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Show UNITED STATES LAND-LAWS RESIDENCE OX HOMESTEADS As a great many of our readers are vitally Interested In our public land laws and the latest Interpretations Interpreta-tions placed upon them by our Land Department, we have arranged to print each wee kan article by Cala W. Shepherd, who is an acknowledged acknowledg-ed authority on land laws ot the United States. Mr. Shepherd has served twelve years as United States Commissioner at Colony, Wyoming, where he had a great deal of experience experi-ence with the land laws. He edited the Coyote, the only journal published publish-ed in the United States which specialized speci-alized on land laws, and he is manager mana-ger of the Coyote Publishing Company, Com-pany, a concern that specializes on blank forms and other printed mat ter used in connection with land office of-fice practice. We have gone to considerable expense ex-pense to obtain these copyrighted, articles ar-ticles on land law an dwe believe our subscribers will find them of great value, as the information contained therein is authorative and is written in plain, untechnical terms so it can be readily understood by all. It seems that a great many people get their ideas concerning the land laws, not from the laws or the government gov-ernment circulars, but from stories and traditions handed down by former for-mer homesteaders. As the land laws are constantly changing, the experiences exper-iences of former entruyment are useless use-less in most cases, and the person who relies upon what others have done as a guide may fail to receive patent until further compliance with the lnw is shown. This is esoeciallv true as to residence on homesteads. The particular law which prescribes pre-scribes the period of residence on homesteadls Is Section 2291 of the Revised Statutes. This law formerly read, in part, as follows: "If the person making such entry, proves by two credible witnesses that he, she, or they have resided upon the same for the terms of five years, he she, or they shall be entitled to a patent." pa-tent." It was left to the Interior Department Depart-ment to determine just what was meant by residing upon the land. Congress could not have intended that the entryman should be bodily present on the land every day for the five years. That would be Impossible in most cases. At first the making of final proof was largely a matter of form, and the claimant was only asked to swear that he had resided on and cultivated the land for five years. His witnesses simply signed below the claimant, corroborating his testimony, often without even reading it. Many cases are known where the claimant slept on the land once in six months during the five year period, and then swore that he had resided on the land for five years. But the Department finally decided that a more strict compliance with the law was necessary, and a new final proof blank and regulations were issued. It was then necessary to show that entryman claimed the land as his home "to the exclusion of a home elsewhere," for the term of five years. He could he absent most of the time if his family resided resid-ed on the land, so long as he did not have another home. In the case of a traveling man. his family being on the land, an occasional visit to the land during his vacation was considered consid-ered sufficient. However, this is all past, for on June 12, 1912. Congress amended this law so that the resident requirement require-ment is as follows: ! "If the person making such entry, proves by himself and two credible witnesses that he. she. or they have a habitable house on the land and have actually ac-tually resided upou and cultivated culti-vated the same for the term of three years . . . he, 9he or they shall b entitled to a pat ent. Provided, that upon the fil ing In the local land office notice of the beginning of such ab- I sence at his option he shall be entitled to a leave of absence in j one or two continuous periods not exceeding in the aggregate five months in each year after establishing residence: and upon up-on the termination of such absence, ab-sence, In each period, the entry-man entry-man shall file a notice of such termination In the local land office; but in case of commutation, commuta-tion, the fourteen months actual residence, as 'now required by law, must be shown." When Congress inserted the word "actual." and stipulated the amount of absence allowed during each year, the Department was relieved of the responsibility of! determining what should constitute residence, and now the entryman must be bodily present on the land during at least seven months of each year. The fart that his family have resided on the land continuously will not excuse him from being there. It has been held, that a school teacher who was on her land each week from Friday evening eve-ning 'till Monday morning, and continuously con-tinuously during a three months' vacation, va-cation, had not complied with the law. Under the old law a person who was elected to a public office which required him to reside elsewhere than on his land was excused from residence during such period, but this does not apply to the present law. Unless entryman can claim credit cred-it for military service, proof cannot be mado until three years after residence res-idence Is established! on the land, regardless re-gardless of the date of the entry, or the fact that the period of actual residence is completed sooner. |