Page.

Page.

Abandonment.

See Contest, Residence.

Adverse Claim.
See Mining Claim.
Alaskan Lands.

Under the act of May 14, 1898, testimony
on final proof taken outside of Alaska, in
the case of a purchase of lands in said Ter-
ritory, may be admitted in evidence.......
The fund available for the compensation
of a deputy surveyor for surveying a claim
to Alaskan land under the act of March 3,
1891, is not necessarily limited to the deposit
made under the estimate furnished by the
surveyor general, and prior to the instruc-
tions to the deputy or the commencement of
the survey

Funds deposited after the instructions to
the deputy surveyor should not be applied
in the settlement of his account without due
notice to the applicant for survey, and op.
portunity for him to present any objections
he may have to the allowance of the account,
or any part thereof..

In the sale of, under sections 12 to 14 of
the act of March 3, 1891, the rights of native
Alaskans must be protected by the govern

ment......

The open, notorious, exclusive, and con-
tinuous possession from the date of the act
of May 17, 1884, of lands by Alaskan In-
dians, is notice to the world of their rights
in the premises, and sufficient to prevent
any one from becoming a bona fide pur.
chaser of said lands...

Section 8, act of May 17, 1884, recognized
the right of Alaskan Indians to the posse8-
sion of the lands in their actual use and
occupancy at the passage of said act, or
that were then claimed by them, and con-
templated that future legislation should
provide the terms under which they could
acquire title to such land

If section 11, act of March 3, 1891, provid-
ing for townsite entries in Alaska, is not
such future legislation" as was contem-
plated in the act of 1884, then the lands in
the actual use and occupancy of Indians
are not subject to disposal under the town-
site law; and if said section conferred upon
the Indians the right to take title under the

437

433

433

535

427

427

townsite law, no other person could lawfully
acquire title to lands in the actual use and
occupancy of the Indians, as the townsite
entry is made solely for the several use and
benefit of the occupants of the land entered. 427
The use of land as a fishing place, and as
a home for the fishermen employed by an
applicant for the right of purchase under
section 12, act of March 3, 1891, is not an oc-
cupation of said land "for the purpose of
trade and manufactures," within the intent
and meaning of said section..

A supplemental showing of improvements
made after survey may be accepted in proof
of the actual occupancy of land applied for
under the act of March 3, 1891, where the
necessity for such occupancy, the use of the
land prior to application, and the good faith
of the applicant are manifest...

437

55

Certificates issued on account of the de-
posit made to secure a survey can not be
accepted in payment for lands purchased
for purposes of trade and manufacture.... 55
By means of special survey the acreage
which an applicant is entitled to enter in
Alaska as a soldiers' additional homestead
may be definitely described and separated
from the body of the public lands, hence no
reason exists why the rule of approxima-
tion should be applied in such entries made
in said district.......

Alien.

The act of March 2, 1897, in defining and
regulating the right of, to acquire real es-
tate in the Territories has reference only
to lands the title to which has passed from
the United States, and become the subject
of private ownership, and does not confer
upon aliens the privilege of occupying or
purchasing mining claims from the govern-
ment under the mining laws....

Any restriction placed by section 2, act of
March 3, 1887, upon the acquisition of pub-
lic lands by a corporation in which a part of
the stock is owned by persons, corpora
tions, or associations, not citizens of the
United States, was removed by the act of
March 2, 1897, so that now a corporation
organized under the laws of the United
States, or any State or Territory thereof,
may occupy and purchase mining claims
from the government, irrespective of the
615

149

178

ownership of stock therein by persons,
corporations, or associations, not citizens of
the United States

Alienation.

A written agreement executed by a home-
steader, and operating as a mere lease of a
part of the premises, and the grant of an
easement, the use of which would tend to
improve and increase the value of the land
as a homestead, is not an alienation of any
part of such land, and no bar to the perfee-
tion of the entry.

The words For the right of way of rail-
roads," as used in section 2288 of the Re-
vised Statutes, are not limited to the width
of the railroad track, but include such
space as is necessary for side track, stock
yards, or other purpose incident to the
proper business of a railroad as a common
carrier

There is no statutory inhibition against
the sale and transfer of the right of pur.
chase accorded by the act of August 7, 1882.
(Omaha lands.)

Amendment.

See Entry.

Appeal.

See Practice.

Application.

To enter irregular in form, and returned
to the applicant for correction, protects the
applicant as against intervening adverse
claims......

To enter that is defective, when tendered,
in matters that may be supplied by amend-
ment, and is returned by the local office
without formal rejection or proper official
notification of the reasons for such return,
must be regarded as a pending application
that will protect the applicant as against
intervening claims...

To enter presented in accordance with an
order of the local office at a time when on
account of the press of business it could not
be acted upon, and on which the fees were
tendered in a reasonable time, confers upon
the applicant a right superior to that ac-
quired under a subsequent entry of the land
by another..

178

155

561

183

73

333

48

During the pendency of, to amend an ex-
isting entry no other person should be
allowed to make entry of the tract covered
by such application, but where it is for any
reason denied, an entry irregularly allowed
during the pendency of the application may
be permitted to remain intact, notwith-
standing the irregularity of its allowance.. 387
To enter lands included within a pending
railroad indemnity selection, made in ac-
cordance with departmental rulings then in
force, confers no right on the applicant
where he does not attack the validity of
such selection, and no rights are gained by

To make entry of land embraced within a
prima facia valid railroad indemnity selec-
tion is properly rejected; and the applicant
gains nothing by an appeal from such rejec-
tion..

As between two applicants for the right
of entry where the question of priority de-
pends upon the time of settlement on the
part of one, as against the time of applica-
tion by the other, the settler will be given
the precedence, if it can not be satisfacto-
rily determined that the adverse applica-
tion was regularly t ndered prior to the act
of settlement shown, and entitled to con-
sideration at such time

It is not necessary for the protection of a
settlement claim, on land included within
the prior pending, of another, that the set-
tler should assert his settlement right by
an application to enter while the land oc-
cupies such status ...

298

267

490

Under the first rule announced in Cowles
v. Huff, 24 L. D., 81, no rights, either in-
choate or otherwise, are acquired to lands
involved in a pending contest, by an appli-
cation to enter filed before the rights of the
entryman have been finally determined.... 515
Directions given for the preparation of a
circular letter to the effect that no applica-
tion to enter will be received, or any rights
recognized as initiated by the tender of
an application for a tract embraced in an
entry of record, until said entry has been
canceled upon the records of the local office,
and providing for the disposition of appli
cations filed during the existence of the
contestant's preferred right of entry....... 515
Arid lands.

Page

otherwise within the terms of section 2167
R. S., qualifies him in the matter of, to the
extent that he may initiate a homestead
claim by settlement, without having previ
ously filed a declaration of intention to be.
come a citizen

Coal Land.

On application for re-issue of, patent, after
amendment of the entry so as to describe
the land actually improved and developed,
an intervening entry of said land, made by
one having full knowledge of the prior ad-
verse occupation and possession of the
applicant, is no bar to the favorable con-
sideration of the application for amend-
ment....

Where a patent has been issued, through
mistake of the entryman. for land not in-
tended to be entered, and in fact worthless
for the purpose entered, the mistake may be
corrected for the benefit of a transferee in
good faith of the land actually improved
and developed as a mining claim, and in-
tended to be entered

Confirmation.

An entry of Alabama land, reported valu-
able for coal prior to the act of March 3,
1883, and not thereafter offered at public
sale, is within the confirmatory provisions
of the proviso to section 7, act of March 3,
1891, if there was no action in the nature of
a protest or contest against the validity of
the entry until after the expiration of two
years from the issuance of the receiver's
receipt

Contest.

GENERALLY.

After the local officers have accepted an
affidavit of, and issued notice thereon that
has been duly served on the defendant, the
contest should not be dismissed on the mo-
tion of a stranger to the record alleging
that said affidavit fails to set forth a cause
of action

The fact that notice issues on a, before a
prior contest against the same entry has
been formally closed, will not prevent a con-
sideration of the case on its merits, when
the defendant participates in the trial, and
appeals asking for a judgment on the mer-
its, as well as on the jurisdictional question,
and no prejudice is alleged or shown

In the case of a hearing ordered on afti-
davit of, that is defective, but susceptible
of amendment, it is not necessary to remand
the case for the amendment of the charge,
and further hearing, where, at the hearing
held, the contestee did not appear, or make
objection to the sufficiency of the affidavit,
and no one sought to intervene, and the evi-
dence then submitted establishes the fact
that the entryman had failed to comply with
the law

138

207

307

90

147

34

380

Page.

A change that an entryman has sold the
land embraced within his entry must fail if
it appears that the alleged sale was the re-
sult of coercion or duress

A hearing should not be had under a sec-
ond, charging collusion between the parties
to the prior suit, until final disposition of
such suit.

It is within the proper exercise of the su-
pervisory authority of the Secretary of the
Interior, for the prevention of injustice and
the ascertainment of alleged equities, to or-
der a hearing between one holding under an
entry secured as the result of a contest, and
an intervenor alleging resilence upon and
improvement of the land involved prior to
said contest, and that the entry in question
was improperly allowed as the result of the
prior proceedings.

A pending townsite claim, under which
final proof has been submitted that estab
lishes the right of entry, is properly the sub-
ject of a contest; and one who successfully
attacks such claim, and pays the costs of
the proceedings, is entitled to a preferred
right of entry..

A hearing will not be ordered to ascertain
alleged settlement rights acquired on land
embraced within a suspended Indian allot-
ment, where, prior to the alleged settlement,
the allotment was allowed and the order of
suspension made....

Should not be allowed against an Indian
allotment pending departmental inquiry as
to the validity of the allotment claim ....

Rights as to the ownership or possession
of improvements, placed on public land
without authority of law, are not determined
by a judgment of the Department sustain-
ing the validity of an entry of said land;
hence it can not be held that such an entry
is made for the purpose of securing said
improvements...

HOMESTEAD.

A charge that a homestead entryman "has
relinquished his right and sold his interest
in the land" warrants a hearing though
made within less than six months after
entry

A charge of failure to cultivate, brought
against the heirs of a homesteader within
six months after the death of the entryman,
does not call for cancellation, and is not suf
ficient ground to support a.....

160

147

339

530

196

519

250

315

5

A homestead entryman who is improperly
allowed an extension of time within which
to make commuted homestead payment,
will be protected as against an intervening
contest charging non-compliance with law,
where it appears that he had duly complied
with the laws up to the time when he left
the land under authority of said extension. 300
A charge of abandonment will not be sus-
tained, where it appears that the entryman
duly established his residence on the land,

Page.

and that during his absence his family re-
mained thereon

During the pendency of a, in which each
party alleges priority of settlement, both
are bound to comply with the law and main
tain residence upon the land; and if the suc-
cessful party therein fails so to do, such
failure is properly the subject of inquiry on
behalf of the losing party, and, although
such inquiry is in the nature of a new con-
test, it is in effect a continuation of the orig.
inal case...

TIMBER CULTURE.

In a, brought prior to the expiration of
the current entry year, the failure of the
entryman to plant and cultivate trees dur-
ing that year, and before the contest, affords
no ground for cancellation, where there is
no default prior to said year, as he is enti
tled to all of said year in which to comply
with the law.....

Contestant.

Who alleges the death of an entryman,
aud that the deceased left no heirs compe-
tent to inherit his rights under the entry,
and secures the cancellation of the entry on
the proof of such allegations, is entitled to
a preferred right of entry..

The period within which a successful con-
testant is required to assert his preferred
right of entry does not begin to run until he
is notified of such right...

An occupant of a town lot within an aban-
doned townsite claim acquires no right
by his occupancy that will defeat the pre-
ferred right of one who successfully con-
tests the townsite claim; nor will the home-
stead application of such occupant, tendered
during the pendency of said contest, oper-
ate as a bar to the exercise of the contest-
ant's preferred right......

Declaratory Statement.
See Filing.

Desert Land.

See Entry.

Annual rainfall taken into consideration
in determining whether the land is desert
in character..

Ditches and Canals.

See Right of Way.

Entry.

GENERALLY.

The right of one who duly enters a tract
of land, and pays the fees and commission
required by law, can not be defeated by the
fact that the records of the local office fail.
to show the entry

Is not invalid because allowed by the
receiver, in the absence of the register, where
both offices are filled at such time, and the
register on his return approves the action of
the receiver

181

480

245

136

530

530

301

335

8

Properly allowed of public land subject
thereto and canceled on the erroneous sup-
position that the land was not subject to
such disposition, should be reinstated, if the
land is still within the jurisdiction of the
Land Department and subject to its control. 330

The granting of an application to amend
rests largely in the discretion of the Land
Department, and where, during the pend-
ency of the application, the relation of the
applicant, or of another, to the land has
become such as to make the allowance of
the amendment manifestly inequitable, it
will be denied

Permission to make a second homestead,
may be accorded where there is no adverse
claim, and the first is relinquished on ac-
count of the worthless character of the land,
and the applicant, under the circumstances,
is not chargeable with negligence in the
premises

Made in good faith, for one hundred and
sixty acres when the entry man was entitled
to take but eighty acres, is illegal only as to
the excess, and in such case the entryman
may be allowed to retain the eighty on which
his improvements are situated and relin-
quish the remainder..

387

259

11

Land in the actual possession and occu-
pancy of one holding the same under claim
and color of title is not subject to entry

The enclosure and improvement of public
land without authority under any law of
Congress, or other claim of right, or color
of title, do not constitute an appropriation
of such land that will take it out of the
class of lands subject to entry..

The words "subject to pre-emption"
used in section 2289 R. S., prior to its
amendment by section 5 act of March 3,
1891, to define in part lands subject to
entry, are omitted from the section as
amended; and since said amendment the
only limitation placed upon the character
of lands subject to entry by said section
is that they shall be "unappropriated pub.
lic lands".

75

273

235

250

61

Page.

No State law incorporating a town can,
of itself, appropriate any public lands of
the United States, and thereby withdraw
or except them from disposition under the
homestead law, or other laws of the United
States. If such an appropriation exists it
is because some law of the United States
so declares

The act of March 3, 1877, reserves from
pre-emption and homestead entry public
lands within the limits of an incorporated
town to the extent of the maximum quan.
tity susceptible of entry by such town
under the townsite laws

.......

Where the limits of an incorporated town
embrace less than 2560 acres, the maximum
quantity susceptible of entry under the
townsite laws, a part of which has been
entered as a townsite and the remainder of
which is vacant and unoccupied land con-
tiguous to that theretofore entered, all of
such public land is reserved from pre-emp.
tion and homestead entry

An entry improperly allowed of land re-
served for townsite purposes by the act of
March 3, 1877, may be permitted to stand,
where subsequently the town is disincor-
porated, and no adverse claim exists.......

The words "For the right of way of rail-
roads," as used in section 2288 of the Re-
vised Statutes, are not limited to the width
of the railroad track, but include such space
as is necessary for side track, stock yards,
or other purpose incident to the proper
business of a railroad as a common carrier. 561
The administrator of the estate of a de-
ceased homesteader is not entitled under
the law to perfect the entry of the de-
cedent

Submission to a guardianship, created on
behalf of one who represents himself as a
spendthrift and asks for a guardian of his
estate, does not operate to disqualify such
person as a homesteader

On the death of a homesteader, leaving a
widow and heirs, the widow takes the home-
stead right of her husband free from any
claim on behalf of the heirs; and an agree
ment to divide the land with the heirs,
made by her under mistake as to her rights
in the premises, can not be held binding, in
the absence of any action taken under said
agreement by which she would be estopped
from the repudiation thereof...

53

261

6