(ACT of April 21st, 1806.)

SEC. VII. All the sections heretofore reserved for the future disposition of congress, and lying within either of the districts established for the disposal of public lands in the state of Ohio, with the exception of the section No. 16, of the salt springs, and lands reserved for the use of the same, and of the other sections or tracts of land otherwise heretofore specially appropriated, shall be offered for sale in that district within which such reserved sections may lie, on the same terms, and under the same regulations, as other lands in the same district: Provided, That such sections shall previously be offered to the highest bidder at public sales, to be held under the superintendance of the register and receiver of the land offices, respectively, to which they are attached, on the same terms as has been provided for the public sales of the other public lands of the United States, and on such day or days as shall, by a public proclamation of the president of the United States, be designated for that purpose: And provided, also, That no such heretofore reserved section shall be sold, either at public or private sale, for less than eight dollars per acre.

ACT of April 21, 1806. 4 Bioren, 55.

An act respecting the claims to land in the Indiana territory and state of Ohio.

40. SEC. 1. The registers and receivers of public moneys of the districts of Vincennes and Kaskaskias, respectively, are hereby authorised and empowered, under the direction of the secretary of the treasury, to lay out one or more tracts of land, in their respective districts, for the purpose of locating therein tracts of land granted by virtue of any legal French or British grants, or of any resolution or act of congress: Provided, That the tracts thus laid out shall be, whenever practicable, adjoining the tracts which, in conformity with former laws, had been laid out for similar purposes by the governors of the northwest or Indiana territories; and the tracts thus laid out shall not be otherwise disposed of, unless by order of congress.

SEC. It. Any person or persons entitled to grants of land by virtue of any former resolution or act of congress, which are not specifically designated in the patents issued by the governors aforesaid, or which have not yet been located, shall have a right to locate the same in the tract or tracts to be laid out in each district, respectively, by virtue of the preceding section: the priority of such location shall be determined by lot, in presence of the register of the land office with whom the location shall be entered; and the surveyor general shall cause the same to be surveyed at the expense of the parties: Provided, That all the lands thus located shall, in each tract laid out for that purpose, be laid out in a body, without leaving any intervals of vacant land, and shall each be surveyed in the form of a square, or of a parallelogram, the length of which shall not exceed three times its breadth.

ACT of April 21, 1806. 4 Bioren, 59.

41. SEC. I. The governor and judges of the territory of Michigan, or any three of them, are hereby authorised to lay out a town, including the whole of the old town of Detroit, and ten thousand acres adjacent, excepting such parts as the president of the United States shall direct to be reserved for the use of the military department, and shall hear, examine, and finally adjust, all claims to lots therein, and give deeds for the same. And to every person, or the legal representative or representatives of every person, who, not owning or professing allegiance to any for eign power, and being above the age of seventeen years, did, on the eleventh day of June, one thousand eight hundred and five, when the old town of Detroit was burnt, own or inhabit a house in the same, there shall be granted, by the governor and the judges aforesaid, or any three of them, and where they shall judge most proper, a lot, not exceeding the quantity of five thousand square feet.

SEC. 11. The land remaining of the said ten thousand acres, after satisfying claims provided for by the preceding section, shall be disposed of by the governor and judges aforesaid, at their discretion, to the best advantage, who are hereby authorised to make deeds to purchasers thereof; and the proceeds of the lands so disposed of shall be applied, by the governor and judges aforesaid, towards building a court house and gaol in the town of Detroit; and the said governor and judges are required to make a report to congress, in writing, of their proceedings under this act,

ACT of March 3, 1807. 4 Bioren, 109.

An act regulating the grants of land in the territory of Michigan.. 42. SEC. 1. All the decisions made by the commissioners appointed for the purpose of examining the claims of persons claiming lands in the district of Detroit, in favour of such claimants, as entered in the transcript of decisions which have been transmitted by the said commissioners to the secretary of the treasury, according to law, are hereby confirmed.

SEC. II. To every person or persons in the actual possession, occupancy, and improvement, of any tract or parcel of land, in his, her, or their own right, at the time of the passing of this act, within that part of the territory of Michigan to which the Indian title has been extinguished, and which said tract or parcel of land was settled, occupied, and improved, by him, her, or them, prior to, and on the first day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, or by some other person or persons, under whom he, she, or they, hold or claim the right to the occupancy or possession thereof, and which said occupancy or possession has been continued to the time of the passing of this act, the said tract or parcel of land thus possessed, occupied, and improved, shall be granted, and such occupant or occupants shall be confirmed in the

(ACT of March 3, 1807.)

title to the same, as an estate of inheritance in fee simple: Provided, however, That no other claims shall be confirmed, by virtue of this section, than such as have been entered with the register of the land office of Detroit, within the time, and in the manner, provided by law, and, by the commissioners aforesaid, have been inserted in their report, transmitted as aforesaid; and shall not contain more than the quantity claimed, nor more than six hundred and forty acres: And provided, also, That the same shall not extend to any tract heretofore reserved, or which may, by the president of the United States, be set aside for public uses, in the town of Detroit, and its vicinity, or on the island of Michilimackinac.

43. SEC. III. [The secretary of the territory of Michigan, together with the register and receiver of public money's of the land office at Detroit; constituted commissioners to ascertain and decide on the claims for the benefit of this act, to meet July 1st, 1807, to make report, &c. Their decision in favour of the claimant, to entitle him to patents.]

ACT of March 3, 1807. 4 Bioren, 120.

44. SEC. I. All the decisions made by the commissioners appointed for the purpose of examining the claims of persons claiming lands in the district of Vincennes, in favour of such claimants, as entered in the transcripts of decisions which have been transmitted by the said commissioners, to the secretary of the treasury according to law, are hereby confirmed.

45. SEC. II. The confirmations or grants of land, made in the said district of Vincennes, by the governors of the Northwest and Indiana territories, prior to the establishment of the board of commissioners aforesaid, and in conformity with the act, entitled "An act for granting lands to the inhabitants and settlers at Vincennes and the Illinois country, in the territory northwest of the Ohio, and for confirming them in their possessions," are hereby confirmed; unless when actually rejected by the said commissioners; although the persons entitled to the land may not have given notice of their claim, as required by the several acts making provision for the disposal of the public lands in the Indiana territory: Provided, however, That no other claims shall be confirmed by virtue of this section than such as, having been entered on the territorial records, have, by the commissioners aforesaid, been inserted in their reports transmitted as aforesaid,

SEC. III. The several persons, or the legal representatives of the several persons, to whom, or to whose assigns, the several tracts of the tract of land near Vincennes, known by the name of the "Upper Praire," have been heretofore confirmed, are hereby, respectively, confirmed in their claims to the respective tracts also claimed by them, and in their actual possession, lying in that tract of land, containing two hundred and forty-four acres, which is known by the name of "Continuation," and is situated between

(ACT of March 3, 1807.)

the boundaries of the tracts already confirmed and the river Wabash.

46. SEC. IV. The several persons whose claims are confirmed by this act, and had not been actually located prior to the establishment of the board of commissioners, are hereby authorised to enter their locations with the register of the land office of Vincennes, on any part of the tracts set aside for that purpose by virtue of the act, entitled "An act respecting the claims to lands in the Indiana territory, and state of Ohio;" and in conformity with the provisions of that act: Provided, That such location shall be made prior to the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and eight; and the right of any person who shall neglect to locate prior to that day, shall become void, and for ever be barred. [Infra, 57.] SEC. v. Every person, or the legal representative of every person, whose claim to a tract of land is confirmed by this act, and who had not previously obtained a patent for the same, from the governor either of the territory northwest of the Ohio, or of the Indiana territory, shall, whenever his claim shall have been located and surveyed, be entitled to receive, from the register of the land office at Vincennes, a certificate, stating, that the claimant is entitled to receive a patent for such tract of land by virtue of this act; for which certificate the register shall receive one dollar; and which certificate shall entitle the party to a patent for the said tract, which shall issue in like manner as is provided by law for the other lands of the United States.

ACT of March 3, 1807. 4 Bioren, 125.

47. SEC. 1. For the disposal of the lands of the United States, situated between the United States military tract and the Connecticut reserve, a land office shall be established, which shall be kept at such place as the president of the United States may direct: and for the disposal of the lands of the United States lying on the Ohio river, between the Cincinnati and Vincennes districts, a land office shall be established at Jeffersonville: and for each of the said offices a register and receiver of public moneys shall be appointed, who shall give security in the same manner, in the same sums, and whose compensation, emoluments, duties, and authority, shall, in every respect, be the same, in relation to the lands which shall be disposed of at their offices, as are or may be provided by law in relation to the registers and receivers of public moneys in the several offices established for the disposal of the lands of the United States north of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river.

48. SEC. 11. All the lands of the United States, in the said districts, shall, with the exception of the section number sixteen, and with the exception also of thirteen sections, including the lower town of the Delaware tribe of Indians, and their improvements, which

(ACT of February 29, 1808.)

said thirteen sections shall be designated by the secretary of the treasury, and shall be reserved for the use of the said tribe and their descendants, so long as they continue to reside thereon, and cultivate the same, be offered for sale to the highest bidder, under the direction of the register of the land office, and of the receiver of public moneys, at the places respectively, where the land offices are kept, and on such day or days as shall, by proclamation of the president of the United States, be designated for that purpose; the sales shall remain open at each place for six weeks, and no longer: the lands shall not be sold for less than two dollars an acre; and shall, in every other respect, be sold in tracts of the same size, and on the same terms and conditions, as have been, or may be, by law, provided for lands sold north of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of the Kentucky river. All the lands of the United States, in the said districts, with the exceptions above mentioned, remaining unsold at the close of the public sales, may be disposed of at private sale, by the register of the respective land offices, in the same manner, under the same regulations, for the same price, and on the same terms and conditions, as are or may be provided by law for the sale of the lands of the United States north of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of the Kentucky river. And patents shall be obtained for all lands sold in said districts, in the same manner, and on the same terms, as are provided by law for other public lands sold in the state of Ohio and the Indiana territory.

SEC. IV. The president of the United States, in the recess of congress, shall have full power to appoint and commission the registers and receivers of public moneys of the land offices established by this act, and their commissions shall continue in force until the end of the session of congress next ensuing such appointment.

49. SEC. v. The several lead mines in the Indiana territory, together with as many sections contiguous to each as shall be deemed. necessary by the president of the United States, shall be reserved. for the future disposal of the United States; and any grant which may hereafter be made for a tract of land containing a lead mine, which had been discovered previous to the purchase of such tract from the United States shall be considered fraudulent and null: And the president of the United States shall be, and is hereby authorized to lease any lead mine, which has been, or may hereafter be, discovered in the Indiana territory, for a term not exceeding five years.

ACT of February 29, 1808. 4 Bioren, 146.

50. SEC. 1. All the sections of land heretofore reserved for the future disposition of congress, not sold or otherwise disposed of, and lying within either of the districts established for the disposition of public lands in the state of Ohio, with the exception of the section numbered sixteen, of the Salt Springs, and lands reserved