History of public land law development

page 247

PREEMPTION 247 extensive or significant. They did lend support to Whiggish opponents of general preemption measures who exaggerated the stories of misuse. After 1862, however, the situation was very different. The quantity of land proclaimed for sale, and thereafter opened to unrestricted entry, was limited and soon the practice virtually ended. For unoffered land, all entry laws had specific limitations such as 160 acres for homesteads, preemptions, and entries under the Timber Culture, and Timber and Stone Acts, and 640 acres for desert homesteads. It was only through these measures that unoffered lands could be acquired. Preemption then became subject to major abuse, as did all the other entry laws, which are discussed in the chapters on homestead. Finally in 1891, after numerous recommendations by Commissioners of the General Land Office and land reformers, Congress provided for the repeal of a law that had long since passed its usefulness.