35TH CONG....1ST SESS.

Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

During the year ending September 30, 1857, scrip has been issued upon Virginia military warrants, pursuant to the act of August 31, 1852, amounting to.......52,476 acres.

During the same time warrants have been filed for....

Upon which scrip has issued for......

Leaving suspended........................

.30,479

.18,500

66
66

..11,979

In addition to the quantity mentioned above as suspended, warrants amounting to 112,000 acres are on file, which are also suspended for defects in the chain of title, and other causes.

The recommendation of the last annual report, in reference to the mode of disposal of the vacant lands in the Virginia military district, in Ohio, is renewed.

|

recommended that the time be extended to enable
parties to perfect their entries by survey, and ob-
tain patents. Also that authority of law be given
for perfecting certain Virginia military records as
mentioned in last report; and further legislation
is desired, extending the act of 8th February, 1854, ||
for the issue and location of warrants for services
in the war of 1812, and for United States revolu-
tionary or continental services.

The time limited by act of 7th January, 1853,
for exchanging bounty lands for services in the
war of 1812, where found unfit for cultivation,
expires 30th June, 1858. An extension of time
is recommended, and an enlargement of the stat-
ute, to embrace the heirs of the deceased soldier.
Under the acts of 1849 and 1850, granting the
During the year ending September 30, 1857, swamp and overflowed lands to the States within
seventeen patents have been issued for lands in which they lie, there have been selected and re-
that district, embracing 2,144 acres; and twenty-turned to this office 54,174,281.76 acres; of which
eight patents have been issued on warrants for there have been approved 40,133,564 51 acres,
services of soldiers of the war of 1812, pursuant and patented to the States 24,060,396.07 acres.
to the act of May 6, 1812, for 4,480 acres. Scrip The selections reported during the year ending
for 200 acres, pursuant to the act of May 30, 1830, June 30, 1857, amount to 2,962,408.96 acres. The
has been issued in satisfaction of United States quantity approved during the same period amounts
military warrants issued under act of September to 1,141,090 acres, and the quantity patented, of
16, 1776.
old selections, during the same period, amounts
to 11,186,147.53 acres.

The time limited by the act of 3d March, 1855, for the survey of entries, in the Virginia military district, expired on the 3d March, 1857. It is

The particulars are presented in the following tables:

No. 1-SWAMP LAND.-Exhibiting the quantity of Land selected for the several States under the acts of
Congress approved March 2, 1849, and September 28, 1850, up to and ending 30th September, 1857.

SENATE & HO. OF REPS.

Prior to the passage of the act of 3d March, 1857, the adjustment of the swamp grant was greatly retarded by applications filed on the part of individuals, to contest the right of the State to the lands selected. That act, by confirming the selections with exceptions, put an end to the individual contests, and the adjustment is now rapidly progressing. The character and extent of the contests then pending appear in the last annual report.

The recommendation of the last report is renewed, that a limit be fixed to the time within which swamp selections must be made.

During and since the year 1850, grants of land have been made to ten States and one Territory, to aid them in the construction of fifty railroads, of an extent (part estimated) of 8,647 miles, amounting (part estimated) to 24,247,335 acres. The grants to the States of Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, for eight roads, have been adjusted. The grantees have accepted the grants of 1856 and 1857, except the States of Alabama and Louisiana. The Legislature of Alabama has not been in session since the date of her grant. The State of Louisiana has accepted the grant made to her in part; the residue is rejected. The attention of this office has been given to the adjustment of these grants, so far as the prerequisites have been furnished by the authorities of the grantees. The amount of official labor at least equal to the sale of adjustment of these railroad grants involves an that quantity of land, the surface to be operated on being a strip of thirty miles broad, along the route of each road, within which previous sales, locations, and preemptions, have to be carefully examined and adjudicated under new rules peculiar to these grants, with a view to equal justice to the grantees, the settlers, and purchasers.

The mode of proceeding in this branch of business is as follows: The lands falling within the probable limits of the railroad grant are, upon application, withdrawn from sale or location; the act of Congress is communicated to the Governor of the State; plats of the road are called for; and the general practice has been for the State to accept the grant, and transfer the same to incorporated railroad companies. Then the maps of the road, duly certified by the Governor under seal, and by the company, are returned to this office, generally on a scale of an inch to a mile, indicating the connections with the sectional lines of the surveys; showing, also, the exact dates of the survey, and staking off the road on

No. 2-SWAMP LAND.-Exhibiting the quantity of Land approved to the several States under the acts of the ground; because, from these dates, which must Congress approved March 2, 1849, and September 28, 1850.

be established by the affidavit of the engineer of the road, the title to the State has legal inception, according to the late Attorney General's opinion.

If there is a material deflection in the route of the road, an explanation is required; and unless it satisfactorily appears that the line taken is the most practicable route between the termini, it is rejected. If the route does not deflect too much between the termini, the map is accepted as the basis of adjustment. The line of the road is then laid down upon our official township plats, with the six and fifteen-mile limits of the grant. Then proper diagrams are prepared for office use in the adjudication of preemptions sales, bounty-land locations, swamp selections.

These diversified interests falling within the railroad belt are required to be examined, and their validity or invalidity tested in connection with the State title under the State grant. The ledgers, or tract books, where all these interests are re

No. 3-SWAMP LAND.—Exhibiting the quantity of Land patented to the several States under the act of quired to appear, must be posted up to date, and

Congress approved September 28, 1850.

then we begin the preparation of the lists descriptive of the lands which inure to, and are to be certified to, the State-the indemnity selections being, under the decision of this office, limited to the State to which the railroad grant is made. When the granted lands for railroad purposes are ascer tained and reported, then the residue remaining to the Government are to be brought into market; and this it is the purpose of the Department to effect with all practicable speed.

The particulars touching these grants are more fully presented in the following table:*

The following is an exhibit of the grants of lands for railroads by Congress, from the year 1850, showing the States to which the grants

*See table at the foot of next column.

Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

35TH CONG....1ST SESS.

Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

to the surveys which have been executed in that Territory, but we have no means of judging of the correctness of these statements without actual examination on the ground.

The extent of the surveys, since the beginning of the operations in Utah, exhibits a sphere of field-work embracing 2,000,000 acres, and the work executed at a cost of $90,000.

California. The surveying operations have been pushed forward during the last year to a degree beyond the anticipation of this office, the liabilities incurred by the late surveyor general on that score having reached an indebtedness of upwards of $220,000 to the United States deputy surveyors, over and above the appropriations. These accounts for surveys under contracts with the surveyor general, have been certified by the latter, and could not be paid for the want of funds applicable to that service. With a view to provide means as early as possible to liquidate that indebtedness, I have, by your direction, ascertained the amount, and submitted a deficiency estimate, so that speedy appropriation may be obtained.

The summary of the field operations in California since the commencement of the service in 1851 to the present time, consists of 82,000 miles of lineal surveys, embracing an area of upwards of 20,000,000 acres, at the aggregate expense of more than $1,000,000; of which there were surveyed during the last fiscal year, ending 30th June, 1857, 20,000 miles-equal to 9,000,000 acres.

Oregon. The progress of the surveys of the public lands and donation claims have been to such an extent that it is expected the portion of the Territory between the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific ocean will be completed by the operations of another year. The extension by law of the surveying system east of the Cascades is recommended.

Washington Territory.-Owing to hostilities of the Indians, the remoteness of the surveying region, sparseness of settlements, and the arduous and perilous nature of the service in that district, but limited progress in surveying has been made during the past year; yet the duties devolved upon the surveyor general at Olympia have required all his attention.

That officer renews the recommendation of increase in mileage to deputy surveyors to indemnify them for the obstacles encountered in the density of timber, high wages, and cost of transportation of supplies.

These facts considered, and in view of the remoteness of this surveying district from commercial communities, his recommendation is concurred in, with the suggestion of increase also in his compensation.

Statement of the surveying operations of the Public
Lands during the year ending 30th September,

1857.

This table shows the aggregrate from 30th September, 1856, to 30th September, 1857. The statement in the first part of this report is for the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1857.

At the last session of Congress the following new land districts were created:

In Kansas, the "Delaware," "Osage," and "Western" districts.

In Nebraska, the "Nemaha," "South Platte," and "Dakotah" districts.

In Wisconsin, the "Chippewa" district. There were also the northeastern" and "northwestern" districts in Minnesota Territory, established by act of July 8, 1856.

For all these offices the tract books have been
prepared and opened here, all the necessary in-
structions written out, and the blank forms of
various kinds transmitted, by mail and express,
to the respective offices for the above districts,
the registers and receivers for which have entered
upon the performance of their duties.

GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE IN OREGON AND
WASHINGTON TERRITORIES.

In March, 1851, it was determined by the Secretary of the Interior, under the third section of the act of 27th September, 1850, pointing out the manner of making surveys in Oregon, to connect, with the land surveys in Oregon, a geological reconnoissance and exploration. With this in view, a transfer from a fund for similar service in the northwest was ordered, of $3,500; and Dr. John Evans was directed, on the 22d March, 1851, to proceed overland to ascertain the general geology of the country west of the Missouri river, toward the Rocky Mountains; to reconnoiter for practicable wagon routes leading to Oregon, over the Rocky Mountains; and, when there, to aid the surveyor general in obtaining the elevations of the country along the principal base and meridian lines, with the latitude and longitude at the intersection of those lines, and to keep his expenditures within the limits of the means placed by the Department under his control.

SENATE & HO. OF REPS.

been discovered; also, marbles, other limestones, and valuable rocks for building purposes. The analysis of the coals, limestones, and minerals, is completed; also, of many of the soils."

One hundred and five illustrations, and two hundred and seventy-seven pages of manuscript are completed, ready for the engraver and printer. "All the illustrations and analyses are in sufficient progress to keep the engraver constantly em. ployed until the completion of the report.

The illustrations and manuscript referred to, he has filed in this office; but the complete report, which antecedent instructions required at his hands, has not yet been made. He further states that "the report will be about two thirds the size of Dr. Owen's report, and will cost, if published in the same style, $26,526, including the cost of preparing all the maps and other illustrations."

This sum, together with his claimed balance on account of his expenditure over and above the last appropriation, he states, "will amount to $30,000.

The facts in regard to the origin of this service, and the appropriation for its completion at different times, with the progress in it, as reported by the geologist, are respectfully submitted for the consideration of Congress.

LANDS ON THE ALABAMA AND FLORIDA LINE.

Plats have been prepared of the strip of lands in Alabama between the Florida line and Coffee's line. These to be certified by the Commissioner, as ex officio Surveyor General, will be furnished to the authorities of the State of Alabama, and similar plats to the register and receiver at Sparta, within whose district the lands are situated; and hereafter a considerable body of lands which has been held in suspense on the southern boundary of Alabama will be restored to market.

In the northeastern or Columbus district, Mississippi, there are about 32,000 acres of land, the title to which has been held in suspense for more than twenty years, because of the indebtedness of the late Gordon D. Boyd, as receiver.

ents.

The mode of proceeding determined upon in On the 3d March, 1853, Congress made two this class of cases is to cancel the sales and reseparate appropriations-one of $11,984 25 for store to market about one half of the quantity expenses incurred in a geological reconnoissance above mentioned, on which no money was paid; in Oregon, undertaken in 1851, and another of and as the purchasers of the residue at marshal's $5,000 for completing that geological reconnois-sale shall pay up for the same, to issue the pat sance; whereupon on the 19th April, 1853, the geologist was instructed to complete the service under the latter appropriation, and make his final report thereon; both of which appropriations amounted to $16,984 25; and on 3d March, 1855, Congress appropriated for this purpose the additional sum of $23,560; making an aggregate of $44,044 25.

One item of the last appropriation was $5,692 25, on account of excess of his expenditures over and above the $5,000, per act of the 3d March, 1853; another item of $13,000 25, for the completion of the geological explorations in Oregon and Washington Territories. In placing the latter item under the control of the geologist, on March 20, 1855, he was instructed to complete the work, make final report, and not to exceed it in his disbursements.

INDIAN RESERVES-TRUST LANDS.

The necessary instructions having been issued, and steps taken for the location within the Half Breed, Dakotah or Sioux reserve, of 320,819.48 acres in Minnesota, of the scrip authorized by the act of 17th July, 1854, and a sufficient time, in the judgment of this office, having elapsed for satisfying claims in the reserve, a proclamation, pursuant to the third section of said act, was issued, bearing date the 16th September, 1857, for public sales to take place in March next of the

unlocated tracts within the limits of said reservation.

Under the preliminary management of the Indian office, the township embraced in the eastern portion of the Delaware trust lands in Kansas, certain town lots and blocks in Jacksonville, Delaware, Hardville, Lattaville, and Leavenworth City, were offered for sale in November last under

The estimates on which the appropriation of
$23,560 was based included a third item of
$4,867 50, which had been expended by Dr. Ev-proclamation by the President.
ans in coöperating with the expedition, under the
authority of the War Department, for making
the extreme northern railroad exploration from
the Missouri to Washington Territory, thereby
reducing to this extent the amount which has
been appropriated for geological service in Oregon
and Washington to $39,776 75.

In the adjustment of Dr. Evans's accounts to
the 4th March last, it is found that he has again
exceeded the amount appropriated for the com-
pletion of the work, and incurred an additional
liability of $3,574 70, to the liquidation of which
there are no means applicable under existing

laws.

The initiative having been taken also at the same office in regard to the lands within the reserves of the Ioways, the western part of the Delaware and the Peorias, Kaskaskias, Piankeshaws and Weas, these lands were offered under proclamation for sale in June and July last.

The Office of Indian Affairs having requested the aid of the General Land Office in selling the Indian trust lands, instructions, prepared with great care, dated 29th September, 1856, in regard to the first sale, were transmitted to the register and receiver at Lecompton, directing them to cooperate with the special commissioner on the part of the Indian Office in selling the lands in question.

At the second sale, the land officers at Doni-, phan and Lecompton were, on the 10th May, particularly instructed as to the manner in which the sales were to be conducted jointly by themselves and the special commissioner on the part of the Indian Office; and those sales were held and duly closed accordingly.

3

2

35TH CONG.... 1ST SESS.

Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

Only a portion of the returns of these sales have yet reached this office from the Office of Indian Affairs, such portions have been preliminarily examined, so far as to enable us to make an adjustment of the accounts of sales of the Peorias, Weas, &c., and the eastern part of the Delawares; which adjustments were effected on the 2d and 7th October, 1857, and reported to the First Comptroller of the Treasury.

GRADUATION.

Under the provisions of the act of 3d March, 1857, more than one hundred and fifty thousand entries for settlement and cultivation, &c., under the graduation act of August 4th, 1854, have been confirmed; a large portion of them have already been patented, thus relieving the office of a vast amount of labor which, without legislative intervention, would have been required in the final adjustment of these cases.

great body of honest claims, made by men living
upon the lands, is too inconsiderable to weigh
against our policy. The title to the lands should
pass immediately from the Government to the men
who are to cultivate the soil. So far as it may be
avoided, the speculator should not be allowed to
intervene.

With a view to a complete and practical policy,
an amendment of the preemption laws was recom-
mended to the last Congress, to the effect that a
time should be fixed, within which the settler
upon unoffered land should complete his entry by
the requisite proof and payment. The proposed
amendment was not adopted, and the preemptor
of unoffered land may make payment at his own
pleasure, provided it be done "before the time
fixed for the public sale of the land." To com-
pel payment and the consummation of the entry,
it is necessary to proclaim the land for public sale.
Numerous and extensive settlements in Kansas,
Nebraska, Minnesota, and in portions of lowa,
Wisconsin, and Michigan, formed during and
prior to 1856, have so far matured, and the lands
have been so long occupied, as to justify the Gov-
ernment in expecting and requiring payment.

SENATE & Ho. or REPS.

under the act of Congress approved 26th September, 1850, has been thoroughly examined at this office. Eighty-four of these have been finally confirmed; for thirty-two of these, the payments required by law have been made, and patent certificates have been returned to this from the local office.

Returns of the surveys, with the necessary transcripts, showing the final confirmation and survey of ranchos and other claims in California, are coming in, and are subject to critical examination, and carried into patent where found complete in all the proceedings. Eight of these titles have been carried into patent, including an aggregate area of over 190,600 acres, and covering one hundred and seventeen pages of record.

In connection with the geological reconnoissance which has been made in Oregon and Washington, alluded to in the foregoing, and the discovery of extensive coal fields in those Territories, the attention of this office has been drawn to the immense growth and great value of the timber for naval purposes in the Pacific slope.

It is reported that the red fir for masts, roots of the white-oak, cedar, and various kinds of fir, are suitable for ship knees. On Hood's canal, in the vicinity of Fort Gamble, and at Steilacoom, white pine is found in great abundance, and of excellent quality.

It is recommended that preemptors upon unof fered surveyed lands shall have one year from the date of settlement, and those upon unsurveyed lands shall have one year after the return of the township plats to the local office, within which The facilities for the transportation of timber to pay for the same; and that the right of pre-from Washington Territory are great; the harbors emption upon unsurveyed lands be made general, in Puget Sound being reported deep and quite acso that the law in this respect may be uniform, cessible, admitting ships of the largest draught. the privilege being limited, under existing laws, to California, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, and New Mexico.

As an incidental matter connected with the disposal of the public lands, this office, in the elder land States, has instituted a system susceptible of extension to any part of the public domain, operating through the instrumentality of the local land offices, for the protection of the public timber.

The act of 3d March, 1857, however, is retroactive, and has no application to any entries subsequent to its passage. Therefore, in regard to all such subsequent entries, the registers and receivers have been instructed to notify purchasers, at the time of making them, that the proof of actual settlement and cultivation would be required within one year from the date of entry, to entitle them to patent. Under this rule, all entries subsequent to act 3d March, 1857, will be held up for one year from their date, unless proof of settlement and cultivation should be sooner produced. In default of such proof,there is no authority to carry them into patent, unless Congress shall otherwise order by further legislation. I deem it proper again to suggest the necessity of further legislative action to give the proper construction to the act of 20th April, 1818, as recommended in our last annual report, so as to restrict the compensation commission of registers and receivers to a quarterly pro rata allowance of This system, both simple and economical, has the maximum of two thousand five hundred dol-provision be so modified as to give the three been found efficient in suppressing, to a great lars per annum, their compensation both for sal- months after the survey has been made and re- extent, the mischief of waste, and has operated ary and commissions to commence and be calcu- | turned, thus assimilating it to the other statutes in a most salutary manner in constraining treslated from the time they enter upon the discharge on the same subject. Where two or more per-passers to purchase lands which otherwise would of their duties. By the rule adopted for the com- sons may have settled upon and improved the putation of commissions under the construction same tract before the survey, the entry should given to the said act by the Supreme Court, it be made by them jointly, and the maximum sometimes happens, as was the case at the Platts- quantity of one hundred and sixty acres to each burg office, Missouri, that the same register or allowed on adjacent legal subdivisions of unoccureceiver, under different commissions, or differ-pied lands. Legislation to this effect is recoment incumbents of the same office, have received commissions amounting in the aggregate to the sum of $10,000 in a calendar year; which, in the opinion of this office, could never have been contemplated by Congress.

as

The fees allowed to the register and receiver for locating military land warrants, under the second section of the act of 22d March, 1852, are required, under the existing rule of this office, to be paid into the hands of the receiver of public moneys, who is held accountable for the same, in the case of moneys received for ordinary sales of land; and the commission on warrant locations is restricted by law, according to the ruling of the Department, to an amount which, added to the commissions on lands sold, will not exceed, in the aggregate, the maximum of $2,500 for any one official year.

In the last annual report of this office, it was stated that a most liberal policy had been adopted, and ought to be continued, in the disposal of the public domain towards those making settlements thereon; that "except so far as Congress may make grants to the land States and Territories in aid of educational and internal improvement purposes, it is believed to be the true policy of the Government to secure the public lands to actual settlers thereon, and withhold them, as far as practicable, from speculators."

The wisdom of the preemption policy is no longer the subject of controversy. It is established by the history of every neighborhood and settlement throughout the West. This is said in full view of the fact that many fraudulent preemption claims are established by evasion and perjury; and that such will be the case, even under the most diligent administration of this and the local offices, especially during periods such as that through which we have recently passed, when the spirit of speculation has possession of the public mind. But this class of cases, when compared with the

The twelfth section of the act of 22d July, 1854, relating to Kansas and Nebraska, requires notice of the tract claimed by preemptors to be filed within three months after the survey has been made in the field." It is recommended that this

mended.

The recommendation of the last annual report
is renewed, that the act of 3d March, 1853, be so
amended as to render United States reserved sec-

tions along the line of railroads liable to preemp-
tion, as well when the settlement may have been
made after as before the final allotment; that is,
at any time before the public sale.

The general law of 3d March, 1855, and the spe-
cial act of 3d March, 1857, granting preemptions
to contractors carrying the mails through the
Territories west of the Mississippi, have engaged
the attention of the Department; and to facilitate
operations under these laws, a circular letter of
instructions has been prepared, in which, as re-
gards the general statute, it is held, that to con-
stitute a right of preemption, the mail route on
which the claim is based must form a part of a
system stretching laterally across the territory,
being a link in or part of a connected route from
the line of the States west of the Mississippi to
the Pacific, and that no benefit or privilege is con-
ferred by the said act on routes stretching length-
wise in a northerly or southerly direction in the
Territory, and forming no part of said connected

route.

PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS.

The class of titles known as 66 private land
claims," which had their origin under the Govern-
ments that preceded us in sovereignty over the
different sections of country now constituting our
territory, are constantly coming before this office
for examination in all their diversity of forms;
and those finally confirmed and properly surveyed
are carried into patent. Under this head, indi-
vidual Indian reserves also are referred, and are

passed into patent after a critical examination of
the whole basis of title, as resting on treaties and
statutory provisions.

A class of claims at the Sault Ste. Marie, Mich-
igan, of which official cognizance had been taken

have remained unsold. The evil will be, to a great extent, obviated by an early introduction into market of the pineries which have attracted the attention and stimulated the cupidity of depreda

tors.

With great respect, your obedient servant,
THOMAS A. HENDRICKS,
Commissioner.
Hon. JACOB THOMPSON, Secretary of the Interior.

Abstract of the Annual Report of the Commissioner
of the General Land Office.
GENERAL LAND OFFICE,
November 30, 1857.
SIR: Pursuant to the resolution of the Senate
of the 28th February, 1855, the following is sub-
mitted as an "abstract, or compendium" of the
annual report from this office, bearing even date
herewith.

This report treats of the following subjects, and is accompanied by the usual statistical tables of the lands surveyed, exposed to market, sold, granted, and otherwise disposed of, to wit:

1. The quantity of lands ready for market and not advertised-surveys returned-aggregate annual statement of sales and lands disposed of.

2. Bounty land warrants-acts of 1847-50-52, and 55-annual statements, with views respecting Virginia military claims.

3. Swamp land grant-statements, and a renewal of recommendation of further legislation. 4. Statement in relation to railroad grants. 5. Grants in Wisconsin-Fox and Wisconsin river grant-Des Moines river grant in Iowa. 6. Synoptical views of the operations of the surveyor general.

7. New land districts created in Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

8. Geological reconnoissance in Oregon and Washington.

9. Land on the Alabama and Florida line. 10. Lands in the northeastern or Columbus district, Mississippi.

11. Indian reserves-trust lands.

12. Reference to graduation act and the number of entries confirmed under the same.

With large reservations of fertile and desirable land, entirely disproportioned to their wants for Occupancy and support, it will be impossible, when surrounded by a dense white population, to protect them from constant disturbance, intrusion, and spoliation by those on whom the obligations of law and justice rest but lightly; while their large annuities will subject them to the wiles and machinations of the inhuman trafficker in arFrom these amounts is to be deducted the cost of dent spirits, the unprincipled gambler, and the surveying and selling the lands; and the remain-greedy and avaricious trader and speculator. der in each case is required to be invested in safe and profitable stocks, except so much as the President may deem proper to be applied to relieve the temporary necessities of the Indians during the time of their becoming settled and established on their reservations. The interest derived from the investments is to be annually paid over to them, or judiciously applied for their benefit.