Patent, when granted. Rights, anteed heirs. this act had been commenced, specifying the time of the commencement; 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 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 his 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 wiPatent to is- dow, 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. sue. When claims upon sec 86 invalid. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That no claim to a donation tions 16 and right, under the provisions of this act, upon sections sixteen or 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 governmental purposes, unless the residence or cultivation thereof shall have commenced previous to the selection or reservation of the same for such purposes. university. Grants for a 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 sub-divisions 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-gen grant same. for eral. Further SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That what is known as the "Oregon City Claim," excepting the Abernethy Island, which is Oregon city hereby confirmed to the legal assigns of the Willamette 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 Proviso. 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 donce, or their assigns, to be certified to the commissioner of the general land of fice 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. oath, land is use, &c. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That all persons claiming landing under any provisions of this act, by virtue of settlement and culti- land to make vation commenced subsequent to the first of December, in the year for their own 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 other 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 the employment of others, in making such claims; and that they have made no sale or transfer, or any arrangement or agreement, for 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 surveyorgeneral, in a book to be kept by him for that purpose; and on Punishment 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. of perjury. powers surveyor SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That all questions arising under Judicial 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 general. 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. of of mineral lands. SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That no mineral lands, nor Reservation lands reserved for salines, shall be liable to any claim under and by and other 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 operation of this act: Provided, That if it shall be deemed Proviso. 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 27, 1850. lieu of con after two pation, pay $1.25 acre. AN ACT to amend an act entitled "an act to create the office of Sur- Settlers, in Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Uni- tler in cer tain guaranteed Surveyorgeneral, cate of pay SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That upon the payment of money When to is for lands as aforesaid to the said surveyor-general, he shall issue seer his certificate of such payment, together with an accurate copy of ment, copy the survey of the land so located and purchased, to the purchaser thereof; and, upon the filing of which said certificate and copy of Patent, how survey in the office of the commissioner of the general land office, a patent shall issue therefor as in other cases. of survey, &c. to issue. Surveyorkeep certain SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the general to said surveyor-general to keep and preserve a record of all moneys records, and 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. make ports, &c. re Surveyorgeneral to moneys. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the give security said surveyor-general, immediately upon the taking effect of this for certain 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 addiAdditional tional labors and responsibility imposed upon him by this act, in tion to sur- receiving, safe-keeping, paying over, and accounting for the moneys veyor-gene- aforesaid, he shall receive two per centum on all such sums, which compensa shall include the payment for clerk hire, together with all costs and 1 This in SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the act, how long to to which this is an amendment, be, and the same are hereby ex-remain tended and continued in force until the first day of December, eighteen hundred and fifty-five. force. titled to the of file sur ral certain SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That every person entitled to Persons enthe benefit of the fourth section of the act of which this is amend- benefit of § 4 atory, who was resident in said territory on or prior to the first of this act, to December, eighteen hundred and fifty, shall be and hereby is re- veyor-genequired to file with the surveyor-general of said territory, in advance notice. 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 writing, setting forth his claim to the benefits of said section, and citing all required particulars in reference to such settlement claim; and all persons failing to give such notice on or prior to the first of Decem- Consequence ber, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, shall be thereafter debarred from ever receiving any benefit under said fourth section. And all persons who, on or prior to first December, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, shall have settled on surveyed lands in said territory, in virtue of the provisions of the fifth section of the act of which this is amendatory, who shall fail to give notice in writing of such settlement, specifying the particulars thereof to the surveyorgeneral of said territory, on or prior to the first of April, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, shall be thereafter debarred from ever receiving the benefits of said fifth section. of neglect. lands west of appointed to re west of Cas SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first of Certain April, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, all public lands within the Cascade mountains limits of the townships surveyed, or to be surveyed, in said terri- subject tory, west of the Cascade mountains, which shall not have been public sale. claimed under the provisions of the fourth and fifth sections of the act of which this is amendatory, or reserved for public uses by law, or order of the president, and excepting also mineral lands, shall be subject to public sale and private entry as other public lands of the United States; and, so soon as he shall deem expedient, the president of the United States shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a receiver of public moneys for when the territory of Oregon, west of the Cascade mountains, who shall ceiver to be give bond and security, in the penalty of fifty thousand dollars, for territory for the faithful discharge of his official trust, and whose duties, un- cade mounder the laws in relation to the public lands of the United States in said territory, shall be the same as those of other like officers of the duties, comUnited States, and who shall be allowed not exceeding dol-&e. lars per annum, for the safe-keeping and accounting for the public moneys by him received, including all charges for office rent and clerk hire; and, at such time as the president of the United States. shall deem it expedient, he shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a register of the land office for the terri- Register to be appointed tory of Oregon, west of the Cascade mountains, who shall enter His bond, into bond, with sufficient security, for the faithful discharge of his official duties, as other like officers, and whose duties and author- e ity, under the direction of the secretary of the interior, shall be the same as those imposed by law on other like officers, consist tains. pensation, duties, com pensation, ently with the provisions of this act and of the act of which this is amendatory, and whose compensation shall be equal to that allowed to the receiver of public moneys to be appointed under this Surveyor- act; and, until such register shall have been appointed, and engeneral to tered upon the discharge of his official duties, the surveyor-general gister's du of Oregon shall perform all the duties which shall appertain to such office. perform re ties until, &c. Grants to certain wi SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That each widow now residing dows. in Oregon territory, and such others as shall locate in said terri tory, whose husband, had he lived, would have been entitled to a claim under the provisions of the act to which this is an amend ment, shall be entitled, under the provisions and requirements of said act, to the same quantity of land that she would have been but for the death of her husband; and that in case of the death of the widow prior to the expiration of the four years' continued pos Rights of de- session required by said act, to which this is an amendment, all the ceased w rights of the deceased shall enure unto and be vested in the heirs in her heirs. at-law of such widow. dow to vest Reservations for certain ings, &c. etc., limited SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all reservations heretofore. public build- as well as hereafter, made in pursuance of the fourteenth section of the act to which this is an amendment, shall, for magazines, arse nals, dock-yards, and other needful public uses, except for forts, be limited to an amount not exceeding twenty acres for each and every Dockyards of said objects at any one point or place, and for forts to an amount to 640 acres, not exceeding six hundred and forty acres at any one point or place: Provided, That if it shall be deemed necessary, in the judg ment of the president, to include, in any such reservation the improvement of any settler made previous to such reservation, 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 ascer tained shall be paid to the party entitled thereto, out of any money not otherwise appropriated. Proviso. Duties surveyor prescribed. of SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the said surveyor-general, general, how in the discharge of his duties under this act, shall be subject to all the provisions of the act entitled "An act to provide for the better organization of the treasury, and for the collection, safe keeping, transfer and disbursement of the public revenue," approved August sixth, eighteen hundred and forty-six; and all acts and parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this act, be, and the same are hereby, repealed. 1850, ch. 76. 1853, ch. 69. AN ACT to amend the act approved September twenty-seven, eighteen hundred and fifty, to create the office of Surveyor-General of the Public Lands in Oregon, etc., and also the Act amendatory thereof, ap proved February nineteen [fourteenth,] eighteen hundred and fifty three. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the donations hereafter to be surveyed in Oregon and Washington territories, |