settlement in person on the public lands subject to preemption, and who inhabits and has improved the same, and who has erected a dwelling thereon, is authorized to enter with the register of the land office for the district in which such land lies, by legal subdivisions, any number of acres not exceeding one hundred and sixty, or a quarter section of land, to include the residence of such claimant, upon paying to the United States the minimum price of such land, viz., one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. (R. S., §§ 2259, 2357.)

1194. Before any such person is entitled to the benefit of this provision, he is required to make proof before the receiver or the register of the particular land district that he has not before had the benefit of any pre-emption; that he is not the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in any State or Territory; that he has not settled upon the land for speculation, but in good faith for his own use; that he has not made any agreement, directly or indirectly, through which the title may inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except himself. (R. S., § 2262.)

1195. He is required, moreover, within thirty days after his settlement, to file with the register a written statement describing the land and declaring his intention to claim the same under the pre-emption laws, and, within twelve months after such settlement, to make the required proof and payment; otherwise the land will be subject to the entry of any other purchaser. (R. S., § 2264.)

HOMESTEADS.

1196. Every person 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 has filed his declaration of intention under the naturalization laws, and any soldier, officer, or seaman who served in the United States army, navy, or

marine corps in the war of the rebellion of 1861 for ninety days and was honorably discharged, or, in case of his death, the widow or orphan children of the same, may enter one quarter section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands upon which a pre-emption claim has been filed by such person or persons, (excepting mineral lands,) which at the time of application may be subject to pre-emption at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; or eighty acres or less of such unappropriated lands subject to pre-emption at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity with the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after the same have been surveyed. And any person owning and residing on land may, under this provision, enter other land lying contiguous which shall not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed one hundred and sixty acres. (R. S., §§ 2289, 2304.)

1197. In order to obtain the benefit of this provision, the person must make the necessary proof, showing that he comes within the law, that the application is made for his exclusive use and benefit, and that his entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation. He must also pay a fee of five or ten dollars to the receiver or register, as the quantity of the land is eighty acres or more. (R. S., § 2290.)

1198. On the expiration of five years from the date of entry, and within two years afterwards, the person making such entry or his representatives will be entitled to a patent. He may, however, at any time before the expiration of the five years pay the minimum price of the land, and obtain a patent upon making proof of settlement and cultivation as provided by law with respect to pre-emption rights. In the former case, to obtain the patent he must prove by two credible witness that he has resided upon or cultivated the land for the term of five years immediately

succeeding the filing of the affidavit for entry, and must make affidavit that no part of the land has been alienated, except for church, cemetery, or school purposes, or for right of way of a railroad. (R. S., § 2291.)

This condition as to five years' settlement is modified to require a shorter period from the date of entry in case of soldiers, officers, and seamen who served in the United States army, navy, or marine corps during the war of the rebellion of 1861 and were honorably discharged.

TIMBER CULTURE ENTRY.

1199. Any person 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 made his declaration under the naturalization laws, who shall plant, protect, and keep in a healthy growing condition for eight years forty acres of timber, the trees not to be more than twelve feet apart each way, on any quarter section of the public lands, or twenty acres on any legal subdivision of eighty acres, or ten acres on any legal subdivision of forty acres, or onefourth part of any fractional subdivision of land less than forty acres, will be entitled to a patent for the whole of said quarter section, or of such legal subdivision of eighty or forty acres, or fractional subdivision of less than forty acres, at the expiration of the said eight years, on making proof of such fact by not less than two credible witnesses. No person is, however, allowed to make more than one entry, unless fractional subdivisions of less than forty acres are entered, which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed one quarter section.

1200. To obtain the benefits of this provision, it is required that on application to the register of the proper district the applicant shall make affidavit before that offi cer, the receiver, or some officer authorized to administer

oaths in the district having a seal of office, that the entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and shall pay ten dollars, whereupon he shall be permitted to make entry of the quantity of land specified. He is required, if the entry is of a quarter section, to break ten acres the first year, ten acres the second year, and twenty acres the third year; also to plant ten acres the second year, ten the third year, and twenty the fourth year. If the entry is of eighty acres, he is required to break and plant at said times one-half the quantity. If the entry is of forty acres, he is required to break and plant one-quarter of the quantity at said times; and proportionately for an entry of a smaller subdivision.

BOUNTY LANDS.

1201. The system of bounty lands, as one of reward held out to those who have performed military service for the United States, is much complicated by the numerous enactments of Congress on the subject. By act of March 3, 1855, the provisions of which, in connection with those of some of the previous acts, were re-enacted in the Revised Statutes, the bounty of the Government was extended in favor of all commissioned and non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, whether regulars, volunteers, rangers, or militia, who performed military service not less than fourteen days in the war with Great Britain of 1812, and in any Indian or other war in which the United States has been engaged since the year 1790 and prior to the 3d of March, 1855, or, if deceased, in favor of the widow or minor children of such person. It was also extended to the same class of soldiers who served in certain named battles during that period without regard to the length of service.

1202. It is provided that each of the beneficiaries so entitled shall receive a warrant for one hundred and sixty acres of land. These warrants are issued by the Commissioner of Pensions.

Upon the return of these warrants to the General Land Office with evidence of location legally made, a patent may issue for the lands so located.

Analogous to these lands is a class known as Virginia military bounty lands, based on warrants issued by Virginia in recognition of the services of her soldiers in the Continental Line during the Revolutionary War and remaining unsatisfied, the obligation for which was assumed by the General Government by act of August 31, 1852, as amended by act of June 22, 1860; provided that liability was allowed by the State authorities prior to March 1, 1852. The law authorizes the issue of land scrip at $1.25 per acre, by the Secretary of the Interior, on the surrender of the warrant, such scrip to be received in payment of public lands subject to private entry.

MINERAL LANDS.

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1203. All lands of the public domain valuable on account of their mineral deposits are reserved by law from pre-emption, homestead, bounty location, and from ordinary disposal by sale or otherwise, and are subject to special provision of the statutes. They are free and open exploration, occupation, and purchase by citizens of the United States, and by persons who have declared their intention under the naturalization laws, according to the local customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States. To obtain a patent for such lands on any claim of location,' the applicant must file in the proper land office his application under oath, showing a compliance with the law, and file a plat and field-notes of the claim, made under direction of the United States Surveyor-General, showing accurately the boundaries, which must be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground.