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TWENTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 180. 1832.

Claims to beclassed, &c.

Time for tak-ing testimony.

Office of re-corder to re-main open fortwo years.

Recorder, &c.,to proceed, &c.

to be appointed by the President of the United States , by and with theadvice and consent of the Senate , to examine all the unconfirmed claimsto land in that state, heretofore filed in the office of the said recorder,according to law, founded upon any incomplete grant, concession, war-rant, or order of survey, issued by the authority of France or Spain ,prior to the tenth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and four;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, andcustoms of the Spanish government, and the practice of the Spanish authorities under them, at New Orleans , if the government under whichsaid claims originated had continued in Missouri ; and secondly whatclaims, in their opinion, are destitute of merit, in law or equity, undersuch laws, usages, customs, and practice of the Spanish authorities afore-said ; and shall also assign their reasons for the opinions so to be given.And in examining and classing such claims, the recorder and commis-sioners shall take into consideration, as well the testimony heretoforetaken by the boards of commissioners and recorder of land titles uponthose claims, as such other testimony as may be admissible under therules heretofore existing for taking such testimony before said boardsand recorder: and all such testimony shall be taken within twelve monthsafter the passage of this act.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted , That the office of the recorder shallbe open for the purposes of such examination for the term of two yearsfrom the date of the organization of the board of commissioners and nolonger; and the recorder and commissioners shall proceed in the exami-nation 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 understandingand 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 invio-late 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 thesurveyor-general of the province to put him in possession of the land, and to survey the same, in orderto enable Chouteau to solicit a complete title thereto from the governor-general, who by the said decreewas informed that the circumstances of Chouteau were such as entitled him to a grant of the land. Theland was surveyed, and the grantee put in full possession of it on the 20th of December, 1803. He re-tained possession of it until his death. The objection to the validity of the concession was, that thepetitioner had not as many tame cattle as the eighth regulation of governor O’Reilly, governor-generalof Louisiana , required. That regulation required that the applicant for a grant of a league square ofland should make it appear that he is possessed of one hundred head of tame cattle, some horses andsheep, 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 SupremeCourt, and of the acts of confirmation passed by Congress , the fact that the applicant possessed therequisite amount of property to entitle him to the land he solicited, was submitted to the officer whodecided on the application ; and he is not bound to prove it to the court, which passes on the validityof the grant. These incomplete titles were transferable, and the assignee might not possess the meansof 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.Ibid.

The regulation made by Don O’Reilly, as to the quantity of land to be granted to an individual, isnot that no individual shall receive grants for more than one league square, but that no grant shallexceed 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 landsbefore they were offered for sale under a proclamation of the President, or even surveyed by the publicsurveyor. Barry t*. Gamble, 3 Howard, 32.

The act of April 26, 1822, ch. 40, recognised locations of this kind, although they disregarded thesectional 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 claimunder French and Spanish authority, which bore date anteriorto 1800, as well as those which were datedsubsequent 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 anysettlement 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 havirfgexcepted such lands as have been sold, or otherwise disposed of by the United States , and saved theright or title of adverse claimants, these acts protected a New Madrid claim, which had been locatedwhile this bar continued. Ibid.