to be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to examine all the unconfirmed claims to land in that state, heretofore filed in the office of the said recorder, according to law, founded upon any incomplete grant, concession, warrant, or order of survey, issued by the authority of France or Spain, prior to the tenth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and four;Claims to be classed, &c. and to class the same so as to show, first, what claims, in their opinion, would in fact have been confirmed, according to the laws, usages, and customs of the Spanish government, and the practice of the Spanish authorities under them, at New Orleans, if the government under which said claims originated had continued in Missouri; and secondly what claims, in their opinion, are destitute of merit, in law or equity, under such laws, usages, customs, and practice of the Spanish authorities aforesaid; and shall also assign their reasons for the opinions so to be given. And in examining and classing such claims, the recorder and commissioners shall take into consideration, as well the testimony heretofore taken by the boards of commissioners and recorder of land titles upon those claims, as such other testimony as may be admissible under the rules heretofore existing for taking such testimony before said board and recorder:Time for taking testimony. and all such testimony shall be taken within twelve months after the passage of this act.
Office of recorder to remain open for two years.
Recorder, &c., to proceed, &c.
A report of claims to be laid before commissioner, and presented to Congress.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the office of the recorder shall be open for the purpose of such examination for the term of two years from the date of the organization of the board of commissioners and no longer; and the recorder and commissioners shall proceed in the examination in a summary manner, with or without any new application of
Congress on the subject of confirming titles to lands in Missouri, &c., and the general understanding and usage of Louisiana and Missouri, capable of being perfected into a complete title. It is property, capable of being alienated, of being subjected to debts: and is, as such, to be held as sacred and inviolate as other property. Ibid.
A concession of one league square of land, in Upper Louisiana, was made by Don Zenon Trudeau, the lieutenant-governor of that province, to Auguste Chouteau, and a decree made by him directing the surveyor-general of the province to put him in possession of the land, and to survey the same, in order to enable Chouteau to solicit a complete title thereto from the governor-general, who by the said decree was informed that the circumstances of Chouteau were such as entitled him to a grant of the land. The land was surveyed, and the grantee put in full possession of it on the 20th of December, 1803. He retained possession of it until his death. The objection to the validity of the concession was, that the petitioner had not as many tame cattle as the eighth regulation of governor O’Reilly, governor-general of Louisiana, required. That regulation required that the applicant for a grant of a league square of land should make it appear that he is possessed of one hundred head of tame cattle, some horses and sheep, and two slaves to look after them, a proportion which shall always be observed for the grants, &c. By the Court—In the spirit of the decisions which have been heretofore made by the Supreme Court, and of the acts of confirmation passed by Congress, the fact that the applicant possessed the requisite amount of property to entitle him to the land he solicited, was submitted to the officer who decided on the application; and he is not bound to prove it to the court, which passes on the validity of the grant. These incomplete titles were transferable, and the assignee might not possess the means of proving the exact number of cattle in possession of the petitioner when the concession was made. The grant was confirmed. Ibid. 147.If the court can trust the information received on this subject, neither the governor nor the intendant-general has ever refused to perfect an incomplete title granted by a deputy-governor or a sub-delegate.The regulation made by Don O’Reilly, as to the quantity of land to be granted to an individual, is not that no individual shall receive grants for more than one league square, but that no grant shall exceed a league square. The words of the regulation do not forbid different grants to the same person, and, so far as the court are informed, it has never been so construed. Ibid.Under the act of February 17, 1815, ch. 45, a New Madrid certificate could be located upon lands before they were offered for sale under a proclamation of the President, or even surveyed by the public surveyor. Barry v. Gamble, 3 Howard, 32.The act of April 26, 1822, ch. 40, recognised locations of this kind, although they disregarded the sectional lines by which the surveys were afterwards made. Ibid.Under the acts of 1805, 1806, and 1807, it was necessary to file the evidence of an incomplete claim under French and Spanish authority, which bore date anterior to 1800, as well as those which were dated subsequent to that day; and in case of neglect, the bar provided applied to both of these classes. Ibid.A title, resting on a permit and warrant of survey, dated before the 1st of October, 1800, without any settlement or survey having been made, was an incomplete title, and within those acts. Ibid.And although the acts of 1824 and 1828 remove the bar as it respected the United States, yet having excepted such lands as have been sold, or otherwise disposed of by the United States, and saved the right or title of adverse claimants, these acts protected a New Madrid claim, which had been located while this bar continued. Ibid.