ALASKA HOMESTEADS

Homestead laws extended to Alaska; locations on navigable waters; entries on unsurveyed lands. Allotments to native Indians, Aleuts, or Eskimos; conveyance of allotted land.

Same; allotments in national forests.

Same; proof of continuous use and occupancy of land.

Affidavits; filing, publishing, and posting proofs of claims.

Filing of notice of location; time limit.

Same; effect of failure to file.

Final or commutation homestead proof on unsurveyed land as basis for free survey; time limit.

Amount of homestead entries.

Effect of entry in another State or Territory. Entry on unsurveyed lands; final proof. 270-11. Entry on land containing coal, oil, or gas. 270-12. Patent for land entered under section 270-11;

270-13.

270-14. 270-15.

270-16. Soldier's additional entry; trade or manufacturing site; application for official deposit.

270-17. Same; disposition of deposit; rules.

271. 272.

233.

234.

Persons receiving treatment for wounds. Destruction or failure of crops, sickness, or unavoidable casualty.

235.

Destruction or injury to crops by grasshoppers.

236 to 237c. Omitted.

survey:

SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' HOMESTEAD Soldiers and sailors entitled to make entry generally. Deduction of military and naval service from time required to perfect title; rights of widows and children of veterans.

272a. Application of sections 271 and 272 to military and naval service in Mexican border operations or in World War I.

Veterans receiving compensation for wounds or disability.

Additional entry by veteran.

273.

237d. Cultivation requirement restricted. 237e. Absence due to economic conditions in 1936. 2371. Absence during 1956 to 1959 due to economic conditions; protection of entryman's rights; filing of notice of intention and grant to United States.

274.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

§ 161. Entry of unappropriated public lands.

Every person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who has filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, shall be entitled to enter one-quarter section, or a less quantity, of unappropriated public lands, to be located in a body in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands; but no person who is the proprietor of more than one hundred and sixty acres of land in any State or Territory, shall acquire any right under the homestead law. And every person owning and residing on land may, under the provisions of this section, enter other land lying contiguous to his land, which shall not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres. (R. S. § 2289; Mar. 3, 1891, ch. 561, § 5, 26 Stat. 1097.)

DERIVATION

Acts May 20, 1862, ch. 75, § 1, 12 Stat. 392; Feb. 11, 1874, ch. 25, 18 Stat. 15; Mar. 13, 1874, ch. 55, 18 Stat. 22; June 22, 1874, ch. 400, 18 Stat. 194; Feb. 23, 1875, ch. 99, 18 Stat. 334; Mar. 3, 1875, ch. 131, §§ 15, 16, 18 Stat. 420; Apr. 21, 1875, ch. 72, 19 Stat. 35; Mar. 3, 1877, ch. 127, 19 Stat. 405.

Said preemption laws, were repealed by section 4 of act Mar. 3, 1891.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 162, 173, 184, 191, 201, 211, 218, 219, 255, 271, 451a, 1197 of this title.

§ 162. Application for entry; affidavit.

Any person applying to enter land under section 161 of this title shall first make and subscribe before the proper officer and file in the proper land office an affidavit that he or she is the head of a family, or is over twenty-one years of age, and that such application is honestly and in good faith made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not for the benefit of any other person, persons, or corporation, and that he or she will faithfully and honestly endeavor to comply with all the require

ments of law as to settlement, residence, and cultivation necessary to acquire title to the land applied for; that he or she is not acting as agent of any person, corporation, or syndicate in making such entry, nor in collusion with any person, corporation, or syndicate to give them the benefit of the land entered, or any part thereof, or the timber thereon; that he or she does not apply to enter the same for the purpose of speculation, but in good faith to obtain a home for himself, or herself, and that he or she has not directly or indirectly made, and will not make, any agreement or contract in any way or manner, with any person or persons, corporation, or syndicate whatsoever, by which the title which he or she might acquire from the Government of the United States should inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person, except himself, or herself, and upon filing such affidavit with the officer designated by the Secretary of the Interior on payment of $5 when the entry is of not more than eighty acres, and on payment of $10 when the entry is for more than eighty acres, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the amount of land specified. (R. S. § 2290; Mar. 3, 1891, ch. 561, § 5, 26 Stat. 1097; Oct. 28, 1921, ch. 114, § 1, 42 Stat. 208; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 462, 43 Stat. 1145; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F. R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.)

DERIVATION

Acts May 20, 1862, ch. 75, § 2, 12 Stat. 392; Mar. 21, 1864, ch. 38, § 2, 13 Stat. 35; June 21. 1866, ch. 127, § 2. 14 Stat. 67; June 22, 1874, ch. 394, 18 Stat. 192; Mar. 3, 1875, ch. 131, §§ 15, 16, 18 Stat. 420.

TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS

Words "officer designated by the Secretary of the Interior" were substituted for "register" by 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3. See note under former section 1 of this title.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 169, 173, 184, 191, 201, 211, 218, 219, 255, 271, 1197 of this title.

§ 163. Record of applications; returns to Bureau of Land Management.

The officer of the land office designated by the Secretary of the Interior shall note all applications under the provisions of this chapter, on the tract books and plats of his office, and keep a register of all such entries, and make return thereof to the Bureau of Land Management, together with the proof upon which they have been founded. (R. S. § 2295; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F. R. 7876, 70 Stat. 1100.)

DERIVATION

Act May 20, 1862, ch. 75, § 3, 12 Stat. 393.

TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS

Words "officer of the land office designated by the Secretary of the Interior" were substituted for "register of the land office" and "Bureau of Land Management" for "General Land Office" by section 403 of 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3. See note under former section 1 of this title.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 173, 184, 191, 201, 211, 255, 271 of this title.

§ 164. Certificate or patent; issuance.

No certificate shall be given or patent issued therefor until the expiration of three years from the date of such entry; and if at the expiration of such time,

or at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry, or if he be dead his widow, or in case of her death his heirs or devisee, or in case of a widow making such entry her heirs or devisee, in case of her death, proves by himself and by two credible witnesses that he, she, or they have a habitable house upon the land and have actually resided upon and cultivated the same for the term of three years succeeding the time of filing the affidavit and makes affidavit that no part of such land has been alienated, except as provided in section 174 of this title, and that he, she, or they will bear true allegiance to the Government of the United States, then in such case he, she, or they, if at that time citizens of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided by law: Provided, That upon filing in the local land office notice of the beginning of such absence the entryman shall be entitled to a continuous leave of absence from the land for a period not exceeding five months in each year after establishing residence, and upon the termination of such absence the entryman shall file a notice of such termination in the local land office, but in case of commutation the fourteen months' actual residence required by law must be shown, and the person commuting must be at the time a citizen of the United States: Provided further, That when the person making entry dies before the offer of final proof those succeeding to the entry must show that the entryman had complied with the law in all respects to the date of his death, and that they have since complied with the law in all respects, as would have been required of the entryman had he lived, excepting that they are relieved from any requirement of residence upon the land: Provided further, That the entryman shall, in order to comply with the requirements of cultivation herein provided for, cultivate not less than one-sixteenth of the area of his entry, beginning with the second year of the entry, and not less than oneeighth, beginning with the third year of the entry and until final proof, except that in the case of entries under section 218 (f) of this title, double the area of cultivation herein provided shall be required, but the Secretary of the Interior may, upon a satisfactory showing, under rules and regulations prescribed by him, reduce the required area of cultivation: And provided further, That the above provision as to cultivation shall not apply to entries under section 224 of this title, commonly known as the Kinkaid Act, or entries under sections 372, 373, 381, 383, 391, 392, 411, 416, 419, 421, 431, 432, 434, 439, 461, 491, and 498 of this title, commonly known as the reclamation law, and that the provisions of this section relative to the homestead period shall apply to all unperfected entries as well as entries hereafter made upon which residence is required. (R. S. § 2291; June 6, 1912, ch. 153, 37 Stat. 123.)

DERIVATION

Acts June 21, 1866, ch. 127, § 2, 14 Stat. 67; June 18, 1874, ch. 308, 18 Stat. 81.

REFERENCES IN TEXT

Section 381 of this title, referred to in the text, was repealed by Pub. L. 89-554, § 8(a), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 649.

CROSS REFERENCES

Commuter required to prove 14 months' actual residence and that he is a United States citizen, see section 231 of this title.

Leave of absence of five months in each year to be allowed entryman in one or two continuous periods, see section 231 of this title.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 169, 170, 173, 184, 191, 201, 211, 218, 219, 231, 255, 256, 270, 271, 1131 of this title.

§ 165. Suspension of entries for correction of clerical errors; patents.

CODIFICATION

Section, act Mar. 3, 1891, ch. 561, § 7, 26 Stat. 1098, is now set out as section 1165 of this title.

§ 166. Time for settlers to file application and to perfect entry; marriage of entrywoman; preferential right of entry.

Any settler who has settled, or who shall hereafter settle, on any of the public lands of the United States, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, with the intention of claiming the same under the homestead laws, shall be allowed the same time to file his homestead application and perfect his original entry in the United States Land Office as allowed on May 14, 1880, to settlers under the then existing preemption laws to put their claims on record, and his right shall relate back to the date of settlement, the same as if he settled under such preemption laws.

Where an unmarried woman who has heretofore settled, or may hereafter settle, upon a tract of public land, improved, established, and maintained a bona fide residence thereon, with the intention of appropriating the same for a home, subject to the homestead law, and has married, or shall thereafter marry, before making entry of said land, or before making application to enter said land, she shall not on account of her marriage forfeit her right to make entry and receive patent for the land: Provided, That she does not abandon her residence on said land, and is otherwise qualified to make homestead entry: Provided further, That the man whom she marries is not, at the time of their marriage, claiming a separate tract of land under the homestead law: Provided further, That any settler upon lands designated by the Secretary of the Interior as subject to the provisions of subsections (a)-(e), of section 218 of this title and subsections (a)-(e), of section 219 of this title, shall be entitled to the preference right of entry accorded by this section, provided he shall have plainly marked the exterior boundaries of the lands claimed as his homestead: And provided further, That after the designation by the Secretary of the Interior of public lands for entry under the nonresidence provisions of the Enlarged Homestead Acts, sections 218 and 219 of this title, any person who shall have plainly marked the exterior boundaries of the lands claimed under said provisions of law and made valuable improvements thereon shall have a preference right to enter the lands so claimed and improved at any time within three months after the date on which such lands become subject to entry; but such right shall forfeit unless the settler or claimant under the provisions of the Enlarged Homestead Acts shall annually cultivate and improve the lands in the form and manner and to the

extent therein required following date of initiation of his claim hereunder. (May 14, 1880, ch. 89, § 3, 21 Stat. 141; June 6, 1900, ch. 821, 31 Stat. 683; Aug. 9, 1912, ch. 280, 37 Stat. 267.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

The Enlarged Homestead Acts, referred to in the text, are classified to sections 218, 219, and 291-301 of this title.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in section 223 of this title. § 167. Marriage of entryman to entrywoman.

The marriage of a homestead entryman to a homestead entrywoman after each shall have fulfilled the requirements of the homestead law for one year next preceding such marriage shall not impair the right of either to a patent, but the husband shall elect, under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, on which of the two entries the home shall thereafter be made, and residence thereon by the husband and wife shall constitute a compliance with the residence requirements upon each entry: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall apply to entries existing on April 6, 1914: Provided further, That in the administration of this section the terms "entryman" and "entrywoman" shall be construed to include bona fide settlers who have complied with the homestead law for at least one year next preceding such marriage. (Apr. 6, 1914, ch. 51, 38 Stat. 312; Mar. 1, 1921, ch. 90, 41 Stat. 1193.)

§ 168. Marriage of entrywoman to alien.

Any female citizen of the United States who has initiated a claim to a tract of public land under any of the laws applicable thereto, and who thereafter has complied with all the conditions as to the acquisition of title to such land prescribed by the public land laws of the United States, shall, notwithstanding her intermarriage with an alien, who is entitled to become a citizen of the United States, be entitled to a certificate or patent to such entry equally as though she had remained unmarried or had married an American citizen. (Oct. 17, 1914, ch. 325, 38 Stat. 740.)

§ 169. Failure to establish residence; reversion to Government.

If, at any time after the filing of the affidavit as required in section 162 of this title and before the expiration of the three years mentioned in section 164 of this title, it is proved, after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate that the person having filed such affidavit has failed to establish residence within six months after the date of entry, or abandoned the land for more than six months at any time, then, and in that event, the land so entered shall revert to the Government: Provided, That the three years' period of residence herein fixed shall date from the time of establishing actual permanent residence upon the land: And provided further, That where there may be climatic reasons, sickness, or other unavoidable cause, the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate may, in his discretion, allow the settler twelve months from the date of filing in which to

commence his residence on said land under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe. (R. S. § 2297; Mar. 3, 1881, ch. 153, 21 Stat. 511; June 6, 1912, ch. 153, 37 Stat. 124; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F. R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.) DERIVATION

Acts May 20, 1862, ch. 75, § 5, 12 Stat 393; Dec. 28, 1874, ch. 10, 18 Stat. 294; Apr. 21, 1876, ch. 72, 19 Stat. 36.

TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS

All functions of all other officers of the Department of the Interior and all functions of all agencies and employees of that Department were, with two exceptions, transferred to the Secretary of the Interior, with power vested in him to authorize their performance or the performance of any of his functions by any of those officers, agencies, and employees, by 1950 Reorg. Plan No. 3, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

"Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate" was substituted for "register of the land office" and for "Commissioner of the General Land Office" by section 403 of 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3. See note under former section 1 of this title.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS This section is referred to in sections 173, 184, 191, 201, 211, 255, 256, 271 of this title.

§ 170. Rights of wife abandoned by husband.

In any case in which persons have regularly initiated claims to public lands as settlers thereon under the provisions of the homestead laws and the wife of such homestead settler or entryman, while residing upon the homestead claim and prior to submission of final proof of residence, cultivation, and improvement as prescribed by law, has been abandoned and deserted by her husband for a period of more than one year, the deserted wife shall, upon establishing the fact of such abandonment or desertion to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior, be entitled to submit proof upon such claim and obtain patent therefor in her name in the form, manner, and subject to the conditions prescribed in section 164 of this title: Provided, That in such cases the wife shall be required to show residence upon, cultivation, and improvement of the homestead by herself for such time as when, added to the time during which her husband prior to desertion had complied with the law, would aggregate the full amount of residence, improvement, and cultivation required by law: And provided further, That the published and posted notices of intention to submit final proof in such cases shall recite the fact that the proof is to be offered and patent sought by applicant as a deserted wife, and, prior to its submission, notice thereof shall be served upon the husband of the applicant in such a manner and under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe. (Oct. 22, 1914, ch. 335, 38 Stat. 766.)

§ 171. Rights inuring to infant children.

In case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child or children under twentyone years of age, the right and fee shall inure to the benefit of such infant child or children; and the executor, administrator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of

the State in which such children, for the time being. have their domicile, sell the land for the benefit of such infants, but for no other purpose, and the purchaser shall acquire the absolute titie by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United States on the payment of the office fees and the sum of money above specified. (R. S. §§ 2289, 2292.)

DERIVATION

R. S. § 2289 from acts May 20, 1862, ch. 75, § 1, 12 Stat. 392; Feb. 11, 1874, ch. 25, 18 Stat. 15; Mar. 13, 1874, ch. 55, 18 Stat. 22; June 22, 1874, ch. 400, 18 Stat. 194; Feb. 23, 1875, ch. 99, 18 Stat. 334; Mar. 3, 1875, ch. 131, §§ 15, 16, 18 Stat. 420; Apr. 21, 1875, ch. 72, 19 Stat. 35; Mar. 3, 1877, ch. 127, 19 Stat. 405.

R. S. § 2292 from act June 21, 1866, ch. 127, § 2, 14 Stat. 67.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 173, 184, 191, 201, 211, 255, 270, 271, 1131 of this title.

§ 172. Insanity of settlers.

In all cases in which parties who regularly initiated claims to public lands as settlers thereon according to the provisions of the preemption or homestead laws, became insane, prior to June 8, 1880, or shall have thereafter become insane before the expiration of the time during which their residence, cultivation, or improvement of the land claimed by them is required by law to be continued in order to entitle them to make the proper proof and perfect their claims, it shall be lawful for the required proof and payment to be made for their benefit by any person who may be legally authorized to act for them during their disability, and thereupon their claims shall be confirmed and patented, provided it shall be shown by proof satisfactory to the Secretary of the Interior, or such officer as he may designate, that the parties complied in good faith with the legal requirements up to the time of their becoming insane, and the requirement in homestead entries of an affidavit of allegiance by the applicant in certain cases as a prerequisite to the issuing of the patents shall be dispensed with so far as regards such insane parties. (June 8, 1880, ch. 136, 21 Stat. 166; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F. R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.)

TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS

All functions of all other officers of the Department of the Interior and all functions of all agencies and employees of that Department were, with two exceptions, transferred to the Secretary of the Interior, with power vested in him to authorize their performance or the performance of any of his functions by any of those officers, agencies, and employees, by 1950 Reorg. Plan No. 3, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

"Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate" was substituted for "Commissioner of the General Land Office" by section 403 of 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3. See note under former section 1 of this title.

§ 173. Commutation after 14 months.

All commutations of homestead entries shall be allowed after the expiration of fourteen months from date of settlement. Nothing in sections 161 to 164, 169, 171, 173, 175, 183, 184, 191, 201, 211, 239, 254, 255, 271, 272, 274, 277 and 278 of this title shall be so construed as to prevent any person who shall avail himself of the benefits of section 161 of this title from paying the minimum price for the

quantity of land so entered at any time after the expiration of fourteen calendar months from the date of such entry, and obtaining a patent therefor, upon making proof of settlement and of residence and cultivation for such period of fourteen months. (R. S. § 2301; Mar. 3, 1891, ch. 561, § 6, 26 Stat. 1098; June 3, 1896, ch. 312, § 2, 29 Stat. 197.)

DERIVATION

Act May 20, 1862, ch. 75, § 8, 12 Stat. 393.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS This section is referred to in sections 180, 184, 187a, 189, 191, 201, 211, 217, 255, 271, 1091 of this title.

§ 174. Right to transfer claim.

Any bona fide settler under the preemption, the homestead, or other settlement law shall have the right to transfer, by warranty against his own acts, any portion of his claim for church, cemetery, or school purposes, or for the right-of-way of railroads, telegraph, telephones, canals, reservoirs, or ditches, for irrigation or drainage across it; and the transfer for such public purposes shall in no way vitiate the right to complete and perfect the title to his claim. (R. S. § 2288; Mar. 3, 1891, ch. 561, §§ 3, 4, 26 Stat. 1097; Mar. 3, 1905, ch. 1424, 33 Stat. 991.) DERIVATION

Act Mar. 3, 1873, ch. 266, 17 Stat. 602.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS This section is referred to in sections 164, 255 of this title.

§ 175. Exemption from execution of homestead land. No lands acquired under the provisions of the homestead laws and laws supplemental and amendatory thereof shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing of the patent therefor. (R. S. § 2296; Apr. 28, 1922, ch. 155, 42 Stat. 502.)

DERIVATION

Act May 20, 1862, ch. 75, § 4, 12 Stat. 393.

FEDERAL RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE Execution, see Rule 69, Title 28, Appendix, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Continuation of section under Rule 69, see note by Advisory Committee under that rule.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS This section is referred to in sections 173, 184, 191, 201, 211, 255, 271 of this title.

§ 176. Commissioners.

CODIFICATION

Section, act Mar. 2, 1895, ch. 174, §§ 1-3, 28 Stat. 744, provided for appointment of court commissioners for certain Territories, which have since become States.

§ 177. Patents for lands in New Mexico held under color of title.

Whenever it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that a tract or tracts of public land, not known to be mineral, in the State of New Mexico, not exceeding in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres, has or have been held in good faith and in peaceful, adverse possession by a citizen of the United States, his ancestors or grantors, for more than twenty years under claim or color of title, and that valuable improvements have been placed on such land, or some part