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Show Chapter X Preemption Preemption, the preferential right of a settler on public lands to buy his claim at a modest price, had been generally conceded- except in New England-to persons on the outer edge of the frontier by the time of the American Revolution. This privilege had not always been won easily, and only by vigorously resisting ejectment and fiercely demanding the right to acquire the land for a small payment or free, in preference to all others, had the settlers been victorious. If, unluckily, they found themselves on absentee-owned land and ejectment proceedings were brought against them, they insisted on payment for the value of all improvements they had made.1 These two principles-the occupying settler's preferential right to buy the public land he had squatted upon and the right to the value of the improvements inadvertently made on private land-were carried wherever land-seeking pioneers went and were incorporated into the land systems of colonies and states and later into that of the Federal government.2 Laws Fail to Deter Squatters The adoption of the revenue policy for public lands in 1785 and 1796 and the system of sales at auction meant that intrusions of squatters could no longer be tolerated. It 1 For an examination of the legal aspects of occupancy laws see Paul W. Gates, "Tenants of the Log Cabin," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XLIX (June 1962), 1 ff. 2 Joseph Doddridge, Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania (Wellsburgh, Va., 1824), p. 100. will be recalled that serious but unsuccessful efforts were made from 1785 to 1791 to prevent squatters from taking possession of land north of the Ohio.3 During the Jefferson administration Congress enacted severe laws forbidding intrusions on the public lands in Louisiana. Extreme care was taken by the United States to safeguard the property rights of residents in areas acquired from other nations, but persons found guilty of settling upon United States land in Louisiana territory were made subject to fines up to $1,000 and imprisonment not exceeding one year by the Act of March 26, 1804. Use of the Army to eject all such illegal settlers was authorized.4 A second act, signed by Jefferson on March 3, 1807, increased the penalties for squatting and showed the government's determination to end the practice. This law was primarily directed against squatters moving on to public lands after its enactment. They were to be ejected by military force if necessary and to be subjected to fines and imprisonment. Squatters already upon public land were permitted to retain as much as 320 acres provided they registered at the land office and signed a statement that they claimed no right to the land, requested permission to continue as tenant at will, and promised that, whenever the land was sold, they would give quiet possession of it. Intruders who did not register their claims were to be proceeded against and, if convicted, could be fined $100 and sent to prison for 3 See Chap. IV, "Land Ordinance of 1785." 4 Act of March 26, 1804, 2 Stat. 289; Clarence Carter (ed.), Territorial Papers, IX, 212. 219 |