$ 199. $ 200. $201. § 202. § 203. Proof of Settlement; Assignment of Pre-emption Rights. Declaratory Statement of Settlers on Unsurveyed Lands, when Filed. § 204. Pre-emption Claimants; Time of Making Proof and Payment. § 205. Lands Relinquished by Pre-emptors Subject to Entry at Once. § 206. Party Contesting Pre-emption Entry to be Allowed Thirty Days after Notice of Cancellation to Make Entry. § 207. Publication of Notice of Contest in Pre-emption Cases. § 208. Extension of Time in Certain Cases to Persons in Military and Naval Service. § 209. Death before Consummating Claim; Who to Complete, etc. § 210. Entries of Insane Persons Confirmed in Certain Cases. § 211. Non-compliance with Laws Caused by Vacancy in Office of Register or Receiver not to Affect, etc. § 212. No Pre-emption of Lands Sold but not Confirmed by General Land § 213. § 214. Office. Purchase by Private Entry after Expiration of Pre-emption Right. When More than One Settler, Rights of; Appeals to Commissioner and Secretary of Interior. § 215. Settlements of Two or More Persons on Same Subdivision before Survey. § 216. Settlements before Survey on Sections 16 or 36, Deficiencies thereof. § 217. Selections to Supply Deficiencies of School Lands. § 218. Military Bounty-land Warrants Receivable for Pre-emption Pay ments. § 219. Agricultural-college Scrip Receivable in Payment of Pre-emptions. § 220. Pre-emption Limit along Railroad Lines. § 221. Pre-emption Rights on Lands Reserved for Grants Found Invalid. § 222. Pre-emption Rights on Lands Reserved for Railroads. § 223. Right of Additional Location by Pre-emptors within Limits of Forfeited Railroad Grants. 224. Confirmation of Pre-emption Entries within Railroad Limits Made Prior to Receipt of Notice of Withdrawal at Local Office. § 225. Lands within Railroad Grants Re-entered after Abandonment. Entries Made after Expiration of Land Grants. § 226. § 227. Where Claimant of Entry becomes Register or Receiver. § 228. Right of Transfer of Settlers under Homestead and Pre-emption Laws for Certain Public Purposes. § 229. Public Sales of Land not to be Delayed by Pre-emption Claims. § 192. Lands Subject to Pre-emption.-All lands belonging to the United States, to which the Indian title has been or may hereafter be extinguished, shall be subject to the right of preemption under the conditions, restrictions, and stipulations provided by law. 12 Stat. 413; 18 Id. 18, 334; 19 Id. 35; R. S. 2257. § 193. Lands not Subject to Pre-emption.-The following classes of lands, unless otherwise specially provided for by law, shall not be subject to the rights of pre-emption, to wit: 1. Lands included in any reservation by any treaty, law, or proclamation of the president, for any purpose. 2. Lands included within the limits of any incorporated town, or selected as the site of a city or town. 3. Lands actually settled and occupied for purposes of trade and business, and not for agriculture. 4. Lands on which are situated any known salines or mines. 5 Stat. 455; 19 Id. 221; R. S. 2258. $194. Persons Entitled to Pre-emption.-Every person, being the head of a family, or widow, or single person over the age of twenty-one years, and a citizen of the United States, or having filed a declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, who has made, or hereafter makes, a settlement in person on the public lands subject to preemption, and who inhabits and improves the same, and who has erected or shall erect a dwelling thereon, is authorized to enter with the register of the land office for the district in which such land lies, by legal subdivisions, any number of acres not exceeding one hundred and sixty, or a quarter-section of land, to include the residence of such claimant, upon paying to the United States the minimum price of such land. 5 Stat. 455; 18 Id. 194, 294, 334; 19 Id. 35, 404, 405; R. S. 2259. $195. Persons not Entitled to Pre-emption.-The following classes of persons, unless otherwise specially provided for by law, shall not acquire any right of pre-emption under the provisions of the preceding section, to wit: 1. No person who is the proprietor of three hundred and twenty acres of land in any state or territory. 2. No person who quits or abandons his residence on his own land to reside on the public lands in the same state or territory. 5 Stat. 455; R. S. 2260. § 196. Limitation of Pre-emption Right.—No person shall be entitled to more than one pre-emptive right by virtue of the provisions of section 2259 R. S.; nor where a party has filed his declaration of intention to claim the benefits of such provisions, for one tract of land, shall he file, at any future time, a second declaration for another tract. 5 Stat. 455, 620; R. S. 2261. $197. Oath of Pre-emptionist, where Filed; Penalty.-Before any person claiming the benefit of this chapter is allowed to enter lands, he shall make oath before the receiver or register of the land district in which the land is situated that he has never had the benefit of any right of pre-emption under section 2259 R. S.; that he is not the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in any state or territory; that he has not settled upon and improved such land to sell the same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to his own exclusive use; and that he has not, directly or indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person whatsoever, by which the title which he might acquire from the government of the United States should inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person except himself; and if any person taking such oath swears falsely in the premises, he shall forfeit the money which he may have paid for such land, and all right and title to the same; and any grant or conveyance which he may have made, except in the hands of bona fide purchasers, for a valuable consideration, shall be null and void, except as provided in section 2288 R. S. And it shall be the duty of the officer administering such oath to file a certificate thereof in the public land office of such district, and to transmit a duplicate copy to the general land office, either of which shall be good and sufficient evidence that such oath was administered according to law. The affidavit required by this section may be made before the clerk of the county court or of any court of record, of the county and state, or district and territory, in which the lands are situated; and if the lands are situated in any unorganized county, the affidavit may be made in a similar manner in any adjacent county in said state or territory, and the affidavit so made and duly subscribed shall have the same force and effect as if made before the register or receiver of the proper land district; and the same shall be transmitted by such clerk of the court to the register and receiver, with the fee and charges allowed by law. 5 Stat. 456; Act of June 9, 1880; R. S. 2262. § 198. Notice of Intention to Make Final Proof. That before final proof shall be submitted by any person claiming to enter agricultural lands under the laws providing for pre-emption entries, such person shall file with the register of the proper land office a notice of his or her intention to make such proof, stating therein the description of lands to be entered, and the names of the witnesses by whom the necessary facts will be established. 20 Stat. 472. § 199. Publication of Notice of Entry.-Upon the filing of the notice required by the preceding section the register shall publish a notice, that such application has been made, once a week for the period of thirty days, in a newspaper to be by him designated as published nearest to such land, and he shall also post such notice in some conspicuous place in his office for the same period. Such notice shall contain the names of the witnesses as stated in the application. At the expiration of said period of thirty days the claimant shall be entitled to make proof in the manner provided by law. The secretary of the interior shall make all necessary rules for giving effect to the foregoing provisions. 20 Stat. 472. § 200. Proof of Settlement; Assignment of Pre-emption Rights. Prior to any entries being made under and by virtue of the provisions of section 2259 R. S., proof of the settlement and improvement thereby required shall be made to the satisfaction of the register and receiver of the land district in which such lands lie, agreeably to such rules as may be prescribed by the secretary of the interior; and all assignments and transfers of the right hereby secured, prior to the issuing of the patent, shall be null and void. 5 Stat. 456; R. S. 2263. $201. Claim Filed by Settler on Land not Proclaimed for Sale. Every claimant under the pre-emption law for land not yet proclaimed for sale, is required to make known his claim in writing to the register of the proper land office within three months from the time of the settlement, giving the designation of the tract and the time of settlement; otherwise his claim shall be forfeited and the tract awarded to the next settler, in the order of time, on the same tract of land, who has given such notice and otherwise complied with the conditions of the law. 5 Stat. 620; R. S. 2265. § 202. Statement to be Filed by Settler with Intent to Purchase, on Lands Subject to Private Entry.-When any person settles or improves a tract of land, subject at the time of settlement to private entry, and intends to purchase the same under the preceding provisions of this chapter, he shall, within thirty days after the date of such settlement, file with the register of the proper district a written statement, describing the land settled upon, and declaring his intention to claim the same under the pre-emption laws; and he shall, moreover, within twelve months after the date of such settlement, make the proof, affidavit, and payment herein before required. If he fails to file such written statement, or to make such affidavit, proof, and payment within the several periods named above, the tract of land so settled and improved shall be subject to the entry of any other purchaser. 5 Stat. 457; R. S. 2264. $203. Declaratory Statement of Settlers on Unsurveyed Lands, when Filed.—In regard to settlements which are authorized upon unsurveyed lands, the pre-emption claimant shall be in all cases required to file his declaratory statement within three months from the date of the receipt at the district land office of the approved plat of the township embracing such pre-emption settlement. 12 Stat. 410; R. S. 2266. § 204. Pre-emption Claimants; Time of making Proof and Payment. All claimants of pre-emption rights, under the two preceding sections, shall, when no shorter time is prescribed by law, make the proper proof and payment for the lands claimed within thirty months after the date prescribed therein, respectively, for filing their declaratory notices, has expired. 16 Stat. 279, 604; 18 Id. 52, 81; 19 Id. 55; R. S. 2267. § 205. Lands Relinquished by Pre-emptor Subject to Entry at Once. When a pre-emption claimant shall file a written relinquishment of his claim in the local land office, the land covered by such claim shall be held open to settlement and entry without further action on the part of the commissioner of the general land office. Act of May 14, 1880. |