# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 2/9th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 11

Chap. XI.—An Act extending the powers of the Surveyor-general to the territory of Louisiana; and for other purposes.
Act of March 2, 1805, ch. 26. Powers of the surveyor general to be extended to the territory of Louisiana. Deputy surveyors to be appointed. Their duties, &c.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the powers vested by law in the surveyor-general, shall extend over all the public lands of the United States, in the territory of Louisiana, to which the Indian title has been or hereafter shall be extinguished. It shall be the duty of the said surveyor-general to appoint a sufficient number of skilful surveyors, as his deputies, in the said territory, one of whom he shall, with the approbation of the Secretary of the Treasury, designate as his principal deputy for the same. Which said deputies shall severally take an oath, or affirmation, truly and faithfully to discharge the duties of their respective offices. The said principal deputy shall reside and keep an office in the said territory, and shall, under the superintendence of the surveyor-general, execute or cause to be executed by the other deputies, such surveys as may hereafter be authorized by law, or as he may be directed to execute by the commissioners appointed for the purpose of ascertaining the titles and claims to land within the territory aforesaid; and shall generally perform therein, in conformity with the regulations ​and instructions of the said surveyor-general, the duties imposed by law on the said surveyor-general.
Plots of surveys appertaining to the office of surveyor-general under the Spanish government to be delivered to the principal deputy: What copies are good evidence.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all the plots of surveys, and all other papers and documents pertaining, or which did pertain to the office of the surveyor-general, under the Spanish government, within the limits of the territory aforesaid, or to any other office heretofore established or authorized, for the purpose of executing or recording surveys of lands within the said limits, shall be delivered to the principal deputy aforesaid; and no plot of survey shall be admitted as evidence, in any court of justice, unless certified by the said principal deputy, to be a true copy of the record in his office.
Part of a former act respecting plots of land, &c. &c. repealed. Act of March 2, 1805, ch. 26, sect. 4.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act, intituled “An act for ascertaining and adjusting the titles and claims to land within the territory of Orleans and the district of Louisiana,” as makes it the duty of every claimant to lands, within the territory of Louisiana, to deliver to the recorder of land titles a plot of the tract or tracts, claimed by him, be, and the same is hereby repealed, so far as relates to claimants whose tracts had not been surveyed by the proper officer, under the Spanish government, prior to the twentieth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three.Commissioners authorized to direct such surveys as they may think necessary for the ascertainment of titles. Proviso. And the commissioners appointed for ascertaining the titles and claims to lands, within either the territory of Louisiana, or that of Orleans, are hereby authorized to direct the officer exercising the powers of surveyor-general, within the same, to execute such surveys as they may think necessary, for the purpose of deciding on claims presented for their decision: Provided, that the expense of executing such surveys shall be defrayed by the parties claiming the land, unless the same be claimed by a legal French or Spanish grant, made and completed before the first day of October, one thousand eight hundred:Private surveys excepted. And provided also, and it is hereby further enacted, that every such survey, as well as every other survey, by whatever authority heretofore executed, those of the above-mentioned legal and complete titles only excepted, shall be held and considered as private surveys only;All tracts to which the title shall be confirmed by Congress, shall be re-surveyed. and all the tracts of land, the titles to which may be ultimately confirmed by Congress, in conformity with the provisions of the act above mentioned, shall, prior to the issuing of patents, be re-surveyed, if judged necessary, under the authority of the person exercising the powers of surveyor-general, and at the expense of the parties.
Compensations. Proviso.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the surveyor-general shall fix the compensation of the deputy surveyors, chain carriers, and axe men, in the territory of Louisiana: Provided, that the whole expense of surveying and marking the lines, whether paid by the United States, or by individuals, shall not exceed three dollars per mile, for every mile that shall be actually run, or surveyed and marked. And the principal deputy aforesaid, shall be entitled to receive from individuals the following fees, that is to say: for examining and recording the surveys executed by any of the deputies, at the rate of twenty-five cents for every mile of the boundary line of such survey, and for a certified copy of any plot of a survey in his office, twenty-five cents.
Approved, February 28, 1806.