Year: 1870

mineral lands of the public domain, both sur
veyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared
to be free and open to exploration and occu-
patton by all citizens of the United States,
and those who have declared their intention
to become citizens, subject to such regula-
tons as may be prescribed by law, and sub
ject also to the local custom or rules of min
ers i'll the several mining districts, so far as
the same may not be in conflict with the laws
of the United States.


SEo. 2. and be ii further enacted, That
whenever any person or association of per-
sons claim a vein or lode of quartz, or other
rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar,
or copper, having previously occupied and
improved the same according to the local
custom or rules of miners in the district where
the same is situated, and having expended in
actual labor and improvements thereon an
amount of not less than one thousand dollars,
and in regard to whose possession there is no
controversy or opposing claim, it shall and
may be lawful for said claimant or associa-
ton of claimants to file in the local land office
diagram of the same, so extended laterally
or otherwise as to conform to the local laws,
customs, and rules of miners, and to enter
such tract and receive patent therefor,
granting such mine, together with the right
to follow such vein or lode with its dips, an
giles, and variations, to any depth, although
it may enter the land adjoining, which land
adjoining shall be sold subject to this condition


SEC. 3. And be ii further enacted, That
upon the filing of the diagram as provided in
the second section of this act, and posting the
same in conspicuous place on the claim, to-
gether with notice Of intention to apply for
patent the register of the land Office shall
publish notice of the same in newspaper
published nearest to the location of said claim,
and shall also post such notice in his Office
for the period of ninety days; and after the
expiration of said period, if no adverse claim
shall have been fled it shall be the duty of
the surveyor general, upon application of
the party, to survey the premises and make
plat thereof, indorsed with his approval
designating the number and description of the
location, the value of the labor and improve
ments, and the character of the vein exposed
and upon the payment to the proper officer of
five dollars per acre, together with the cost of
such survey, plat, and notice, and giving sat
isfactory evidence that said diagram and no
tice have been posted on the claim during
said period Of ninety days, the register of the
land office shall transmit to the General Land
Office said plat survey, and description; and
patent shall issue for the same thereupon
But said plat, survey, or description shall in
no case cover more than one vein or lode,
and no patent shall issue for more than one
vein or lode, which shall be expressed in the
patent issued.


Sec. 4. Ind be ii further enacted, That
when such location and entry of mine shall
be upon unsurveyed lands, it shall and may
be lawful, after the extension thereto of the
public surveys, to adjust the surveys to the
limits of the premises according to the loca-
tion and possession and plat aforesaid, and
the surveyor general may, in extending the
surveys, vary the same from a rectangular
form to suit the circumstances of the country
and the local rules, laws, and customs of
miners: ProUided, That no location hereaf-
ter made shall exceed two hundred feet in
length along the vein for each locator, with
an additional claim for discovery to the dis
coverer of the lode, with the right to follow
such vein to any depth with all its dips, va
riations, and angles, together with a reason
able quantity of surface for the convenient
working of the same as fixed by local rules
And prorided further, That no person may
make more than one location on the same
lode, and not more than three thousand feet
shall be taken in any one claim by any asso-
citation of persons.


SEC. 5. And be II further enacted, That
as further condition of sale, in the absence
of necessary legislation by Congress, the To-
cal Legislature of any State Or Territory may
provide rules for working mines involving
easements, drainage, and other necessary
means to their complete development; and
those conditions shall be fully expressed in
the patent.


SEC. 6. 4,ad be 1t further enacted, That
whenever any adverse claimants to any mine
located and claimed as aforesaid shall appear
before the approval of the survey, as provid-
ed in the third section of this act, all proceed
mgs shall be stayed until final settlement
and adjudication in the courts of competent
jurisdiction of the rights of possession to such
claim, when patent may issue as in other
cases.


SEC. 7. And be 1t further enacted, That
the President of the United States be, and
is hereby, authorized to establish additional
land districts and to appoint the necessary
officers under existing laws, wherever he
may deem the same necessary for the public
convenience III executing the provisions of
this act.


SEC. s. And be 1t further enacted, That
the right of way for the construction of high
ways over public lands, not reserved for pub
lie uses, is hereby granted.


SEC. 8. A,,d be 1t further enacted, That
whenever, by priority of possession, rights to
the use of water for mining, agricultural,
manufacturing, or other purposes, have vest
ed and accrued, and the same are recognized
and acknowledged by the local customs, laws
and the decisions of courts, the possessors
and owners of such vested rights shall be
maintained and protected in the same; and
the right of way for the construction of bitches
and canals for the purposes aforesaid is here
by acknowledged and confirmed: Provided,