LANDS, PUBLIC. 



471 



to date cover 163,818-12 acres. The act of 

 May 20, 1824, authorized pre-emption of coun- 

 ty-seats. About nine entries have been made. 

 Mineral rights are reserved in town-site pat- 

 ents. Eleven hundred and twenty acres of 

 public land may be legally obtained by any one 

 person under the settlement and occupation 

 laws, although contrary to their theory. 



Reservations. Lands reserved from the pub- 

 lic domain are for Indians and for military 

 purposes, and no settlement is allowed upon 

 either. There are 147 Indian reservations, 

 covering 136,394,985 acres. Surveys of theso 

 are made for definition of boundary, and for 

 allotments in severalty to Indians under the 

 act of Feb. 8, 1887. The receipts from Indian 

 lands disposed of by the General Land-Office 

 under special laws of Congress are deposited in 

 the United States Treasury to the credit of the 

 several Indian trust funds. The amount from 

 lands so disposed of during 1888 was $821,- 

 113.77. Military reservations on the public 

 lands cover, approximately, 2,477,378'60 acres. 

 Abandoned military reservations are restored 

 to the public domain by act of Congress, and 

 disposed of by sale in Florida (act of Aug. 18, 

 1856) as other public lands. 



Donations. Miscellaneous donations of pub- 

 lic lands and special grants have been made by 

 Congress at various periods, to the number of 

 perhaps a thousand. The latest were for res- 

 ervoir purposes in Wisconsin and Minnesota, 

 and for artesian wells east of the Rocky 

 mountains, in charge of the Department of 

 Agriculture (act of May 19, 1882). Two res- 

 ervations for this purpose hdve been aban- 

 doned, the third still exists. 



The grants of public lands to States are as 

 follow : By State selection act of Sept. 4, 

 1841, to each State named and each one to be 

 admitted, 500.000 acres for internal improve- 

 ments, including the quantity granted for the 

 purpose under the Territorial Government. 

 By successive acts from March 2 1849, swamp 

 and overflowed lands, unfit for cultivation, 

 have been granted to States "to aid in con- 

 structing necessary levees and drains to re- 

 claim such lands." The number of acres 

 claimed for 1888 was 781,857'59, making the 

 total amount 78,189,130-65 acres. The num- 

 ber of acres patented to all States is 56,840,- 

 251-09 ; for 1888, 96.515-19 acres. The Swamp 

 Land grant has not been extended to the 

 States of Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, and Colo- 

 rado, nor to the Territories. Under the acts 

 of 1855 and 1857, more than $1,500,000 have 

 been paid from the Treasury, and 600,000 

 acres of agricultural land have been patented 

 as indemnity for swamp and overflowed lands 

 disposed of by the United States for cash, war- 

 rants, or scrip. 



For educational purposes the following 

 grants of public lands have been made in 

 States and reserved in Territories at various 

 periods from 1785: For public schools, in 

 States admitted prior to 1848, every sixteenth 



section of public land; for States and Territory .--; 

 organized since that period, every sixteenth and 

 thirty-sixth section; to the State of Nevada, 

 2,000,000 acres, in lieu of school selection. For 

 seminaries and universities, the quantity of two 

 townships in each State or Territory contain- 

 ing public land, and in some instances a larger 

 quantity in proportion to grade of institution. 

 The act of July 2, 1862, granted to each State 

 30,000 acres of public land for each Represent- 

 ative and Senator in Congress, for agricult- 

 ural and mechanical colleges, "in place." 

 where the States contained public land, and 

 scrip representing an equal number of acres 

 locatable in other States or Territories. Lands 

 thus ceded for educational purposes were dis- 

 posed of or are held disposable, the proceeds 

 constituting endowments for common-school 

 funds. The estimated total is 78,659,439 

 acres. Indemnity selections are made for de- 

 ficiencies in school grants. 



Under the distribution act of Sept. 4, 1841, 

 the net proceeds of sales of lands to Aug. 29, 

 1842, were divided as therein provided among 

 States and Territories and the District of Co- 

 lumbia. Amount, $691,117.05. 



Acts giving lands to induce settlement in 

 dangerous or distant portions of the nation 

 have been passed at divers periods as follows : 

 For East Florida (armed occupation act), 

 Aug. 4, 1842, with amendments, total amount 

 200,000 acres; for Oregon Territory, Sept. 27, 

 1850, expiring Dec. 1, 1855 ; for Washington 

 Territory, March 2, 1853, expiring Dec. 1, 

 1855; for New Mexico, July 22, 1854, still in 

 force. The total amount of land covered by 

 donation entries is 3,133.640 acres. 



Grants of public land for public improve- 

 ments are as follow: For canals, 4,424,073-06 

 acres. Grants from 1824, in Indiana. Ohio, 

 Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Alternate 

 sections were reserved in grant of May 24, 

 1828, for Miami Canal in State of Ohio, "inau- 

 gurating system as pursued in other grants. 

 For river improvements, 1,406,210-80 acres. 

 Grants from 1828 to 1846 in Alabama, Wis- 

 consin, and Iowa. For railroads, amount esti- 

 mated to fill railroad grants, June 30, 1880, 

 155,504,994-59 acres; estimated value, $391,- 

 804.610-16. There have been patented 49,- 

 907,135-96 acres; selections pending and un- 

 disposed of, 25,429,866*11 acres. Grants are 

 made to States and corporations direct. To 

 States from Sept. 20, 1850; to corporations 

 from July 1, 1862, date of grant to Union 

 Pacific Railroad Company. Lands withdrawn 

 from settlement for indemnity purposes have 

 been restored since March 4. 1885. to the 

 amount of 21,322,600 acres. The grants for- 

 feited for non-completion of roads, and lands 

 granted in limits restored in the same period, 

 amount to 30,361,764-33 acres. 



The alternate (odd and even numbered") sec- 

 tions of land reserved within railroad limits 

 are valued at the "double-minimum" rate of 

 $2.50 an acre. A homestead entry of but 80 



