# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 2/10th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 40

Chap. XL.—An Act concerning the sale of the Lands of the United States, and for other purposes.
Act of March 3, 1803, ch. 27. Act of March 27, 1804, ch. 35. Act of June 30, 1812, ch. 110. Public lands may be offered for sale in such proportions as the President chooses.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the President of the United States has been or may be authorized to cause the public lands, in any land district, to be offered for sale, it shall be lawful, whenever he shall think it convenient, to offer for sale, at first, only a part of the lands contained in such district, and at any subsequent time or times, to offer for sale in the same manner, any other part, or the remainder of the lands contained in the same.
Part of former act revived. Act of April 21, 1806, ch. 46.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the fourth section of an act passed the twenty-first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and six, intituled “An act in addition to an act, intituled An act regulating the grants of land, and providing for the disposal of the lands of the United States south of the state of Tennessee,” be revived and continued in force until the first day of October next: and in any case where a donation shall be granted in lieu of a pre-emption certificate, agreeable to the provisions of the said fourth section, the money, if any shall ​have been paid, shall be by the receiver of the public money repaid to the person or persons who have paid the same.
Settlers on the river Mobile allowed a further time to put in their claims.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That certain settlers on the river Mobile, in the Mississippi territory, east of Pearl river, who reside near the line of demarcation, between the United States and Spain, run in pursuance of the treaty of the twenty-seventh day of October, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, and whose claims to land has not been decided on according to law, shall be allowed until the first day of October next, to file a notice in writing with the register of the land-office, stating the nature and extent of their claims, together with a plat of the tract or tracts claimed; and the said register of the land-office, and the receiver of public monies, are hereby required to hear and determine such claims according to the several acts of Congress “regulating the grants of land and providing for the disposal of the lands of the United States south of the state of Tennessee,”Act of March 3, 1803, ch. 27. and to grant certificates in the form heretofore prescribed by the board of commissioners in said district.
Reports to be made by the registers of the land-offices east and west of Pearl river, to the Secretary of the Treasury, &c. &c.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the registers of the land-office east and west of Pearl river, in the Mississippi territory, to transmit to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, on or before the first day of November next, a full and fair report of all the claims of certain persons to lands in the Mississippi territory, founded upon British or Spanish warrants or orders of survey granted prior to the twenty-seventh day of October, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, not confirmed by former laws regulating the grants of lands in said territory, which have heretofore been regularly filed with the register of the land-office aforesaid, together with the evidence in support of such claims respectively, and to be by him laid before Congress at their next ensuing session. And the land contained in such warrants or orders of survey shall not be disposed of until otherwise directed by law.
Certain lands to which Indian title has been extinguished, to be attached to land district east of Pearl river.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That that part of the lands to which the Indian title was extinguished by the treaty with the Choctaw nation made on Mount Dexter, in the year one thousand eight hundred and five, lying on the east of Pearl river, shall be attached to the land district east of Pearl river, and that the residue of the lands to which the Indian title was extinguished by the said treaty, shall be attached to the land district west of Pearl river; and the said lands shall, with the exception of section number sixteen, which shall be reserved in each township for the use of schools within the same, and also with the exception of fifteen hundred acres of land, which is hereby confirmed to John M’Grew, in compliance with the fourth article of said treaty, be offered for sale under the same regulations, at the same prices, and on the same terms as other lands lying within the said districts.
Actual settlers on lands of the U. States in Mississippi territory, allowed a further time. 1807, ch. 46.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That every person and the legal representatives of every person, who being either the head of a family, or above the age of twenty-one years, who did before the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seven, actually inhabit and cultivate a tract of land in the Mississippi territory, belonging to the United States, shall be allowed until the first day of October next, to obtain permission to remain on such tract or tracts of land, according to the provisions of the act, intituled “An act to prevent settlements being made on lands ceded to the United States until authorized by law,” and the person or persons obtaining such permission shall be entitled to all the benefits, rights and privileges granted by law to those who obtained the same prior to the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eight.
Right of the U. States to two town lots ceded to the corporation of Natchez. Saving of private rights.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the right of the United States to two town lots lying and being in the city of Natchez be, and the same ​is hereby forever vested in the corporation of the said city, so as not to affect the legal or equitable claims of any individuals, or of any body politic or corporate, if any such there be.
Interfering claims in districts east and west of Pearl river, how to be settled.Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That whenever the claims of persons having a right of pre-emption in either of the districts east or west of Pearl river, shall interfere with each other, the register and receiver of public monies are hereby authorized in their respective districts so to regulate their locations as to prevent such interference.
Approved, March 31, 1808.