238 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



lands that were sold, the return to the federal government from 

 this land would be well over $1,000,000,000 today. 9 



In 1846, Congress offered for sale the mineral lands in Illi' 

 nois, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Iowa at a minimum of $2.50 

 an acre. Mineral land in the Lake Superior Region was offered 

 two years later at a minimum price of $5 an acre. Finally in 

 1850, all distinction between mineral land and agricultural 

 land was removed and both types were offered for sale at the 

 same price. 10 



The various laws regulating claims to mineral land in the 

 western part of the country had certain differences from the 

 laws permitting entry on non-mineral land. The chief of this 

 was the fact that mineral lands could not be taken up in such 

 large quantities as agricultural land. However, especially after 

 the gold rush in California in 1849, local customs became the 

 law so far as the ownership of mineral land was concerned. 



Finally in 1866 and later in 1872, Congress passed a series 

 of laws regulating the sale of mineral lands in the West. Cer" 

 tain types of deposits could be bought at $5 an acre with a 

 maximum of a little over twenty acres to a single person or 

 group. Less concentrated lots were sold in areas of 160 acres 

 at $2.50 an acre. In 1897 petroleum land was added to the list 

 of those that could be sold at $2.50 an acre. 11 If, however, a 

 homesteader found minerals on his land, those minerals belonged 

 to him without any extra charge. 



If you will compare these dates of various changes in the 

 mineral land policy of the federal government with the dates 

 of the great advances in the industrial development of the na' 

 tion, you will see that the land policy follows in step closely 

 behind the industrial development. Thus, when industry was 

 in its infancy, Congress leased mineral land. A few years later 



9 Van Hise and Havemeyer, op. cit., p. 110. 



10 Loc. cit. 



11 Loc. cit. 



