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Show MILITARY BOUNTY LAND POLICIES 257 with an occupancy claim with improvements they were a threat to the patent owner. After 181.0 an Ohio law gave the occupant with a color of title assurance that in the event of action being taken against him by another having title superior to his, he could demand either the full value of his improvements or pay the litigant the value of the land minus improvements. McArthur was so badgered by tax titles, interest and penalties on the same, and by litigation presumably over occupancy rights, that he was almost ruined.21 Revolutionary War Scrip Well before 1830 it became apparent that there were many more claims for bounty land in the Virginia Military Tract than there was good land available. Consequently, Congress, by an Act of May 30, 1830, authorized Virginia claimants, whether they were in the Continental Line or not (formerly only claimants who had served in the Continental Line were entitled to locate land in the Virginia Military Tract) to exchange their warrants for Revolutionary War scrip, which was essentially land office money. This scrip could be used to enter public lands which had been offered in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Scrip to the amount of 310,000 acres was authorized to be exchanged for warrants. Two years later, Congress authorized an additional appropriation of scrip for 300,000 acres; in 1833 the amount was further increased by 200,000 acres and in 1836 by 650,000, making a total of 1,460,000 acres. The Act of March 2, 1833, removed the restriction on location. Finally, in 1852 the presentation of numerous claims persuaded Congress to adopt a general law permitting all claimants to Virginia land warrants is- sued before 1852 to exchange them for scrip.22 In the next 9 years 1,421 warrants were exchanged for 940,903 acres in scrip, or an average of 662 acres each. By 1880, 2,520,269 acres in Virginia land warrants had been exchanged for Revolutionary War scrip. If we add this sum to the 3,669,848 acres of Virginia warrants located in the Virginia Military Tract plus an unknown amount acquired in Kentucky, we can see the dimensions of the problem that first Virginia and then the United States had in satisfying the extraordinarily generous promises the Old Dominion had made to induce and reward service in the Revolution.23 Since the Revolutionary War scrip could only be used to enter offered lands (after the auction), it was not useful to settlers wishing to preempt their lands before the auction, even though the scrip could be used by them thereafter. Neither could it be used to purchase Indian trust lands which came on the market in Alabama, Mississippi, and Kansas in the 1830's and 1850's. Also, since the scrip was in various amounts it frequently was presented in payment for smaller acreages without return of the difference. These limitations made it less valuable than money at the land offices and it was generally quoted at a substantial discount, invariably below $1.10 an acre. It was bought up by brokers, as were the military land warrants of 1847-55, and carried to the principal land offices in the West where it was offered to settlers and speculators. Assignment records and entry books indicate that to a very large extent the scrip was used by speculators. One may search almost in vain to find small purchasers who were able to get any benefit from the lower cost of scrip entries. In 1834 the Commissioner of the General Land Office furnished Congress with 21 Hutchinson, "The Bounty Lands," pp. 206-207. 1,400,000 acres were either tax delinquent or not found on the assessment role in 1824, but whether this applied only to the Virginia Military Tract is not clear. 22 Acts of May 30, 1830; July 13, 1832; March 2, 1833; March 3, 1835; and Aug. 31, 1852, 4 Stat. 422, 578, 665, 770, and 10 Stat. 143. 23 H. Ex. Doc, 42d Cong., 2d sess., Vol. 1 (Serial No. 1505), p. 390; H. Ex. Doc, 46th Cong., 3d sess., Vol. XXV, No. 26 (Serial No. 1975), p. 236. |