Year: 1876

Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives OF the United
States of america in Congress Assem-
bLed, That it shall be lawful for any
six or more persons of the requisite
age who may be entitled to become
citizens of the United States and who
may have filed declarations of inten-
tion to become such, to organize and
settle q pasturage district and acquire
titles to pasturage lands under tho
limitations and conditions hereinafter
provided. 8a


SEC. 2. That all of the lands In that
portion of the United States and Ter
ritories where irrigation is necessary
to agriculture are, for the purposes set
forth in this act, classed as pasturage
lands excepting, first, all lands which
can be redeemed by irrigation, and
for which there is accessible water for
irrigating tract of land of not less
than six hundred and forty acres; Sec
ond, all lands bearing timber Of COM
mercial value; third, all coal lands;
and, fourth, all town sites or tracts Of
public land on which towns have been
built and for the sale or disposal of
which provision has been made by
law; And provided, That no person
shall obtain title under this aot to any
mine of gold. silver cinnabar, copper,
or other mineral, for the sale or dis
posal Of which provision has hereto
fore been made by law. ssss'a sd4


Sec. 8. That 1t shall be lawful for
the requisite number of persons desig-
mated In section one of this act to
select, from the public lands designat-
ed as pasturage lands in section two Of
this act, for the purpose of settling
thereon, an amount or land not ex-
ceeding two Thousand five hundred
and sixty acres to each person; but
the lands thus selected by the persons
desiring to organize pasturage dis
trict shall be In one continuous tract,
and the same shall be subdividsd a.
the rules and regulations Of the pas
turage district shall presoribe; fr0-
vided, That no one person shall be
entitled to more than two thousand
provided further, That no tract of land
of two thousand five hundred and
sixty acres selected for any one person
shall be entitled to greater amount
of water for irrigating purposes than
that sufficient for the reclamation and
cultivation Of twenty acres of land.


SEC. 4. That whenever such pas
turage district shall be organized, the
clerk or recorder of such district shall
notify the register and the receiver
of the land district, and also the Uni
ted States Surveyor General Of the
State or Territory within which the
pasturage district is situate, that such
district has been organized; and each
citizen of the district shall file de-
claration with the register and the
receiver of the land district that he
has settled upon ths tract of land
within such pasturage district, not
exceeding the prescribed amount, with
the intention of residing thereon and
obtaining a title thereto under the
provisions Of this Act. 9a


Sec. s. That within three years
after the organization of q pasturage
district, the residents therein, In their
organized capacity, shall cause the
district to be surveyed, and plat of
the same to be made, and on this plat
each tract or parcel OF land into which
the district Is divided, such tract or
parcel being the entire claim Of one
person, shall be numbered, and the
measure of every angle, the length of
every line in the boundaries thereof,
and the number of acres in each tract
or parcel shall be inscribed thereon,
and the name Of the district shall ap-
pear on the plat in full; and this plat
and the field notes of such survey,
duly certified and sworn to before the
register or the receiver Of the United
States Land Office, the clerk Of the
Court of Record, ora notary public,
shall be submitted to the United
States Surveyor-General of the State
or Territory in which the pasturage
district Is situate; and it shall be the
duty of that officer to examine the
plat and notes Herewith, and prove
the accuracy of the survey in such
manner as the Commissioner of Pub
lie Lands may prescribe; and If 1t
shall appear after such examination
and proving that correct surveys have
been made, and that the several tracts
claimed are within the provisions of
this Act, he shall certify the same to
the register of the land district. who