Home Stead Act of March 26, 1910

Chapter 129 – An act for the relief of homestead settlers under the acts of February twentieth, nineteen hundred and four; June fifth and twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and six; march second, nineteen hundred and seven; and May twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and eight.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that two years additional time for paying the installments due or to become due is hereby given to the purchasers of homestead lands sold pursuant to the provisions of an act entitled "An act to authorize the sale of a part of what is known as the Red Lake Indian Reservation in the State of Minnesota," approved February twentieth, nineteen hundred and four; and no homestead entries under said act shall be canceled for nonpayment of installments of the purchase price until the expiration of the two additional years above named.

Sec. 2. That the time within which all unpaid payments which have heretofore or may hereafter become due and payable under the act entitled "An act to authorize the sale and disposition of a portion of the surplus or unallotted lands in the Rosebud Indian Reservation, in the State of South Dakota, and making appropriation and provision to carry the same into effect," approved March second, nineteen hundred and seven, except the cash payment required at the time of entry, be, and the same is hereby, postponed and extended for one year from the date on which such payments are now by law required to be made: Provided, that any payments not made within the time required by the act above stated and extended by the provisions of this act shall draw interest at five per centum per annum, and the interest, when paid, shall be credited to the proceeds of the sale of land as provided in said act: Provided further, That such extension shall be subject to a full compliance by the entrymen with all requirements of the homestead laws as to residence and improvement.

Sec. 3. That all payments heretofore due and extended, and the payments due or to become due during the year nineteen hundred and ten from entrymen who have made entry under an act entitled "An act to open to settlement five hundred and five thousand acres of land in Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Indian Reservations, in Oklahoma Territory," approved June fifth, nineteen hundred and six, and the act entitled "An act giving preference right to actual settlers on pasture reservation numbered three to purchase land leased to them for agricultural purposes in Comanche County, Oklahoma," approved June twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and six, are hereby postponed and extended as follows: One of said payments shall be made in nineteen hundred and eleven at the time when a payment would become due under existing law or one year after such payment became due in nineteen hundred and ten, and the other payments shall be made annually thereafter until all payments are made: Provided, that all payments postponed and extended by the provisions of this act shall draw interest at five per centum per annum from the date of such extension, and the interest when paid shall be credited to the proceeds of the sale of the land as provided in said acts: And provided further, That nothing in this act shall extend the time of payments in any case where it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that the law in regard to residence and improvement, as provided by the homestead law, has not been fully performed.

Sec. 4. That section four of an act entitled "An act authorizing the sale and disposition of a portion of the surplus and unallotted lands in the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Indian Reservations in the States of South Dakota and North Dakota and making appropriation and provision to carry the same into effect," approved May twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and eight, be, and the same hereby is, amended to read as follows:

Sec. 4. That the price of said lands shall be paid in accordance with the rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior upon the following terms: One-fifth of the purchase price to be paid at the time of entry, and the balance in five equal installments, the first within two years and the remainder annually in three, four, five, and six years, respectively, from and after the date of entry. In case any entryman fails to make the annual payments, or any of them, when due, all rights in and to the land covered by his entry shall cease, and any payments theretofore made shall be forfeited and the entry canceled, and the lands shall be re-offered for sale and entry under the provisions of the homestead law at the appraised price thereof: And provided, That nothing in this act shall prevent homestead settlers from commuting their entries under section twenty-three hundred and one, Revised Statutes, by paying for the land entered the price fixed herein, receiving credit for payments previously made. In addition to the price to be paid for the land the entryman shall pay the same fees and commissions at the time of commutation or final entry as now provided by law, where the price of land is one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and when the entryman shall have complied with all the requirements and terms of the homestead laws as to settlement and residence and shall have made all the required payments aforesaid he shall be entitled to a patent for the lands entered: And provided further, That all lands remaining un-disposed of at the expiration of four years from the opening of said lands to entry may, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, be re-appraised in the manner provided for in this act: And it is further provided, That any lands remaining unsold after said lands have been open to entry for seven years may be sold to the highest bidder for cash without regard to the prescribed price thereof fixed under the provisions of this act, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the interior may prescribe.
(Approved, March 26, 1910)

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