the State of Minnesota to change the line of certain branch railroads in said State, and for other purposes, notwithstanding the vacation thereof by said State, as though said joint resolution had not passed, and also to the line adopted by said State, in lieu of the portion of the line so vacated.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the time mentioned in an act entitled "An act making a grant of lands to the State of Iowa, in alternate sections, to aid in the construction of certain railroads in said State," for the completion of the railroads named in said act, be, and the same is hereby, extended two years.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the last clause of the second section of an act entitled "An act to regulate the compensation of registers and receivers of the land offices in the several States and Territories in the location of lands by States and corporations under general grants from Congress, and for other purposes," be, and the same is hereby, so amended as to read: "A map of the change shall be filed with the Commissioner of the General Land Office within three months after the said change of location shall be made."*

Approved, March 3, 1865.

No. 130 B.-An Act supplemental to the act approved first July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, "for the disposal of coal lands and of town property in the public domain."t

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in the case of any citizen of the United States who, at the passage of this act, may be in the business of bona fide actual coal mining on the public lands, except on lands reserved by the President of the United States for public uses, for purposes of commerce, such citizen, upon making proof satisfactory to the register and receiver to that effect, shall have the right to enter, according to legal subdivisions, a quantity of land not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, to embrace his improvements and mining premises at the minimum price of twenty dollars per acre, fixed in the coal and town property act of first July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four: Provided, That where the mining improvements and premises are on land surveyed at the passage of this act, a sworn declaratory statement descriptive of the tract and premises, showing also the extent and character of the improvements, shall be filed within six months from the date of this act; and proof and payment shall be made within one year from the date of such filing; but where such mining premises may be on lands hereafter to be surveyed, such declaratory statement shall be filed within three months from the return to the district land office of the official township plat; and proof and payment shall be made within one year from the date of such filing.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That in the case of any city or town which, at the passage of this act, may be existing on the public lands, in which the lots therein may be variant as to size from the limitation fixed in the said act of first July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and in which the lots and buildings as municipal improvements shall cover an area † No. 108 B.

* No. 105 B.

greater than six hundred and forty acres, such variance as to size of lots or excess in area shall prove no bar to such city or town claim, under said act of first July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, effect to be given to this act according to such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That the minimum price of each said lots in any such town or city, which may contain a greater number of square feet that the maximum named in the act to which this is an amendment, shall be increased to such reasonable amount as the Secretary of the Interior may by rule establish: Provided further, That where mineral veins are possessed, which possession is recognized by local authority, and to the extent so possessed and recognized, the title to town lots to be acquired shall be subject to such recognized possession and the necessary use thereof: Provided, however, That nothing contained herein shall be so construed as to recognize any color of title in possessors for mining purposes as against the Government of the United States. Approved, March 3, 1865.

No. 131 B.-An Act to amend an act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act making a grant of alternate sections of public lands to the State of Michigan, to aid in the construction of certain railroads in said State, 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 one of an act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act making a grant of alternate sections of public lands to the State of Michigan, to aid in the construction of certain railroads in said State, and for other purposes,' which said amendatory act was approved June seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to make the last proviso in said section to read as follows, to wit: Provided further, That the time specified in the fourth section of the act hereby amended, for the completion of said road, shall be, and the same is hereby, extended eight years.

Approved, March 3, 1865.

No. 132 B.-An Act to authorize the issuing of patents for certain lands in the town of Stockbridge, State of Wisconsin, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, upon satisfactory proof being made that any occupant [s] of unpatented land in the town of Stockbridge, Calumet County, in the State of Wisconsin, which has, by treaty or otherwise, been allotted to any individual members of the Stockbridge or Munsee tribe of Indians, are the purchasers, grantees, or assignees of such members of said tribes, the President of the United States be authorized to issue patents for the land so occupied to such purchasers, grantees, or assignees, respectively: Provided, That in case of conflicting claims to any of the lots of land the Commissioner of the

* No. 89 B.

General Land Office is authorized to hear the proofs of the respective claimants, and to decide which of such claimants are justly entitled to said land, and patents shall be issued in accordance with such decision.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That patents issued according to this act shall vest in the patentee title to the land described in such patent, in fee simple, subject to any valid lien or incumbrance thereon created by said patentee or those under whom he claims.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the lots of land in said town of Stockbridge belonging to the United States, not herein before directed. to be patented, shall be attached to and form a part of the Menasha land district, and if, in the opinion of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, it shall be for the public interest, the same may be sold at the minimum price of three dollars per acre for lots fronting on Lake Winnebago, five dollars per acre for the two tiers of lots fronting on the military road, one tier of lots on each side thereof, and two dollars and fifty cents per acre for the residue of said land to actual settlers thereon possessing the qualifications requisite to acquire pre-emption rights, who shall prove to the satisfaction of the register of the land office at Menasha, Wisconsin, that he or she has made improvements to the value of not less than fifty dollars, and is actually residing upon the land; the time of paying the purchase price may be extended for a period not exceeding one year from the passage of this act: Provided, That no such actual settler shall be permitted to pre-empt more than two contiguous lots on which he or she has made improvements of the value of not less than one hundred dollars. The lands not sold within one year as herein before provided, shall be brought into market and sold at not less than the minimum prices fixed by this act.

Approved, March 3, 1865.

No. 133 B.-An Act for the relief of the occupants of the lands of the ex-mission of San José, in the State of California.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That every person who has the possession rightfully as against all others except the United States, or, being out of possession, is, as against all others except as aforesaid, entitled to the possession of any portion of the tract of land situate in the county of Almeda, State of California, known as the lands of the ex-mission of San José, as included in the map and survey thereof, made October, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, by E. H. Dyer, Deputy United States Surveyor, shall have the right, and the right is hereby granted to each and every such person, to enter and purchase of the United States, at the sum or price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, such portion of said tract so rightfully possessed by him, her, or them, or to which he, she, or they may so have such right of possession, whether such person claim the same by conveyance from or under Andres Pico and Juan B. Alvarado, or either of them, or by possession only: Provided, however, That any person entitled under this act to a parcel of less than eight acres shall in all such cases pay ten dollars for the same.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That every person claiming any benefit under this act shall, within one year from the passage thereof, present to the register and receiver of the United States Land Office at

San Francisco a survey or plat of the portion of said tract claimed by him, her, or them, and which shall exhibit the quarter section or sections, or parts thereof, included in said plat, made by or under the direction of the United States Surveyor-General for California, and therewith a written statement setting forth the right of such claimant to enter and purchase such portion under the provisions of this act, and whether the said claimant has acquired the alleged title of said Pico and Alvarado, or either of them thereto, or holds by possession only; and thereupon such register and receiver shall, under such rules as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, proceed and take, hear, and examine the evidence which may be offered in support of or against such claim, and, upon the proofs being closed, shall determine upon and decide the same: Provided, That no decision of said register and receiver shall be final until approved by the Commissioner of the General Land Office. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the claimant in whose favor final decision has been made, upon paying to the receiver of the land office at San Francisco for the land embraced in such final decision the sum therefor prescribed in the first section of this act, shall be entitled to a patent for such land from the United States, conveying all the interest of the United States therein to such claimant.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That upon all proceedings under this act being closed, and upon the appeal, taken to the Supreme Court of the United States by E. L. Beard and others, claimants of said lands against the United States, being dismissed, or the decree appealed from affirmed, the Surveyor-General of the United States for California shall cause the lines of the public surveys to be extended over all portions of said land which shall not have been disposed of under the provisions hereof, and thereafter the same shall be disposed of as in the case of other public lands.

Approved, March 3, 1865.

No. 134 B.—An Act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for the better organization of Indian affairs in California."*

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the sum of sixty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of enabling the Secretary of the Interior to pay the settlers in Hoopa Valley, California, for their improvements on the Indian reservation therein: Provided, That before the same or any part of the money hereby appropriated shall be paid, the said improvements shall be appraised by the superintendent of Indian affairs, the Indian agent at said reservation, and the Surveyor-General of California; and if, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, their appraisement shall be reasonable, and shall not in the aggregate exceed the sum herein appropriated, the said Secretary is hereby authorized to apply the same, or so much thereof as may be necessary, in payment for the said improvements, taking the proper releases therefor: And provided further, That the moneys hereby appropriated be reimbursed from the

* No. 77 B.

proceeds of the sales of Indian reservations in said State under the provisions of the act to provide for the better organization of Indian affairs in California, approved April eight, eighteen hundred and sixty-four. Approved, March 3, 1865.

No. 135 B.-An Act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending thirtieth June, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and for other purposes.

For the payment of awards made by the Secretary of the Interior, to be paid as damages growing out of the loss and destruction of improvements made upon the lands known as the Winnebago Reservation, in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, by the bona fide actual settlers thereon, under the pre-emption laws of the United States, before the same was selected and set apart as an Indian reservation, and which award was made pursuant to an act of Congress entitled "An act for the relief of pre-emptors on the home reservation of the Winnebagoes, in the Blue Earth region in the State of Minnesota," approved July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two,* and to be paid to the several parties named in the said award, seven thousand three hundred and two dollars and six cents.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That each of the chiefs, warriors, and heads of families of the Stockbridge Munsee tribes of Indians residing in the County of Shawana and State of Wisconsin, may, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, enter a homestead and become entitled to all the benefits of an act entitled "An act to secure homesteads to acutal settlers on the public domain," approved May twenty, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, free from any fee or charge whatever, and any part of the lands being a part of their present reservation, which may be abandoned under the foregoing provisions, may be sold under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and the proceeds applied for the benefit of such Indians as may settle on said homesteads, to aid them in improving the same. The said homestead thus secured shall not be subject to any tax, levy, or sale whatever, nor shall the same be sold, conveyed, mortgaged, or in any manner encumbered except upon the decree of the District Court of the United States, as hereinafter provided. Whenever any of said chiefs, warriors, or heads of families of said tribes, having filed with the clerk of the District Court of the United States a declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and to dissolve all relations with any Indian tribe, two years previous thereto, shall appear in said court, and prove to the satisfaction thereof, by the testimony of two citizens of the United States, that for five years last past he has adopted the habits of civilized life, that he has maintained himself and family by his own industry, that he reads and speaks the English language, that he is well disposed to become a peaceable and orderly citizen; and that he has sufficient capacity to manage his own affairs; the court may enter a decree admitting him to all the rights of a citizen of the United States, and thenceforth he shall be no longer held or treated as a member of any Indian tribe, but shall be entitled to all the rights

* No. 54 B.