SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That all officers to be appointed by the president of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, for the Territory of Idaho, who, by virtue of the provisions of any law now existing, or which may be enacted by congress, are required to give security for moneys that may be intrusted with them for disbursement, shall give such security at such time and in such manner as the secretary of the treasury may prescribe. SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That all treaties, laws, and other engagements made by the government of the United States with the Indian tribes inhabiting the territory embraced within the provisions of this act, shall be faithfully and rigidly observed, anything contained in this act to the contrary notwithstanding; and that the existing agencies and superintendencies of said Indians be continued with the same powers and duties which are now prescribed by law, except that the president of the United States may, at his discretion, change the location of the offices of said agencies or superintendents. APPROVED, March 3d, 1863. ACT OF CONGRESS CREATING THE OFFICE OF SURVEYOR GENERAL OF THE PUBLIC LANDS IN OREGON. AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE SURVEY, AND TO MAKE DONATIONS TO SETTLERS OF THE SAID PUBLIC LANDS. SEC. 1. A surveyor general to be appointed, his duties and authority. 2. Surveyor general's office to be established where the president shall designate; salary of surveyor general-appropriation for clerk hire and office rent. 3. The secretary of the interior to designate the method of the survey; proviso as to land unfit for cultivation-the cost of the survey not to exceed eight dollars per mile. 4. Donations of 640 and 320 acres to citizens of the United States-no alien to be entitled to the benefit of this act unless his declaration of intention is made the donation to embrace the land occupied-certain contracts to be void-persons claiming under this act not to hold under the treaty of '46. 5. Donation of 320 and 160 acres to citizens of the United States up to 1st Dec. 1853-no person to receive but one patent, and no mineral lands to be located. 6. Notifications to be filed-when, where and how record to be kept; surveyor general to decide all conflicts of boundaries; proviso as to lines running 7. with section lines. Of final proof and the issuing of patents. 8. Upon the death of a claiment his rights to extend to his heirs at law. 10. Two townships of land granted to the territory of Oregon to establish a university. 11. "The Oregon City Claim" granted to the territory, except certain portions thereof. 12. Affidavits of cultivation, &c., to be made before the surveyor general, and to be recorded by him. 13. Questions arising under this act to be decided by the surveyor generalduty of the surveyor general. 14. Land not to be claimed under this act; proviso as to military reservations. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That a surveyor general shall be appointed for the territory of Oregon, who shall have the same authority, perform the same duties respecting the public lands and private land claims in the territory of Oregon, as are vested in and required of the surveyor of lands in the United States northwest of Ohio, except hereinafter provided. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said surveyor general shall establish his office at such place, within the said territory, as the president of the United States, may from time to time direct; he shall be allowed an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars, to be paid quarter yearly, and to commence at such time as he shall enter into bond, with competent security, for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. There shall be, and hereby is appropriated the sum of four thousand dollars, or as much thereof as is necessary for clerk hire in his office: and the further sum of one thousand dollars per annum for office rent, fuel, books, stationery, and other incidental expenses of his office, to be paid out of the appropriation for surveying the public lands, SEC. 3 And be it further enacted, That if, in the opinion of the secretary of the interior it be preferable, the surveys in said territory shall be made after what is known as the geodetic method, under such regulations, and upon such terms, as may be provided by the secretary of the interior, or other department having charge of the surveys of the public lands, and that said geodetic surveys shall be followed by topographical surveys, as congress may, from time to time authorize and direct; but if the present mode of survey be adhered to, then it shall be the duty of said surveyor to cause a base line, and meridian to be surveyed, marked and established, in the usual manner, at or near the mouth of the Wallamet river; and he shall also cause to be surveyed, in townships and sections, in the usual manner, and in accordance with the laws of the United States, which may be in force, the district of country lying between the summit of the Cascade mountains and the Pacific ocean, and south and north of the Columbia river: Provided, however, that none other than township lines shall be run, where the land is deemed unfit for cultivation. That no deputy surveyor shall charge for any line except such as may be actually run and marked, nor for any line not necessary to be run; and that the whole cost of surveying shall not exceed the rate of eight dollars per mile, for every mile and part of mile actually surveyed and marked. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That there shall be and hereby is granted to every white settler or occupant of the public lands, American half-breed Indians included, above the age of eighteen years, being a citizen of the United States, or having made a declaration according to law, of his intention to become a citizen, or who shall make such declaration on or before the first day of December, eighteen hundred and fiftyone, now residing in said territory, or who shall become a resident thereof, on or before the first day of December, eighteen hundred and fifty, and who shall have resided upon and cultivated the same for four consecutive years, and shall otherwise conform to the provisions of this act, the quantity of one-half section, or three hundred and twenty acres of land, if a single man, and if a married man, or if he shall become married within one year from the first day of December, eighteen hundred and fifty, the quantity of one section, or six hundred and forty acres, one-half to himself and the other half to his wife, to be held by her in her own right; and the surveyor general shall designate the part enuring to the husband and that to the wife, and enter the same on the records of his office; and in all cases where such married persons have complied with the provisions of this act, so as to entitle them to the grant as above provided, whether under the late provisional government of Oregon, or since, and either shall have died before patent issues, the survivor and children, or heirs of the deceased shall be entitled to the share or interest of the deceased, in equal proportions, except where the deceased shall otherwise dispose of it by testament duly and properly executed according to the laws of Oregon: Provided, That no alien shall be entitled to a patent to land, granted by this act, until he shall produce to the surveyor general of Oregon, record evidence that his naturalization as a citizen has been completed; but if any alien,. having made his declaration of an intention to become a citizen of the United States, after the passage of this act, shall die before his naturalization shall be completed, the possessory right acquired by him under the provisions of this act, shall descend to his heirs at law, or pass to his devisees, to whom, as the case may be, the patent shall issue: Provided, further, That in all cases provided for in this section, the donation shall embrace the land actually occupied and cultivated by the settler thereon: Provided, further, That all future contracts, by any person or persons entitled to the benefit of this act, for the sale of the land to which he or they may be entitled under this act, before he or they have received a patent therefor, shall be void: Provided, further, However, that this section shall not be so construed as to allow those claiming rights under the treaty with Great Britain, relative to the Oregon territory, to claim both under this grant and the treaty, but merely to secure them the election, and confine them to a single grant of land. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That to all white male citizens of the United States, or persons who shall have made a declaration of intention to become such, above the age of twenty-one years, emigrating to, and settling in said territory, between the first day of December, eighteen hundred and fifty, and the first day of December, eighteen hundred and fiftythree; and to all white male American citizens, not hereinbefore provided for, becoming one and twenty-years of age in said territory, and settling there between the times last aforesaid, who shall in other respects comply with the foregoing section and the provisions of this law, there shall be, and hereby is granted the quantity of one quarter section, or one hundred and sixty acres of land, if a single man; or if married, or if he shall become married within one year from the time of arriving in said territory, or within one year after becoming twenty-one years of age as aforesaid, then the quantity of one half section, or three hundred and twenty acres, one half to the husband, and the other half to the wife in her own right, to be designated by the surveyor general as aforesaid: Provided always, that no person shall ever receive a patent for more than one donation of land in said territory in his or her own right; Provided, that no mineral lands shall be located or granted under the provisions of this act. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That within three months after the survey has been made, or where the survey has been made before the settlement commenced, then within three months from the commencement of such settlement, each of said settlers shall notify the surveyor general, to be appointed under this act, of the precise tract or tracts claimed by them respectfully, under this law, and in all cases it shall be in a compact form; and where it is practicable so to do, the land so claimed shall be taken as nearly as practicable, by legal sub-divisions; but where that cannot be done, it shall be the duty of the said surveyor general to survey aad mark each claim, with the boundaries as claimed, at the request and expense of the claimant; the charge for the same in such case, not to exceed the price paid for surveying public lands. The surveyor general shall enter a description of such claims in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, and note, temporarily on the township plats, the tract or tracts of land so designated, with the boundaries; and whenever a conflict of boundaries shall arise prior to issuing the patent, the same shall be determined by the surveyor general; Provided, that after the first day of December next, all claims shall be bounded by lines |