TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE, b. Private Sale, Private Entry, and Location. c. Offered and Unoffered Lands . d. Minimum and Double Minimum Lands III. What will Pay for Lands . f. Revolutionary Bounty Land Scrip. d. Final Proof and Commutation. II. Soldiers' and Sailors' Homesteads Acts of May 14, 1880, June 15, 1880, June 16, 1880, etc Homestead and Pre-emption Privileges Compared a. Who are Qualified Pre-emptors a. Who May Apply, and for What Kind of Land . a. Homestead and Pre-emption Claims in General 3. Relinquishment in Favor of Settlers . . c. Confirmation of Pre-emptions and Homesteads CHAPTER VII. WHERE TO SETTLE, I. List of United States Land Officers . . II. List of State Land and Iminigration Officers . III. List of Railroad Land Commissioners and Agents. · 115 116 117 GENERAL INDEX. PAGR. IO 12 I2 I Abandonment, of Homestead 39 74 85 4 46 27 27, 37 7 31 13 25 82 39 85 8, 3,9 97 8, 102 30, 37 39 85 16, 19, 21 30 69 9 25, 27, 42, 46 66, 70 9 81 26 9 81 I 2 74 Railroad : 48 25 74 99 116 28 115 42, 66 8, 108 48 . 66 35, 71, 82 102 39, 84 II List-U. S. Land Officers State Land and Immigration Officers . Railroad Land Commissioners and Agents . Homesteads . vs. Railroads Land. Sale. Pre-emption , Timber Culture Sale Land Commissioners and Agents Pre-emption Timber Culture Pre-emption Claim Private 56 Pre-emption How Numbered. To Restore Lost Corners in Additional Certificates Land Commissioners Lands . 34 22 IOI 8 66 8, 107 9, 10, TI THE AMERICAN SETTLER'S GUIDE. . CHAPTER I. EXPLANATORY. I. Public and Private Lands. All real estate in the United States is either public or private. a. LANDS NOT PUBLIC. Private lands are owned by private persons or corporations, the titles being derived from the General Government or from a Foreign Power. Titles derived from foreign governments are protected by treaty, and are either complete or inchoate. Complete titles need no further action on the part of the United States, whereas inchoate incomplete) titles usually require examination, survey, and patent (8). To distinguish them from government lands, the tracts donated to the several States by the United States, or obtained otherwise as in Texas, are called State lands (%), and are not subject to disposal under the land laws of the United States. 6. PUBLIC LANDS. All lands owned by the United States are public lands, though usually those only are so termed which are for sale or other disposal by the Government under general laws (©). In this latter sense the term will be used throughout this book. The public lands are within the States of Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Wisconsin, and all the States and Territories west of the Mississippi River, except Texas, Alaska, and the Indian Territory. In Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, but little public land is to be found, and this is for sale at the General 'Land Office in Washington. The other public land States and Territories are divided into districts, in each of which is a land office with two officers in attendance, one called the Register, and the other the Receiver. These officers act as agents or salesmen for the Government, and if the sales made by them are approved by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, patents for the lands are issued to the purchasers. A list of all existing local land offices will be found in Chapter VII. C. KINDS OF PUBLIC LANDS. 1. Agricultural Lands are those that will produce agricultural crops. These are disposed of under the Homestead, Preemption, and Timber Culture laws, and those relating to Public Sale and Private Entry. Grazing lands can be purchased at public sale and private entry (C). (*) A land patent is the written document through which the United States transfers to a private party, corporation, or State, all its right and title in the land described. It is signed by the President, countersigned by the Recorder of the General Land Office, and sealed with the seal of that Office. It is the Government's deed. (6) For the purchase of State lands, see Chapter VI. |