4 84 



LAW—EVERY MAN HIS OWN LAWYER. 



accordance with directions from the Gen- 

 eral Land Office. 



2. By private entry or location. The 

 lands of this class liable to disposal are 

 those which have been offered at public 

 sale, and thereafter remain unsold, and 

 which have not been subsequently re- 

 served, or otherwise withdrawn from 

 market. In this class of offered and un- 

 reserved public lands the following steps 

 may be taken to acquire title : 



Cash Purchases. — The applicant must 

 present a written application to the regis- 

 ter for the district in which the land de- 

 sired is situated, describing the tract he 

 wishes to purchase, giving its area. 

 Thereupon the register, if the tract is 

 vacant, will so certify to the receiver, 

 stating the price ; and the applicant must 

 then pay the amount of the purchase 

 money. The receiver will then issue to 

 the purchaser a duplicate receipt, and at 

 the close of the month the register and 

 receiver will make returns of the sale to 

 the General Land Office, from whence, 

 when the proceedings are found regular, 

 a patent, or complete title will be issued ; 

 and on surrender of the duplicate receipt 

 such patent will be delivered, at the op- 

 tion of the patentee, either by the Com- 

 missioner at Washington, or by the regis- 

 ter at the district land office. 



Warrants, Location with. — Application 

 must be made as in cash cases, but must 

 be accompanied by a warrant duly assign- 

 ed as the consideration for the land; yet 

 where the tract is $2 50 per acre, the 

 party, in addition to the surrendered war- 

 rant, must pay in cash $1 25 per acre, as 

 the warrant is in satisfaction of only so 

 many acres at $1 25 per acre as are con- 

 tained in the tract located. A duplicate 

 certificate of location will then be furnish- 

 ed the party, to be held until the patent 

 is delivered, as in cases of cash sales. 



Agricultural College Scrip. — This scrip 

 is applicable to lands not mineral, which 

 may be subject to private entry at $1 25 

 per acre, yet is restricted to a technical 

 " quarter section ; " that is, lands em- 

 braced by the quarter section lines indi- 

 cated on the official plats of survey, or it 

 may be located on a part of a " quarter 

 section," where such part is taken as in 

 full for a quarter ; but it cannot be ap- 

 plied to different subdivisions to make an 

 area equivalent to a quarter section. The 



manner of proceeding to acquire title with 

 this class of paper is the same as in cash 

 and warrant cases, the fees to be paid 

 being the same as on warrants. The lo- 

 cation of this scrip is restricted to three 

 sections in each township of land. 



Pre-emptions. — These may be made 

 under the general pre-emption laws, upon 

 " offered" and " unoffered" land ; and in 

 certain States and Territories west of the 

 Mississippi, including that part of Minne- 

 sota east of the river, may have legal in- 

 ception by actual settlement upon unsur- 

 veyed land, although in such cases no de- 

 finitive proceedings can be had as to the 

 completion of title until after the surveys: 

 are officially returned to the district 

 land office. 



The act of March 3, 1853, extends the 

 pre-emption from one quarter, or one 

 hundred and sixty acres, at $2 50 per 

 acre, to every " alternate " United States 

 or reserved section along the line of rail- 

 roads. 



The act of March 27, 1854, protects, 

 the right of settlers on sections along the 

 line of railroads where settlement existed 

 prior to withdrawal, and in such cases, 

 allows the tract to be taken by pre-emp- 

 tion at $1 25 per acre. 



Where the tract is "offered" the party 

 must file with the district land office his. 

 declaratory statement as to the fact of his 

 settlement within thirty days from the 

 date of said settlement, and within one 

 year from that date must appear before 

 the register and receiver and make proof 

 of his actual residence on and cultivation 

 of the tract, and secure the same by pay- 

 ing cash, or by filing warrant duly assigned 

 to the pre-emptor. 



Where the tract has been surveyed and 

 not offered at public sale, the claimant 

 must file within three months from date 

 of settlement, and make proof and pay- 

 ment before the day designated in the 

 President's proclamation for offering the 

 lands at public sale. Should the settler 

 in either of the aforesaid cases die before 

 establishing his claim within the period 

 limited by law, the title may be perfected 

 by the executor, administrator, or one of 

 the heirs, by making the requisite proof 

 of settlement and paying for the land; 

 the entry to be made in the name of " the 

 heirs" of the deceased settler, and the 

 patent will be issued accordingly.. 



