and twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes of the United States, shall not be abridged except as to such payment. All tracts of land in Oklahoma Territory which have been set apart for school purposes, to educational societies or missionary boards at work among the Indians, shall not be open for settlement, but are hereby granted to the respective educational societies or missionary boards for whose use the same has been set apart. No part of the land embraced within the Territory hereby created shall inure to the use and benefit of any railroad corporation, except the rights of way and land for stations heretofore granted to certain railroad corporations. Nor shall any provision of this act or any act of any officer of the United States, done or performed under the provisions of this act or otherwise, invest any corporation owning or operating any railroad in the Indian Territory or Territory created by this act, with any land or any right to any land in either of said Territories, and this act shall not apply to or affect any land which, upon any condition on becoming a part of the public domain, would inure to the benefit of, or become the property of, any railroad corporation.

SEC. 19. That the portion of the Territory of Oklahoma heretofore known as the Public Land Strip is hereby declared a public land district, and the President of the United States is hereby empowered to locate a land office in said district, at such a place as he shall select, and to appoint in conformity with existing law a register and receiver of said land office. He may also, whenever he shall deem it necessary, establish another additional land district within said Territory, locate a land office therein, and in like manner appoint a register and receiver thereof. And the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall, when directed by the President, cause the lands within the Territory to be properly surveyed and subdivided where the same has not already been done.

SEC. 20. That the procedure in applications, entries, contests, and adjudications in the Territory of Oklahoma shall be in form and manner prescribed under the homestead laws of the United States, and the general principles and provisions of the homestead laws, except as modified by the provisions of this act and the acts of Congress approved March first and second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, heretofore mentioned, shall be applicable to all entries made in said Territory, but no patent shall be issued to any person who is not a citizen of the United States at the time of making final proof.

All persons who shall settle on land in said Territory under the provisions of the homestead laws of the United States and of this act shall be required to select the same in square form as nearly as may be; and no person who shall at the time be seized in fee simple of a hundred and sixty acres of land in any State or Territory shall hereafter be entitled to enter land in said Territory of Oklahoma. The provisions of sections twenty-three hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall, except so far as modified by this act, apply to all homestead settlements in said Territory.

SEC. 21. That any person entitled by law to take a homestead in said Territory of Oklahoma, who has already located and filed upon or shall hereafter locate and file upon a homestead within the limits described in the President's proclamation of April first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and under and in pursuance of the laws applicable to the settlement of the lands opened for settlement by such proclamation, and who has complied with all the laws relating to such homestead

settlement, may receive a patent therefor at the expiration of twelve months from date of locating upon said homestead upon payment to the United States of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for land embraced in such homestead.

SEC. 22. That the provisions of title thirty-two, chapter eight, of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relating to "reservation and sale of town sites on the public lands," shall apply to the lands open or to be opened to settlement in the Territory of Oklahoma, except those opened to settlement by the proclamation of the President on the twenty-second day of April, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine: Provided, That hereafter all surveys for town sites in said Territory shall contain reservations for parks (of substantially equal area if more than one park) and for schools and other public purposes, embracing in the aggregate not less than ten nor more than twenty acres; and patents for such reservations, to be maintained for such purposes, shall be issued to the towns respectively when organized as municipalities: Provided further, That, in case any lands in said Territory of Oklahoma, which may be occupied and filed upon as a homestead, under the provisions of law applicable to said Territory, by a person who is entitled to perfect his title thereto under such laws, are required for town-site purposes, it shall be lawful for such person to apply to the Secretary of the Interior to purchase the lands embraced in said homestead or any part thereof for town-site purposes. He shall file with the application a plat of such proposed town site, and if such plat shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior he shall issue a patent to such person for land embraced in said town site, upon the payment of the sum of ten dollars per acre, for all the lands embraced in such town site, except the lands to be donated and maintained for public purposes as provided in this section. And the sums so received by the Secretary of the Interior shall be paid over to the proper authorities of the municipalities when organized, to be used by them for school purposes only.

SEC. 23. That there shall be reserved public highways four rods wide between each section of land in said Territory, the section lines being the center of said highways; but no deduction shall be made, where cash payments are provided for, in the amount to be paid for each quarter section of land by reason of such reservation. But if the said highways shall be vacated by any competent authority the title to the respective strips shall inure to the then owner of the tract of which it formed a part by the original survey.

SEC. 24. That it shall be unlawful for any person, for himself or any company, association, or corporation, to directly or indirectly procure any person to settle upon any lands open to settlement in the Territory of Oklahoma with intent thereafter of acquiring title thereto; and any title thus acquired shall be void; and the parties to such fraudulent settlement shall severally be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished, upon indictment, by imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

SEC. 25. That inasmuch as there is a controversy between the United States and the State of Texas as to the ownership of what is known as Greer County, it is hereby expressly provided that this act shall not be construed to apply to said Greer County until the title to the same has been adjudicated and determined to be in the United States; and in order to provide for speedy and final judicial determination of the controversy aforesaid the Attorney-General of the United States is hereby authorized and directed to commence in the name and on behalf of the

United States, and prosecute to a final determination, a proper suit in equity in the Supreme Court of the United States against the State of Texas, setting forth the title and claim of the United States to the tract of land lying between the North and South Forks of the Red River where the Indian Territory and the State of Texas adjoin, east of the one hundredth degree of longitude, and claimed by the State of Texas as within its boundary and a part of its land, and designated on its map as Greer County, in order that the rightful title to said land may be finally determined, and the court, on the trial of the case, may, in its discretion, so far as the ends of justice will warrant, consider any evidence heretofore taken and received by the Joint Boundary Commission under the act of Congress approved January thirty-first, eighteen hundred and eighty-five; and said case shall be advanced on the docket of said court, and proceeded with to its conclusion as rapidly as the nature and circumstances of the case permit.

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Approved, May 2, 1890. (26 Stat., 81.)

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[No. 38.]

MODIFIES LAWS RESPECTING AFFIDAVITS AND FINAL PROOFS IN LAND ENTRIES.

AN ACT to amend section twenty-two hundred and ninety-four of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section twenty-two hundred and ninety-four of the Revised Statutes be, and the same is hereby, amended so that it will read as follows:

SEC. 2294. In any case in which the applicant for the benefit of the homestead, preemption, timber-culture, or desert-land law is prevented, by reason of distance, bodily infirmity, or other good cause, from personal attendance at the district land office, he or she may make the affidavit required by law before any commissioner of the United States circuit court or the clerk of a court of record for the county in which the land is situated, and transmit the same with the fee and commissions to the register and receiver.

That the proof of settlement, residence, occupation, cultivation, irrigation, or reclamation, the affidavit of non-alienation, the oath of allegiance, and all other affidavits required to be made under the homestead, preemption, timber-culture, and desert land laws may be made before any commissioner of the United States circuit court or before the judge or clerk of any court of record of the county or parish in which the lands are situated; and the proof, affidavit, and oath, when so made and duly subscribed, shall have the same force and effect as if made before the register and receiver, when transmitted to them with the fee and commissions allowed and required by law. That if any witness. making such proof or any applicant making any such affidavit or oath shall knowingly, wilfully, or corruptly swear falsely to any material matter contained in said proofs, affidavits, or oaths, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be liable to the same pains and penalty as if he had sworn falsely before the register. That the fees for entries

and for final proofs, when made before any other officer than the regis ter and receiver, shall be as follows:

For each affidavit, twenty-five cents.

For each deposition of claimant or witness, when not prepared by the officer, twenty-five cents.

For each deposition of claimant or witness prepared by the officer, one dollar.

Any officer demanding or receiving a greater sum for such service shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, shall be punished for each offense by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

Approved, May 26, 1890. (26 Stat., 121.)

[No. 39.]

RESERVOIR LANDS IN WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA MADE SUBJECT TO HOMESTEAD ENTRY.

AN ACT to authorize the President of the United States to cause certain lands heretofore withdrawn from market for reservoir purposes to be restored to the public domain subject to entry under the homestead law, with certain restrictions.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby restored to the public domain all the lands described in certain proclamations of the President of the United States, dated March twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty, Executive Document numbered eight hundred and fifty-nine; also, April fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, Executive Document numbered eight hundred and sixty-eight; also, February twentieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, Executive Document numbered eight hundred and seventy-four, withdrawing and withholding certain lands from market or entry and reserving the same to aid in the construction of certain reservoirs to be built at the headwaters of the Mississippi and Saint Croix rivers, in the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and of the Chippewa and Wisconsin rivers, in the State of Wisconsin, and that these lands, when so restored, shall be subject to homestead entry only.

SEC. 2. That in all cases where any of the lands restored to the public domain by the first section of this act have heretofore been sold or disposed of by the proper officers of the United States under color of the public land laws, and the consideration received therefor is still retained by the Government, the title of the purchasers may be confirmed if in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior justice requires it; but all the lands by said first section restored shall at all times remain subject to the right of the United States to construct and maintain dams for the purpose of creating reservoirs in aid of navigation; and no claim or right to compensation shall accrue from the overflowing of said lands on account of the construction and maintenance of such dams and reservoirs.

SEC. 3. That no rights of any kind shall attach by reason of settlement or squatting upon any of the lands hereinbefore described before the day on which such lands shall be subject to homestead entry at the several land offices, and until said lands are opened for settlement no person shall enter upon and occupy the same, and any person violating

this provision shall never be permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire any title thereto. This act shall take effect six months after its approval by the President of the United States.

Approved, June 20, 1890. (26 Stat., 169.)

[No. 40.]

FORFEITED RAILROAD LANDS.

AN ACT to forfeit certain lands heretofore granted for the purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby forfeited to the United States, and the United States hereby resumes the title thereto, all lands heretofore granted to any State or to any corporation to aid in the construction of a railroad opposite to and coterminous with the portion of any such railroad not now completed and in operation, for the construction or benefit of which such lands were granted; and all such lands are declared to be a part of the public domain: Provided, That this act shall not be construed as forfeiting the right of way or station grounds of any railroad company heretofore granted.

SEC. 2. That all persons who, at the date of the passage of this act, are actual settlers in good faith on any of the lands hereby forfeited and are otherwise qualified, on making due claim on said lands under the homestead law within six months after the passage of this act, shall be entitled to a preference right to enter the same under the provisions of the homestead law and this act, and shall be regarded as such actual settlers from the date of actual settlement or occupation; and any person who has not heretofore had the benefit of the homestead or preemption law, or who has failed from any cause to perfect the title to a tract of land heretofore entered by him under either of said laws, may make a second homestead entry under the provisions of this act. The Secretary of the Interior shall make such rules as will secure to such actual settlers these rights.

SEC. 3. That in all cases where persons, being citizens of the United States or who have declared their intentions to become such, in accordance with the naturalization laws of the United States, are in possession of any of the lands affected by any such grant and hereby resumed by and restored to the United States, under deed, written contract with, or license from the State or corporation to which such grant was made, or its assignees, executed prior to January first, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, or where persons may have settled said lands with bona fide intent to secure title thereto by purchase from the State or corporation when earned by compliance with the conditions or requirements of the granting acts of Congress, they shall be entitled to purchase the same from the United States, in quantities not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres to any one such person, at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, at any time within two years from the passage of this act, and on making said payment to receive patents therefor, and where any such person in actual possession of any such lands and having improved the same prior to the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety, under deed, written contract, or