23 June 1836. Propositions to the state of Arkansas. Section 16, in that the following propositions be, and the same are hereby, offered to the general assembly of the state of Arkansas, for their free acceptance or rejection, which if accepted, under the authority granted to the said general assembly, for this purpose, by the convention which framed the constitution of the said state, shall be obligatory upon the United States: First. That section numbered sixteen in every township, and when such section has every township, been sold, or otherwise disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may be, shall be granted to the state for the use of the inhabitants of such township for the use of schools. (a) for the use of schools. Certain salt springs and lands ed to the state. Second. That all salt springs, not exceeding twelve in number, with six sections of land adjoining grant adjoining to each, shall be granted to the said state, for the use of (b) said state, the same to be selected by the general assembly thereof on or before the first day of January 1840; and the same, when so selected, to be used under such terms, conditions and regulations, as the general assembly of the said state shall direct: Provided, That no salt spring, the right whereof is now vested in any individual or individuals, or which may hereafter be confirmed or adjudged to any individual or individuals, shall by this section be granted to said state: And provided also, That the general assembly shall never sell or lease the same, at any one time, for a longer period than ten years, without the consent of congress; and that nothing contained in the act of congress entitled "An act authorizing the governor of the territory of Arkansas to lease the salt springs in said territory, and for other purposes," or in any other act, shall be construed to give to the said state any further or other claim whatsoever, to any salt springs or lands adjoining thereto, than to those hereby granted. Five per cent. of Third. That five per cent. of the net proceeds of the sale of lands lying within the proceeds of pubfic lands for im- said state, and which shall be sold by congress, from and after the first day of July next, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be reserved for making public roads and canals within the said state, under the direction of the general assembly thereof. provements. Lands granted for public buildings. For a seminary of learning. To provide for the primary disposal of the public lands by the United States. Fourth. That a quantity of land not exceeding five sections be, and the same is hereby granted to the said state in addition to the ten sections which have already been granted, for the purpose of completing the public buildings of the said state at Little Rock; which said five sections shall, under the direction of the general assembly of said state, be located, at any time, in legal divisions of not less than one quarter-section, in such townships and ranges as the general assembly aforesaid may select, on any of the unappro priated lands of the United States within the said state. Fifth. That the two entire townships of land which have already been located by virtue of the act entitled An act concerning a seminary of learning in, the territory of Arkansas," approved the 2d of March 1827, are hereby vested in and confirmed to the general assembly of the said state, to be appropriated solely to the use of such seminary by the general assembly: Provided, That the five foregoing propositions herein offered, are on the condition that the general assembly or legislature of the said state, by virtue of the powers conferred upon it by the convention which framed the constitution of the said state, shall provide by an ordinance irrevocable without the consent of the United States, that the said general assembly of said state shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil within the same by the United States, nor with any regulations congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bonâ fide purchasers thereof; and that no tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; residents not to and that in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents; and be taxed higher, that the bounty lands granted, or hereafter to be granted, for military services during the late war, shall, whilst they still continue to be held by the patentees, or their heirs, reBounty lands to main exempt from any tax laid by order or under the authority of the state, whether for state, county, township or any other purpose, for the term of three years from and after the date of the patents respectively.(c) Public lands not to be taxed. Lands of non &c. be exempt from taxation for three years. 4 March 1844 1. 5 Stat. 652. II. CIRCUIT COURT. 5. The circuit court of the United States for the district of Arkansas, shall hereafter be held on the second Monday of April of each year, instead of the time now designated Terms of the cir- by law. (d) cuit court. 15 June 1836 4. 5 Stat. 51. District judge. III. DISTRICT COURTS. 6. The said state shall be [one judicial district, (e) and be called the Arkansas district ;] and a district court shall be held therein, to consist of one judge, who shall reside in the said district, and be called a district judge. He shall hold at the seat of government of (a) See net 29 May 1830, to authorize the selection of certain school lands in the territory of Arkansas. 4 Stat. 418. And act 15 February 1843, to authorize the legislature of Arkansas to sell the lands appropriated for the use of schools. 5 Stat. 600. (b) See act 20 April 1832, authorizing the governor of the territory of Arkansas to lease the salt springs, in said territory, and for other purposes. 4 Stat. 505. And see 6 Opin. 697. (c) See act 12 July 1852, to release from reservation and restore to the mass of public lands, certain lands in the state of Arkansas. 10 Stat. 14. (d) To be held at Little Rock, by act 3 March 1837, 22. 5 Stat. 177. See infra, 10, as to its jurisdiction for the trial of crimes within the Indian territory. (e) Divided into two districts; infra, 11. the said state, two sessions annually, on the first Mondays of April [and November;(a) 15 June 1836. and he shall in all things, have and exercise the same jurisdiction and powers which were by law given to the judge of the Kentucky district under an act (b) entitled "An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States."] He shall appoint a clerk for the said To appoint a district court, who shall reside and keep the records of the court at the place of holding the same; and shall receive, for the services performed by him, the same fees to which the clerk of the Kentucky district is entitled for similar services. (c) clerk. Ibid. 26. 7. There shall be appointed in the said district, a person learned in the law, to act as attorney for the United States [who shall, in addition to his stated fees, be paid by the District attorney. United States two hundred dollars, as a full compensation for all extra services.] (d) Ibid. 27. 8. A marshal shall be appointed for the said district who shall perform the same duties, be subject to the same regulations and penalties, and be entitled to the same Marshal. fees, as are prescribed to marshals in other districts; [and he shall moreover be entitled to the sum of two hundred dollars annually, as a compensation for all extra services.] (d) 9. The district court of the United States for the district of Arkansas, shall be held at 3 March 1839 § 5. Little Rock on the first Monday of October, instead of the first Monday in November, annually. as heretofore established; and all writs, pleas, suits, recognisances, indict- Terms of the ments and all other proceedings, civil and criminal, shall be heard, tried and proceeded of Arkansas. with by the said court, at the times herein fixed, in the same manner as if no change in the times of holding the said court had taken place. 5 Stat. 337. eastern district 5 Stat. 680. the Indian ter 10. The courts of the United States in and for the district of Arkansas, be, and they 17 June 1844 21. hereby are, vested with the same power and jurisdiction, to hear, try, determine and punish all crimes committed within that Indian country designated in the twenty-fourth Jurisdiction over section of the act to which this is a supplement, (e) and therein and thereby annexed to ritory. the territory of Arkansas, as were vested in the courts of the United States for said territory before the same became a state. And that for the sole purpose of carrying this act into effect, all that Indian country heretofore annexed by the said twenty-fourth section of the act aforesaid to the territory of Arkansas, be and the same hereby is annexed to the state of Arkansas.(g) 9 Stat. 591. 11. The counties of Benton, Washington, Crawford, Scott, Polk, Franklin, Johnson, 3 March 1851 § 1. Madison and Carroll, and all that part of the Indian country lying within the present judicial district of Arkansas, shall constitute a new judicial district, to be styled "the Divided into two western district of Arkansas," and the residue of said state shall be and remain a judicial district, to be styled "the eastern district of Arkansas."(h) districts. Ibid. 22. 12. The judge of the district court of Arkansas shall hold two terms of said court at the town of Van Buren, the county seat of Crawford county aforesaid, on the second Terms of the Mondays of May and November in each and every year, and shall continue in session western district. until all the business shall be disposed of; and he is hereby authorized and directed to special sessions. hold such other special sessions as may be necessary for the despatch of the causes in said court, at such time or times as he may deem expedient, and may adjourn such special sessions to any other time previous to a stated term. Ibid. 3. court powers. 13. The district court of the United States for the western district of Arkansas hereby established, in addition to the ordinary jurisdiction and powers of a district court, shall, Western district within the limits of its respective district, have jurisdiction of all causes, civil or crimi- to have circuit nal, except appeals and writs of error, which now are, or hereafter may by law be made cognisable in a circuit court, and shall proceed therein in the same manner as a circuit court; and an appeal or writ of error shall be prosecuted from the final decree or judg- Appeals to the ment of said district court to the supreme court of the United States, in the same manner that appeals and writs of error now are, by law, from a circuit court of the United States. supreme court. Ibid. 24. 11. The president of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint a district attorney and marshal for said western district of Arkan- District attorney, sas, [who respectively shall receive the same salary and perquisites as the present dis- marshal and trict attorney and marshal of the state of Arkansas have by law,] and the said district western district. judge shall appoint a clerk of said court hereby established. (a) See infra. 9. (b) 24 September 1789. 1 Stat. 73. The 3 10 of this act gave circuit court powers to the district court of Kentucky; but this was taken away by act 24 February 1807. 2 Stat. 420. And these circuit court powers were abolished by act 3 March 1837, 23. 5 Stat. 177. Under this act the district court had no jurisdiction of an offence committed in the Indian country beyond the territorial limits of the state of Arkansas. United States v. Ta-wan-ga-ca, Hemp. 304. United States v. Alberty, Ibid. 444. United States v. Starr. Ibid. 469. And the act 7 June 1844, infra, 10, giving that jurisdiction, was prospective, and did not operate on the past. United States v. Starr. Hemp. 469. United States v. Ivy, Ibid. 562. (c) See general fee-bill of 26 February 1853. 10 Stat. 161. clerk for the (d) The extra compensation of district attorneys and marshalt is abolished by the general fee-bill of 1853. (e) Act 30 June 1834. 4 Stat. 733. The act 3 March 1851, (infra, 11), dividing the state into two districts, and assigning to the district court, held in the western district, the power to try offences committed in the Indian country, did not deprive the circuit court previously held for the whole of Arkansas, and subsequently for the eastern district, from trying an indictment, pending at the time of its passage. United States v. Dawson, 15 How. 467. 8. c., Hemp. 643. (g) The act 1 March 1837, is supplied by the act in the text. 5 Stat. 147. (h) Sevier and Sebastian counties annexed to the western diatrict; infra, 15. 27 March 185421. 10 Stat. 209. eru district may 15. Upon conviction of offenders in the western judicial district of the state of Arkansas, for offences to which, punishment by confinement in the penitentiary is annexed, it shall Convicts in west be lawful for the court before whom convictions have or may be had, to sentence convicts be sent to the to undergo imprisonment in the penitentiary house of the state situated in the eastern eastern peniten- judicial district, in the same manner as though the penitentiary house was situated in Western district the western judicial district of the state of Arkansas; and the counties of Sevier and Sebastian in the said state, are hereby added to, and made a part of the said western judicial district. tiary. enlarged. Ibid. 22. Convicts may be sentenced to hard labor. 26 May 1824 4 Stat. 39. Pre-emption 1. 16. When any person shall be convicted in the district court for the western district of Arkansas, of any offence committed after the passage of this act, the punishment or part of the punishment whereof is imprisonment, by the laws now existing, the said punishment or part of the punishment shall be confinement and imprisonment with hard labor for the same length of time, and shall be carried into effect as provided in the preceding section. IV. LANDS. (a) 17. Every person, and the legal representative of every person, who was entitled to the right of pre-emption, in the territory of Arkansas, under the provisions of the act of congress of the 12th of April 1814, (b) entitled "An act for the final adjustment of sas, under act of land titles in the state of Louisiana and territory of Missouri," in that tract of country 1814, may be north of the river Arkansas, ceded by the United States to the Cherokee nation of tract in Lawrence Indians, on the 8th day of July 1817, be, and they are hereby authorized, in lieu rights, in Arkan-. entered on any district. Thid. 2. thereof, and in full compensation for such right of pre-emption, to enter with the register of the land office in the district of Lawrence, in said territory, any tract within said district, (c) on which they may have made improvements previously to the passing of this act, or any unimproved tract within said district, the sale of which is authorized by law: Provided, That no more than one quarter-section of land shall be sold to any one individual, in virtue of this act; and the same shall be bounded by the sectional and divisional lines run, or to be run, under the direction of the surveyor of the United States' lands for the states of Missouri and Illinois, and territory of Arkansas. 18. Every person claiming a preference in becoming the purchaser of a tract of land Claimants to de in virtue of this act, shall deliver a notice in writing to the register of the land office for liver a notice to said district, stating therein that he was entitled to a pre-emption right, under the aforethe register. said act of congress, in that part of the territory of Arkansas ceded as aforesaid, and Notice to be filed also particularly designating therein the quarter-section he is desirous to enter, which notice the register shall file in his office; and, in every case where it shall be proved, to the satisfaction of the register and receiver of public moneys of the land office aforesaid, that any person who has delivered such notice was entitled to a pre-emption right under Claimant to have said act of congress, in that part of the territory of Arkansas ceded as aforesaid, shall the right to enter have a right to enter with the register of said land office, at the minimum price for which the tract designated. Fees. United States' lands are sold, the tract of land designated in said notice, on producing his receipt from the receiver of public moneys for the purchase-money of said tract, as in case of other public lands sold at private sale; and, as a compensation for their services, the register and receiver shall each be entitled to one dollar in every such case, to be Entry and pay paid by the claimant of such pre-emption right: Provided, That every such entry and ment, when to be payment shall be made at least two weeks previous to the time of offering the adjacent lands at public sale, unless the same be entered in such part of said district as shall have been offered at public sale at the time of the passage of this act; in which case, such entry shall be made within two years from the passage thereof. made. 24 May 18288. 4 Stat. 306. Settlers on the to have pre 19. Each head of a family, widow or single man, over the age of twenty-one years, actually settled on that part of the territory of Arkansas, which, by the first article of the treaty between the United States and the Cherokee Indians west of the Mississippi, ratified the 23d day of May 1828, has ceased to be a part of said territory, who shall emption right to remove from such settlement according to the provisions of that treaty, shall be authorized tions, on removal to enter with the proper register of the land office in Arkansas, a quantity not exceeding therefrom. two quarter-sections of land, on any of the public lands in that territory, the sale of which is authorized by law, (d) and in conformity with the lines of the public surveys, two quarter-sec (a) See net 15 June 1832, to create the office of surveyor of pub lic lands for the territory of Arkansas. 4 Stat. 531. Also the act 26 May 1824. enabling the claimants to land within the limits of the state of Missouri and territory of Arkansas to institute proceedings to try the validity of their claims. 4 Stat. 52. And the act 8 May 1830, for further extending the powers of the judges of the supreme court of the territory of Arkansas, under the act of the 26th day of May 1824, and for other purposes. 4 Stat. 399. For a list of the acts which have been passed relating to public lands in Arkansas; see 4 Stat. 39. And see Sampeyreac v. United States, 7 Pet. 222; s. c.. Hemp. 118. Putnam v. United States, Hemp. 332. Heirs of Bullitt v. United States, Ibid. 333. Callender v. United States. Thid. 334. Valliere v. United States. Thid. 325. (c) The words of this act are in the present tense; therefore lands subsequently attached to the Lawrence district were not subject to the pre-emption rights granted by it. 2 Opin. 42. (d) By act 6 January 1829, they were restricted from entering the improvement of any actual settler in the territory of Arkansas, before the same should have been offered for sale, unless with the consent of such settler; and no persons residing south of the at any time within two years from the passage of this act:(a) and upon presenting the 24 May 1828. certificate of such entry to the secretary of the treasury, a patent shall be issued to such settler, or to his, her or their heirs, for the lands so entered, as a donation from the United States, as an indemnity for the improvements and losses of such settler under the aforesaid treaty. Ibid. 9. 20. The register and receiver of the land office, to which application may be made to enter such lands, shall be authorized to take the proper testimony of such actual settle- Register and rement and subsequent removal, as in cases of pre-emptions heretofore granted to actual ceiver to take settlers, for which a reasonable compensation shall be made to such registers and meut and rereceivers, by the United States. V. LAND OFFICES. proof of settle moval. 4 Stat. 549. districts. trict. 21 There shall be four (b) land districts in the territory of Arkansas, to be called as 25 June 1832 ? L. follows, viz.: the Arkansas land district, the White River land district, the Red River land district, and the Fayetteville land district; and each of the aforesaid land districts shall Divided into four be bounded as follows, to wit: the Arkansas land district shall include all the country embraced within the following boundaries: beginning on the west bank of the Missis- Arkansas dissippi river, at the mouth of the St. Francis river, and running thence due west with the base line to the north-east corner of range six, township one north and south of said base line; thence, due north with the dividing line between ranges five and six, to the northeast corner of township seven, north of said base line; thence, due west with the dividing line between townships seven and eight, to the north-west corner of range seventeen ; and thence, due south with the dividing line between ranges seventeen and eighteen, to the Mississippi river. The White River district shall include all the country south of White River disMissouri, which is not included in the Arkansas land district above described, and east of the dividing line between ranges seventeen and eighteen, as extended from the north west corner of the said Arkansas land district, to the state of Missouri. The Red River Red River disland district shall include all the country in Arkansas lying west of the Arkansas land district, and south of the base line. The Fayetteville land district shall include the residue of the territory of Arkansas, being all the country lying north of the Red River dis- trict. trict, and west of the Arkansas and White River districts. trict. trict. Fayetteville dis Thid. 2. 22. The land office for the Arkansas land district shall be at Little Rock; the land office for the White River district shall be at Batesville; the land office for the Red River Where offices to district shall be at the town of Washington; and the land office for the Fayetteville dis- be loca ed. trict shall be at Fayetteville. Ibid. 23. Ibid. 4. 23. It shall be the duty of the secretary of the treasury, as soon as the same can be done, to cause the proper plats of the surveys to be deposited in the proper land offices. 24. For each of the said districts created by this act, a register and receiver of public moneys shall be appointed, who shall give security in the same manner, and whose duties Registers and reand authorities shall, in every respect, be the same, in relation to the lands which shall ceivers to be appointed. be disposed of at their offices, as are by law provided in relation to the registers and receivers of public moneys in the several offices established for the sale of the public lands.(c) trict. 25. So much of the public lands of the United States in the territory of Arkansas as 26 June 1834 & L lies east of a line commencing on the southern boundary of the territory where it is 4 Stat. 657. intersected by the dividing line between ranges five and six, west of the meridian, thence Mississippi diswith said range line to the dividing line between townships ten and eleven south; thence east with the said line to the dividing line between ranges two and three west, thence north with said dividing line to the base line, thence east with said base line to the dividing line between ranges two and three east; thence north with said line to the dividing line between townships ten and eleven north; thence east with said dividing line to the dividing line between ranges six and seven east; thence north with said dividing line to the northern boundary of the territory of Arkansas, shall form a new land district, to be called the Mississippi land district; and for the sale of the public lands within the district aforesaid, there shall be a land office established at the town of Helena, in the county of Phillips, in the territory aforesaid. 26. All that portion of the present Fayetteville district which lies south of the line 7 July 1838 3 5. between townships eleven and twelve north, of the principal base line, shall form a sepa- 5 Stat. 288. rate land district, and be called the Western land district, and the land office for said Western district. district shall be established at the county seat of Johnson county or such other place as the president of the United States shall designate. Arkansas river, and west of the territorial line, were to be entitled to the donation thereby given unless they should remove east of said line. 4 Stat. 329. The acts of 24 May 1828, and 6 January 1829, are in pari materia, and to be considered as one law. 2 Opin. 205-6. The latter act is confined to the settlers dislodged by the Cherokee treaty of May 1828. Ibid. 190. (a) Time extended by acts 13 January 1830. 4 Stat. 871: 27 January 1831. Ibid. 434; 20 February 1833, Ibid. 619; until the 24 5 Stat. 725. Champagnole trict. 20 Feb. 1845 1. 27. The section of country in the southern part of the state of Arkansas, south of the base line, and east of the meridian, comprised within the following boundaries, to wit: between the line dividing ranges five and six on the east, the line dividing ranges twenty and twenty-one on the west, the dividing line between townships ten and eleven on the north, and the state line on the south, be made to form a separate district, to be called the Champagnole district, the seat of the land office for which shall be at the town of Champagnole, and be subject to removal by the president of the United States, when ever, in his judgment, it may be proper so to do. 1. Arsenals to be established. Armories and Arsenals. 2. An armory at each arsenal. Superintendent, armorer and workmen to be employed. Compensation. 3. Annual account to be laid before congress. 4. Rations of superintendent and armorers. 5. Penalty for enticing away workmen, &c. 6. Penalty on workmen for misconduct. 7. To be exempt from military and jury service. 8. President may purchase additional sites. Number of workmen. 2 April 1794 2 1. 1 Stat. 352. be established. 9. Keepers of arsenals to report quarterly. 10. Armories to be under ordnance department. Depots may be established. 11. Superintendents at Springfield and Harper's Ferry abolished. Salaries of armorers, &c. To give security. Salary of military storekeepers. Number limited. No emoluments beyond their pay, except quarters. 12. Pay of master-armorers. 1. For the safe-keeping of the military stores, there shall be established, under the direction of the president of the United States, three or four arsenals with magazines, Arsenals, &c. to as he shall judge most expedient, in such places as will best accommodate the different parts of the United States. (a) Either or both of the arsenals heretofore used at Springfield and Carlisle, to be continued as part of the said number, at his discretion: Provided, That none of the said arsenals be erected until purchases of the land necessary for their accommodation be made, with the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same is intended to be erected. Ibid. 2. An armory at each arsenal. 2. There shall be established, at each of the aforesaid arsenals, a national armory, in which shall be employed one superintendent and one master-armorer (who shall be appointed by the president of the United States), and as many workmen as the secretary for the department of war shall, from time to time, deem necessary, so that the whole Superintendent, number at all the armories shall not exceed one hundred. (b) And the said superintendents shall each receive, as a compensation, seventy dollars per month, and the said master-armorers each fifty dollars per month. (c) arinorer and workmen to be appointed. Ibid. 25. Annual account. 7 May 1800 21. 2 Stat. 61. 3. An annual account of the expenses of the national armories be laid before the legislature of the United States, together with an account of the arms made and repaired therein. 4. The several officers who now are, or hereafter may be employed in the armories of the United States, shall be entitled to, and shall receive the following compensations, in Rations of super- addition to their pay as established by law, to wit: a superintendent of such armory three rations per day, or an equivalent in money; and a master-armorer two rations per day, or an equivalent in money.(d) intendent and armorers. Ibid. 22. Penalty for on 5. If any person shall procure, or entice any artificer or workman, retained or employed in any arsenal or armory of the United States, to depart from the same during ticing away work- the continuance of his engagement, or avoid or break his contract with the United States, men, &c. duct. Ibid. 23. or who, after due notice of the engagement of any such workman or armorer, in any arsenal or armory, shall, during the continuance of such engagement, retain, hire or in anywise employ, harbor or conceal such artificer or workman, the person so offending shall, upon conviction, be fined at the discretion of the court, not exceeding fifty dollars, or be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three months. 6. If any artificer or workman hired, retained or employed in any public arsenal or Penalty on work, armory, shall, wantonly and carelessly, break, impair or destroy any implements, tools men for miscon- or utensils, or any stock, or materials for making guns, the property of the United States; or shall wilfully and obstinately refuse to perform the services lawfully assigned to him, pursuant to his contract, every such person shall forfeit a sum not exceeding twenty dollars for every such act of disobedience or breach of contract, to be recovered in any court having competent jurisdiction thereof. Ibid. 24. 7. All artificers and workmen, who are or shall be employed in the said armories, shall be, and they are hereby exempted, during their term of service, from all military service, and service as jurors in any court. |