches in diameter, marked "Ü. S. L. 60, No. 3"; thence south sixty-five (65) degrees thirty (30) minutes east, one hundred (100) feet to corner No. 4, a cottonwood post four (4) inches in diameter, marked "U. S. L. 60, No. 4"; thence south twenty-six (26) degrees west, eight hundred (800) feet to the place of beginning, containing one (1) acre and eighty-four hundredths () of an acre of land more or less, and embracing eight hundred (800) linear feet of the Brooklyn lode, to wit, four hundred (400) linear feet northeasterly and four hundred (400) linear feet southwesterly from discovery on said lode, as represented by yellow shading in the following plat: [Here follows diagram of claim, shaded in yellow.] Now know ye, That the United States of America, in consideration of the premises, and in conformity with the said Revised Statutes of the United States, have given and granted, and by these presents do give and grant unto the said John W. Roe and to his heirs and assigns, the said mining premises hereinbefore described as lot No. 60, embracing a portion of the unsurveyed public domain, with the exclusive right of possession and enjoyment of all the land included within the exterior lines of said survey not herein expressly excepted from these presents, and of eight hundred (800) linear feet of the said Brooklyn vein, lode, ledge, or deposit for the length herein before described, throughout its entire depth, although it may enter the land adjoining, and also of all other veins, lodes, ledges, or deposits throughout their entire depth, the tops or apexes of which lie inside the exterior lines of said survey at the surface extended downward vertically, although such veins, lodes, ledges, or deposits in their downward course may so far depart from a perpendicular as to extend outside the vertical side lines of said survey: Provided, That the right of possession hereby granted to such outside parts of said veins, lodes, ledges, or deposits shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward through the end lines of said survey at the surface, so continued in their own direction that such vertical planes will intersect such exterior parts of said veins, lodes, ledges, or deposits: And provided further, That nothing in this conveyance shall authorize the grantee herein, his heirs or assigns, to enter upon the surface of a mining claim owned or possessed by another: To have and to hold said mining premises, together with all the rights, privileges, immunities, and appurtenances of whatsoever nature thereunto belonging, unto the said John W. Roe, and to his heirs and assigns forever, subject, nevertheless, to the following conditions and stipulations: MINERAL LANDS OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. First. That the grant hereby made is restricted to the land herein before described as lot No. 60, with eight hundred (800) linear feet of the Brooklyn vein, lode, ledge, or deposit for the length aforesaid throughout its entire depth as aforesaid, together with all other veins, lodes, ledges, or deposits throughout their entire depths as aforesaid, the tops or apexes of which lie inside the exterior lines of said survey. Second. That the premises hereby conveyed, with the exception of the surface, may be entered by the proprietor of any other vein, lode, ledge, or deposit, the top or apex of which lies outside the exterior limits of said survey, should the same in its downward course be found to penetrate, intersect, extend into, or underlie the premises hereby granted, for the purpose of extracting and removing the ore from such other vein, lode, ledge, or deposit. Third. That the premises hereby conveyed shall be held subject to any vested and accrued water rights for mining, agricultural, manufacturing or other purposes, and rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water rights as may be recognized and acknowledged by the local laws, customs, and decisions of courts. Fourth. That in the absence of necessary legislation by Congress, the legislature of Utah may provide rules for working the mining claim or premises hereby granted, involving easements, drainage, and other necessary means to its complete develop ment. In testimony whereof, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States of America, have caused these letters to be made patent, and the seal of the General Land Office to be hereunto affixed. Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and fifth. By the President: [SEAL.] S. W. CLARK, Recorder General Land Office. Recorded, vol. 54, pages 43 to 45, inclusive. R. B. HAYES, Secretary. CHAPTER XXVII. HOMESTEADS. ACT OF MAY 20, 1862, AND AMENDMENTS TO JUNE 30, 1880. The general policy of Congress in the disposition of the public domain after 1783 is traced in the first part of this work down to about the year 1841, concluding with the pre-emption act. The homestead bill, or the granting of free homes from and on the public domain, became a national question in 1852. The Free Soil Democracy, at Pittsburg, Pa., August 11, 1852, in National Convention, nominated John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, and George W. Julian, of Indiana, for President and Vice-President, and adopted the following as the 12th plank or resolution in their platform: That the public lands of the United States belong to the people, and should not be sold to individuals, nor granted to corporations, but should be held as a sacred trust for the benefit of the people, and should be granted in limited quantities, free of cost, to landless settlers. Thereafter it became a national question until its passage in 1862, and was in the platforms of political parties. It was petitioned for and against. Public sentiment was aroused. It was a serious innovation and would cause an almost entire change in the settlement laws. Instead of the public lands being sold for cash, for profit, or being taken, first, under the pre-emption system, which eventuated in cash purchases, they were to be given to actual settlers who would occupy, improve, and cultivate them for a term of years, and then receive a patent free of acreage charges, with fees paid by the homesteader sufficient to cover cost of survey and transfer of title. It was the third and most important step in the history of the public land system. Once adopted, no person could estimate its moral, social, and political effects. The public land system for eighty years prior to 1862 had attracted the attention of the ablest men in the Nation. The chairmen of committees in Congress charged with its care were able and inquiring men. This third change and new system was the result of experience and investigation by some of the profoundest men of the age. Philosophers rung the changes upon it. Political economists had foretold its failure, or had dwelt upon the evil effects of large holdings. Prior to this time, large purchases from the Government or States had usually resulted in the bankruptcy of the holders. (For tables showing the decrease of the area of farms in the land States and Territories, from decade to decade, see "Compendium of eighth and ninth censuses.") The land system has had the benefit of the marvelous ability of Alexander Hamilton, the experience of Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, Albert Gallatin, the officers of the Treasury Department, the Commissioners of the General Land Office after 1812-who were, in many instances, men of great ability and practical sense--the Secretaries of the Interior after 1849, Congressional committees by reports and investigations, the rulings of Departments and courts, the aid of numerous able land attorneys, and finally the complaints or commendations of settlers relative to existing laws, with their petitions for or against measures-the most potent of all agencies with Congress. The rich and fertile lands of the Mississippi Valley were fast filling up with settlers. Agricultural lands in the Middle States, which, after the year 1824, were bought for $1.25 per acre, now sold at from $50 to $80 per acre. Former purchasers of these Government lands in the Middle, Western, and Southern States, were selling their early purchases for this great advance, and moving west, to Iowa, Wisconsin, HOMESTEAD ACTS. Minnesota, and Missouri, and there again taking cheap Government lands under the pre-emption laws. The western emigration caused a rush-a migration of neighborhoods in many localities of the older Western States. Following the sun, their pillar of fire, these State founders moved westward, a resistless army of agents of American civilization, and there was a demand for homes on the public lands, and a strong pressure for the enactment of a law which should confine locators to small tracts, and require actual occupation, improvement, and cultivation. CONGRESSIONAL ACTION ON THE HOMESTEAD LAW. A fierce political battle now ensued, beginning in 1854, and continuing until 1862, the year of the passage of the law. The demand of the settlers was incessant and constant. January 20, 1859, in the House of Representatives, a bill relating to preemption was pending. Mr. Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, moved to amend as follows: Be it further enacted, That from and after the passage of this act no public land shall be exposed to sale by proclamation of the President, unless the same shall have been surveyed, and the return of such survey duly filed in the Land Office, for ten years or more before such sale. A motion now followed to refer the bill and amendments to the Committee of the Whole. Defeated. Yeas, 90; nays, 92. On the motion to incorporate the above clause with the pre-emption act, the yeas were 98 and the nays 81, and it was so ordered. The bill, as amended, was put upon its passage, and defeated. Yeas, 91; nays, 95. February 1, 1859, the question before the House was House bill No. 72, a bill to secure homesteads to actual settlers, being in the words following: A BILL to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain. SEC. 1. 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 intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, shall, from and after the passage of this act, be entitled to enter, free of cost, one quarter-section of vacant and unappropriated public lands which may, at the time the application is made, be subject to private entry, at $1.25 per acre, or a quantity equal thereto, to be located in a body, in conformity with the legal subdivisions of public lands, and after the same shall have been surveyed. 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 that he or she is the head of a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, and that such application is made for his or her exclusive use and benefit, and those specially mentioned in this act, and not either directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; and upon making the affidavit as above required, and filing the affidavit with the register, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity of land already 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 thereafter, the person making such entry, or, if he be dead, his widow, or, in case of her death, his 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 creditable witnesses that he, she, or they, have continued to reside upon and cultivate such land, and still reside upon the same, and have not alienated the same, or any part thereof, then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time a citizen of the United States, shall, on payment of ten dollars, be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided for by law: And provided, further, 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 the fee shall inure 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. SEC. 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 |