The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-12-17
our National Domain.
Abstract of General Land office Re
port.

of General Land Officc he.
port.
The report from the General Land
Office is of more than usual length, cover
ing a period of five quarters, ending
30th September, 1856, and giving full
information touching the many and va
rious subjects of its Jurisdiction, and all
the operations of the land system of the
United States, lands sold and otherwise
disposed of, during the period covered
by the report. .,o
There were sold for cash lO,O62, lO7,-
l9 acres of the public lands; located
with military bounty land warrants 81
$50, $40 acres; selected and reported In
der swamp grants 6,036,S74,39 and ap.
propriated by the railroad grants of
Nav, June and August, 1856, las esti-
mated,) I3,775,550 acres, making a
grand aggregate Including other inter-
nal improvement selections) of 4l,ll6,-
800, SO acres of the public domain dis
posed of during the five quarters ending
3Oth September, 1856. This Is an in
crease. of millions of acres over the
quantity disposed of during the five
quarters preceding. While the sales
for cash have greatly fallen off, the dis
posal of Congressional grants and loca-
tions of land warrants has more than
proportionally increased.
Lands to no considerable extent have
been proclaimed and offered at public
sale during the year 1856; the present
policy of the Office being to secure them
to the actual settlers under the pre-.
emption laws, rather than to favor spec
~ulation therein by precipitating public
sales of large quantities beyond the
means of the settlers to purchase. With
the view of making this the perma-
rent policy of the Office, the report
recommends q slight modification OF
the pr -empt:ol laws. Other amend
ments for the equitable adjustment of
conflicting settlements upon unsurveyed
lands are recommended.
SURVEYS.
The surveys during the year ending
3Oth September, 1856, of which plats
have been returned and approved,
amount to 16,s73,599 acres, of which
1891 1874 acres are on the Pacific coast.
Extensive surveys have been made which
have not yet. been reported. The sur
veys of 1855 and those reported in 1856
amount to 4l,11S,443 acres, of which
IL, 573,6 54 acres are in California, and
the Territories of Oregon, Washington,
Kansas, Nebraska, and Utah. The
quantity of new lands now liable to be
disposed of is greater than at any previ-
Gus period of the history of our land sys-
tenn. In many of the land States the
surveying operations are confined to re-
s surveys, corrections, and the surveys of
towns, islands aud private claims; and
it is expected that the archives will be
in readiness for delivery to seven of
these States within two or three years.
The public surveys within the last
year on the Pacific and in our new Ter
~ritories have been extended with extra
ordinary rapidity. In California the
surveyed lines for base, meridians, stan
dard parallels, townships, sections, Sc,
are in their aggregate length, greater
than the eli; cumferenee of the globe.
Maps in duplicate, equal to 1861 plats,
with a complete map of the State, have
been prepared, and important sugges-
tions are presented in regard to the au-
riferous aud agricultural lands. In Or
egon and Washington Territories Indian
hostiiities have seriously impeded oper-
atoms under the surveying system; yet,
Notwithstanding this, considerable prog
ress has been made. In Oregon, be-
tween the Cascade mountains and the
ocean, the surveys of the public lands
and of donation rights are far advancing
towards completion !; and it is now pro-
posed to extend the, Oregon surveying
district east of the Cascade range whilst
in Washington Territory township lines
have been run on Whitby's Island, some
returns have been made under former
contracts of the Willamette meridian,
Sc miles of the third standard parallel
have been run west to Gray's harbor,
and 80 miles of the seventh standard
passing through the vast expanse of the
Admiralty Inlet and Whitby's Island.
In Kansas the surveys of the public
and Iudian trust lands have been pushed
forward with activity. Notwithstand-
ing the severity of the last winter, the
disturbance in the country, and the diff
ficulties Incident to the execution of the
under treaty stipulations, sur
veys to the extent of hundreds of thou
sands of acres have been recorded; plats
of the same prepared, and the eastern
portion of the Delaware trust lands
placed in such a condition as to author
ize their introduction into market by d
p~roclamation for their sale on the 18th
of November.
In Nebraska the surveys have not pro-
crossed so rapidly, attention in this sur
veying district having been mainly d.
to theIniian trust lands iuKar 81.
In Mexico, Notwithstanding the diff
Guilty in procuring supplies in this sparse
ly settled country and Indian hostilities,
progress has been made in the sur
veys by the extension of meridian, base,
connection and township lines. Some
private land claims which had their ORR
gin under Spain and Mexico, have been
presented to the Surveyor General for
examination, with whom has also been
filed a number of pueblo" Indian
claims.
In Utah territory the surveys are in
and are to be made into town
ships and sectional sub divisions. The
extent of field operations embrace be-
tween $50 and lao townships. Atten-
ton is drawn to the fact that the limits
of the Salt Lake City are greater in ex-
tent than the town site laid off in 1914
allows, and it is represented that the
public domain in the city and out of its
where settled by Mormons, is be-
ing conveyed by them to Brigham Young
->oo