Chapter 1040.
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CHAP. 1040.— An act to forfeit certain lands heretofore granted for the purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads, and for other purposes.September 29, 1890. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Forfeiture of unearned lands granted to railroads in any State, etc.Forfeiture and resumption. That there is hereby forfeited to the United States, and the United States hereby resumes the title thereto, all lands heretofore granted to any State or to any corporation to aid in the construction of a railroad opposite to and coterminous with the portion of any such railroad not now Restored to public domain.completed, and in operation, for the construction or benefit of which such lands were granted; and all such lands are declared to be a *Proviso*.Rights of way, etc.part of the public domain: *Provided*, That this act shall not be construed as forfeiting the right of way or station grounds of any railroad company heretofore granted.
Sec. 2. That all persons who, at the date of the passage of thisPreference rights of present actual settlers to enter. act, are actual settlers in good faith on any of the lands hereby forfeited and are otherwise qualified, on making due claim on said Time limit.lands under the homestead law within six months after the passage of this act, shall be entitled to a preference right to enter the same Entry for time of actual occupation.under the provisions of the homestead law and this act, and shall be regarded as such actual settlers from the date of actual settlement Second homestead entries.or occupation; and an y person who has not heretofore had the benefit of the homestead or preemption law, or who has failed from any cause to perfect the title to a tract of land heretofore entered by him under either of said laws, may make a second homestead entry under Rules.the provisions of this act.
The Secretary of the Interior shall make such rules as will secure to such actual settlers these rights. Sec. 3. That in all cases where persons being citizens of the UnitedPurchasers, etc., in possession. States, or who have declared their intentions to become such, in accordance with the naturalization laws of the United States, are in possession of any of the lands affected by any such grant and hereby resumed by and restored to the United States, under deed, written contract with, or license from, the State or corporation to which such grant was made, or its assignees, executed prior to January first, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, or where persons may have Settlers intending to purchase.settled said lands with bona fide intent to secure title thereto by purchase from the State or corporation when earned by compliance with the conditions or requirements of the granting acts of Congress Entitled to purchase.Limitations.they shall be entitled to purchase the same from the United States, in quantities not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres to any one such person, at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 1040. 1890.497 acre, at any time within two years from the passage of this act, and on making said payment to receive patents therefor, and where anyPatents to issue.Purchasers, etc., in possession, having improved. such person in actual possession of any such lands and having improved the same prior to the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety, under deed, written contract, or license as aforesaid, or his assignor, has made partial or full payments to said railroad company prior to said date, on account of the purchase price of said lands from it, on proof of the amount of such payments he shall beProof of payments. entitled to have the same, to the extent and amount of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, if so much has been paid, and not more, credited to him on account of and as part of the purchase priceCredit on account. herein provided to be paid the United States for said lands, or such persons may elect to abandon their purchases and make claim onOptional abandonment, etc. said lands under the homestead law and as provided in the preceding section of this act: *Provided*, That in all cases where parties, persons, or corporations, with the permission of such State or corporation,*Provisos*.Certain parties in possession may remove crops and improvements. or its assignees, are in the possession of and have made improvements upon any of the lands hereby resumed and restored, and are not entitled to enter the same under the provisions of this act, such parties, persons, or corporations shall have six months in which to remove any growing crop, and within which time they shall also be entitled to remove all buildings and other movable improvements from said lands: *Provided further*, That the provisionsCertain lands in Iowa exempted. of this section shall not apply to any lands situate in the State of Iowa on which any person in good faith has made or asserted the right to make a preemption or homestead settlement: *And provided further*,Rights of certain purchasers, etc., not limited.
That nothing in this act contained shall be construed as limiting the rights granted to purchasers or settlers by “An act to provide for the adjustment of land grants made by Congress to aid in the construction of railroads and for the forfeiture of unearned lands, and for other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundredVol. 24, pp. 356–558. and eighty-seven, or as repealing, altering, or amending said act, nor as in any manner affecting any cause of action existing in favor of any purchaser against his grantor for breach of any covenants of title.
Sec. 4. That section five of an act entitled “An act for a grant ofWithdrawals within certain indemnity limits, Iowa and Minnesota.Vol. 13, p. 74, repealed.Vol. 13, p. 527, repealed. lands to the State of Iowa in alternate sections to aid in the construction of a railroad in said State.” approved May seventeenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and section seven of an act entitled “An act extending the time for the completion of certain land-grant railroads in the States of Minnesota and Iowa, and for other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and also section five of an act entitled “An act making an additionalVol. 14, p. 88, repealed. grant of lands to the State of Minnesota in alternate sections to aid in the construction of railroads in said State,” approved July fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, so far as said sections are applicable to lands embraced within the indemnity limits of said grants, be, and the same are hereby, repealed; and so much of the provisionsReservation of certain lands, Iowa. of section four of an act approved June second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and entitled “An act to amend an act entitled ‘An act making a grant of lands to the State of Iowa in alternate sectionsVol. 13, p.98, repealed. to aid in the construction of certain railroads in said State,’” approved May fifteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, be, and theVol. 10, p, 9. same are hereby, repealed so far as they require” the Secretary of the Interior’ to reserve any lands but the odd sections within the primary or six miles granted limits of the roads mentioned in said act of June second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, or the act of which the same is amendatory.
Sec. 5. That if it shall be found that any lands heretofore grantedNorthern Pacific Railroad lands, north of “Harrison’s line.” to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and so resumed by the United States and restored to the public domain lie north of the line 498FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 1040. 1890. known as the “Harrison line,” “being a line drawn from Wallula, Washington, easterly to the southeast corner of the northeast one-fourth of the southeast quarter of section twenty-seven, in township seven north, of range thirty-seven east, of the Willamette meridian, all persons who had acquired in good faith the title of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to any portion of said lands prior to July first, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, or who at said date were in Persons in possession, etc., may purchase, without limit of quantity.possession of any portion of said lands or had improved the same, claiming the same under written contract with said company, executed in good faith, or their heirs or assigns, as the case may he, shall be entitled to purchase the lands so acquired, possessed, or improved, from the United States, at any time prior to the Time limit.expiration of one year after it shall be finally determined that such lands are restored to the public domain by the provisions of this act, at Rate.Patents upon proof.the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, and to receive patents therefor upon proof before the” proper land office of the fact of such acquisition, possession, or improvement, and payment therefor, *Proviso*.Confirmation of forfeited rights of way, etc., to Portland, Oregon.without limitation as to quantity: *Provided*, That the rights of way and riparian rights heretofore attempted to be conveyed to the city of Portland, in the State of Oregon, by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and the Central Trust Company of New York, by deed of conveyance dated August eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and which are described as follows:
A strip of land fifty feet in width, being twenty-five feet on each side of the center line of a water-pipe line, as the same is staked out and located, or as it shall be hereafter finally located according to the provisions of an act of the legislative assembly of the State of Oregon approved November twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, providing for the means to supply the city of Portland with an abundance of good, pure, and wholesome water over and across the following described tracts of land:
Sections nineteen and thirty-one in township one south, of range six east; sections twenty-five, thirty-one, thirty-three, and thirty-five, in township one south, of range five east; sections three and five in township two south, of range five east; section one in township two south, of range four east; sections twenty-three, twenty-five, and thirty-five in township one south, of range four east, of the Willamette meridian, in the State of Oregon, forfeited by this act, are hereby confirmed unto the said city of Portland, in the State of Oregon, its successors and assigns forever, with the right to enter on the herein before described strip of land, over and across the above-described sections for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, and repairing a water-pipe line aforesaid.
Sec. 6. That no lands declared forfeited to the United States byDisposition of forfeited lands, etc. this act shall by reason of such forfeiture inure to the benefit of any State or corporation to which lands may have been granted by Congress, except as herein otherwise provided; nor shall this act be construed to enlarge the area of land originally covered by any such grant, or to confer any right upon any State, corporation or person to lands which were excepted from such grant.
Nor shall the moiety of the lands granted to any railroad company on account of a main and a branch line appertaining to uncompleted road, and hereby forfeited, within the conflicting limits of the grants for such main and branch lines, when but one of such lines has been completed, inure by virtue of the forfeiture hereby declared, to the benefit of the completed line. Sec. 7. That in all cases where lands included in a grant of landConfirmation of Gulf and Ship Island, Miss., lands, to cash purchasers, and certain other claimants. to the State of Mississippi, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a railroad from Brandon to the Gulf of Mexico, commonly known as the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad, have heretofore been sold by the officers of the United States for cash, or with the allowance or approval of such officers have been entered in good faith under the preemption or homestead laws, or upon which there were bona FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 1040. 1890.499 fide preemption or homestead claims on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety, arising or asserted by actual occupation of the land under color of the laws of the United States, the right and title of the persons holding or claiming any such lands under such sales or entries are hereby confirmed and persons claiming the right to enter as aforesaid may perfect their entry under the law. And on condition that the Gulf and Ship Island RailroadForfeiture not to apply to certain lands, on condition.
Company within ninety days from the passage of this act shall, by resolution of its board of directors, duly accept the provisions of the same and file with the Secretary of the Interior a valid relinquishment of all said company’s interest, right, title, and claim in and toRelinquishment of title, etc. all such lands as have been sold, entered, or claimed as aforesaid, then the forfeiture declared in the first section of this act shall not apply to or in anywise affect so much and such parts of said grant of lands to the State of Mississippi as lie south of a line drawn east and west through the point where the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad may cross the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad in said State, until one year after the passage of this act.
And there may beLieu lands may be selected, etc. selected and certified to or in behalf of said company lands in lieu of those hereinbefore required to be surrendered to be taken within the indemnity limits of the original grant nearest to and opposite such part of the line as may be constructed at the date of selection. Sec. 8. That the Mobile and Girard Railroad Company, of Alabama,Confirmation of earned lands to Mobile and Girard Railroad Company, Ala. shall be entitled to the quantity of land earned by the construction of its road from Girard to Troy, a distance of eighty-four miles.
And the Secretary of the Interior in making settlement andSettlement and certification. certifying to or for the benefit of the said company the lands earned thereby shall include therein all the lands sold, conveyed or otherwise disposed of by said company not to exceed the total amount earned by said company as aforesaid. And the title of the purchasersTitle of purchasers. to all such lands are hereby confirmed so far as the United States are concerned. But such settlement and certification shall not include any lands upon which there were bona fide preemptors or homestead claimsPreemption and homestead claims. on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety, arising or asserted by actual occupation of the land under color of the laws of the United States.
The right hereby given to the said railroad company is on conditionConfirmation conditioned on acceptance, etc. that it shall within ninety days from the passage of this act, by resolution of its board of directors, duly accept the provisions of the same and file with the Secretary of the Interior a valid relinquishment of all said company’s interest, right, title, and claim in and toRelinquishment of title, etc., to certain, lands. all such lands within the limits of its grant, as have heretofore been sold by the officers of the United States for cash, where the Government still retains the purchase money, or with the allowance or approval of such officers have been entered in good faith under the preemption or homestead laws, or as are claimed under the homestead or preemption laws as aforesaid, and the right and title of the personsConfirmation to certain claimants. holding or claiming any such lands under such sales or entries are hereby confirmed, and all such claims under the preemption or homestead laws may be perfected as provided by law.
Said companyPerfection of claims. to have the right to select other lands, as near as practicable toLieu lands may be selected. constructed road, and within indemnity limits in lieu of the lands so relinquished. And the title of the United States is hereby relinquishedRelinquishment of Government title to certain purchasers of Alabama and Florida, Railroad lands. in favor of all persons holding under any sales by the local land officers, of the lands in the granted limits of the Alabama and Florida Railroad grant, where the United States still retains the purchase money but without liability on the part of the United States.
Approved, September 29, 1890. Chapter 1041: authorizing the placing of the name of James M. Williams upon the retired list of the United States Army, with the rank of captain of cavalry. Chapter 1041 26 Stat. 500 1890-09-29 United States Government Publishing Office text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Digitization Vendor 2026-02-21 51 1 public 500FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Chs. 1041–1044. 1890.
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