Chapter XLVII. *to amend an Act entitled “An Act to confirm certain private Land Claims in the Territory of New Mexico.”* Feb. 25, 1869. 1860, ch. 167
927 words·~4 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-15/chapter-xlvii-1228441·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Chap. XLVII.— An Act *to amend an Act entitled “An Act to confirm certain private Land Claims in the Territory of New Mexico.”* Feb. 25, 1869. 1860, ch. 167. Vol. xii. p. 71. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That the exterior lines of the Claims of Cornelio Vigil and Cram St. Vrain to be adjusted;Cornelio Vigil and Cram St. Vrain claims of eleven leagues each, subject to claims derived from said parties as confirmed by the act of Congress approved twenty-first June, eighteen hundred and sixty, United States Statutes, volume twelve, page seventy-one, shall be adjusted according to the lines of the public surveys, as nearly as practicable, with the limits of said claims, yet in as compact a form as possible; and the claims of of all actual settlers on, &c.all actual settlers upon the tracts heretofore claimed by the said Vigil and St.
Vrain, holding possession under titles or promises to settle, which have been made by said Vigil and St. Vrain, or their legal representatives prior to the passage of this act, who may establish their claims within one year from the passage of this act, to the satisfaction of the register and receiver of the proper land district, shall in like manner be adjusted according to the subdivisional lines of survey, so as to include the lands so settled upon or purchased, and the areas of the same shall be deducted and excluded from the adjusted limits of the claims of said Vigil and St.
Vrain respectively; and the claims of all other actual settlers Homestead and pre-emption claims.falling within the limits of the located claims of Vigil and St. Vrain shall be adjusted to the extent which shall embrace their several settlements upon their several claims being established either as pre-emption or homesteads, according to law; and for the aggregate of the areas of the latter class of claims the said Vigil and St. Vrain, or their legal representatives, shall be entitled to locate a like quantity of public lands, not mineral, according to the lines of the public surveys, and not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres in one section.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That it shall be the duty of the general Lines of public surveys to be run.land office to cause the lines of the public surveys to be run in the 276 FORTIETH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 47, 48. 1869.regions where a proper location would place the said Vigil and St. Vrain claims, and that the expense of the same shall be paid out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated; yet, before the confirmation of the said act of June twenty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty, shall become legally effective, the said Vigil and St.
Vrain, or their legal representatives, Cost thereof. Improvements of certain settlers.shall pay the cost of so much of said surveys as enures to their benefit respectively, and that all settlers of the said third class, whose claims may be adjusted as valid, shall have the right to enter their improvements by a strict compliance with the pre-emption or homestead laws. Plats to claimants. Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That upon the adjustment of the Vigil and St. Vrain claims according to the provisions of this act, it shall be the duty of the surveyor-general of the district to furnish proper approved plats to said claimants, or their legal representatives, and so in like manner to said derivative claimants, which shall be evidence of title, the same to be done according to such instructions as may be given by the commissioner of the general land office.
Surveyor-general to give notice that the survey is being made. Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That immediately upon running the lines as provided in section second of this act, the surveyor-general of said district shall notify the said Vigil and St. Vrain, or their agents or legal representatives, of the fact of such survey being made, and said Claimants to select and locate claims within, &c. three months, or be held to have abandoned them.claimants shall, within three months after notice of such survey, select and locate their said claims in accordance with such survey and the provisions of this act and of the act to which this is amendatory, so far as the same is not changed by this act, and shall within said time furnish the surveyor-general with the description of such location, specifying the lines of the same.
And the party failing to make such selection and location, in such manner and within such time, shall be deemed and held to have abandoned their claim, and their rights and equities under this act, and the act to which this is amendatory, shall cease and terminate. No suit to be brought if, &c. Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That in case of the neglect or refusal of the said Vigil and St. Vrain, or either of them, to accept of the provisions of this act, and the act to which this is amendatory, and to locate their said claims, as provided therein, no suit shall be brought or proceedings instituted in any of the courts of the United States, by such party or by any one claiming through or under them, to establish or enforce said claims, or for any cause of action founded upon the same, after six months from the passage of this act.
Approved, February 25, 1869.