ment; and at any time after the expiration of four years from the date of such settlement, whether made under the laws of the late provisional government or not, shall prove in like manner, by two disinterested witnesses, the fact of continued residence and cultivation required by the fourth section of this act; and upon such proof being made, the surveyor general, or such other officer appointed by law for that purpose, shall issue certificates, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the commissioner of the general land office, setting forth the facts in the case, and specifying the land to which the parties are entitled. And the said surveyor general shall return the proof so taken to the office of the commissioner of the general land office, and if the said commissioner shall find no valid objection thereto, patents shall issue for the land, according to the certificates aforesaid, upon the surrender thereof.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That upon the death of any settler before the expiration of the four years' continued possession required by this act, all the rights of the deceased under this act shall descend to the heirs at law of such settler, including the widow, where one is left, in equal parts; and proof of compliance with the conditions of this up to the time of the death of such settler, shall be sufficient to entitle them to the patent.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That no claim to a donation right under the provisions of this act, upon sections sixteen and thirty-six, shall be valid or allowed, if the residence and cultivation upon which the same is founded, shall have commenced after the survey of the same; nor shall such claim attach to any tract or parcel of land selected for a military post, or within one mile thereof, or to any other land reserved for government purposes, unless the residence or cultivation thereof shall have commenced previous to the selection or reservation of the same for such purposes.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That there be, and hereby is granted to the territory of Oregon, the quantity of two townships of land in said territory, west of the Cascade mountains, and to be selected in legal subdivisions after the same has been surveyed, by the legislative assembly of said territory, in such manner as it may deem proper, one to be located north, and the other south of the Columbia river, to aid in the establishment of a university in the territory of Oregon, in such manner as the said legislative assembly may direct, the selection to be approved by the surveyor general.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That what is known as the "Oregon city claim," excepting the Abernethy island, which is hereby confirmed to the legal assignees of the Wallamett milling and trading companies, shall be set apart and be at the disposal of the legislative assembly, the proceeds thereof to be applied by said legislative assembly to the establishment and endowment of a university, to be located at such place in the territory as the legislative

assembly may designate: Provided, however, that all lots and parts of lots in said claim, sold or granted by Doctor John McLaughlin, previous to the fourth of March, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, shall be confirmed to the purchaser or donee, or their assigns, to be certified to the commissioner of the general land office, by the surveyor general, and patents to issue on said certificates, as in other cases: Provided further, that nothing in this act contained, shall be so construed and executed, as in any way to destroy or affect any rights to land in said territory, holden or claimed under the provisions of the treaty or treaties existing between this country and Great Britain.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That all persons claiming land under any of the provisions of this act, by virtue of settlement and cultivation commenced subsequent to the first of December, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty, shall first make affidavit before the surveyor general, who is hereby authorized to administer all such oaths or affirmations, or before some competent officer, that the land claimed by them is for their own use and cultivation; that they are not acting directly or indirectly, as agent for, or in employment of others, in making such claims; and that they have made no sale, or transfer, or any arrangement, or agreement, or any sale, transfer or alienation of the same, or by which the said land shall enure to the benefit of any other person. And all affidavits required by this act, shall be entered of record, by the surveyor general, in a book to be kept by him for that purpose; and on proof, before a court of competent jurisdiction, that any of such oaths or affirmations are false or fraudulent, the persons making such false or fraudulent oaths or affirmations, shall be subject to all the pains and penalties of perjury.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That all questions arising under this act, shall be adjudged by the surveyor general as preliminary to a final decision according to law; and it shall be the duty of the surveyor general, under the direction of the commissioner of the general land office, to cause proper tract books to be opened for the lands in Oregon, and to do and perform all other acts and things necessary and proper to carry out the provisions of this act.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That no mineral lands, nor lands reserved for salines, shall be liable to any claim under and by virtue of the provisions of this act; and that such portions of the public lands as may be designated under the authority of the president of the United States, for forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful public uses, shall be reserved and excepted from the operations of this act: Provided, that if it shall be deemed necessary, in the judgment of the president, to include in any such reservation the improvements of any settler made previous to the

passage of this act, it shall, in such case, be the duty of the secretary of war to cause the value of such improvements to be ascertained, and the amount so ascertained shall be paid to the party entitled thereto, out of any money not otherwise appropriated.

APPROVED, September 27th, 1850.

AN ACT

TO AMEND AN ACT, ENTITLED "AN ACT TO CREATE THE OFFICE OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF THE PUBLIC LANDS IN OREGON, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE SURVEY, AND TO MAKE DONATIONS TO THE SETTLERS OF THE SAID PUBLIC LANDS, APPROVED SEPTEMBER 27TH, 1850."

SECTION 1. Settlers allowed to purchase their lands, after two years' residence, at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre.

2. How a patent may issue to such settlers.

3. Surveyor general to keep a record and make report to general land office 4. Surveyor general to give additional bond.

Compensation for such duties.

5. Provisions of the original bill extended.

6. Certain persons debarred benefit of the act to which this is an amendment.

7. Certain lands subject to private entry after the first of April, 1855.

Register and receiver to be appointed.

Their pay and duties.

8. Certain widows entitled to the benefit of the land law.

9. Limitation of reservations.

10. The surveyor general subject to the provisions of congress for the saf keeping and disbursements of public revenue.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That all persons who have located, or may hereafter locate lands in the territory of Oregon, in accordance with the provisions of an act entitled "an act to create the office of surveyor general of the public lands in Oregon, and to provide for the survey, and to make donations to the settlers of the said public lands," approved September twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and fifty, and of which survey shall have been made or may hereafter be had, in lieu of the term of continued occupation after settlement, as provided by said act, shall be permitted, after occupation for two years of the land so claimed, to pay into the hands of the surveyor general of said territory, at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per

acre for the land so claimed, located, and surveyed as aforesaid; and upon the death of any settler before the expiration of the two years' continued possession required by this act, all the rights of the deceased under this act shall descend to the heirs-at-law of such settler, including the widow, where one is left, in equal parts; and proof of compliance with the conditions of this act, up to the time of the death of such settler, shall be sufficient to entitle them to the patent.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That upon the payment of money for lands as aforesaid to the said surveyor general, he shall issue his certificate of such payment, together with an accurate copy of the survey of the land so located and purchased, to the purchaser thereof, and upon the filing of which said certificate and copy of survey in the office of the commissioner of the general land office, a patent shall issue therefor as in other cases.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said surveyor general to keep and preserve a record of all moneys so received, and to make out and transmit quarterly, to the commissioner of the general land office, an accurate report of the moneys so received by him as aforesaid.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said surveyor general immediately upon the taking effect of this act, to enter into security in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, conditioned for the safe keeping of all moneys received by him as surveyor general according to law: Provided, however, That, in order to compensate the surveyor general of said territory for the additional labors and responsibilities imposed upon him by this act, in receiving, safe-keeping, paying over, and accounting for the moneys aforesaid, he shall receive a per centum on all such sums, which shall include the pay for clerk hire, together with all costs and expenses incidental to such special services in any one year: Provided, The salary and per centage of said surveyor general, and for clerk hire, shall not exceed four thousand dollars for any

one year.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the act to which this is an amendment, be, and the same are hereby extended and continued in force until the first day of December, eighteen hundred and fifty-five.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That every person entitled to the benefit of the fourth section of the act of which this is amendatory, who was resident in said territory on or prior to the first of December, eighteen hundred and fifty, shall be, and hereby is required to file with the surveyor general of said territory, in advance of the time when the public surveys shall be extended over the particular land claimed by him, where those surveys shall not have been made previous to the date of this act, a notice in