Right of, when allowable, not defeated by
intervening contest.....

The right to amend an affidavit of contest
should be recognized where no new ground
of attack is introduced thereby......
APPEAL.

Will not lie from the action of the Com-
missioner in canceling an entry under direc-
tions issued in a departmental decision that
has become final..

The right to intervene and be heard on,
may be properly accorded a protestant who
shows an interest in the subject-matter of a
contest..

Should not be dismissed on account of
insufficient proof of the service of notice
thereof, without opportunity given to show
that the service was in fact duly made,
where the adverse party appears and does
not object to the service.....

A motion to dismiss an, taken from an
action lying within the discretion of the
Commissioner will not be considered where
the appeal has been duly allowed, and the
case presents a new question for depart-
mental adjudication..........

Notice of, served upon a duly recognized
agent of a railroad company is a proper and
sufficient service.....

On appeal from the denial of an applica-
tion to contest an entry the appellant is not
required to serve the entryman with notice
thereof..

Failure to, in time can not be excused on
the ground that in the notice of the decision
the period accorded for appeal was errone-
ously stated as thirty instead of sixty days,
where the appellant has had the benefit of
the full period, and the adverse party takes
no advantage through said error..........
In a case decided by the local office where
one of the parties affected adversely fails to,
but another party thereto does, the whole
case comes before the General Land Office
for disposition on its merits, and not under
rule 48 of practice.....

During the pendency of, the local office
has no authority to allow contest proceed-
ings against the lands involved

448

COSTS.

A contestant who seeks to secure the
right of entry solely on the ground of prior-
ity of settlement is not required to pay the,
incurred by other parties to the suit....... 251

Of an order revoking the suspension of an
entry must be definite in its terms to charge
the entryman therewith....

240

In the, of contest issued by the local office
the charges as laid in the information need
not be set out in the language of the inform
ant; it is sufficient if the grounds and pur.
pose of the contest are stated briefly... 140
REHEARING.

An entry, covering land that is mineral in
character, and made with the knowledge of
prior mineral locations thereon, and of the
fact that the land was at such time regarded
by many in the vicinity as valuable for the
mineral therein, must be canceled as having
been allowed for "known" mineral land... 35
In the case of a filing made after the re-
peal of the pre-emption law the burden of
proof rests with the pre-emptor, as against
an adverse claimant, to show settlement
prior to said repeal and residence as required
by law.....

A pre-emptor who makes homestead entry
of a part of the land embraced within his
filing, thereby abandons all right under his
pre-emption claim....

Price of Land.

See Public Land.

Private Claim.

A patent having issued to the beneficiary
in accordance with the terms of the special
act of July 2, 1836, on application and pay-
ment for the land embraced therein, a con-
clusive presumption arises, as against a
contrary claim on the part of the heir of said
beneficiary, that all the requirements of said
act were complied with by said beneficiary,
including the relinquishment of the lands
specified in said act, a condition on which
said act was dependent for its operative
force......

189

539

130

The act of March 3, 1877, did not reduce
the price of desert land within the limits of
railroad grants to single minimum; nor did
the amendatory act of March 3, 1891, operate
to reduce the price of such lands embraced
within entries under the original act, but
on which final proof had not been submitted
at the passage of the amendatory act...... 450
By the act of March 3, 1891, amendatory
of the act of March 3, 1877, the price of all
desert lands entered under the amended
law is fixed at one dollar and twenty-five
cents per acre....
Railroad Grant,

See Railroad Lands; Wagon Road Grant.
GENERALLY.

Where lands have been erroneously award-
ed to a railroad company by decision of the
General Land Office, the Secretary of the
Interior may review such action without re-
gard to the manner in which the matter is
brought before him...........

574

433

In the adjustment of the grant to the
Northern Pacific between Thomson's Junc
tion and Duluth the land covered by the
prior grant to the Lake Superior company
must be deducted, so that between said
points the Northern Pacific company will
take only the granted lands within the lat-
eral limits of its own grant, which fall out.
side the limits of the former grant, and will
be entitled to indemnity only for losses sus-
tained outside the limits of the former grant. 204
The terminal line of the Northern Pacific
grant at Duluth must be fixed at right an-
gles to the last section of twenty-five miles
of the road....

428

All selections by the Northern Pacific
company of lands east of the terminus es-
tablished at Duluth should be canceled.... 428

The joint resolution of May 31, 1870, desig-
nated Portland as the point of connection
between the branch line as provided for in
the grant of 1864, and the extension to Pu-
get Sound authorized by said joint resolu-
tion, and it follows, that in the establish-
ment of a terminal line between the lands
granted by said joint resolution, and those
of a prior grant forfeited by the act of Sep-
tember 29, 1890, said line should be drawn
through Portland..

70

To the State of Iowa by the acts of May
15, 1856, and June 2, 1864, is a grant in place,
the extent of which is determined by the
location under the original grant, and the
amount of lands earned thereunder ascer-
tained by the road constructed west of Cedar
Rapids, with the additional right to satisfy
deficiencies by resorting to even-numbered
sections within the six-mile limits, and both
even and odd within the fifteen-mile limits,
and if there is still a deficiency to resort to
the even and odd sections along the modi-
fied line within twenty miles thereof....... 79
The status of lands withdrawn for indem-
nity purposes under the grant of 1856, for
the benefit of the Omaha company, and af
terwards falling within the primary limits
of the grant of 1864, to the Wisconsin Cen-
tral, was changed by operation of the latter
grant, and definite location thereunder,
from lands reserved for indemnity purposes,
to granted lands, and, on the failure of the
latter company to construct its road opposite
said lands, the grant therefor was forfeited,
and the title restored to the United States..

58

Page.
Made by the act of March 3, 1871, did not
take effect until the relinquishment pro-
vided for therein was duly filed and ac-
cepted by the Secretary of the Interior. 408, 541
An entry of land embraced within the act
of May 6, 1870, granting certain lands for a
common terminus of the Central and Union
Pacific Railroad Companies, may be per-
mitted to stand as against the protest of one
of said companies, it appearing from the
status of lands covered by said act that the
purposes of the grant made thereby can not
be accomplished...

326

An uncanceled pre-emption filing of record
at the date when a, becomes effective excepts
the land covered thereby from the operation
of the grant, even though at such time the
statutory life of the filing has expired...... 15
A pre-emptor who makes homestead entry
of a part of the land embraced within his
filing thereby abandons all right under his
pre-emption claim, and though the filing may
not, at such time, be canceled, it is thereafter
not evidence of the existence of a pre-emp.
tion claim, and will not defeat the operation
of a, as to the tract not included in the home-
stead entry......

Land embraced within the notification of a
donation claim at the date of the grant and
the definite location of the road is excepted
from the operation of said grant, though
claims of such character are not specifically
named in the excepting clause...................

Land embraced within an uncanceled dona-
tion notification is excepted thereby from the
operation of a, on definite location.....

An application to enter, erroneously re-
jected and pending on appeal, serves to defeat
a railroad grant on definite location as to the
land covered thereby....

539

569

392

433

Page.

tler had prior thereto exhausted his rights
under the settlement laws.

A settlement on public land with intent to
appropriate the same under the desert land
law does not operate to except the land from
the effect of a.....

The joint resolution of May 31, 1870, was
in the nature of a new grant, and only such
lands as were in a condition to pass under the
terms of the grant to the company, at the date
of the passage of said resolution, were in-
tended to be granted thereby..

In determining what lands were passed to
the altered main, or branch line, as provided
for by the joint resolution of May 31, 1870,
said resolution must be considered as in the
nature of a new grant, and that only such
lands as were public lands at the date of the
passage of said resolution were intended to
be granted thereby..
INDEMNITY.

An indemnity selection must fail in the
absence of a valid basis therefor....

In the case of an indemnity selection list
where the losses are not arranged tract for
tract, and a tract is included therein that is
in fact not lost to the grant, any applicant
for a tract embraced within said list is en-
titled to claim that the failure in the loss as-
signed relates to his tract...

In the rearrangement of specifications of
loss in bulk, so as to show a specific loss
for each tract selected, the correction of a
clerical error in the description of a tract in-
cluded in the original assignment of losses,
will not be regarded as the substitution of a
new basis in support of the list, nor be held
to invalidate such list as against the subse-
quent acquisition of adverse rights.............
In the rearrangement of an indemnity list,
under the directions issued in the La Bar
case, it is not essential that the rearranged
list should be signed by the selecting agent
of the company

A railroad company is entitled to six
months from date of actual notice of the
order issued under the La Bar case in which
to file rearranged indemnity lists

A list of indemnity selections in which
due specifications of loss are assigned,
should not be rejected on account of the
company's failure to designate losses for
prior selections, as required by the circular
of August 4, 1885, but should be suspended
awaiting compliance with said requirement;
and a list so filed operates to protect the
right of the company from the date of its
presentation

Indemnity selections of the Northern Pa-
cific resting on alleged losses east of Superior
City, regular and legal under the existing
construction of the grant at the time when
made, should be protected under the changed
construction of the grant, with due oppor.

331

247

445

265

543

380

324

552

552

489

Between Thomson and the city of Duluth
the Northern Pacific company will not be
entitled to indemnity for any lands to which
the Lake Superior and Mississippi company
may have been entitled under its grant.... 428
Priority of selection determines the right
as to odd-numbered sections within the over-
lapping indemnity limits of the St. Paul,
Minneapolis and Manitoba Ry. Co., St. Vin-
cent Extension, and the Northern Pacific
R. R. Co., and not within the withdrawal
on general route of the latter company..... 454
The odd-numbered sections within the
limits of the Yakima Indian Reservation did
not pass under the grant to the Northern
Pacific company, and afford legal bases for
indemnity selections by the company...... 543
The occupancy of land for the sole pur-
pose of speculating in the improvements
thereon does not constitute a bona fide set-
tlement that will except the land from in-
demnity selection....

Improvement of land under the timber-cul-
ture law will not operate to exclude the same
from indemnity selection..

In a case between an applicant for the
right of entry, and a company, claiming un-
der an indemnity selection, where the appli
cation is rejected on account of conflict with
the selection, and the appeal from such action
is dismissed for want of regularity by the
Commissioner, who in the same decision
holds the selection invalid, the right of the
applicant should be considered when final
action is taken on the selection.......
WITHDRAWAL.

543

1

.. 513

No rights are acquired as against a, by a
homestead entry of lands theretofore with-
drawn for the benefit of such grant........ 161
ACT OF JUNE 22, 1874.

For earned lands relinquished under the
act of June 22, 1874, the company acquires a
vested right to select indemnity therefor,
anywhere within the limits of the grant,
and subsequent legislation, forfeiting the
grant to the extent of unconstructed road,
will not limit said right of selection to the
lands unaffected by the forfeiture.......... 565
ACT OF APRIL 21, 1876.

A settlement right, acquired prior to the
receipt of notice at the local office of the
withdrawal on definite location, is within
the protective provisions of section 1, act
of April 21, 1876....

The confirmation of entries under section
1 is solely for the benefit of the individual
claimant, conditioned upon his compliance
with law, and was not intended to confirm
the entry absolutely as against the right of
the company so as to except the land from
the grant in favor of any other settler..... 115
SECTION 7, ACT OF SEPTEMBER 29,
1890.

The completion of the Gulf and Ship Island
road entitles the company to select indemni-
ty, for lands relinquished, anywhere within
the indemnity limits of the grant........................
Railroad Lands.

On the judicial vacation of a patent issued
under a railroad grant, the Secretary of the
Interior may lawfully fix a day when the
lands embraced in such decree shall be open
to entry.....

The operation of the remedial act of August
5, 1892, as to an entry that falls within the
terms of said act at the date of its passage,
is not defeated by a subsequent relinquish
ment of the entry

An indemnity selection, made for the pro-
tection of one whose claim under the public
land laws has been rejected on account of
the railroad grant, and who is consequently
seeking title through the company, oper
ates to reserve the land, while subsisting,
from other disposition, and if finally can.
celed, the occupant of the land under the
company's license is entitled to the right of
purchase under the act of January 13, 1881,
if otherwise within its terms...
ACT OF MARCH 3, 1887.
See Wagon Road Grant.

The right of a purchaser from a railroad
company to perfect title under section 4,
may be exercised without regard to whether
his purchase was made before or after the
passage of said act, if it was made in good
faith, and before the land was held to be ex-
cepted from the grant.....

An application for a patent under section
4, to lands erroneously certified on account
of a railroad grant must be denied, where
the want of good faith, both on the part of
the original purchaser and the subsequent
transferees is apparent.....

6

The agreement of a transferee of the Mo-
bile and Girard R. R. Co. to accept under

566

407

586

468

108

288

Page.

section 8, act of September 29, 1890, a pro
rata share of the lands earned by said com-
pany, and the consummation of such agree-
ment, do not operate as a waiver of the right
of said transferee to subsequently apply for
relief under section 4, as to lands purchased
from said company but not secured through
said pro rata adjustment....

A congressional forfeiture of, for failure
to construct the road, is also, in effect, a dec-
laration by Congress that certified lands so
forfeited were "erroneously certified," and
the Department will not question such dec-
laration in construing the provisions of sec-
tion 4......

A forfeiture of the unearned lands within
a grant requires an adjustment of the grant
in order to determine what lands were re-
stored to the public domain by the act of
forfeiture, and the determination of such
matter is an "adjustment" within the mean-
ing of section 4....

An application for the right of purchase
under section 5 may be entertained at any
time after it is ascertained that the land in-
volved is excepted from the grant, and with-
out waiting for the final adjustment of the
entire grant...

The purpose of section 5 was to protect
all persons who had parted with a valuable
consideration, whether in money or other
property, in payment for lands to which the
company could give no valid title

Lands sold to purchasers in good faith as
part of a railroad grant, but in fact excepted
from the operation thereof, are within the
purview of said section 5.....

The right of purchase accorded by section
5 extends to indemnity lands as well as those
within the primary limits, and this is true of
lands which at the date of purchase from
the company had not been selected, as well
as of those which had.....

The right of purchase under section 5 is
limited to "the numbered sections pre-
scribed in the grant," and therefore can not
be exercised to secure title to even numbered
sections selected under the indemnity pro-
visions of the act of June 22, 1874.........

The fact that a purchaser from a railroad
company does not, prior to his purchase, ex-
amine the records of the Land Department
in order to ascertain the character of the
company's title, is not sufficient to defeat
his right of purchase, under section 5, as a
"bona fide purchaser".

288

310

310

508

301

508

508

387

508

The good faith of a purchaser from a rail-
road company is not affected by the fact
that he is a stockholder therein, nor by the
further fact that he gave preferred stock of
the company in exchange for the land.. 301, 508
The right of a purchaser from a railroad
company to acquire title under the provi-
sions of section 5 is not in any degree de-
pendent upon the good faith of the com-

Page.

pany in making the sale. The question of
good faith in the transaction relates solely
to the purchaser's connection therewith... 301
The fact that a transfer from the company
is by quitclaim deed can not of itself affect
the right of purchase under said section 5;
nor will the speculative value of the land
be considered in determining the bona fides of
the purchaser, especially where such point
is raised by a stranger to the original trans.
action....

On application to perfect title, under sec-
tion 5, to land excepted from a railroad
grant by pre-emption filings, the good faith
of the applicant's purchase from the com.
pany is not impugned by the fact that prior
to said purchase he had been register of the
land district in which the lands were sit-
uated, and must therefore have known that
said lands were excepted from the grant by
said filings, where it appears that during
said period the Department did not recog-
nize a filing as sufficient to work an excep-
tion ....

The right of a purchaser from a railroad
company to perfect title under section 5,
where the title of the company fails, takes
precedence over a subsequent adverse tim-
ber culture application......

216

216

543

The right of purchase under said section
5 is not affected by a settlement claim initi-
ated after the passage of said act.......... 216
The successful contestant of an entry ac-
quires no preference right that can prevail
as against the right of a bona fide pur-
chaser under section 5....

A settler who successfully contests the
adverse claim of a railroad company by
showing that the land was, in fact, excepted
from the grant does not thereby acquire a
right of entry as against the privilege of
a prior bona fide purchaser from the com-
pany, who is in open possession of the land,
to perfect title under section 5..........
ACT OF SEPTEMBER 29, 1890.

508

180

Lands restored to the public domain by
the, are subject to settlement from the date
of the passage of said act.........
58,346

The right to purchase lands forfeited by
the, and the acts amendatory thereof, is
secured to persons thereto entitled between
the dates of September 29, 1890, and Janu-
ary 1, 1897, and no adverse claim can attach
between said dates

Under the provisions of the amendatory
act of January 23, 1896, an applicant for the
right of purchase, accorded by section 3, to
settlers who have gone upon railroad lands
with a view to purchasing the same from
the company is not required to show actual
residence, if he has enclosed and cultivated
the land applied for.....

Forfeited by the, is subject to school in
demnity selection

415

26

423