OCR Text |
Show The public domain th of land that could n policy was the revenue ne^, government. Many people moved out onto the public domain before any formal r acquisition to title La recognized occupancy preference rights. Settlement, as a policy, was made more specific in the Homestead Ac which substituted a free- land doctrine for the revenue policy. Under the H Law, 160- acre farm units could be acquired by settlers on payment of nor and residence on the land for five years. The Desert Land Act of 1877, provided for the sale of 640- acre tract per acre to irrigation farmers, but this was amended in 1890 to reduce the 320 acres. Passage of the Carey Act in 1894, provided for the development of irri the basis of the Federal government's supplying the land and the states' f various aid to the settlers. Later the Reclamation Act greatly enlarged th program for development of the arid and semi- arid west. Operating concurrently with these acts promoting settlement were o making large grants of land to encourage the building of transportation fs as ( 1850). 78,842,880 83,840 78,926,720 16,000,000 : ( 1853)... 18,961,920 26,880 18,988,800 10,000,000 ! tes 1,442,200,320 20,266,240 1,462,466,560 80,957,390 ( 1867).... 365,481,600 9,814,400 375,296,600 7,200,000 1,807,681,920 30,080,640 1,837,763,160 88,157,390 pt that of Alaska, were computed in 1912 by a committee representing the ; the Geological Survey of the Department of the Interior; the Bureau of ireau of the Census of the Department of Commerce and Labor. The area of d in connection with the 1940 Decennial Census. acres of water area subsequently recognized as part of the State of Texas, which ite. tent of the Interior, Report of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, \ ppendix ( Washington, D. C.: Bureau of Land Management, 1957), p. 128. Dmain was first offered for sale with few restrictions on the amount i be acquired by an individual or group. At first, the motivating venue which constituted the major income for the new Federal method of was provided. Meeting this problem, the Pre- emption Law of 1841 ncy as a sufficient indication of the desire to settle and establish |