Chapter CCXIX. *to quiet Land Titles in California.*July 23, 1866. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Certain lands selected by California confirmed to that State
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CHAP. CCXIX.— An Act *to quiet Land Titles in California.*July 23, 1866. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Certain lands selected by California confirmed to that State.That in all cases where the State of California has heretofore made selections of any portion of the public domain in part satisfaction of any grant made to said State by any act of Congress, and has disposed of the same to purchasers in good faith under her laws, the lands so selected Certain selections not confirmed.shall be, and hereby are, confirmed to said State: *Provided,* That no selection made by said State contrary to existing laws shall be confirmed by this act for lands to which any adverse preemption, homestead, or other right has, at the date of the passage of this act, been acquired by any settler under the laws of the United States, or to any lands which have been reserved for naval, military, or Indian purposes by the United States, or to any mineral land, or to any land held or claimed under any valid Mexican or Spanish State not to receive more land for school, &c. purposesgrant, or to any land which, at the time of the passage of this act, was included within the limits of any city, town, or village, or within the county of Sun Francisco: *And provided further,* That the State of California shall not re-THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 219. 1866.219ceive than she Is entitled to.under this act a greater quantity of land for school or improvement purposes than she is entitled to by law. Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted*, That where theWhere selections are upon lands surveyed by authority of the United States register to be notifiedNotice to be the date of State selection.Commissioner of general land office to do what. selections named in section one of this act have been made upon land which has been surveyed by authority of the United States, it shall be the duty of the proper authorities of the State, where, the same has not already been done, to notify the register of the United States land office for the district in which the land is located of such selection, which notice shall be regarded as the date of the State selection, and the commissioner of the general land office shall, immediately after the passage of this act, instruct the several local registers to forward to the general land office, after investigation and decision, all such selections, which, if found to be in accordance with section one of this act, the commissioner shall certify over to the State in the usual manner.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted*, That where the selections named inWhere selections are upon lands surveyed only by State authority, and lands are sold, selections to have same effect as certain preemption rights.If on survey by the United States the lines of the two surveys do not agree, selection to be changed.Upon filing township plat, holder of State title allowed what time to present, &c. his claim. section one of this act have been made from lands which have not been surveyed by authority of the United States, but which selections have been surveyed by authority of and under the laws of said State, mid the hind sold to purchasers in good faith under the laws of the State, such selections shall, from the date of the passage of this act, when marked off and designated in the field, have the same force and effect as the preemption rights of a settler upon unsurveyed public land; and if, upon survey of such lands by the United States, the lines of the two surveys shall be found not to agree, the selection shall be so changed as to include those legal subdivisions which nearest conform to the identical land included in the State survey and selection.
Upon the filing with the register of the proper United States land office of the township plat in which any such selection of unsurveyed land is located, the holder of the Stalo title shall be allowed the same time to present and prove up his purchase and claim under this act as is allowed preemptors under existing laws; and if found in accordance with section one of this act, the land embraced therein shall be certified over to the State by the commissioner of the general land office.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted*, That in all cases whereWhere township surveys have been made and plats approved, swamp and overflowed lands to be certified to State within one year.Segregation maps, &c. of swamp and overflowed lands made by State, to be examined, &c.If found to conform to United States surveys.If found not to conform. township surveys have been, or shall hereafter be, made under authority of the United States, and the plats thereof approved, it shall be the duty of the commissioner of the general land office to certify over to the State of California, as swamp and overflowed, all the lands represented as such, upon such approved plats, within one year from the passage of this act, or within one year from the return and approval of such township plats.
The commissioner shall direct the United States surveyor-general for the State of California to examine the segregation maps and surveys of the swamp and overflowed lands made by said State; and where he shall find them to conform to the system of surveys adopted by the United States, he shall construct and approve township plats accordingly, and forward to the general land office for approval: *Provided,* That in segregating large bodies of land, notoriously and obviously swamp and overflowed, it shall not be necessary to subdivide the same, but to run the exterior lines of such body of land.
In case such State surveys are found not to he. in accordance with the system of United States surveys, and in such other townships as no survey has been made by the United States, the commissioner shall direct the surveyor-general to make segregation surveys, upon application to said surveyor-general by the governor of said State, within one year of such application, of all the swamp and overflowed land in such townships, and to report the same to the general land office, representing and describing what land was swamp and overflowed under the grant, according to the best evidence he can obtain.
If the authorities of said State shall claim as swamp and overflowedIf State claims as swamp, &c. lands any not so represented in any land not represented us such upon the map or in the returns of the survey-220ors, map, character of land how to be determined.the character of such land at the date of the grant, September twenty-eight, eighteen hundred and fifty, and the right to the same, shall he determined by testimony, to be taken before the surveyor-general, who shall decide the same, subject to the approval of the commissioner of the general land office.
Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted*, Lists of lands selected and of swamp, &c. lands claimed by State, to be sent to general land office.That it shall be the duty of the commissioner of the general hind office to instruct the officers of the local land offices and the surveyor-general, immediately after the passage of this act to forward lists of all selections made by the State referred to in section one of this act, and lists and maps of all swamp and overflowed lands claimed by said State, or surveyed as provided in this act, for final disposition and determination, which final disposition shall be made by the commissioner of the general land office without delay.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted*, State may select for school purposes lands in lieu of certain sixteen and thirty-sixth sections.1853, ch. 145.Vol. x. p. 244.That an act entitled “An act to provide for the survey of the public lands in California, the granting of preemption rights therein, and for other purposes,” approved March third, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, shall be construed as giving the State of California the right to select for school purposes other lands in lieu of such sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections as were settled upon prior to survey, reserved for public uses, covered by grants made under Spanish or Mexican authority, or by other private claims, or where such sections would be so covered if the lines of the public surveys were extended over such lands, which shall be determined whenever township lines shall have been extended over such land, and in rase of Spanish or Mexican grants, when the final survey of such Surveyor-general to furnish State authorities with lists.grants shall have been made.
The surveyor-general for the State of California shall furnish the State authorities with lists of all such sections so covered, as a basis of selection, such selections to be made from surveyed lands, and within the same land district as the section for which the selection is made. Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted*, Purchasers of lands of Mexican grantees, the grants being subsequently rejected, &c. may buy same at minimum price, &c.That where persons in good faith, and for a valuable consideration, have purchased lands of Mexican grantees or assigns, which grants have subsequently been rejected, or where the kinds so purchased have been excluded from the final survey of any Mexican grant, and have used, improved, and continued in the actual possession of the same as according to the lines of their original purchase, and where no valid adverse right or title (except of the United States) exists, such purchasers may purchase the same, after having such lands surveyed under existing laws, at the minimum price established by law, upon first making proof of the facts as required in this section, under regulations to be provided by the commissioner of the general land office, joint entries being admissible by coterminous proprietors to such an extent as will Limit of such right to purchase.Lines of public surveys when not to run through permanent improvements.enable them to adjust their respective boundaries: *Provided,* That the provisions of this section shall not be applicable to the city and county of San Francisco: *Provided,* That the right to purchase herein given shall not extend to lands containing mines of gold, silver, copper, or cinnabar: *Provided,* That whenever it shall be made to appear by petition from the occupants of such land that injury to permanent improvements would result from running the lines of the public surveys through such permanent improvements, the commissioner of the general land office may recognize existing lines of subdivisions.
Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted*, Where claims to land by title from Spanish, &c. authorities, have been confirmed, and a survey and plat not requested within ten months, &c. lines of surveys to be extendedThat in all cases where a claim to land by virtue of a right or title derived from the Spanish or Mexican authorities has been finally confirmed, and a survey and plat thereof shall not have been requested within ten months from the passage of this act, as provided by sections six and seven of the act of July first, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, “To expedite the settlement of tides to lands in the State of California,” and in all cases where a like claim shall hereafter be finally confirmed, and a survey and plat thereof shall not he requested, as provided by said sections within ten months after the passage of this THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 229, 230. 1866.221act, or any finalover said land, and quantity set off.1864, ch. 194, §§ 6. 7.Vol. xiii. p. 334. confirmation hereafter made, it shall be the duty of the surveyor-general of the United States for California, as soon as practicable after the expiration of ten months from the passage of this act, or such final confirmation hereafter made, to cause the lines of the public surveys to be extended over such laud, and he shall set Land not set off, subject to general land laws of the United States.Rights of bona fide preemption claimants not interfered with.off, in full satisfaction of such grant, and according to the lines of the public surveys, the quantity of land confirmed in such final decree, and as nearly as can be done in accordance with such decree; and all the land not included in such grant as so set off shall be subject to the general land laws of the United States: *Provided,* That nothing in this act shall be construed so as in any manner to interfere with the right of bona fide preemption claimants.
Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted*, Appeals from decrees of district courts respecting surveys of certain private land claims after July 1, 1865, to circuit courtThat from the decrees of the district courts of the United States for the district of California, approving or correcting the surveys of private land claims under Spanish or Mexican grants, rendered after the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, an appeal shall be allowed for the period of one year after the entry of such decrees to the circuit court of theDecision of circuit court to be final.Appeal from certain decrees of district courts.
United States for California, as provided by section three of the act of July first, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, to expedite the settlement of titles to land in the State of California, and the decision of the circuit court shall be final: *Provided, however,* That from decrees of the district courts, as aforesaid, made after July one, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and prior to the passage of this act, an appeal may be taken to the United States circuit court for the State of California within one year from the approval of this act.
Approved, July 23, 1866.