Newspaper Page Text
Imperial Valley Press.
VOL. VI
SUGGESTIONS TO
HOMESTEADERS
Valuable Circular Issued by the 11. S.
Land Office. Many Points of
Importance to Public Land
Claimants Discussed
A very Interesting subject to settlers
on public lands, and those who con
template making such settlement, Is
the public land laws. And. fortunately
for everyone, there are no technicali
ties or obscure provisions In the land
laws, but all are plain and easy of com
prehension. It has long been the
practice of the government officials to
Issue circulars and pamphlets from
time to time, still further elucidating
the land laws. These, publications
are sent free to all who ask for them
and any Information that an Interested
party asks Is always freely given by
the land office officials.
One of- the most recent circulars to
be issued is entitled: "Suggestions to
Homesteaders and Persons Desiring
to Make Homestead Entries," and is
dated August 4. 1906. It is sent free
upon request by either the General
Land Office. Washington, D. C, or
the Register of the U. S. Land Office
at Los Angeles, Cal.
An examination of th is circular dis
closes the fact that there , is a great
deal of misinformation abroad concern-
Ing the subject of which it treats. To
begin with, the filing of a homestead
and the affidavit the entryman Is re
quired to make. It is generally sup
posed that if the land shows to be va
cant en th"c Land Office records, it
can be filed on by the first qualified
applicant. That this is not the case,
but that the applicant must have per
sonal knowledge of the land is shown
by the following excerpt from said
circular:
"Persons desiring to make
homestead entries should first in
form themselves as to the charac
ter and quality of the lands they
desire to enter, and should in no
case apply to enter until they have
visited and fully examined each
legal subdivision for which they
make application^ as satisfactory
Information as to the character
and occupancy of public lands can
not be obtained In any other way.
As each applicant is required to
swear that he Is well acquainted
with the character of the land de
scribed In his application, and as
all entries are made subject to the
rights of prior settlers, the appli
cant can not make the affidavit
f that he is acquainted with the
character of the land, or to be
sure that the land Is not already
appropriated by a settler, until
after he has actually inspected It."
The methods of Initiating homestead
entries are given in the circular In full
and they are somewhat different from
the generally accepted idea of the way
In which it is done.;-' The following
gives some 61 thio 'most commonly
used methods/, >'H-;
••Clalms'i|nder; homestead laws
laws may ? be initiated either by
settlement on surveyed or unsur
yeyed lands,, qr by the filing of a
soldier's declaratory
statement, ori by •' the presentation
of anappl!cation,to enter any sur
veyed lands. |
'•Settlements may be made
under the laws by all persons
qualified to "make either an origi
nal or a* second homestead entry
and in order to make settlement
EL 6ENTRO. CALIFORNIA. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27 1906
the settler must personally go up
on ar.d Improve or establish resl
l dence on the land he desires.
By making settlement In this
way, the settler gains an exclusive
right to enter the lands settled up
on as against all other persons,
but not as against the Government
should the lands be withdrawn by
It for other purposes.
"A settlement made on. any
; part of a surveyed technical quar
, ter section gives the settler the
right to enter all of that quarter
I section which Is then subject to
settlement, although he may not
place Improvements on each 40
, acre subdivision; but If the settler
desires to Initiate a claim to sur
veyed tracts which form a part of
; more than one technical quarter
, section he should perform sojne
I act of settlement — that Is, make
some Improvement — on each of
' the smallest legal subdivisions de
sired. When settlement is made
, on unsurveyed lands, the settler
, , must plainly mark the boundaries
of all the lands claimed by him.
; "Settlement must be made :
I by the settler in person and
can not be made by his agent, and
, each settler must, within a reason
able time after making his settle
ment, establish and thereafter
.continuously maintain an actual
residence on the, land, and if he,
\ or his heirs or devisees, fa!l to do
I this, or if he, or his heirs or de
visees, fail to make entry wltnln
three months from the time he
first settles on surveyed lands, or
within three months from the fil
ing In the local land office of the
plat of the survey of nnsurveyed
lands on which he made settle
ment, the exclusive right of mak
ing entry of the lands settled on
will be lost and the lands will be
come subject to entry by the first
qualified applicant."
As to who may make homestead
entry, there is quite a lot that can be
said and It is easier summed up by
stating who cannot make them than to
recite who can. However, as there
are quite a variety of cases wherein
those otherwise disqualified become
entitled to make entries, that plan of
enumeration is not altogether certain.
Briefly stated, all male or unmarried
female citizens of the United States,
over the age of 21 years, can make
homestead entries, provided they don't
already own or claim 160 acres of
land, and have not previously had the
benefit of the homestead law. The\
homestead entryman, or the settler
upon public lands who has not yet
made an entry, acquireMrights In the
land entered or settled upon, which de
scend to his widow or heirs, and in
like manner the unmarried woman
who makes settlement upon public
land, acquires the right to take a
homestead and prove up on it even
though she mar r/ before making entry
of the land.
These are only a few of the ways In
which the government has recognized
the rlghts\of the settler and entryman
on the public lands. But while Uncle
Sam Is as generous as can be In this
.respect, It must not be inferred that the
homestead law Is merely a subterfuge
by which the government alms to give
everyone 160 acres of land. There Is
a widespread Idea that very little. If
any, actual residence and Improvement
Is needed to acquire title to a home
stead; that any old kind of a shack
will do for a house, and that all the
claimant needs to do, if a single man,
is to visit the land once In six months
AND THE IMPERIAL PRBSS
and spend a night there; that no Im
provement or cultivation Is required,
and that In the case of men with fami
lies, the home can be maintained any
where just so the family visit the
homestead once or twice In the five
years. So deeply rooted is ihls Idea
that many people quote It as the law,
and regard their claims as Invulnerable
If they have followed out the above
program. The circular above men
tioned has this to say regarding the
matter:
••The residence and cultivation
required by the homestead law
means a continuous malntenace
of an actual home on the land
entered to the exclusion of a home
elsewhere, and continuous annual
cultivation of some portion of the
land. A mere temporary sojourrf
on the land, followed by occasion
al visits to it once In six months
or oftoner, will not satisfy the re
quirements of the homestead law,
and may result in the cancellation
of the entry.
1 No specified amount of either
cultivation or improvements is re
quired, but there must in all cases
be such continuous improvement
and suctf actual cultivation as will
show the good faith of the entry
man. Lands covered by home
stead entry may be used for graz
ing purposes if they are more
valuable for pasture than for cul
' tivatlon to crops. When lands of
this character are used in good
faith fof pasturage, actual grazing
will be occepted in lieu of actual
cultivation. The fact that lands
covered by homestead entries are .
of such a character that they can
not be profitable cultivated or pas
tured will not be accepted as an
excuse for failure to either culti
vate of graze them.
"Actual residence on the lands
entered must begin six months
from the date of all homestead
entries,, and residence with Im
provements and annual cultivation -
must continue until the entry Is
five years old, except In cases
hereafter mentioned, but all entry
men who actually resided upon and
cultivated lands entered by them
prior to making such entries may
make final proof at any time af
ter entry when they can show five
years residence and cultivation."
• The cases referred to above con
cerning instances where final poof can
be made in less than five years, In
clude soldiers' and sailors' homesteads
and commuted homestead proofs.
From the above it can be seen that
Uncle Sam intends that homesteads
shall be resided upon and cultivated.
But to show that it Is not the Intention
to be too hard on the homesteader,
there are a number of circumstances
under which he can make a second
hemestead entry. The following are
the conditions.
"Second homestead entries for
a quarter section or a 1a 1 smaller
i legal subdivision of public lands
may be made, under statutes spe
cifically authorizing such entries
by the following classes of persons
if they are otherwise qualified to
make entry:
"(a) By a former entryman
who commuted his entry prior to
June 5. 1900.
•*(b) By homestead entryman
who. prior to May 17, 1900, paid
for lands to which they would
have beeu afterwards entitled to
receive a patent without payment
under the "Free homes act."
(c) By any homesteader who
forfeited his original entry prior
to April 28, 1904, for the reason
that he was unable to perfect It
because of some unavoidable
complication In his business or
personal affairs, or because he
honestly mistaken In the character
of the lands; but no such entry
man Is entitled to make a second
entry If he relinquished his origi
nal entry for a consideration.
(d) Any person who has already
made final proof for less than one
hundred and sixty acres under the
homestead laws may. If he Is
otherwise qualified, make a sec
ond or additional homestead en
try for such an amount of public
lands as will, when added to the
land for which he has already
made proof, not exceed In the
aggregate 160 acres.
(c) Persons whose original en
tries have failed through no fault
of their own may, under certain
circumstances, be permitted to.
make second entries, If they have
not relinquished their original en
tries for a consideration, although
there is no speclfed statute which
authorizes the making of second
entries under such circumstances.
There are not many conditions
under which second entries of this
kind can be made, and any per
son who feels that he is entitled
to make such an entry can only
have that question determined by
presenting an application to enter
specified lands, and accompany
that application by a corroborated
affidavit fully setting forth the
grounds on which he claims that
privilege."
it is apparent from the quotations
made from the circular to which we
have referred that there are a number
of points concerning the homestead
law, and especially In reference to
the residence and cultivation required,
that are seriously misconstrued by the
general public. These are important
WHERE MORE THAN
S3 5 0,0 0 0
IS BEING SPENT
The town of El Centro was started in the fall of
1 905 and is now about 1 1 months old. It Is located In
the center of the best part of the Imperial Valley, and Is
destined to become the metropolis.
The following improvements now completed, or
under way, make a record to be proud of:
Ice and Cold Storage Plant (Burned) $75,000
Ice and Cold Storage Plant (Brick) 75,000
Hotel El Centro (Brick) - - 30,000
Transformer Station and Power Lines x 20,000
Opera House Block (Brick) - 40,000
Cement Sidewalks - - 10,000
Water Works System - - 10,000
Electric Light Plant for El Centro 5,000
S. P. R. R. Depot and Stock Yards 1 1 ,000
Holt Block (5 brick stores) - 1 5,000
Machine Shop and Equipment 2,500
Blacksmith Shop ,'- - 900
Hotel Franklin - - 5,000
Hardware Store - - 2,000
El Centro Cantaloupe Association
Packing House 2.000
Creamery - 6,000
Peterson Building (Brick) v . n ,,#s% 1,200
Fuller's Residence 4 M 1,500
Three Cottages -V : ieß 3,000
El Centro Land Cos Office Up g4 800
Blinn Lumber Co. Yards 2,500
Fuller fcAten's Office - ] fil 600
Grading Streets, Etc. - m §|S| 1,000
30 Cottages - -' 30,000
Total - 'M $350,000
For Information regarding EL Centro -''and the Im-
perial Valley, and Us opportunities, address 5
D. H. CHAF»LIM
GENERAL AGENT EL CENTRO LAND CO.
EL CENTRO. CALIFORNIA
matters, especially to those Interested,
and we would urge everyone who r»as at .
homestead, or thinks of taklnp me, to<
write to the Register of the U. 5...
Land Office for a copy of that circular*
It Is entitled "Suggestions to home
steaders, and persons desiring tc rrake
homestead entries." There te a fund*
of Information in the little book and alh
of It Is valuable to public land*
claimants.
Mr. Fromme, the master mechanic:
of the Holton Power Co., has com
pleted fitting up the machine shops for
that company and has already ..done a<
great deal of work In repairing and fix
ing up machinery that was damaged)
by fire when the ice plant burned. H*
now has the most complete and besl;
equipped machine shop In the valley/
and Is prepared to do all kinds of work
in that line. 'He has just employed at
first-class blacksmith and is now abla
to take care of any kind of repairing^
and iron work.
As an instance showing the superioft
facillties possessed by this shop, we
wlll'state that Mr. Slaughter's thresh
ing machine broke down, and he was
unable to get It repaired at any other
shop In the valley, and but fov the ex
cellent equipment of this shop, would
have been compelled to lay off for sev
eral weeks while he sent to the factory
for repairs. But he brought hls^ma— >
chlnery to El Centro and Mr. Fromnm
quickly repaired It and sent him on hte
way rejoicing.
W. T. Bill, president of the El Cen
tro Land Co., spent several clays' tn>
town this week preparing for the build-
ing campaign which his company wlll>
inaugurate In the near future. Jn fact;
it can be said that it has already be
gun'; for W. E. Downing j has already
let the contract for the construction of ;i
a five room cottage on Brighton street^
near Fifth, and work will begin upon &■..
In a few days.
NO. 23"
