Production of records, etc., in court.

Competence, etc., of

SEC. 4. That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the United States, the surveyors-general of such Territories and States, or the keeper of any public records who may have possession of any records and papers relating to any land grants or claims for land within said States and Territories in relation to which any petition shall be brought under this act, on the application of any person interested, or by the attorney of the United States, to safely transmit such records and papers to said court or to attend in person or by deputy any session thereof when required by said court, and produce such records and papers.

SEC. 5. That the testimony which has been heretofore lawfully evidence as to claims. and regularly received by the surveyor-general of the proper Territory or State or by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, upon any claims presented to them, respectively, shall be admitted in evidence in all trials under this act when the person testifying is dead, so far as the subject matter thereof is competent evidence; and the court shall give it such weight as, in its judgment, under all the circumstances, it ought to have.

Claimants under certain unconfirmed

court in Territory where court is sitting.

etc., where land is and

SEC. 6. That it shall and may be lawful for any person or persons grants may petition or corporation, or their legal representatives, claiming lands within the limits of the territory derived by the United States from the Republic of Mexico and now embraced within the Territories of New Mexico, Arizona, or Utah, or within the States of Nevada, Colorado, or Wyoming by virtue of any such Spanish or Mexican grant, concession, warrant, or survey as the United States are bound to recognize and confirm by virtue of the treaties of cession of said country by Mexico to the United States which at the date of the passage of this act have not been confirmed by act of Congress, or otherwise finally decided upon by lawful authority, and which are not already complete and perfect, in every such case to present a petition, in writing, to the said court in the State or Territory where Institution of cases said land is situated and where the said court holds its sessions, but cases arising in the States and Territories in which the court does not hold regular sessions may be instituted at such place as may be designated by the rules of the court.

otherwise.

Form, etc., of petition.

Jurisdiction, etc.

Procedure.

The petition shall set forth fully the nature of their claims to the lands, and particularly state the date and form of the grant, concession, warrant, or order of survey under which they claim, by whom made, the name or names of any person or persons in possession of or claiming the same, or any part thereof, otherwise than by the lease or permission of the petitioner; and also the quantity of land claimed and the boundaries thereof, where situate, with a map showing the same, as near as may be, and whether the said claim has heretofore been confirmed, considered, or acted upon by Congress or the authorities of the United States, or been heretofore submitted to any authorities constituted by law for the adjustment of land titles within the limits of the said territory so acquired, and by them reported on unfavorably or recommended for confirmation, or authorized to be surveyed or not; and pray in such petition that the validity of such title or claim may be inquired into and decided.

And the said court is hereby authorized and required to take and exercise jurisdiction of all cases or claims presented by petition in conformity with the provisions of this act, and to hear and determine the same, as in this act provided, on the petition and proofs in case no answer or answers be filed after due notice, or on the petition and the answer or answers of any person or persons interested in preventing any claim from being established, and the answer of the attorney for the United States where he may have filed an answer, and such Service of copy of testimony and proofs as may be taken; and a copy of such petition, petition and citation. with a citation to any adverse possessor or claimant, shall, immediately after the filing of the same, be served on such possessor or claimant in the ordinary legal manner of serving such process in the

proper State or Territory, and in like manner on the attorney for the United States; and it shall be the duty of the attorney for the United States, as also any adverse possessor or claimant, after service of petition and citation as herein before provided, within thirty days, unless further time shall, for good cause shown, be granted by the court, or a judge thereof, to enter an appearance, and plead, answer, or demur to said petition; and in default of such plea, answer, or demurrer being made within said thirty days, or within the further time which may have been granted as aforesaid, the court shall proceed to hear the cause on the petition and proofs, and render a final decree according to the provisions of this act, and in no case shall a decree be entered otherwise than upon full legal proof and hearing; and in every case the court shall require the petition to be sustained by satisfactory proofs, whether an answer or plea shall have been filed or not.

Appearance, answer, and adverse possessor.

etc., of United States

Default.

Hearing on petition and proofs. Final decree.

SEC. 7. That all proceedings subsequent to the filing of said peti- Proceedings after tion shall be conducted as near as may be according to the practice petition. of the courts of equity of the United States, except that the answer of the attorney of the United States shall not be required to be verified by his oath, and except that, as far as practicable, testimony shall be taken in court or before one of the justices thereof. The said court shall have full power and authority to hear and determine all questions arising in cases before it relative to the title to the land judication. the subject of such case, the extent, location, and boundaries thereof, and other matters connected therewith fit and proper to be heard and

Powers, etc., of ad

determined, and by a final decree to settle and determine the question Scope of final deof the validity of the title and the boundaries of the grant or claim cree.

presented for adjudication, according to the law of nations, the stipulations of the treaty concluded between the United States and the

Republic of Mexico at the city of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, on the second Vol. 9, p. 922. | day of February, in the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and fortyeight, or the treaty concluded between the same powers at the city

Every decree must include certain refer

of Mexico, on the thirtieth day of December, in the year of our Lord, Vol. 10, p, 1031. eighteen hundred and fifty-three, and the laws and ordinances of the Government from which it is alleged to have been derived, and all other questions properly arising between the claimants or other parties in the case and the United States, which decree shall in all cases refer to the treaty, law, or ordinance under which such claim ences and specificais confirmed or rejected; and in confirming any such claim, in whole tions. or in part, the court shall in its decree specify plainly the location, boundaries, and area of the land the claim to which is so confirmed. SEC. 8. That any person or corporation claiming lands in any of the States or Territories mentioned in this act under a title derived from the Spanish or Mexican Government that was complete and perfect at the date when the United States acquired sovereignty therein, shall have the right (but shall not be bound) to apply to said court in the manner in this act provided for other cases for a confirmation of such title; and on such application said court shall proceed to hear, try, and determine the validity of the same and the right of the claimant thereto, its extent, location and boundaries, in the same manner and with the same powers as in other cases in this act mentioned.

Certain other claimants claiming under apply for confirma

completed title may

Procedure.

Confirmation of per

If in any such case, a title so claimed to be perfect shall be established and confirmed, such confirmation shall be for so much fect title, limited. land only as such perfect title shall be found to cover, always excepting any part of such land that shall have been disposed of by Exception. the United States, and always subject to and not to affect any conflicting private interests, rights, or claims held or claimed adversely Adverse claims, etc., to any such claim or title, or adversely to the holder of any such not affected. claim or title. And no confirmation of claims or titles in this sec- Effect of confirmation mentioned shall have any effect other or further than as a re- tion. Private rights not lease of all claim of title by the United States; and no private right affected.

Proceedings by the United States against certain claimants,

of any person as between himself and other claimants or persons, in respect of any such lands, shall be in any manner affected thereby. It shall be lawful for and the duty of the head of the Department of Justice, whenever in his opinion the public interest or the rights etc., to settle title, etc. of any claimant shall require it, to cause the attorney of the United States in said court to file in said court a petition against the holder or possessor of any claim or land in any of the States or Territories mentioned in this act who shall not have voluntarily come in under the provisions of this act, stating in substance that the title of such holder or possessor is open to question, or stating in substance that the boundaries of any such land, the claimant or possessor to or of which has not brought the matter into court, are open to question, and praying that the title to any such land, or the boundaries thereof, if the title be admitted, be settled and adjudicated; and thereupon the court shall, on such notice to such claimant or possessor as it shall deem reasonable, proceed to hear, try, and determine the questions stated in such petition or arising in the matter, and determine the matter according to law, justice, and the provisions of this act, but subject to all lawful rights adverse to such claimant or possessor, as between such claimant and possessor and any other claimant or possessor, and subject in this respect to all the provisions of this section applicable thereto.

Notice.

Hearing, etc.

Determination subject to adverse rights,

etc.

Appeal.

SEC. 9. That the party against whom the court shall in any case decide the United States, in case of the confirmation of a claim in whole or in part, and the claimant, in case of the rejection of a claim, in whole or in part-shall have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, such appeal to be taken within six months from date of such decision, and in all respects to be taken. in the same manner and upon the same conditions, except in respect of the amount in controversy, as is now provided by law for the taking of appeals from decisions of the circuit courts of the United Retrial by Supreme States. On any such appeal the Supreme Court shall retry the cause, as well the issues of fact as of law, and may cause testimony to be taken in addition to that given in the court below, and may amend the record of the proceedings below as truth and justice may require; and on such retrial and hearing every question shall be open, and the decision of the Supreme Court thereon shall be final and conclusive. Should no appeal be taken as aforesaid the decree of the court below shall be final and conclusive.

Court on appeal.

Final decree.

Attorney-General to be notified by attor

tion.

States.

Upon the rendition of any judgment of the court confirming any ney of United States of claim, it shall be the duty of the attorney of the United States to judgment of confirma- notify the Attorney-General, in writing of such judgment, giving him a clear statement of the case and the points decided by the court, which statement shall be verified by the certificate of the presiding Appeal by United judge of said court; and in any case in which such statement shall not be received by the Attorney-General within sixty days next after the rendition of such judgment, the right of appeal on the part of the United States shall continue to exist until six months next after the receipt of such statement. And if the Attorney-General shall so ord to Attorney-Gen- direct, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the court to transmit the record of any cause in which final judgment has been rendered to the Attorney-General for his examination. In all cases it shall be the duty of the Attorney-General to instruct the attorney for the Instructions to U.S. United States what further course to pursue and whether or not an appeal shall be taken.

Transmission of rec

eral.

attorney.

Certification of final

tion to commissioner

SEC. 10. That whenever any decision of confirmation shall become decree of confirma- final, the clerk of the court in which the final decision shall be had of General Land Office shall certify that fact to the Commissioner of the General Land by clerk of decreeing Office, with a copy of the decree of confirmation, which shall plainly state the location, boundaries, and area of the tract confirmed. The Survey of confirmed said Commissioner shall thereupon without delay cause the tract so confirmed to be surveyed at the cost of the United States. When

court.

tract.

tion, in Spanish and

any such survey shall have been made and returned to the surveyorgeneral of the respective Territory or State, and the plat thereof completed, the surveyor-general shall give notice that same has been Notice by publicadone, by publication once a week, for four consecutive weeks in two English, of completed newspapers, one published at the capital of the Territory or State survey. and the other (if any such there be) published near the land so surveyed, such notices to be published in both the Spanish and English languages; and the surveyor-general shall retain such survey and Survey to be open plat in his office for public inspection for the full period of ninety for ninety days. days from the date of the first publication of notice in the newspaper published at the capital of the Territory or State.

to public inspection

Land Office.

vey to be forwarded

Commissioner of General Land Office

decision.

Approval by court.

Correction.

Issue of patent to confirmee.

If, at the expiration of such period, no objection to such survey Approval and forshall have been filed with him, he shall approve the same and for- warding to General ward it to the Commissioner of the General Land Office. If, within the said period of ninety days, objections are made to such survey, If objected to, sureither by any party claiming an interest in the confirmation or by any with objections, party claiming an interest in the tract embraced in the survey or any proofs, and report. part thereof, such objection shall be reduced to writing, stating distinctly the interest of the objector and the grounds of his objection, and signed by him or his attorney, and filed with the surveyor-general, with such affidavits or other proofs as he may produce in support of his objection. At the expiration of the said ninety days the surveyor-general shall forward such survey, with the objections and proofs filed in support of or in opposition to such objections, and his report thereon, to the Commissioner of the General Land Office. Immediately upon receipt of any such survey, with or without objections thereto, the said Commissioner shall transmit the same, General La survey, with all accompanying papers, to the court in which the final decision etc., to court of final was made for its examination of the survey and of any objections and proofs that may have been filed, or shall be furnished; and the said court shall thereupon determine if the said survey is in substantial accordance with the decree of confirmation. If found to be correct, the court shall direct its clerk to indorse upon the face of the plat its approval. If found to be incorrect, the court shall return the same for correction in such particulars as it shall direct. When any survey is finally approved by the court, it shall be returned to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, who shall as soon as may be cause a patent to be issued thereon to the confirmee. One half of the necessary expenses of making the survey and plat provided for in this section, and in respect of which a patent shall be expenses to be paid by ordered to be issued, shall be paid by the claimant or patentee, and shall be a lien on said land, which may be enforced by the sale of so much thereof as may be necessary for that purpose, after a default land. of payment thereof for six months next after the approval of such survey and plat; and no patent shall issue until such payment. SEC. 11. That the provisions of this act shall extend to any city Scope of act as to lot, town lot, village lot, farm lot, or pasture lot claimed directly or mediately under any grant which may be entitled to confirmation by the United States, for the establishment of a city, town, or village, by the Spanish or Mexican Government, or the lawful authorities thereof; but the claim for said city, town, or village shall be presented by the corporate authorities of the said city, town, or village; or where the land upon which said city, town, or village is situated was originally granted to an individual the claim shall be presented by or in the name of said individual or his legal representatives. SEC. 12. That all claims mentioned in section six of this act which Neglect to file petition, in two years, a are by the provisions of this act authorized to be prosecuted shall, at bar. the end of two years from the taking effect of this act, if no petition in respect to the same shall have then been filed as hereinbefore provided, be deemed and taken, in all courts and elsewhere, to be abandoned and shall be forever barred: Provided, That in any case where it shall come to the knowledge of the court that minors, married

One half of survey

claimant.

Enforcement, lien on

claims.

Legal claimants and representatives.

Proviso.

utory motions, in vacation.

women, or persons non compos mentis are interested in any land claim or matter brought before the court it shall be its duty to apGuardian ad litem, point a guardian ad litem for such persons under disability and reetc., where disability. quire a petition to be filed in their behalf, as in other cases, and if necessary to appoint counsel for the protection of their rights. The judges, respectively, of said court are hereby authorized in all cases Orders and interloc- arising under this act to grant in vacation all orders for taking testimony, and otherwise to hear and dispose of interlocutory motions not affecting the substantial merits of a case. And said court shall have and possess all the powers of a circuit court of the United States in Production of pa preserving order, compelling the production of books, papers, and documents, the attendance of witnesses, and in punishing contempts. SEC. 13. That all the foregoing proceedings and rights shall be conducted and decided subject to the following provisions as well as to the other provisions of this act, namely:

Powers of court.

pers, etc.

Contempts.

Limitations.

No claim allowed,

and regularly derived,

etc.

First. No claim shall be allowed that shall not appear to be upon unless title lawfully a title lawfully and regularly derived from the Government of Spain or Mexico, or from any of the States of the Republic of Mexico having lawful authority to make grants of land, and one that if not then complete and perfect at the date of the acquisition of the territory by the United States, the claimant would have had a lawful right to make perfect had the territory not been acquired by the United States, and that the United States are bound, upon the principles of public law, or by the provisions of the treaty of cession, to respect and permit to become complete and perfect if the same was not at said date already complete and perfect.

No claim

allowed

Second. No claim shall be allowed that shall interfere with or interfering with In- overthrow any just and unextinguished Indian title or right to any land or place.

dian title, etc.

No confirmation to

mines or minerals. Exceptions.

Third. No allowance or confirmation of any claim shall confer any confer title, etc., to right or title to any gold, silver, or quicksilver mines or minerals of the same, unless the grant claimed effected the donation or sale of such mines or minerals to the grantee, or unless such grantee has become otherwise entitled thereto in law or in equity; but all such mines and ninerals shall remain the property of the United States, with the right of working the same, which fact shall be stated in all patents issued under this act. But no such mine shall be worked on any property confirmed under this act without the consent of the owner of such property until specially authorized thereto by an act of Congress hereafter passed.

Mines and minerals, thit property of the Consent of owner,

United States.

to work mines.

No claim allowed

for right hitherto de

Fourth. No claim shall be allowed for any land the right to which cided by Congress, etc. has hitherto been lawfully acted upon and decided by Congress, or under its authority.

Private rights of persons, between each

other, not concluded.

cluded.

are con

Operation of decree

Fifth. No proceeding, decree, or act under this act shall conclude or affect the private rights of persons as between each other, all of which rights shall be reserved and saved to the same effect as if this Rights between act had not been passed; but the proceedings, decrees, and acts herein United States and provided for shall be conclusive of all rights as between the United States and all persons claiming any interest or right in such lands. Sixth. No confirmation of or decree concerning any claim under as against United this act shall in any manner operate or have effect against the United Release of its title States otherwise than as a release by the United States of its right and title to the land confirmed, nor shall it operate to make the Non-liability of Uni- United States in any manner liable in respect of any such grants, claims, or lands, or their disposition, otherwise than as is in this act provided.

States.

only.

ted States.

Νο confirmation,

eleven square leagues

Seventh. No confirmation in respect of any claims or lands menetc.. for more than tioned in section six of this act or in respect of any claim or title to original grantee, that was not complete and perfect at the time of the transfer of sovereignty to the United States as referred to in this act, shall in any case be made or patent issued for a greater quantity than eleven

etc.

Ante, p. 853.