An Act For the relief of certain persons to whom, or their predecessors, patents were issued to public lands in the State of Minnesota under an erroneous survey made in 1876. Minnesota, to be Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assem- Public lands. bled, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is Erroneously hereby, authorized to sell for cash at $1.25 per acre any surveyed lands in unsurveyed land which may on resurvey be found to exist sold to bona fide in sections twenty-eight and thirty-three, in township occupants. one hundred and forty-nine north, range forty west, fifth principal meridian, in the State of Minnesota, to those persons who in good faith, by themselves and their predecessors in interest, have heretofore acquired, occupied, and improved such lands under the public land laws in accordance with a Government survey made in 1876; and the Secretary of the Interior may in like manner on principles of equity adjust, settle, and confirm by patent the title to any lands in said area heretofore claimed, occupied, and improved under descriptions which on resurvey are found to be erroneous: Provided, That nothing Prior herein contained shall have the effect of defeating the protected. rights of any other person or persons, which may have attached to such lands or any part thereof. SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make any rules and regulations necessary to carry out and effect the purpose of this Act, and any person or persons claiming any benefits hereof shall make the required payments and perform such other acts as may be necessary or required within the time fixed in the regulations; otherwise any right or advantage claimed under this Act shall be forfeited. Approved, May 8, 1922 (42 Stat. 506). An Act Granting to certain claimants the preference right to purchase unappropriated public lands in the State of Arkansas. etc. Proviso. rights Regulations, kansas, errone Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assem- Public lands. bled, That the Secretary of the Interior, in his judgment sale authorand discretion, is hereby authorized to sell, in the manner ized of, in Arhereinafter provided, any of those public lands situated ously surveyed as in the State of Arkansas which were originally erroneously meandered and shown upon the official plats as water-covered areas, and which are not lawfully appropriated by a qualified settler or entryman claiming under the public land laws. water covered areas. Preference SEO. 2. That any citizen of the United States who in rights of settlers good faith under color of title or claiming as a riparian in good faith. owner has, prior to this Act, placed valuable improvements upon or reduced to cultivation any of the lands subject to the operation of this Act, shall have a preferred right to file in the office of the register and receiver of the be filed. United States land office of the district in which the lands Application to are situated, an application to purchase the lands thus improved by them at any time within ninety days from the date of the passage of this Act if the lands have been surveyed and plats filed in the United States land office; otherwise within ninety days from the filing of such Proof of pos- plats. Every such application must be accompanied with satisfactory proof that the applicant is entitled to such preference right and that the lands which he applies to purchase are not in the legal possession of an adverse claimant. session. Appraisal of lands. SEC. 3. That upon the filing of an application to purchase any lands subject to the operation of this Act, together with the required proof, the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the lands described in said application. to be appraised, said appraisal to be on the basis of the Value of im- value of such lands at the date of appraisal, exclusive applicant ex of any increased value resulting from the development or improvement thereof for agricultural purposes by the applicant or his predecessor in interest, but inclusive of the stumpage value of any timber cut or removed by the applicant or his predecessor in interest. provements by cluded. Payment and SEC. 4. That an applicant who applies to purchase issue of patent. lands under the provisions of this Act, in order to be entitled to receive a patent must within thirty days from receipt of notice of appraisal by the Secretary of the - Interior pay to the receiver of the United States land office of the district in which the lands are situated the appraised price of the lands, and thereupon a patent shall issue to said applicant for such lands as the Secretary of the Interior shall determine that such applicant is entitled to purchase under this Act. The proceeds derived by the Government from the sale of lands hereunder shall be covered into the United States Treasury and applied as provided by law for the disposal of the proceeds from the sale of public lands. Proceeds. Regulations to SEC. 5. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby be prescribed. authorized to prescribe all necessary rules and regulations for administering the provisions of this Act and determining conflicting claims arising hereunder. Approved. September 21, 1922 (42 Stat. 992). SCRIP. There is but very little scrip proper, such as Valentine scrip and Sioux half-breed scrip, still outstanding. Military bounty land warrants are in the nature of a scrip. There are also certain rights, frequently called scrip, for which see "Lieu selections," "Railroad selections," "Soldiers' additional homesteads," and "State selections." Act of July 17, 1854-Sioux half-breed scrip.. An Act To authorize the President of the United States to cause to be surveyed the tract of land in the Territory of Minnesota, belonging to the halfbreeds or mixed bloods of the Dacotah or Sioux nation of Indians, and for other purposes. Page. 529 530 Authority to Lake Pepin and Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized, exchange lands to exchange with the halfbreeds or mixed bloods of the on west side of Dacotah or Sioux Nation of Indians, who are entitled Mississippi River. to an interest therein, for the tract of land lying on the west side of Lake Pepin and the Mississippi River, in the Territory of Minnesota, which was set apart and granted for their use and benefit, by the ninth article of the Treaty of Prairie du Chien, of the fifteenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty; and for that purpose he is hereby authorized to cause to be issued to said persons, on the execution by them, or by the legal representatives of such as may be minors, of a full and complete relinquishment by them to the United States of all their right, title, and interest, according to such form as shall be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, in and to said tract of land or reservation, certificates or scrip for the same amount of land to which each individual would be entitled in case of a division of the said grant or reservation pro rata among the claimants-which said certificates or scrip may be located upon any of the lands within said reservation not now occupied by actual and bona fide settlers of the halfbreeds or mixed bloods, or such other persons as have gone into said Territory by authority of law, or upon any other unoccupied lands subject to preemption or private sale, or upon any other unsurveyed lands, not reserved by Government, upon which they have respectively made improvements: Provided, That said certificates or scrip shall not embrace more than six hundred Proviso. and forty, nor less than forty acres each, and provided that the same shall be equally apportioned, as nearly as practicable, among those entitled to an interest in Further pro- said reservation: And provided further, That no transfer or conveyance of any of said certificates or scrip shall be valid. viso. When certifcates or scrip to issue. Lands to be surveyed; how SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause to be ascertained the number and names of the halfbreeds or mixed bloods who are entitled to participate in the benefits of the said grant or reservation as aforesaid, before the issue of the certificates or scrip provided for in the preceding section. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That from and after exposed to sale. the passage of this Act the President is authorized to have the lands within the said reserves surveyed and exposed to public sale at the land offices for the districts in which said lands may lie, according to the boundaries of the several land districts recently established by Congress, in the same manner as other public lands. Approved, July 17, 1854 (10 Stat. 304). Thomas B. Val An Act For the relief of Thomas B. Valentine. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assemClaim of bled, That the ninth circuit court of the United States, of entine to certain California, be, and hereby is, authorized and required to land to be heard hear and decide upon the merits, the claim of Thomas B. States circuit Valentine, claiming title, under a Mexican grant to Juan court in Cali. Miranda, to a place called the Rancho Arroyo de San by the United fornia. Testimony. taken within six months. Antonio, situate in the county of Sonomo, and State of California, in the same manner, and with the same jurisdiction, as if the claim to the said tract of land had been duly presented to the board of land commissioners under the provisions of the Act entitled "An Act to ascertain and settle the private land claims in the State of California," approved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, and an appeal had been duly taken from their decision to the district court of California by the said Thomas B. Valentine. SEC. 2. That on the said hearing any testimony heretofore taken before the said board of commissioners, in relation to said claim on behalf of the said claimant, or of the United States, may be read, subject to all just exceptions to its competency; and additional testimony, on either part, may be taken, under the order and direction of said circuit court, as to the validity and extent of said claim. Appeal to be SEC. 3. That an appeal shall be taken from the final decision and decree of the said circuit court to the Supreme Court of the United States, by either party, in accordance with the provisions of the tenth section of said Act of March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, within six months after the rendition of such final decision; and a decree under the provisions of this Act, in favor of said claim, shall not affect any adverse right or title to the lands described in said decree; but in lieu thereof, the claimant, or his legal representatives, may select, and shall be allowed, patents for an equal quantity of the unoccupied and unappropriated public lands of the United States, not mineral, and in tracts not less than the subdivisions provided for in the United States land laws, and, if unsurveyed when taken, to conform, when surveyed, to the general system of United States land surveys; and the Commissioner of the General Land Office, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be authorized to issue scrip, in legal subdivisions, to the said Valentine, or his legal representatives, in accordance with the provisions of this Act: Provided, That no decree in favor of said Valentine shall be executed nor be of any force or effect against any person or persons; nor shall land scrip or patents issue as hereinbefore provided, unless the said Valentine shall first execute and deliver to the Commissioner of the General Land Office a deed conveying to the United States all his right, title, and interest to the lands covered by said Miranda grant. Approved, April 5, 1872 (17 Stat. 649). Decree. Proviso. |