The Placer herald., 1871-12-23
IMPORTANT LAND DECISIONS.

Two very important decisions, or rather
rulings, on land questions have lately beer
made by the Commissioner of the General
Land Office, Willis Drummond.. These
rulings directly effect very many Of the peo-
pie Of this county, and it is both duty and
pleasure for us to make their practical work
ings known to our readers. The first ruling
decides that hereafter no application for
patcnts for mineral lands will be entertained
or patented where surface ground is applied
for for millsites or the convenient working OF
the mine, unless said surface land or millsite
adjoins the ledge, and is clearly recognized
as part Of the mine by both the laws and
customs Of the district This decision COW
crs streams, water privileges, etc., the same
as mill sites. The next ruling is of still
more Importance, and under the circum-
stances is to be commended. Under the
Act of 1853 the Surveyor General was only
authorized to have agricultural lands sur
veycd-barrcn, mountainous and mineral
lands were not to be segregated-but the
contracts were "fat," and the deputies sur
veyed vast bodies of the foothill mineral
lands, returning them agricultural, so as to
get their pay, and yet the topography
showed on the plats, mining claims, mining
bitches, etc. These were the surveys made
prior to the G. =. X. Il. grant. Miners
ditch men and others filed mineral afiidavits
on these lands, and most of them were with
drawn until the mineral character was dis
proven by proof Of the agricultural character
Of the different tracts sought to be pre-cmpt-
ed. The surveys made subsequent to the
r. r. grant have generally been by survey
ors in the interests and pay of the r. r.
company, and they have we believe returned
all the lands, even including the rich mining
districts of Forest Hill, Todds Valley, Mich
igan Bluff, Iowa Hill, Gold Run, Dutch
Flat, etc. as agricultural; the object of the
company of course being to get all the lands
and mines possible, by having them returned
as agricultural. The applications pouring
into the General Land Office for mining
claims, both placer and quartz, with the
proofs showing their value, and the thou
sands and hundreds of thousands of dollars
worth Of mining work done in the develop
ment of mines on these very lands returned
as agricultural, has at last opened the eyes
of the officers at Washington to this great
fraud by the company through the surveyors
of the Government, on both the miners and
Government. This state of facts has induced
Commissioner Drummond to issue an order
declaring all the lands in the pats, liable to
suspicion, as mineral, which includes the fol-
lowing townships in this county: all east of
the North Fork Of the American river in
Township II north range east-this includes
the Franklin House, Golden Rule mine,
Dotons Bar, etc; Townships II north range,
6 Uincoln), 7 Virginia and Gold HiD, and
s (Aubum); Townships 13, north range, 6
(Sheridan), 7 whisky Dggings), s (Neils
burg, Bald Hill, etc, 9Clipper Gap, etc. },
and the northwest portions Of 10; Townships
IA, north range nine east (Applegate's), 10
yankee Jms, Forest Hill and Wisconsin
HilD, II (Bath and Michigan Bluff, Il
(Deadwood); Township Is north range, 10
(Gold Run and Dutch F'laD, II (Damascus),
and y cast, Townships l6, north range II
(Last Chance), and II east. We have
named the most noted points only in each of
the Congressional Townships in this county,
so that settlers may more easily find their
legal subdivisions. The order declares all
the above lands mineral, and parties wishing
to pre-empt any of them as agricultural will
have to prove the particular tract desired
more valuable for other than mineral pur-
poses. Many Of the people living i'll the
mountains of this county were preparing to
file mineral atfidavits on those lands, but
this order saves them the trouble and ex-
pense. The onus of proof will now fall upon
the applicant for agricultural lands in these
townships. We give the facts, that all may
govern themselves accordingly.
New NoLUME.-1he Stanislaus county
Ne,cs, published at Modesto, has entered on
its fifth wear and on its second volume since