United States Statutes at Large/Volume 3/14th Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 62
Chap. LXII.—An Act to authorize the appointment of a surveyor for the lands in the northern part of the Mississippi territory, and the sale of certain lands therein described.
A surveyor of the lands in the United States to be appointed for that part of the Mississippi territory described; his duties, compensation, &c.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a surveyor of the lands of the United States in the Mississippi territory, lying an east and west line, to be drawn from the river Mississippi, through fort Williams, to the western boundary line of the state of Georgia, shall be appointed, whose duty it shall be to engage a sufficient number of skilful surveyors as his deputies, and to cause the lands above mentioned, which have not already been surveyed, and to which the Indian title has been extinguished, to be surveyed and divided in the manner provided by law for the surveying of the other public lands of the United States in the Mississippi territory, to do and perform all such acts in relation to the said lands, to transmit plats of survey in the manner, and to fix the compensation of the deputy surveyor, chain-carriers, and axe-men, under the same restrictions and limitations of expense in surveying, as is by law directed and provided for the regulation of the powers and duties of the surveyor of the lands south of the state of Tennessee, in relation to the other public lands in the Mississippi territory. And the said surveyor, appointed in pursuance of this act, shall be entitled to receive, for his services, one thousand five hundred dollars, as an annual compensation.
Lands to be attached to Madison district.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all the lands of the United States in the Mississippi territory, to which the Indian title has been extinguished, lying north of the aforesaid east and west line, and which has not heretofore been offered for sale, shall be attached to, and made a part of, the land district of Madison, in the said territory.
Lands attached to Madison district, with the exception of section No. 16, to be offered for sale, &c.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That all the lands, by this act attached to the district of Madison, after having been surveyed according to law, shall, with the exception of the section No. 16, in each township, which shall be reserved for the support of schools therein, and with the further exception of such sections, not exceeding ten in number, as the President shall designate, for the purpose of laying out and establishing towns thereon, be offered for sale to the highest bidder, under the direction of the register of the land office, and the receiver of public moneys, at the place where the land office is kept, and on such day, or days, as shall, by proclamation of the President of the United States, be designated for that purpose; the sales shall remain open two weeks, and no longer.Lands not to be sold for less than two dollars per acre.
Lands remaining unsold may be disposed of at private sale, &c. The lands shall not be sold for less than two dollars an acre, and shall in every other respect be sold in tracts of the same size, and on the same terms and conditions, as have been, or may be, provided for lands sold in the same district. All the lands offered for sale, and remaining unsold at the close of the said public sales, may be disposed of at private sale by the register of the land office, in the same manner for the same price, and on the same terms and conditions, are are, [or] may be, provided for the sale of other lands in the same district, and patents shall be granted in the same manner, and on the same terms, as for other lands in the said district.
Five dollars per day to the register and receiver.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the register and receiver of public moneys shall each receive five dollars, for each day’s attendance in directing the public sales, directed by this act.
The sections reserved to be laid off into lots, &c.
Plats, &c.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized to cause the sections, reserved as aforesaid, for establishing towns thereon, to be laid off into lots, under the direction of the surveyor appointed as aforesaid; and when the survey of the lots shall be completed, plats thereof shall be transmitted to the commissioner of the general land office, and the register of the land office, and the lots shall be offered, to the highest bidder, at public sale, on such day or days as the President shall, by his proclamation, designate for that purpose,To be sold on the same terms as other lands, except, &c.
Proviso; as to the price of each lot, &c. and shall be sold on the same terms and conditions, in every respect (except as to the quantity of land) as have or may be provided for the sale of the other public lands in the said district; Provided, That no lot shall be sold for a less price than at the rate of six dollars per acre; nor shall there be reserved for the purpose aforesaid, more than one section in any one township.
Approved, March 3, 1817.