534
Statute I.June 15, 1832.
Owners of tractson a river, &c.not exceeding40 arpens indepth, entitledto pre-emptionof back tract,&c.
Surveys ofsuch back tractsand division incertain cases.
Proviso : pre-emption not toembrace, &c.
Time for usingpre-emptionright.
Time extendedby act of Feb.24,1835, ch. 24.
Re-surveys, atwhose expense.
On the failureof notice, &c.pre-emptionright to be void.
Statute I.June 15, 1832.
Post-roads tobe established.
TWENTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 140,141. 1832.
Chap. CXL.— An Act to authorize the inhabitants of the state of Louisiana to enter
the back lands.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the UnitedStates of America, in Congress assembled, That every person, who, eitherby virtue of a French or Spanish grant, recognised by the laws of theUnited States , or under a claim confirmed by the commissioners appoint-ed for the purpose of ascertaining the rights of persons claiming lands inthe state of Louisiana, or by virtue of any title derived from the UnitedStates , owns a tract of land bordering on any river, creek, bayou or water-course, in the said territory, and not exceeding in depth forty arpens,French measure, shall be entitled to a preference in becoming the pur-chaser of any vacant tract of land adjacent to, and back of, his owntract, not exceeding forty arpens, French measure in depth, nor in quan-tity of land, that which is contained in his own tract; at the same price andon the same terms and conditions, as are, or may be, provided by law forthe other public lands in the said state. And the surveyor general forthe state of Louisiana shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause tobe surveyed the tracts claimed by virtue of this section; and in all caseswhere, by reason of bends in the river, lake, creek, bayou, or water-course,bordering on the tract, and of adjacent claims of a similar nature, eachclaimant cannot obtain a tract equal in quantity to the adjacent tractalready owned by him, to divide the vacant land applicable to that objectbetween the several claimants, in such manner as to him will appear mostequitable: Provided, however, That the right of pre-emption granted by thissection, shall not extend so far in depth as to include lands fit for cultiva-tion, bordering on another river, creek, bayou or water-course. And everyperson entitled to the benefit of this section shall, within three years afterthe date of this act, deliver to the register of the proper land office, anotice, in writing, stating the situation and extent of the tract of land hewishes to purchase; and shall also make the payment and payments forthe same at the time and times which are or may be prescribed by lawfor the disposal of the other public lands in the said state, the time of hisdelivering the notice aforesaid being considered as the date of the pur-chase : Provided, also, That all notices of claims shall be entered, andthe money paid thereon, at least three weeks before such period as maybe designated by the-President of the United States , for the public saleof the lands in the township in which such claims may be situated, andall claims not so entered shall be liable to be sold as other public lands.Whenever it shall be necessary to re-survey the public lands, in order toenable persons entitled to avail themselves of the provisions of this act, theexpenses of such re-survey shall be paid by the person or persons, whoshall enter the lands so re-surveyed under this act, at the time he or theyshall pay the price of such land to the receiver of public money. Andif any such person shall fail to deliver such notice within the said periodof three years, or to make such payment or payments at the time abovementioned, his right of pre-emption shall cease, and become void; andthe land may, thereafter, be purchased by any other person, in the samemanner, and on the same terms, as are, or may be provided by law forthe sale of other public lands in the said state.
Approved, June 15, 1832.