Shore.
VOL. 8-No. 6. y2&S$Str. Portland, Oregon, Jane, 1882.
Entered t th
Pr Annnin. Illnil eopl
AO0. J TlSoU,
The
SPECIMEN NUMBER.
Any one receiving this copy ol The West
Shore will please consider it an invitation to be
come a regular subscriber. .
. COMPLETE FILES NOW READY.
Complete files of The West Shore from Jan
uary to June, inclusive, can be had, postage paid,
by remitting $1.00 to this office.-'.
r. ' :
j, THE UNITED STATES LAND LAWS.'
: COMPILED FOR THE WEST SHORE.
No country , in the world can for a
moment compare with our government
in its liberal provisions for acquiring
public lands. '
u To the foreigner it seems beyond be
lief that the United States should give
Way one ' hundred and sixty acres.
Yet such is the almost literal fact. By
a few years of intelligent industry,
laborers from other countries can under
our beneficent land laws acquire com
parative wealth, social privileges and
political honors. ,
1 The public lands of the great North
west offer to all in the middle or east
era states of native'and foreign rich
rewards, while the unfortunate in busi
ness and those burdened with debt can
start anew,' for the homestead laws ex
( pressly provide that "no lands acquired
under the provisions of this chapter
: (homestead) shall in any event become
liable to the satisfaction of any debt
.contracted prior to the issuing of the
I patent therefor."
... THE HOMESTEAD LAW.
I The maximum entry under this law
ia 160 acres. The land office fees and
commissions are nominal.
his or her actual residence in a house
j upon the land within six months from
' date of entry, and must reside upon the
land continuously. If the applicant is
I a single person, the actual residence
upon the land must be the same, and
I this must ; be continuous . during the
') period of time required by law, viz.:
Five years.
I The applicant must appear in person
I at the local land office, present his ap
i plication, and take the required oath.
In case, however, an applicant whose
! family or some member thereof is resid
ing upon the land which he desires to
enter, and upon which a bona fide im
provement and settlement have been
made, is prevented, by reason of dis.
tance, bodily infirmity, or other good
cause, from personal attendance at the
district land office, it may be lawful for
him to make the affidavit required by
aw before the clerk of the court for the
county in which the land is situated,
and to transmit the same, with the fee
and. commissions, to the register and
receiver. In such cases the affidavit
must state that the party, or some
member of his family, is residing upon
the land, and that a bona fide settlement
and improvement has been made there
on; it must also state the cause of, the
inability of the applicant to appear at
the local land office. In such cases the
applicant should understand that the
clerk of the court is, in no sense, an
officer of the Land Department. The
applicant attains no rights whatever
until the application is presented at the
local land office, accompanied by the
affidavit and the fees and commissions.
The final affidavit and proof, how
ever, may be made before the judge,
or, in his absence, before the clerk of
any court of record of the county and
State, or district and Territory, in which
the land is situated. This proof must
be transmitted, by the judge or the
clerk of his court, to the register , and
receiver, together with the tame fees
that said officers would have been en
titled to had the testimony been reduced
to writing by them.
A homestead settler may, after an
actual residence of six months and culti
vation and improvement of the land
make proof and payment for the iame.
and this action will not affect his rights
as a pre-emptor, except that he cannot
move from said tract and settle upon
other public land in the same State or
Territory and claim the same under the
nre-emption law.
An honorably discharged Union sol
dier, or sailor, who served 90 days or
mnn in the rebellion, is entitled to
deduct from the five years residence the
;me he was in service, not to exceed four
years. In case of the death of the soldier
or sailor, ma wtuuwi uuuwwt m
be entitled to all the privileges of the
soldier. Each soldier or soldier's widow
must reside upon the land at least one
year before he or she can nuke final
proof and obtain a patent.
Incase of the death or marriage of
the widow, the minor children of the
soldier, by a guardian duly appointed
and officially accredited at the Depart
ment of the Interior, may be entitled to
1 the privileges to which the father
would have been entitled. In such
cases, however, neither the guardian
nor the minor children are required to
reside upon the land entered, but the
same must be cultivated and improved
for the period of time during which the
father would have been required to re
side upon the tract. Soldiers may,
upon the payment of a land-office fee of
$3 00, file a soldier's declaratory state
ment upon 1 tract of land, and thereby
obtain a preference right to enter said
tract at any time for a period of six
months, but before the expiration of six
months the entry must be made in due
form, or said preference right to enter
will be lost. , The homestead declar
atory statement may be filed by an
attorney in fact. After entry the settler
must reside upon, improve and cultivuto
his land, and in all respects show his
good faith.
In the Pacific and other political divis
ions, viz., on lands in California, Ne
vada, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico,
and Washington, and in Arixoun.
Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Montana,
the commissions and fees are to le paid
according to the following table:
CouuImIoo. t.
Out Tula
1 im 11 no in 00 ii a no 00 iuw
so aw 1 00 00 s mi 17 mi
' 40 IM .100 SUO SOU 1100
JHO 1 1 00 6 IM )0 Ml 00
m 1 as s 00 in s wi 11 ,
o 1 1 M I Ml iai ioo
ADJOININO FARM HOMP.STIADH.
An applicant owning and residing cl
an original farm, may enter other Ian I
lying contiguous thereto, which shall
not, with such farm, exceed in the
aggregate 160 acres. Thus, fur exam
pie, a party owning or occupying 80
j