Year: 1874

| Every week we have letters from various

 parts Of the country asking what steps are

 necessary to get a range Tn Arizona for 1 cattle or sheep. Our last comes from Washington and bears date November f.. The writer says:

 I have some thought of going to Arizona ] in the Spring of 1875, to engage in the wool l business. Can you give me any infOrma- ton as to how 1 shall proceed to secure a range? l know some of the people here in the Land Office, and if l had a tract or range, could get the papers, think. Our correspondent will please excuse the liberty we take with his letter. It simply states the substance of letters received ire quently by us, and relates to a very im- portant branch of public business, and therefore seems a very fit text for some re- marks for general as well as specific use. F As strange as the statement may appear, no man nor company has title to a range of land in Arizona, and but very few indeed have to m i n es and mill sites of a few acres, and of agricultural lands to the extent of 160 acres. At present, there is no way to get title at once to any considerable tract of land eX- ceeding l60 acres. Farmers possessing 40, 50 or l60 acres, may proceed to get title to lG0 more under the timber act of Con- gross. Steps may be taken at any time to secure title to ranges of considerable extent by hunting up owners to Spanish or Mex ican grants and purchasing their title, and take the chances of getting that title ap- proved by the United States. Until after such approval, we doubt if a purchaser of a grant could exclude trespassers except by fencing it. At present there is no tribu- nal prepared to hear testimony in be- half of claimants to grants with a view to confirmation of title by the United States. X law is now pending in the House of Rep resentatives, it having passed the Senate, under which claimants to private land claims under the laws of Spain and Mex ico, may speedily establish their titles if they have valid ones.

 Regarding grazing lands belonging to the United States, there is no law by which anyone can buy to exceed l60 acres of gov ernment, and he cannot do that to land unsurveyed; although an actual settler on unsurveyed land has perfect possession to l60 acres for all purposes of grazing and cultivation, and no power can lawfully disposSess him of the full enjoyment of it while actually residing upon it, but should he abandon such actual residence, another party could go upon and hold it just as he could land never occupied by any person.

 For all practical purposes of stock growing, man may get possession of a larra ran anUa Inv n ooupfry finding spring or digging a well several miles from any other spring or well, and make his watering place the headquarters of his business. This is about the way all stock-growers now in Arizona manage to secure area enough for paSturage. Al though each year such opportunities will be diminished, yet for a few to come, we think they are rather numerous in var- Ous parts of Arizona and are easily found Hundreds upon hundreds of square miles of grazing land are not now occupied by any but wild beasts.

 It is impossible for us or any other person to give more specific information upon this subject without doing as we have in dicated others must do, viz: Personally examine the country for grass and water Title 10 ranges can only be had as we have stated, that is by purchasing a Spanish or Mexican grant and getting the United States to confirm it.

 However familiar at the General Land office man may be, or however willing the officers of that bureau might be to as- sist man to valuable home or posses sion on the public domain, they can be of no assistance to him until after he shall have acsually taken such steps as we have pointed out. The day has passed never to return in the United States, wherein man can get title 10 a large tract of land directly from government. Even grants to railway and other corporations only give odd sections, making the largest tract in one body 640 acres or one square mile in extent,

 No one fact is more surprising than the limited information the masses of intel lgent as well as illterate people possess the laws relating to public lands. I It is true tn ere are many laws and rulings for their application to the disposition of land, and though the simplest ofthese facts have been facts for over thirty years, they are known to but few people of any | class.

 Prices of Wool.