§ 466. § 467. § 468. § 469. § 470. Preliminary to Filing it must be Shown by Witnesses that the Land is Where the Land is Situated on the Borders of Streams or Lakes. Definition of Desert Lands. Localities to Which the Law Applies. § 461. How and Where These Lands may be Purchased.—The desert land law of March 3, 1877, is confined in its operation to the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and the territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Dakota. All lands, exclusive of timber and mineral lands, which will not without irrigation produce some agricultural crop, are deemed and held to be desert lands under this act. Only one entry can be made by any one person, and the maximum quantity which may be embraced therein is one section of 640 acres. A person desiring to avail himself of this law must be a citizen of the United States or must have declared his intention to become a citizen. He must first submit proof that the land is of a class which will not, without irrigation, produce any agricultural crop, and if it lies along streams or about bodies of water, that it will not produce hay without irrigation. He must also file his sworn statement setting forth his qualification under the statute, and his intention to reclaim the tract applied for by conducting water thereon, within three years from date of his declaration. If foreign born, he must produce the record evidence of his naturalization or of his having declared his intention to apply therefor, as the case may be. The land must be described in the declaration by legal subdivisions if surveyed, and if not surveyed, by reference to conspicuous landmarks or the established lines of survey. Thereupon, the entry will be allowed, the party paying twentyfive cents per acre, the register and receiver issuing their joint certificate, and within three years the applicant must produce satisfactory proof of having reclaimed the land applied for by conducting water thereon, after which he may perfect his entry by paying the additional sum of one dollar per acre. This proof of reclamation must consist of the testimony of at least two disinterested and credible witnesses, who must appear in person before the register and receiver of the proper district land office. The proof being found satisfactory and full payment made, the receiver issues his final receipt and the register his final certificate, on which the patent is issued. No assignments are recognized by the department under this law. § 462. Applicant must Show Right to Use of Water.—When a party enters under the desert land act land agricultural in character, and such entry is afterwards canceled on this ground, the purchase money can not be refunded, when the evidence at a hearing to ascertain the character of the land indicates fraud on the part of the claimant. Case of Thomas Gorman, 7 Copp's L. O., p. 8. Sections 16 and 36 may be embraced in the desert land entry, if the land is unsurveyed; but if the surveys have so far progressed as to indicate which are the school sections, they can not be embraced in such entry. 6 Copp's L. O., p. 76. The final certificate and patent in a desert land entry can not lawfully issue until after the public surveys have been extended over the land embraced therein. 6 Copp's L. O., p. 192. Upon final proof the applicant must show a right to the use of water for irrigation purposes, and how that right is derived. 7 Copp's L. O., p. 26. Proof that all the land has been cultivated is not necessary, but it must be shown that sufficient water has been brought upon the land to thoroughly irrigate it. Evidence that crops of hay, vegetables, and cereals have been raised is satisfactory proof of reclamation. 7 Copp's L. O., p. 105. § 463. What Declaration must Show.-By desert lands is meant a class of lands which will not, without irrigation, produce any agricultural crop. Land along streams and around bodies of water, which produces grass suitable for hay without artificial irrigation, is not desert land within the meaning of the law, and such lands are not subject to desert entry. Title to desert lands in any of the following states and territories may be acquired under the act of congress of March 3, 1877, viz.: the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and the territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Dakota. Any party desiring to avail himself thereof must file with the register and receiver of the proper district land office a declaration in form prescribed, which must be under oath, and may be executed before either the register or receiver, or the clerk of any court of record having a seal. It must be set forth that the applicant is a citizen of the United States, or that he has declared his intention to become such, in which case a duly certified copy of his declaration of intention to become a citizen must be presented and filed. It must also be set up that the applicant has made no other declaration for desert lands under the provisions of this act, and that he intends to reclaim the tract of land applied for, not exceeding one section, by conducting water thereon, within three years from the date of his declaration. The declaration must also contain a description of the land applied for, by legal subdivisions if surveyed, or if unsurveyed, as nearly as possible without a survey, by giving, with as much clearness and precision as possible, the locality of the tract with reference to known and conspicuous landmarks or the established lines of survey, so as to admit of its being thereafter readily identified when the lines of survey come to be extended. Circular, October 1, 1880. § 464. The Tract must be Compact in Form.-The law requires desert entries to be compact in form. The requirement of compactness will be held to be complied with on surveyed lands when a section, or part thereof, is described by legal subdivisions compact with each other, as nearly in the form of a technical section as the situation of the land and its relation to other lands will admit of, although parts of two or more sections be taken to make up the quantity or equivalent of one section. But entries which show upon their face an absolute departure from all reasonable requirements of compactness, and being merely contiguous by the joining of ends to each other, will not be admitted, whether on surveyed or on unsurveyed lands. Circular, October 1, 1880. § 465. On Unsurveyed Lands.-On unsurveyed lands the degree of compactness required will be such as, upon the adjustment of the lines after survey, will bring the land within the limits and general form of a technical section, or part thereof, as nearly as may be. In no case will the side lines be permitted to exceed one mile and a quarter, when the full quantity of six hundred and forty acres is entered. When the entry embraces a less quantity than a whole section, or its equivalent, the limit to the side lines will be proportionately decreased. Entries, whether by legal subdivisions on surveyed lands or of an irregular form on unsurveyed lands, running along the margins or including both sides of streams, and not being compact in any true sense, will not be permitted. Circular, October 1, 1880. § 466. Preliminary to Filing, It must be Shown by Witnesses that the Land is Desert Land.-As preliminary to the filing of the declaration, it must be satisfactorily shown that the land therein described is desert land, as defined in the second section of the act. To this end the testimony of at least two disinterested and credible witnesses is required, whose testimony will be reduced to writing in the usual manner; or the evidence may be furnished in the form of affidavits executed before the clerk of any court of record having a seal, the credibility of the witnesses to be certified by said clerk. The witnesses must clearly state their acquaintance with the premises, and the facts as to the condition and situation of the land upon which they base their judgment. A form of affidavit, to be sworn to and subscribed by each witness, is attached. Circular, October 1, 1880. § 467. Where the Land is Situated on the Borders of Streams or Lakes. Where the land is situated on the borders of streams or lakes, evidence will also be required that the land in its natural state is not productive of hay. After proof has been made to the satisfaction of the district officers, the receiver will receive from the applicant the sum of twenty-five cents per acre for the land applied for, the register will receive and file his declaration, and they will jointly issue, in duplicate, a certificate in the form attached. One of these duplicates will be delivered to the applicant; the other will be retained by the register and receiver, with the declaration and proof. They will bear a number according to the order in which the certificate was issued. The register will keep a record of the certificates issued, showing the number, date, amount paid, name of applicant, and description of the land applied for in each case, and in addition, he will note the same upon his plats and records, as in cases of ordinary entry. At the end of each month he will; with his regular returns, forward to this office an abstract of the declarations filed and certificates issued under this act during the month, accompanying same with the declarations and proofs filed and the retained copy of certificate in each case. The receiver will also account for the money received under this act, in the usual form. At any time within three years after the date of filing the declaration and the issue of certificate, the proper party may make satisfactory proof of having conducted water upon the land applied for. This proof must consist of the testimony of at least two disinterested and credible witnesses, who must appear in person before the register and receiver. They must declare that they have personal knowledge of the condition of the land applied for, and of the facts to which they testify; and their testimony must be reduced to writing in the usual manner. The party must also present and surrender the duplicate certificate issued when the declaration was filed. When this is done, and the final proof made to the satisfaction of the district officers, the receiver will receive the additional payment of one dollar per acre, receipt therefor in duplicate, and give the party a duplicate receipt. The register will also issue a final certificate of purchase. They will give to these final certificates and receipts a special series of numbers, and will make separate abstracts of same at the end of each month, sending up therewith the final certificates, receipts, and proofs. In cases where declarations shall be filed under this act for unsurveyed lands, the register and receiver will immediately forward copies of the declarations to the surveyor general, in order that the proper surveys may be made. The claimants will be required to take their claims by legal subdivisions when |