Chapter 160. To provide for an enlarged homestead
723 words·~3 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-35/chapter-160-2692271·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 160.— An Act To provide for an enlarged homestead. February 19, 1909.[[S. 6155](/us/bill/70/s/6155).][[Pubic, No. 245.](/us/pl/70/245)] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatl/ves of the United States of America tn Congress assembled*, That any person who is aPublic lands.Enlarged homestead entries of 320 acres permitted.Stats and Territories affected. qualified entryman under the homestead laws of the United States may enter, by legal subdivisions, under the provisions of this Act, in the States of Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, and the Territories of Arizona and New Mexico, three hundred and twenty acres, or less, of nonmineral, nonirrigable, unreserved and unappropriated surveyed public lands which do not contain merchantable timber, located in a reasonably compact body, and not over one and one-half miles in extreme length: *Provided*, That no*Proviso.*Desination of nonirrigable lands. lands shall be subject to entry under the provisions of this Act until such lands shall have been designated by the Secretary of the Interior as not being, in his opinion, susceptible of successful irrigation at a reasonable cost from any known source of water supply.
Sec. 2. That any person applying to enter land under the provisionsApplications, fees, etc. of this Act shall make and subscribe before the proper officer an affidavit as required by section twenty-two hundred and ninety of theR. S., sec. 2290, p. 420. Revised Statutes, and in addition thereto shall make affidavit that the land sought to be entered is of the character described in section one of this Act, and shall pay the fees now required to be paid under the homestead laws.
Sec. 3. That any homestead entryman of lands of the characterAdditions allowed incomplete homestead entries. herein described, upon which final proof has not been made, shall have the right to enter public lands, subject to the provisions of this Act, contiguous to his former entry which shall not, together withLimit, etc. the original entry, exceed three hundred and twenty acres, and residence upon and cultivation of the original entry shall be deemed as residence upon and cultivation of the additional entry.
Sec. 4. That at the time of making final proofs as provided in sectionProof of cultivation required.R. S., sec. 2291, p. 420.Addiional. twenty-two hundred and ninety-one of the Revised Statutes the entry-man under this Act shall, in addition to the proofs and affidavits required under the said section, prove by two credible witnesses that at least one-eighth of the area embraced in his entry was continuously cultivated to agricultural crops other than native grasses beginning with the second year of the entry, and that at least, one-fourth of the area embraced in the entry was so continuously cultivated beginning with the third year of the entry.
Sec. 5. That nothing herein contained shall be held to affect the rightRegular homestead entries not affected. of a qualified entryman to make homestead entry in the States named in section one of this Act under the provisions of section twenty-twoR. S., sec. 2289, p. 419. hundred and eighty-nine of the Revised Statutes, but no person who has made entry under this Act shall be entitled to make homesteadNo commutations. entry under the provisions of said section, and no entry made under this Act shall be commuted. 640 Sec. 6.
That whenever the Secretary of the Interior shall find thatUtah.Land without water for domestic use. any tracts of land, in the State of Utah, subject to entry under this Act, do not have upon them such a sufficient supply of water suitable for domestic purposes as would make continuous residence upon the lands possible, he may, in his discretion, designate such tracts of land, not to exceed in the aggregate two million acres, and thereafter theyResidence not required, if so designated. shall be subject to entry under this Act without the necessity of residence: *Provided*, That in such event the entryman on any such entry*Proviso.*Cultvation required. shall in good faith cultivate not less than one-eighth of the entire area of the entry during the second year, one-fourth during the third year, and one-half during the fourth and fifth years after the date of such entry, and that after entry and until final proof the entryman shall reside within such distance of said land as will enable him successfully to farm the same as required by this section.
Approved, February 19, 1909.