History of public land law development

page 699

Chapter XXIII Legal Aspects of Mineral Resources Exploitation by Robert W. Swenson Author's note.-/ am overwhelmed by the amount of historical material on the western frontier which continues to come off the presses, hi preparing this study I have too often felt the temptation to wander off irretrievably into the fascinating history of the frontier era. But-this cannot be an appraisal of Frederick Jackson Turner's theories of the frontier, or of the economic history of copper in Montana, or even a retelling of life in the mining camps with their hurdy-gurdy houses and jumping frogs. Instead, I have reluctantly confined myself in Part 1 to an appraisal of the policies of the Federal government up to 1872 with respect to the exploitation of solid mineral resources on the public domain. Part 2 considers the history of the disposition of coal and petroleum lands, while Part 3 deals with the effect of withdrawal policies on minerals and the contemporary mining scene in general. Thus, although this study is primarily "legal" history, I cannot begin without acknowledging a debt to historians whose objectives have been much broader than mine and from whom I have learned a great deal about the mining frontier. Jackson, Paul, Wright, Gates, and Greever-to name but a few-have admirably performed the task of examining original source materials which are not available to me. Their observations are truly the backbone of any discussion of western mining law. R.W.S. 699