[ *122 ] * CHAP. 86.-An act for ascertaining and adjusting the titles and claims to land, within the territory of Orleans and district of Louisiana.

§ 1. Be it enacted, &c. That any person or persons, and the legal representatives of any person or persons, who, on the first day of October, in the year one thousand eight hundred, were resident within the territories ceded by the French republic to the United States, by the treaty of the thirtieth of April, one thousand eight hundred and three, and who had, prior to the said first day of October, one thousand eight hundred, obtained from the French or Spanish governments, respectively, during the time either of the said governments had the actual possession of said territories, any duly registered warrant, or order of survey, for lands lying within the said territories, to which the Indian title had been extinguished, and which were on that day actually inhabited and cultivated by such person or persons, or for his or their use, shall be confirmed in their claims to such lands, in the same manner as if their titles had been completed: Provided, however, That no such incomplete title, shall be confirmed, unless the person in whose name such warrant or order of survey had been granted, was, at the time of its date, either the head of a family, or above the age of twenty-one years; nor unless the conditions and terms, on which the completion of the grant might depend, shall have been fulfilled.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That to every person, or to the legal representative or representatives of every person, who, being either the head of a family, or twenty-one years of age, had, prior to the twentieth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three, with the permission of the proper Spanish officer, and in conformity with the laws, usages, and customs, of the Spanish government, made an [ *123] actual settlement on a tract of land within the said * territories, not claimed by virtue of the preceding section, or of any Spanish or French grant, made and completed before the first day of October, one thousand eight hundred, and during the time the government, which made such grant, had the actual possession of the said territories, and who did, on the said twentieth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three, actually inhabit and cultivate the said tract of land; the tract of land, thus inhabited and cultivated, shall be granted; Provided, however, That not more than one tract shall be thus granted to any one person, and the same shall not contain more than one mile square, together with such other and further quantity, as heretofore has been allowed for the wife and family of such actual settler, agreeably to the laws, usages, and customs, of the Spanish government: Provided also, That this donation shall not be made to any person who claims any other tract of land in the said territories by virtue of any French or Spanish grant.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That, for the purpose of more conveniently ascertaining the titles and claims to land in the territory ceded, as aforesaid, the territory of Orleans shall be laid off into two districts,

in such manner as the president of the United States shall direct; in each of which he shall appoint, in the recess of the senate, but who shall be nominated at their next meeting, for their advice and consent, a register; who shall receive the same annual compensation, give security, in the same manner, and in the same sums, and whose duties and authorities shall, in every respect, be the same, in relation to the lands which shall hereafter be disposed of at their offices, as are by law provided with respect to the registers 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. The president of the United States shall likewise appoint a recorder of land titles in the district of Louisiana, who shall give security in the same manner, and in the same sums, and shall be entitled to the same annual compensation, as the registers of the several land offices.

SEC. 4. Be it enacted, &c., That every person claiming lands in the above-mentioned territories, by virtue of any legal French or Spanish grant, made and completed before the first day of October, one thousand eight hundred, and during the time the government which made such grant had the actual possession of the territories, may, and every person claiming lands in the said territories, by virtue of the two first sections of this act, or by virtue of any grant or incomplete title, bearing date subsequent to the first day of October, one thousand eight hundred, shall, before the first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and six, deliver to the register of the land office, or recorder of land titles, within whose district the land may be, a notice in writing, stating the nature and extent of his claims, together with a plat of the tract or tracts claimed; and shall, also, on or *before that day, deliver to the said register or recorder, [124] for the purpose of being recorded, every grant, order of survey, deed, conveyance, or other written evidence of his claim; and the same shall be recorded by the register or recorder, or by the translator hereinafter mentioned, in books to be kept by them for that purpose, on receiving from the parties at the rate of twelve and a half cents for every hundred words contained in such written evidence of their claim: Provided, however, That where lands are claimed by virtue of a complete French or Spanish grant, as aforesaid, it shall not be necessary for the claimant to have any other evidence of his claim recorded, except the original grant or patent, together with the warrant or order of survey, and the plat; but all the other conveyances or deeds shall be deposited with the register or recorder, to be by them laid before the commissioners hereinafter directed to be appointed, when they shall take the claim into consideration. And if such person shall neglect to deliver such notice, in writing, of his claim, together with a plat as aforesaid, or cause to be recorded such written evidence of the same, all his right, so far as the same is derived from the two first sections of this act, shall become void, and forever thereafter be barred; nor shall any incomplete grant, warrant, order of survey, deed of conVOL. II.

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veyance, or other written evidence, which shall not be recorded as above directed, ever after be considered or admitted as evidence in any court of the United States, against any grant derived from the United States. The said register and recorder shall commence the duties hereby enjoined on them, on or before the first day of September next, and continue to discharge the same, at such place, in their respective districts, as the president of the United States shall direct.

SECTION 5. And be it further enacted, That two persons, to be appointed by the president alone for the district of Louisiana, and two persons, to be in the same manner appointed, for each of the districts directed by this act to be laid off in the territory of Orleans, shall, together with the register or recorder of the district for which they may be appointed, be commissioners for the purpose of ascertaining, within their respective districts, the rights of persons claiming under any French or Spanish grant as aforesaid, or under the two first sections of this act. The said commissioners shall, previous to their entering on the duties of their appointment, respectively, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation, before some person qualified to administer the same. "I, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will impartially exercise and discharge the duties imposed on me by an act of congress, entitled, An act for ascertaining and adjusting the titles and claims to land within the territory of Orleans, and the district of Louisiana,' to the best of my skill and judgment." It shall be the duty of the said commissioners to meet in their respective districts, at such place as the president shall have directed therein for the [ *125 ] residence of the register or recorder, on or before the first day of December next, and they shall not adjourn to any other place, nor for a longer time than three days, until the first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and six, and until they shall have completed the business of their appointment. Each board, or a majority of each board, shall, in their respective districts, have power to hear and decide, in a summary manner, all matters respecting such claims, also to administer oaths, to compel the attendance of, and examine witnesses, and such other testimony as may be adduced, to demand and obtain, from the proper officer and officers, all public records, in which grants of land, warrants, or orders of survey, or any other evidence of claims to land, derived from either the French or Spanish governments, may have been recorded; to take transcripts of such record or records, or of any part thereof; to have access to all other records of a public nature, relative to the granting, sale, transfer, or titles of lands, within their respective districts; and to decide, in a summary way, according to justice and equity, on all claims filed with the register or recorder, in conformity with the provisions of this act, and on all complete French or Spanish grants, the evidence of which, though not thus filed, may be found of record on the public records of such grants; which decisions shall be laid before congress in the manner herein

after directed, and be subject to their determination thereon: Provided, however, That nothing in this act contained, shall be construed so as to recognize any grant or incomplete title bearing date subsequent to the first day of October, one thousand eight hundred, or to authorize the commissioners aforesaid to make any decision thereon. The said boards, respectively, shall have power to appoint a clerk, whose duty it shall be to enter in a book, to be kept for that purpose, full and correct minutes of their proceedings and decisions, together with the evidence on which such decisions are made; which books and papers, on the dissolution of the boards, shall be deposited in the respective offices of the registers of the land offices, or of the recorder of land titles of the district; and the said clerk shall prepare two transcripts of all the decisions made by the commissioners in favour of the claimants to land; both of which shall be signed by a majority of the said commissioners, and one of which shall be transmitted to the officer exercising in the district the authority of surveyor general, and the other to the secretary of the treasury. It shall likewise be the duty of the said commissioners to make, to the secretary of the treasury, a full report of all the claims filed with the register of the proper land office, or recorder of land titles, as above directed, which may have been rejected, together with the substance of the evidence adduced in support thereof, and such remarks thereon as they may think proper; which reports, together with the transcripts of the decisions of the commissioners in favour of the claimants, shall be laid, by the secretary of the treasury, * before congress, at their next ensuing meeting. When [ *126] any Spanish or French grant, warrant, or order of survey, as aforesaid, shall be produced to either of the said boards, for lands which were not at the date of such grant, warrant, or order of survey, or within one year thereafter, inhabited, cultivated, or occupied, by or for the use of the grantee; or whenever either of the said boards shall not be satisfied that such grant, warrant, or order of survey, did issue at the time when the same bears date, but that the same is antedated or otherwise fraudulent; the said commissioners shall not be bound to consider such grant, warrant, or order of survey, as conclusive evidence of the title, but may require such other proof of its validity as they may deem proper. Each of the commissioners, and clerks aforesaid, shall be allowed a compensation of two thousand dollars, in full for his services as such; and each of the said clerks shall previous to his entering on the duties of his office, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation, to wit: "I

do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) that I will, truly and faithfully, discharge the duties of a clerk to the board of commissioners for examining the claims to land, as enjoined by an act of congress, entitled An act ascertaining and adjusting the titles and claims to land within the territory of Orleans, and the district of Louisiana." Which oath or affirmation shall be entered on the minutes of the board.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the secretary of the

treasury shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to employ three agents, one for each board, and whose compensation shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars each, for the purpose of appearing before the commissioners in behalf of the United States, to investigate the claims for lands, and to oppose all such as said agents may deem fraudulent and unfounded. It shall also be the duty of the said agent for the district of Louisiana, to examine into and investigate the titles and claims, if any there be, to the lead mines within the said district, to collect all the evidence within his power, with respect to the clams to, and value of, the said mines, and to lay the same before the commissioners, who shall make a special report thereof, with their opinions thereon, to the secretary of the treasury, to be by him laid before congress, at their next ensuing session. The said board of commissioners shall, each, be authorized to employ a translator of the Spanish and French languages, to assist them in the despatch of the business which may be brought before them, and for the purpose of recording Spanish and French grants, deeds, or other evidences of claims, on the register's books. The said translator shall receive, for the recording done by him, the fees already provided by law and may be allowed not exceeding fifty dollars for every month he shall be employed: Provided, That the whole compensation, other than that arising from fees, shall not exceed six hundred dollars.

[ *127 ]* SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the powers vested by law in the surveyor of the lands of the United States south of the state of Tennessee, shall extend over all the public lands of the United States, to which the Indian title has been, or shall hereafter be, extinguished, within the said territory of Orleans; and it shall be the duty of the said surveyor, to cause such of the said lands as the president of the United States shall expressly direct, to be surveyed and divided, as nearly as the nature of the country will admit, in the same manner, and under the same regulations, as is provided by law in relation to the lands of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the location or locations of lands, which Major General La Fayette is, by law, authorized to make, on any lands the property of the United States, in the territory of Orleans, shall be made with the regis ter or registers of the land offices established by this act in the said territory: the surveys thereof shall be executed under the authority of the surveyor of the lands of the United States south of Tennessee; and a patent or patents therefor shall issue, on presenting such surveys to the secretary of the treasury, together with a certificate of the proper register or registers, stating that the land is not rightfully claimed by any other person: Provided, That no location or survey made by virtue of this section, shall contain less than one thousand acres, nor include any improved lands or lots, salt spring, or lead mine.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That a sum, not exceeding