United States congressional serial set
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145 © V V -^ I Ik <5 00 1 r I r O ^ e I o I B 3 I I* O H s 2 I 3 h h Ek^ u:H<iS;i^Cfa r~ ^ * o& CD G* rs r- TO ifl I is sass s 0 S^SI § ^3 "a S r r> i »1 Cb^^i^ 3 l| III • « as 2 o 3S ^i '3 ^.2 = 0 D e 10 i liii ililili o 146 REPORT OF THE c 00 00 I •! I o •I. •a Q ^ a a s I 2 & e «. 8iJ 2 3 • ** J^ o 5 8 8:!;eo?es)ssss99So$s;s j8 CSS93Z88S88gSS9S §«a (a r.* M to t»' r>* t-o* r»* r<^ t* r-' r** i^ t^ i»' SS8 SS^SS SiS §§^8l «' -'-.'--* S9S 8S:::SS CCodOo ODODOO'SaO BSSISS IP II • III Ibl llllllllllllllllllll iiiiiis I 6 SECRETARY OP THE INTERIOR. 147 00 co 00 CO 1 •I !> •^ •8 m e 3 ^1 Hsi PS '^^ 1 i 3 8 « ip X i :^S 1 |3 a a I Is B2b , III § ill rf c e,2 V^i 1 III 1 £ i ^ g 1 fe'd I*" 3-S*T 1 fr i £ u 6 ■s ki 1 1 s ■ ■ "5 . a 1 ill' 1 'i!iM ^1 i 1 as 11 Ill h I 148 REPORT OF THE ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI. OincE OP TDK Surveyor General for Illinois and Missouri, Saint Louis, October 20, 1857. Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith a report of the survey- ing and other operations of this office since the 20th October, 1856; the date of mj last annual report. I. Receipts and disbursements of the public funds. The enclosed statement, marked "A," will exhibit in detail the amounts received from the treasury during the year, as also the sums that have been expended under the various heads of appropriations and apportionments that are applicable to this district. The state- ment of public funds that accompanied my accounts for the third quarter of 1857 shows a balance of $1,087 26 in favor of the United States, which remains on deposit with the assistant treasurer at this place. II. Surveys of public lands in Illinois and Missouri, and re-surveys cf erroneous and defective lines. The correctiont of certain erroneous lines in township SO, ranges 7 and 8 east, in Missouri, that had been entrusted to Deputy Aaron Snyder, have been made, and new plats of parts of those townships constructed and transmitted to your office. As the greater portion of the land affected by this new survey had been sold by the United States, according to the areas in the old plat, I obtained from the register an authenticated statement of those sales, and made the sub- divisions of the new plat to conform thereto. Two islands of the Mississippi river, one of the Missouri, two of the Fox, and one of the Rock rivers, have been surveyed under the directions of this office, and appi oved plats of the work sent to you and to the local land offices. On the 6th January of present year you issued instructions to the effect that I should order '*no new or further field work, unless specified cases shall hereafter be reported to and sanctioned by this office." Prior to the reception of this instruction, it had been my custom to issue orders for the survey of every island for which appli- cation was made, provided the applicant expressed his willingness to pay the cost of the work, if the firea of the island when run out should not be sufficient to reimburse to the United States the expense of the survey ; but since the above letter has been received, each application, whether for the survey of an island or for the correction of erroneous lines, filed here, has been made the subject of a special report to your office. Under this manner of proceeding, one island of the Mississippi river, opposite the town of Camanche, Iowa, has been surveyed, and the approved plats transmitted in the usual manner. The citizens residing in township 20 north, range 1 east, 3d principal meridian in Illinois, having, by petition to this office, represented that SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 149 on account of errors in the original survey of that township they were unable to identify the metes and bounds of their lands, and that, in consequence, disputes and dissensions were constantly springing up amongst them, and that with a view to the permanent settlement of difficulties they desired that a retracement of their lines should be made under the directions of the United States, I requested your authority to grant the petition by ordering a re-survey of so much of the township as would accomplish the object. This permission being given, the execution of the work was entrusted to Mr. Burnap, an old and experienced deputy of this office, whose returns were found to be correct and to have given satisfaction to the owners of the lands affected by his lines. With your consent, instructions were also issued for the correction of certain lines in township 3 south, range 4 east, 3d principal me- ridian. The deputy to whom the work was at first given having been prevented by domestic afflictions from attending to it, his instructions were transferred to Deputy Burnap, who is now engaged in the field. The survey of the southern tier of sections in township 58 north, range 25 west, 5 th principal meridian, has been completed, and approved plats, showing the work, transmitted, as promised in my letter of the 9th ultimo, in answer to a communication from you on the subject. In the last annual report reference was made to the unsurveyed lands of the southeastern portion of this State, and the necessity of their survey urged. Since that time your office has instructed me to contract for the survey of those lands upon the terms and conditions proposed to you by the Hon. Samuel Caruthers on the part of the citizens of that portion of the State. This proposition was, that the lands should be surveyed under the directions of the department, but that the United States should not be required to pay for any tracts, except such as were found to be dry and fitted for agricultural pur- poses ; the counties in which the lands were situated agreeing to bear the expenses of survey of all the tracts that are wet and swampy, and, as such, enure to the State of Missouri under the provisions of the act of Congress approved 28th September, 1850, donating swamp and overflowed lands. In the instructions from you on this subject, I was directed also to have an examination made of the surveys that had been executed under the authority of the counties, and, where possi- ble, that such work should be received and adopted as to the true survey of the United States. Upon the reception of these instructions, steps were immediately taken for carrying them out. A contract was entered into with John Lampton, esq., an experienced and energetic deputy, who at once re- paired to the field. His first operations were confined to the exami- nation of the survey of the five townships that had been run out by Benjamin Stewart, under the directions of the authorities of Pemiscot county. Mr. Lampton's returns of this branch of his contract have been filed here, and correct plats of two of the townships constructed and transmitted to your office. In the field notes of tne remaining three townships were found a few omissions of connexions with ad- joining lines, which prevent the completion of the plats. Of these 150 REPORT OF THE omissions the deputy has been advised, and as he is now on the ground, it is presumed that they will be soon supplied. III. Swamp land donated by the ad of 1850. The act of Congress of 3d March last, confirming to the States the swamp and overflowed lands within their limits that had been selected and reported to this oflSce prior to that time, put an end to the sys- tem of contests that were referred to in my last report. The work under this head has therefore been confined to acting upon and tran- scribing for transmission the numerous lists sent in by the agents of diflferent counties. Previous to the passage of the above mentioned act 1 had prepared and certified to you lists of swamp lands in Mis- souri, as follows : Four lists from the district of Springfield, embracing 547,535.14 acres. One list from the district of Warsaw, embracing.... 4,226.70 " Making a total of. 551,761.84 " For the State of Illinois no selections were received during that period. Since the passage of that act the number of list^ sent in have greatly increased. In 1854 I was instructed that the descriptions of soil contained in the original field notes were not to be considered jmal as against the States; but that I should receive and consider the evidence which the State authorities might produce in favor of their selections, and that wherever by such evidence the lands were shown to be wet, swampy, or overfiowed, within the meaning of the law, they should be approved to the States, regardless of any contrary de- scription of the character of such lands that might be given by the field notes. The efiect of the act of 3d March, in connexion with the above instructions, was virtually to remove from the executive depart- ment all control over the agents of the States in making their selec- tions. Wherever the lists transmitted to this office contained evidence that the lands therein reported were within the meaning of the grant, I could not du otherwise than report them to you. The manner in which these selections were being made formed the subject of a special report from this office. In answer thereto I was directed to again compare the agent's selections with the original plats and field notes, and from such comparison prepare two lists, one showing the lands which, according to the above evidences, were truly within the pur- view of the act, and the other to embrace the tracts that were of a contrary character. Both lists were then to be transmitted to you for consideration. Under this instruction six lists of selections have been examined. They embrace an aggregate of 258,715.92 acres, and of this quantity there are only 3,869.52 acres that are described by the field notes as being within the meaning of the swamp grant. Eight other lists, recently received from the counties, are now being examined; they embrace about 400,000 acres, and are found to con- tain even a greater proportion of dry land than those already com- pared. These selections are all in Missouri. 8ECBETARY OF THE INTERIOR 151 In addition to the lists already enumerated I have prepared and transmitted a list for the Jackson district, embracing 42,266.60 acres, being the entire area of two townships in the southeastern portion of the State, lately surveyed under the proposition of the Hon. Samuel Caruthers, to whicH reference was made in the second heading of this report. It seems to be a matter of impossibility to bring to a close the work under this head without special and direct legislation to that end. None of the acts prescribe any limits of time in which the States may avail themselves of the provisions of the original grant. This office is instructed to receive and consider all selections that may be reported to it in due form ; and there is nothing to prevent such reports being made for an indefinite period of time to come. IV. Survey of tovms and viUagea in Missouri named in the ads of 13(h June, 1812, and 26^A May, 1824. During the year there have been recorded and transcribed for return to the recorder of land titles plats and descriptions of surveys of one hundred and thirty-four confirmations to lots within St. Louis ; and of one hundred private confirmed claims to lands within and adjoin- ing the town of St. Charles. I have also had prepared and trans- mitted to the proper authorities plats and descriptions of fifty-four tracts or parcels of land that have been designated and set apart to the town of St. Charles for the support of schools therein, in pursuance of the provisions of the acts named in this heading. This action in and about closes the assignments of school lands. All the tracts of land belonging to the several towns and villages named in the afore- said acts, which the records show were **not rightfully owned or claimed by any private individual" on the 13th June, 1812, have been surveyed and set apart to the use of schools, as directed by the act of 1824. In this city, however, there are two cases still pending : one of an erroneous and unauthorized survey that I felt it my duty to annul, and which is now under consideration by the honorable the Secretary of the Interior ; and the other of an application from the president and attorney of the board of public schools to have desig- nated and set apart, for the support of said schools, certain parcels of land that are situated within the limits of grants to individuals by the authorities of the Spanish government, and confirmed to those in- dividuals by the act of Congress of 4th July, 1836 ; and which appli- cations I refused for the reasons given in my report on the subject of 2d June last, transmitting the appeal of the schools from my decision. As the work under this head during the next year will be confined to the termination of the records of surveys within St. Louis and St. Charles, no appropriation of funds is deemed necessary. The item is, therefore, omitted in the estimates of funds accompanying this report. V. Becords of land titles under the ad of I2th June, 1840. Pursuant to your instructions of 6th January last, the whole of the available force of the office was detailed for the purpose of completing 152 REPORT OF THE the records relating to lands in Illinois, so that thej may be ready for delivery to the authorities of that State by the 30th of June. The letters from the Commissioner of the General Land Office to the surveyor general, relating to lands in Illinois, were recorded, compared, corrected, durably bound, and indexed. The records of the Illinois township plats were compared with the originals, the certificates to them written, and the whole work on them completed. The records of the field notes of the State were also thoroughly examined. It was found that parts of many townships had been omitted in records formerly made, or mislaid since that time. Indexes were discovered to have been erroneously made, and whole volumes wrongly bound. These errors were corrected, the omissions supplied, and the whole of the records completed, and bound in vol- umes for transmission to the State authorities. A general index, on a diagram of the State^ showing the number of the volume in which the field notes, both original and recorded, are to be found was pre- pared. A similar index to the original and records of township plats was also made. The field notes of recent surveys and resurveys have been recorded, indexed and bound, in their proper places. The re- cords relating to Illinois, with the exception of private claims, may be considered as in a condition to be transferred to the authorities of that State, under the law. Of the private surveys, plats and descrip- tions of three hundred and forty-nine have been made, recorded and indexed during the year. There remains to be made the plats and descriptions of twenty-three surveys in the district of Kaskaskia and of one hundred and nine surveys in the district of Vincennes. The exhibits of private claims have kept pace with the records of the sur- veys. It cannot well precede the record and secure the correctness so necessary to the work. Those for the Indian reservations, and lots in the village of Peoria have been completed. The legislature of Illinois have not as yet made arrangements for the reception and pro- per disposition of the archives to be transferred by this office, as re- Juired by the act of 22d January, 1853, amendatory to the act of 12th une, 1840. The attention of the proper officers of that State has been called to the subject, and it is presumed that the necessary law will be enacted at the next session of their general assembly. In addition to the work already enumerated, there have been re- corded five volumes folio post paper, containing the letters from the General Land Office to the surveyor general from 1833 to 1856. By the accompanying statement ** C " you will see that thirteen town- ship plats (five in Illinois and eight in Missouri) have been record- ed or constructed ; and that forty-two plats of townships (eight in Illinois and thirty-four in Missouri) have been copied either for the General Land Office or for the use of registers, to supply the place of those that have been worn out and defaced by long use ; ma- king an aggregate of fifty-four plats. VI. MiaceUaneous Work. The field notes of recent surveys and resurveys h.ave been tran»- scribed for preservation at the seat of government. eECBETARY OF TEE INTERIOR 153 The accounts of the office have been recorded up to and including the second quarter. Those for the third quarter are awaiting to be adjusted by the department. The record of letters and public notices from the office embrace six hundred and sixty-five pages of letter paper. Descriptive lists of corners established by recent and resurveys have been sent to the registers of the proper aistrict. Plats of seven islands lately surveyed have been sent to your office and to the registers. Copies of forty-one township plats have been furnished to the register of St. Louis, upon his order therefor. In pursuance of your instructions, I had prepared and transmitted to the surveyor general for Kansas and Nebraska plats and descriptions of comers along and adjoining the Missouri river, extending from the mouth of the river Kansas to the boundary line of the State of Iowa, so that the surveys in Kansas and Nebraska might be properly con- nected with the existing surveys in this State. The plats and descriptions of twenty-eight surveys of Indian reser- vations in Illinois were transmitted to your office. The survey of the location under a New Madrid certificate, No. 284, was made, approved and recorded, in pursuance of an application of the owners thereof. As promised in my last report, the survey of unsurveyed New Madrid locations formed the subject of a special com- munication from this office. In that communication I suggested the propriety of having such surveys made at the expense of the United States, with a view to finally closing the action of the executive de- partment on them. Your answer was, that you did not feel author- ised to order the surveys at the cost of the government, but that I should designate, as near as possible, the position of each claim on the township plats, and there let the matter rest. As this designa- tion had already been made, there remains nothing for me to do, ex- cept await until such times as the claimants may see proper to apply for the survey of their lands. There were issued during the year thirteen certificates (Nos. 24 to 36) of purchase of land by registers. These purchases are, in each instance, noted on the township plats. Two certificates of relocation for valid interferences, with confirmations by the act of 1836, have been issued, and six have been delivered to the claimants. I have also received from you and delivered to the proper owners four special certificates of new locations, issued by your office in pur- suance of acts passed at the last session for the relief of individuals. There were platted, transcribed and recorded, of private surveys of all descriptions, six hundred and forty-one ; of these, three hundred and forty-nine were in Illinois, and of the others two hundred and thirty-four were of confirmations to town or village lots, four of the general series of surveys in Missouri, and fifty-four were assignments to schools under the acts of 1812 and 1824. Plats and transcripts of private surveys were returned to the re- corder, viz : of the general series thirteen, and of town and village lots ninety-two. Under your instructions I had made a survey of the tract of Iwad. at the southern portion of this city, known aa t\ie le^^T-^^AARTCL ^^x ^ marine hospital and powder magaziney for the purpose o^ co\i%Vi\ve!C\\i% 154 REPOBT OP THE a diagram thereof that would indicate the portion of that tract which was claimed by the public schools of this city as having been vacant land in 1812. This diagram was prepared and transmitted to yon, together with a report of such tacts bearing on the question as are to be found of record in this office and in that of the recorder of land titles. The answer to that report is an order from your office to designate and set apart a certain portion of the tract for the support of the schools, in pursuance of the provisions of the several acts of Congress relating thereto. The order is but just received ; it will be carried out at once. The surveys in the Grande Prairie and Cul de Sac common fields, that were executed by Wm. H. Cozzens, esq., have been recorded and returned to the recorder of land titles, in pursuance of the decision of the department. VII. Estimate of funds needed for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1869. In view of the approaching closing of the office by turning over its archives to the State's authorities, under the act of 12th June, 1840, the amount of estimates is considerably lower than in former years, and the items confined to the salary of the surveyor general, the salaries of clerks, and the incidental expenses of the office. The former appropriations for surveys of erroneous and defective lines and for terminating the record of the surveys of village and town lots not being exhausted, are deemed sufficient to bring these branches of the service to an end. I have attempted to forward the business of the office so as to have the records ready for delivery at the times fixed by your instructions— that is, those for Illinois on the 30th June past, and for Missouri one year later — but have been unable to accomplish the desired purpose for many reasons. Among these are : the record of Illinois private land claims that had not been contemplated, but after examination was deemed absolutely necessary for a proper understanding of their condition; the new and vexatious cases raised on account of the claims of the St. Louis schools to lands within the general survey of the city ; the unexpected labor in swamp lands ; the record of the remain- ing private surveys in Missouri, which has become tedious, because nearly all of these remaining surveys are burdened with interferences, and their final disposition was, on that account, delayed to the present time, when the difficulties must be overcome ; the surveys in south- east Missouri, the instructions for which are subsequent to those for closing the office ; and the examination of the records with the origi- nals, the necessary references to both in order to make them agree and to insure their correctness. To these causes are to be added a considerable amount of labor which can hardly be enumerated, but yet has to be performed, and which could not have been estimated when the time for said closing was determined. Under the circumstances, therefore, I respectfully request that the estimates be recommended to Congress, in view of their being even- tually necessary to complete the business of this land district. In the meantime I shall continue to urge its business to as speedy termina- tion as the work already on hand, and the unlooked-for work that may SECRETABT OP THE INTERIOB. 155 fltill be found, will permit. These estimates were included in my com- munication of the 19th September last, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, marked "B." I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JNO. LOUGHBOROUGH, Surveyor General. Hon. T. A. Hendricks, Commiasioner Genercd Land Office^ Washington, D. G. General statement of receipts and disbursements by the surveyor general of Illinois and Missouri of the public funds allowed for the several services of his office since the 20th October^ 1856, the date of his last annual report, viz: A.— Appropriations of $5,820, of August 18, 1856, and March 3^ 1857, for compensation to the surveyor general and his clerks, and ap- portionments of $4,000, of August 25, 1856, and June 12, 1857, for compensation to extra clerks, out of the appropriations for that object in the acts of August 18, 1856, and March 3, 1857. Cash received from treasurer during 4th quarter 1856 $2,455 00 Do. do. 1st quarter 1857 2,455 00 Do. do. 2d quarter 1857 2,455 00 Do. do. 3d quarter 1867 2,255 00 9,620 00 Balance due surveyor general October 20, 1856.. $24 78 Expended during the 4th qr. 1857 2,236 50 Do. do. 1st qr. 1857 2,301 54 Do. do. 2d qr. 1857 2,402 36 Do. do. 3d qr. 1857 2,375 96 9,341 14 Balance due the United States October 20, 1857 278 86 B. — Appropriation for the survey of towns and villages in Missouri, named in the acts of June 13, 1812, and May 26, 1824. Balance due the United States Oc- tober 20, 1856 $296 79 Cash received of treasurer during Ist quarter 1857 700 00 Cash received of treasurer during 3d quarter 1857 300 00 Expended during the 4th qr. Do. do. 1st qr. Do. do. 2d qr. Do. do. 3d qr. 1856 238 62 1857 284 00 1857 248 43 1857 148 92 |1,296 79 919 97 Balance due the United€tate8 October 20, 1 57 376 82 156 REPORT OF THE C. — Apportionments of |2,B00, of August 25, 1856, and June 12, 1857, to meet the incidental expenses of the surveyor general's oflSce. Balance due the United States Oc- tober 20, 1856 $779 84 Cash received from treasurer during 4th quarter 1856 625 00 Cash receivedfrom treasurer during Ist quarter 1857 625 00 Expended during the 4th qr. 1856 520 35 Do. do. Ist qr. 1857 617 69 Do. do. 2d qr. 1857 381 10 Do. do. 3d qr. 1857 461 22 $2,029 84 1,980 36 Balance due the United 8tates October 20, 1857 |49 48 D. — Appointment of |6,000, of August 25, 1856, and $4,000, of June 12, 1857, to complete the record of land titles in the district as re- quired by the act of June 12, 1840. Balance due the United States Oc- tober 20, 1856 |16 95 Cash received of treasurer during 4th quarter 1856 1,500 00 Cash received of treasurer during Ist quarter 1857 1,500 00 Cash received of treasurer during 2d quarter 1857 800 00 Cash received of treasurer during 3d quarter 1857 1,000 00 |4,816 95 Expended during the 4th qr. 1856 1,115 63 Do. do. 1st qr. 1857 1,146 71 Do. do. 2d qr. 1857 1,275 81 Do. do. 3d qr. 1857 896 70 4,434 85 Balance due the United States October 20, 1857 382 10 Aggregate balance due the United States October 20, 1857 1,087 26 JNO. LOUGHBOKOUGH, Surveyor' General. Office of thb Surveyor General for Illinois and Missouri^ St. Louis, October 20, 1857. 8ECRETABY OF THE INTERIOR. 157 SuRVKYOR General's Office, St. Louis, September 19, 1867. Sir : In complianoe with the iastruction of the 9th May last, I herewith submit the following estimates of the funds that will be needed for the service of this district during the fiscal year, from the 1st July, 1858, to the 30th June, 1859 : Item No. 1. For salary of surveyor general |2,000 00 2. For salary ofclerks,a8peractof 9th May, 1836, 3,820 00 3. For extra clerks to supply the deficiency of item No. 2 4,000 00 4. For terminating the records of land titles of the district 4,000 00 5. For incidental expenses 2,500 00 16,320 00 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, &c., JOHN LOUGHBOROUGH, Surveyor General, Hon. Tflos. A. Hendricks, Commissioner of t/ie General Land Office. 158 REPORT OP THE C. Statement showing the pUUa of toumahipa which have been recorded or constructed between the 20th October , 1856, and the above date^ and the number of plais of townships which have been copied for the use of the local and general land offices. Townships. Range. Meridian. Recorded or oonstmcted. ^Copied. IH ILLUIOIB. 10 and 11 8 SW 2W 1 E Fonrth -..do Third 2 2 1 % 10 and 11 8 4 20 N % Total 6 g 5E 7 and 8 E... 7 E HE 12 E 7E IE 8and9E-.- 4 and 6 E.- 1 E 2E SE 7 and 8 W- 7 W Fifth DTMUBOUBI. 29 N 1 SO N ..-.do ....do ...-do .—do ....do ....do ....do do...... ....do —do ....do ....do ....do...... 2 3 2 1 SO N 16, 17, and 18 N 16 and 17 N Part of 45 N Part of 60 N S8 N 40 N 48 N 46 N 41 N S8 and 39 N....- ---- 43 N Total 8 S3 RECAPITULAnON. Recorded or constmcted. Copied. Ulinote 6 8 S S3 Ml«nnrf , , Recorded or constructed..-...-...------............ 13 41 IS 54 8URTKT0B Oehiral's OmoB, Si, Louii, Odobir 20, 1867. JNO. LOUGHBOBOUGH, Swve^ GtnmU. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 159 arkansas. Surveyor General's Office, Little Rock, Arkansas^ September 30, 1857. Sir : In obedience to your instructions of the 9th May last, I have the honor to transmit in triplicate my annual report, exhibiting, by the accompanying documents, (No. 1 to No. T,) the progress of sur- veying and office operations since the date of my last annual report : Fiddwork, — The operations under this head have been limited. Adhering to the tenor of your instructions, officially communicated to this office on the IJth February, 1856, no contracts for the resurvey or rutracement of detached erroneous or fraudulent townships have been entered into subsequent to the receipt of that letter. The contract of Mr. James A. Martin, of 30th May, 1855, has been completed, field notes returned to this office, examined and approved, and account forwarded to General Land Office, and paid by the Trea- surer of the United States, as per voucher No. 2, 2d quarter, 1867. The contract of Mr. C. Langtree, of February 25, 1856, which was withheld in consequence of the communication of the 11th February, 1856, above alluded to, was subsequently sanctioned by you under date of February 25, 1857, with the exception of three townships, which were relinquished by Mr. Langtree. Under this contract, town- ships 1 north, range 14 west, and 8 and 10 south, range 15 west, have been executed ; field notes returned, examined and approved ; plats forwarded to General Land Office, and account for the same ad- justed at the Treasury Department. Mr. Langtree, who only inter- mitted his operations during the sultry summer weather, will resume his operations in the fall, and not desist until the contract is finally closed. The resurvey of the south boundary of township 7 north, range 1 west, executed by Mr. McPherson,in his resurvey of township 6 north, range 1 west, under his contract of September 25, 1855, necessitated the correction of a few lines in township 7 north, range 1 west ; a reference to the old plat of that township on file in your office, and the new one forwarded on the 9th September, with his acco^it for that work, will show the necessity of completing the extension of the sec- tion lines to the south boundary of said township. Verbal reports having been made to me that county surveyors and others were unable to trace out and mark on the ground the tracts of land in section 5, township 14 north, range 2 west, I instructed Mr. McPherson, under date of October 20, 1866, to proceed and examine into the true state of the case. The original survey of that township was made by Charles H. Pelham, deputy surveyor, the fraudulent nature of whose work has heretofore been presented to the department. The plat of said section, or so much thereof as was surveyed by Mr. McPherson, which was forwarded with the field notes and accounts on the 9th September last, when compared with that of Pelham's survey, as shown oy the official map of township 14 north, range 2 west, shows a state of things wholly fraudulent and erroneous. The mouth of Strawberry river, claimed under an erroneous entry, is removed 160 REPORT OP THE several hundred yards from the position assigned to it by that map, and a bend of White river, which on the old map is intersected by the township line, Mr. McPherson finds 15 chains south of it. Under these circumstances, I strongly recommend a resurvey of the entire township. I beg leave to call your attention to three townships pointed out to the notice of this ofBce by Mr. Bryce Byrne, county surveyor of Car- roll county, as grossly fraudulent, and whose letter setting forth the facts was appended to my last annual report, marked I. The hardy and industrious citizens of that remote region of country have no redress for these evils but in the timely action of your de- partment. The townships alluded to and of which he complains are township 17 north, range 20 west ; township 18 north, range 19 west ; and township 18 north, range 20 west. Township 2 south, range 9 west, which was resurvey ed bj Mr. James S. Garretson under his contract of 18th September, 1854, and paid for by the Treasury Department, but which survey was not ap- proved by the General Lana Office for special reasons set forth, from this office, has not yet been put under contract for the retracement of the old lines by the original surveyor, Sanders. Tour instructions of October 22, 1856, authorized me to have it " retraced, if practicable." But Mr. Garretson was unwilling to un- dertake it at the usual prices, as all the lines and corners, other than Sanders', must, on a retracement, be obliterated — a work in itself nearly as heavy as the retracement. To close this matter, therefore, I would recommend that the price be advanced to $8 per mile, at which sum it will doubtless be contracted for. Immediately on receijpt of your letter of the 13th June last, in which the instructions of the department were given in regard to the mode of applying for the resurvey of the public lands, I caused a cir- cular embracing the principles laid down in that communication to be forwarded to each county surveyor in the State, in order that the proper information relative to this important subject might be readily obtained by those officers and others interested, and this office re- lieved from answering the repeated inquiries made by them. For copy of circular, see document marked No. 4. Office work, — Since the date of the last annual report the clerical force of this office has been actively engaged in prosecuting the mis- cellaneous duties required of them in carrying out the intentions of the dej)artment with regard to the disposal of the public business in this office. The different tables annexed to and accompanying this report will exhibit in detail the amount of business executed during the year. There has been recorded on our books 323 letters ; of which number 185 have been received at the office, and 138 sent from it, being a total of letters written and recorded of 461. Of maps reconstructed from the original field notes and from notes of retracement or resurvey s, there has been made a total of 105, including those sent to the General Land Office, as well as those forwarded to the district land offices. The work of reconstructing the old and de- SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 161 fitced maps of this office will be steadily prosecated during the en- suing year. Table marked No, 3 shows the proportion made for each office, and also those retained in this office The transcript of field notes for transfer to the State under act of 12th June, 1840, has progressed steadily during the entire year, and that work is now nearly closed. The services of two clerks are con- stantly engaged in paging, indexing, and arranging these record* preparatory to binding. A reference to table marked No. 5, con- veniently arranged in the numerical order of townships and ranges, will show that during the year one million eight hundred and thirty- one thousand nine hundred and eighty-one words (1,831,981) have been copied or recorded for the purposes of transfer. Table marked No. 1 exhibits the 8ubdivi«ions and boundaries, also arranged in order, which have been transcribed for transmission to the General Land Office, It will there be seen that one million two hundred and ninety-five thousand three hundred and sixty-eight (1,295,3G8) word« have been copied from the original field notes, and four volumes of said transcripts, properly paged and indexed, have been forwarded to the Commissioner of the General Land Office. There has also, during the year, been forwarded to the several dis- trict land offices, upon the requisitions of the registers, 196 subdivi- sional diagrams, the original copy of each being filed in this office and a duplicate forwarded to Washington, making a total of 588 sub- divisional diagrams calculated under the provisions of the act of 6th April, 1832. A reference to table marked No. 2 will show the num- bers of these diagrams arranged in numerical order of townships and ranges. Swamp Lands — The governor of this State having forwarded to m0, under dates of 11th October and 27th December, 1856, and 26th March, 1857, the reports of twenty-two locating agents appointed to select '* swamp and overflowed lands,*' these several reports were care- fully examined by this office, the character of the tracts embraced in those lists tested by the field notes and other evidences on file in this office, and the results exhibited as heretofore in separate lists, lettered E and C No. 3 and E and C No, 4, the former of which were for- warded to the General Land Office on the 28th January, and the latter on the 1st September, 1857. These lists exhibit a total of lands re- commended for confirmation as follows : In the Little Rock district 28,976.15 acre«. Champagnole district 77,168.43 " Red River district 22,825.63 '' Johnson C. H. district 5,663.07 '' Batesville district 19,067.62 '' Helena district 27,934.24 '' Fayetteville district 2,567.43 '' Total 184,202.57 '' 11 162 REPOET OP THE And of lands certified by me as not inuring to the State, bein^ con- tradicted in their character by the field notes on file in this office as ** swamp and overflowed," and embraced in lists **C/' there were for- warded as follows : In the Little Rock district 12,903.66 acres. Charapagnole district 4,551.54 " Red River district 1,398.48 " Johnson C. H. district 8,086.81 " Batesville district 10,391.05 '' Helena district 6,206.93 " Fayetteville district 1,045.14 *' Total 43,983.61 (( Taking these items together, it will be seen that this oflSce, since ifhe date of the last annual report, has taken final action upon, and disposed of, tracts amounting to 228,185.57 acres. Copies of all these lists were promptly forwarded to the department at Washington, and also to the several registers of the district land offices. The State agents are yet in the field at work selecting lands, from whom the return of additional lists or reports may soon be expected. I have thought proper to have copies of all those lists of ** swamp and ovei flowed lands," the character of which conflicted with the record evidence on file in this office, transcribed and forwarded to the governor of the State, that additional evidence on the part of the State may be furnished this office as to their true character. Under instructions from your office of July 1, 1856, I proceeded, on the 29th October of same year, to take the evidence of H. P. Wal- worth and others in regard to the true character of certain lands sit- uated in townsphip 15 south, range 1 east, as determined by the swamp land act of 28th September, 1850 ; copies of the evidence, affidavits, certificates, and statements laid before me on that occasion, were forwarded to the department on the 29th October, 1856. Statement No. 6 is the estimate of funds required to meet the dis- bursement of this office for the year ending 30th June, 1859. The appropriations for the year ending 30th June, 1858, are deemed amply sufficient to cover the expenditures of this office until that period ; and the estimate made up to the 30th June, 1859, includes no items other than that made for the salary of surveyor general and four regular clerks, with the necessary incidental expenses. It is con- sidered that the extra work on which job clerks have usually been employed will be closed at the end of the ensuing fiscal year, leaving the final business of the office to be closed by the labors of the regular clerks, whose experience and skill in the several departments of labor may be relied on for that purpose. Whether or not the department sees proper to authorize the re- survey of the fraudulent work in this State, recommended in my last annual report, it will give me pleasure to co-operate with it in any way necessary to remedy the great injury to which this State of Ar- kansas has been subjected by these aggravated evils. Regions of SECRETARY OP THE INTERIOR. 163 conntry hitherto thinly settled are now, under the liberal grants of the general government, becoming populated with an intelligent, agricul- tural people ; and metes and bounds, hitherto unnoticed and unsought for, are now subjected to close and rigid examination. This results in the discovery of errors in the measurement of lines and disagree- ments in areas, as compared with the quantity found on the ground with that shown on the official plat of entry. Complaints made to me will, however, be forwarded to the depart- ment for such action as may be deemed expedient. The following is a list of the documents appended to, and forming part of, this report : No. 1. List of townships and boundaries, the field notes of which have been transcribed for transmission to the General Land Office since the date of last annual report. No. 2. List of diagrams exhibiting the tracts subdivided into 40- acre lots, to facilitate entries to the settlers, under act of Congress of the 5th April, 1832, which were furnished the registers of land offices upon their requisitions, and copies of the same sent to General Land Office during the year ending iiOth September, 1857. No. 3. List of maps made since date ot'last annual report from this office and sent to Commissioner and registers. No. 4. Circular to county surveyors in Arkansas. No. 5. List of townships and boundaries, the field notes of which have been transcribed for forming records in volumes for transfer to the State under act of 12th June, 1840. No. G. Estimate for the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1859. No. 7. Account current of the United States with Henry M. Rector for the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1857. All of which is respectfully submitted by your obedient servant, H. M. RECTOR, Surveyor General, Thos. a. Hendricks, Esq., Commissioner General Land Office^ Washington^ D. C. 164 REPORT OP THE No. 1. List of totonshtps and boundaries, the field notes of which have beei transcribed Jor transmission to the General Land Office mnce the dati of last aunttal report. Nature of tnmscripti. Retunrey of— Subdivision Do Pt ea«t boundary.. Pt. subdivision . . .. East boundary . . .. Subdivision South boundary . .. P(. east boundary.. Do Subdivision ...i.... Do South boundary ... East boundary . . .. Pt. subdivision East boundary .... South boundary ... Subdivi««i«n Pt. south boundary East boundary Pt. south boundary Pt. east boundary. Subdivision Da Do East boundary .... Subdivision East boundary Subdivision South boundary ... East boundary .... Subdivision East boundary Subdivision East boundary Do Subdivision South boundary Pt. east boundary. Pt. south boundary Subdivision Do South boundary ... East boundary Subdivision Do Situated in— Township of the Range of the Remarkf. base line. 5tb principal meridian. 2 north 1 west 6. .do l.-do 11. .do l..do 9. .do ]..do 15..do l..do 15. .do l..do 16. .do l..do 9. .do 2. .do 15. .do 2. .do 1. do 3.. do 10. .do 3.. do 10. .do 3. .do 10. .do 3. .do 11. -do 3. .do W. of White riTer. 