for the construction of ditches and canals for the purposes herein specified is acknowledged and confirmed; but whenever any person, in the construction of any ditch or canal, injures or damages the possession of any settler on the public domain, the party committing such injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such injury or damage. Act of Congress of July 26, 1866. See secs. 3123, 3149, 3182; Ennor v. Raine, 27 Nev. 178.

Cited, Jones v. Adams, 19 Nev. 81, 85.

NOTE-This subject is covered with notes and cases in the general subject of "Waters," Fed. Stats. Anntd., vol. 7, title, Waters, pp. 1090-1101.

See, also, Fed. Stats. Anntd., vol. 10, titie, Waters, pp. 433-435.

See, also, Cent. Dig., vol. 48, title, Waters, and annuals under same title.

See Lindley on Mines, 2d ed., sec. 530.

2402. Patents, preemptions, and homesteads subject to vested and accrued water rights.

SEC. 2340. All patents granted, or preemption or homesteads allowed, shall be subject to any vested and accrued water rights, or rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water rights, as may have been acquired under or recognized by the preceding section.

NOTE-This subject is covered with notes and cases in the general subject of "Waters," in Fed. Stats. Anntd., vol. 7, pp. 1090-1101, and vol. 10, pp. 432-435.

See, also, "Waters," Cent. Dig., vol. 48, and annuals under same title.

Snyder V. Colorado Gold Dredging Co. (C. C. A), 181 Fed. 62.

See Lindley on Mines, 2d ed., sec. 531. Water rights and ditch rights acquired on public lands held not affected by disposition of the lands under the public land laws. 2403. Mineral lands on which no valuable mines are discovered open to homesteads.

SEC. 2341. Wherever, upon the lands heretofore designated as mineral lands, which have been excluded from survey and sale, there have been homesteads made by citizens of the United States, or persons who have declared their intention to become citizens, which homesteads have been made, improved, and used for agricultural purposes, and upon which there have been no valuable mines of gold, silver, cinnabar, or copper discovered, and which are properly agricultural lands, the settlers or owners of such homesteads shall have a right of preemption thereto, and shall be entitled to purchase the same at the price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and in quantity not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres; or they may avail themselves of the provisions of chapter 5 of this title, relating to" Homesteads." See Lindley on Mines, 2d ed., secs. 107, 202 212, 717.

2404. When lands may be set apart as agricultural lands.

SEC. 2342. Upon the survey of the lands described in the preceding section, the secretary of the interior may designate and set apart such portions of the same as are clearly agricultural lands, which lands shall thereafter be subject to preemption and sale as other public lands, and be subject to all the laws and regulations applicable to the same.

2405. Additional land districts and officers-Power of president to provide. SEC. 2343. The president is authorized to establish additional land districts, and to appoint the necessary officers under existing laws, wherever he may deem the same necessary for the public convenience in executing the provisions of this chapter.

2406. Provisions of this chapter not to affect acquired rights or Sutro Tunnel.

SEC. 2344. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to impair, in any way, rights or interests in mining property acquired under existing laws; nor to affect the provisions of the act entitled "An act granting to

A. Sutro the right of way and other privileges to aid in the construction of a draining and exploring tunnel to the Comstock lode, in the State of Nevada," approved July twenty-five, eighteen hundred and sixty-six.

The statute construed. Lee v. Stahl, 9 Colo. 208, 11 P. 77; same case, 13 Colo. 174, 22 P. 463; Cranes Gulch M. Co. v. Sherrer, 134 Cal. 350; Lee Doon v. Tesh, 68 Cal. 49; see Lindley on Mines, 2d ed., secs. 53, 64; Fed. Stats. Anntd., vol. 5, pp. 53, 54.

2407. Grant of lands to states or corporations not to include mineral lands.

SEC. 2346. No act passed at the first session of the thirty-eighth Congress, granting lands to states or corporations to aid in the construction of roads or for other purposes, or to extend the time of grants made prior to the thirtieth day of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, shall be so construed as to embrace mineral lands, which in all cases are reserved exclusively to the United States, unless otherwise specially provided in the act or acts making the grant.

See sec. 2457.

Statute construed. Barden v. U. P. R. R. Co., 154 U. S. 312; Chicago Quartz M. Co. v. Oliver, 75 Cal. 194. See Fed. Stats. Anntd., vol. 5, p. 55, cases and notes.

2408. Entry of coal lands.

COAL-LAND LAWS

SEC. 2437. Every person above the age of twenty-one years, who is a citizen of the United States, or who has declared his intention to become such, or any association of persons severally qualified as above, shall, upon application to the register of the proper land office, have the right to enter, by legal subdivisions, any quantity of vacant coal lands of the United States not otherwise appropriated or reserved by competent authority not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to such individual person, or three hundred and twenty acres to such association, upon payment to the receiver of not less than ten dollars per acre for such lands where the same shall be situated more than fifteen miles from any completed railroad, and not less than twenty dollars per acre for such lands as shall be within fifteen miles of such road.

Under Rev. Stats. sec. 2347 (U. S. Comp. Stats. 1901, p. 1440), persons cannot lawfully associate themselves together to enter coal lands in severalty in tracts of 160 acres

each, to be held for the joint benefit of all. United States v. Portland Coal and Coke Co. (C. C.), 173 Fed. 566.

2409. Persons in possession making improvements have preference of

entry.

SEC. 2348. Any person or association of persons severally qualified, as above provided, who have opened and improved, or shall hereafter open and improve, any coal mine or mines upon the public lands, and shall be in actual possession of the same, shall be entitled to a preference right of entry, under the preceding section, of the mines so opened and improved; provided, that when any association of not less than four persons, severally qualified as above provided, shall have expended not less than five thousand dollars in working and improving any such mine or mines, such association may enter not exceeding six hundred and forty acres, including such mining improvements.

2410. Time for filing claims.

SEC. 2349. All claims under the preceding section must be presented to the register of the proper land district within sixty days after the date of actual possession and the commencement of improvements on the land, by the filing of a declaratory statement therefor; but when the township plat is not on file at the date of such improvement, filing must be made within

sixty days from the receipt of such plat at the district office; and where the improvements shall have been made prior to the expiration of three months from the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, sixty days from the expiration of such three months shall be allowed for the filing of a declaratory statement, and no sale under the provisions of this section shall be allowed until the expiration of six months from the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-three.

2411. Only one entry allowed-Time for proof and payment.

SEC. 2350. The three preceding sections shall be held to authorize only one entry by the same person or association of persons; and no association of persons any member of which shall have taken the benefit of such sections, either as an individual or as a member of any other association, shall enter or hold any other lands under the provisions thereof; and no member of any association which shall have taken the benefit of such sections shall enter or hold any other lands under their provisions; and all persons claiming under section 2348 shall be required to prove their respective rights and pay for the lands filed upon within one year from the time prescribed for filing their respective claims; and upon failure to file the proper notice, or to pay for the land within the required period, the same shall be subject to entry by any other qualified applicant.

2412. Conflicting claim-Preference-Commissioner may make rules.

SEC. 2351. In case of conflicting claims upon coal lands where the improvements shall be commenced, after the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, priority of possession and improvement, followed by proper filing and continued good faith, shall determine the preference right to purchase, And also where improvements have already been made prior to the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, division of the land claimed may be made by legal subdivisions, to include as near as may be, the valuable improvements of the respective parties. The commissioner of the general land office is authorized to issue all needful rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this and the four preceding sections.

2413. Prior rights not impaired-Mines of gold, silver or copper excluded. SEC. 2352. Nothing in the five preceding sections shall be construed to destroy or impair any rights which may have attached prior to the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, or to authorize the sale of lands valuable for mines of gold, silver, or copper.

Cases construing coal laws: Wash v. Hastings, 20 Colo. 243, 38 P. 324; Johnson v. Harrington, 5 Wash. 73, 31 P. 316; Lipcomb v. Nichols, 6 Colo. 290; U. S. v. Trinidad Coal Co., 137 U. S. 160; Colo. Coal Co.

v. United States, 123 U. S. 307; Durango Land Co. v. Evans, 80 Fed. 425; 80 Fed. 433. See Fed. Stats. Anntd., vol. 5, pp. 55-57, notes and cases; Cent. Dig., vol. 34, title, Mines and Minerals, sec. 87.

ACTS OF CONGRESS PASSED SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVISED STATUTES, AND APPLICABLE TO THE STATE OF NEVADA

An Act authorizing the citizens of Colorado, Nevada, and the territories to fell and remove timber on the public domain for mining and domestic purposes.

Approved June 3, 1878, 20 Stat. L. 88

2414. Timber may be felled, subject to regulations of secretary of interior. All citizens of the United States and other persons, bona fide residents of the State of Colorado, or Nevada, or either of the Territories of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Dakota, Idaho, or Montana, and all other mineral districts of the United States, shall be, and are hereby authorized and permitted to fell and remove, for building, agricultural, mining, or other domestic

purposes, any timber or other trees growing or being on the public lands, said lands being mineral, and not subject to entry under existing laws of the United States, except for mineral entry, in either of said states, territories, or districts of which such citizens or persons may be at the time bona fide residents, subject to such rules and regulations as the secretary of the interior may prescribe for the protection of the timber and of the undergrowth growing upon such lands, and for other purposes; provided, the provisions of this act shall not extend to railroad corporations.

2415. Register and receiver to ascertain if timber is being cut for unauthorized purposes.

SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the register and the receiver of any local land office in whose district any mineral land may be situated to ascertain from time to time whether any timber is being cut or used upon any such lands, except for the purposes authorized by this act, within their respective land districts; and if so, they shall immediately notify the commissioner of the general land office of that fact; and all necessary expenses incurred in making such proper examinations shall be paid and allowed such register and receiver in making up their next quarterly accounts.

2416. Penalty for violation.

SEC. 3. Any person or persons who shall violate the provisions of this act, or any rules and regulations in pursuance thereof made by the secretary of the interior, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and to which may be added imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months.

An Act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and for other purposes.

Approved August 30, 1890, 26, Stat. L. 371

2417. Entry under all land laws restricted to 320 acres-Reservations in patents for right of way for ditches and canals.

No person who shall after the passage of this act, enter upon any of the public lands with a view to occupation, entry, or settlement under any of the land laws shall be permitted to acquire title to more than three hundred and twenty acres in the aggregate, under all of said laws, but this limitation shall not operate to curtail the right of any person who has heretofore made entry or settlement on the public lands, or whose occupation, entry or settlement, is validated by this act; provided, that in all patents for lands hereafter taken up under any of the land laws of the United States or on entries or claims validated by this act west of the one hundredth meridian it shall be expressed that there is reserved from the lands in said patent described a right of way thereon for ditches or canals constructed by the authority of the United States.

Modified by sec. 2419, so as to allow the acquiring of mines in addition to 320 acres of other land.

An Act to repeal the timber-culture laws, and for other purposes.

Approved March 3, 1891, 26 Stat. L. 1095

2418. Townsites on mineral lands authorized-Possessors of veins protected.

SEC. 16. That townsite entries may be made by incorporated towns and cities on the mineral lands of the United States, but no title shall be acquired by such towns or cities to any vein of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or lead,

or to any valid mining claim or possession held under existing law. When mineral veins are possessed within the limits of an incorporated town or city, and such possession is recognized by local authority or by the laws of the United States, the title to town lots shall be subject to such recognized possession and the necessary use thereof, and when entry has been made or patent issued for such townsites to such incorporated town or city, the possessor of such mineral vein may enter and receive patent for such mineral vein, and the surface ground appertaining thereto; provided, that no entry shall be made by such mineral-vein claimant for surface ground where the owner or occupier of the surface ground shall have had possession of the same before the inception of the title of the mineral-vein applicant.

Regarding townsites on mineral lands and exemption of veins, see secs. 1960, 1965 and 1978, note.

2419. Lands entered under the mineral laws not included in restriction to 320 acres.

SEC. 17. That reservoir sites located or selected and to be located and selected under the provisions of "An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and for other purposes," and amendments thereto, shall be restricted to and shall contain only so much land as is actually necessary for the construction and maintenance of reservoirs, excluding so far as practicable lands occupied by actual settlers at the date of the location of said reservoirs, and that the provisions of "An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and for other purposes," which reads as follows, viz: "No person who shall after the passage of this act enter upon any of the public lands with a view to occupation, entry, or settlement under any of the land laws shall be permitted to acquire title to more than three hundred and twenty acres in the aggregate under all said laws," shall be construed to include in the maximum amount of lands the title to which is permitted to be acquired by one person only agricultural lands and not include lands entered or sought to be entered under mineral land laws.

See Cent. Dig., vol. 41, title, Public Lands, B-11, sec. 85, and subsequent annuals under same title.

An Act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninetyeight, and for other purposes.

Approved June, 4, 1897, 30 Stat. L. 34, 35, 36

2420. Forest reservations, when to be established-Valuable mineral lands not to be included-Use of timber and stone by settlers and miners-Egress and ingress of settlers within reservations-Restoration of mineral or agricultural lands to public domain.

All public lands heretofore designated and reserved by the president of the United States under the provisions of the act approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, the orders for which shall be and remain in full force and effect, unsuspended and unrevoked, and all public lands that may hereafter be set aside and reserved as public forest reserves under said act, shall be as far as practicable controlled and administered in accordance with the following provisions:

No public forest reservation shall be established, except to improve and protect the forest within the reservation, or for the purpose of securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber for the use and necessities of citizens of the United States; but it is