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ARIZONA GHOST TRAILS

Richard J. Hinton

Frontier Book Co., Publisher

Fort Davis, Texas 79734

From

The Handbook To Arizona

c1877

Limited to 1000 copies

Summary of Mining Laws, Federal, Territorial, and Local; Desert and Timber Lands; Homestead and Pre-emption Rights; Spanish and Railroad Grants. Land Offices. Officers of the Territory. Legislation on Irrigation. Artesian Wells, Mining, Etc. Routes, Distances, and Fares from and to all the Principal Points east and west, and in the Territory. Altitude of Important Points. Meteorological Tables. Mineral Springs. Southern Pacific Railroad Lands, Etc.

The Act of 1872

Is not compulsory upon miners. They are not obliged to procure a United States patent for their claims. Those who do not, hold exactly the same relations that they did before its passage, provided no adverse claim is interposed. The Revised Statutes of the United States, Sections 2,318 to 2,352, of Title "Mineral Lands"; also, "Miscellaneous" provisions ditto, embracing Sections 910, 2,238, 2,258, 2,386 and 2,406, provide that for

Quartz Mines

Any person who is a citizen of the United States, or who has declared his intention to become a citizen, and no others, may locate and hold a mining claim 1,500 linear feet along the course of any mineral vein or lode subject to location; or any association of persons, severally qualified as above, may make joint location of such claim of 1,500 feet; but in no event can a location of a vein or lode, made subsequent to the date mentioned, exceed 1,500 feet along the course thereof, whatever may be the number of persons in the company.

With regard to the extent of surface ground adjoining a lode or vein, and claimed for the convenient working of the same, it is provided that the lateral extent of location, made after May 10th, 1872, shall, in no case, exceed 300 feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, and that no such surface rights shall be limited by any mining regulations to less than 25 feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse rights, existing on the 10th of May, 1872, may render such limitations necessary; the end lines of such claims to be in all cases parallel with each other.

In order to hold a possessory right to a location made prior to May 10th, 1872, not less than 0 worth of labor must be performed or improvements made thereon, within one year from the date of such location, and annually thereafter; in default of which the claim will be subject to re-location by any one else having the necessary qualifications, unless the original locator, his heirs, assigns, or legal representatives, have resumed work after such failure and before the re-location. The expenditures required upon mining claims may be made from the surface, or in running a tunnel for the development of such claims. The Act of February 11th, 1875, provided that where a person or company has run a tunnel for the purpose of developing a lode or lodes, the money so expended shall be considered as expended on the said lode, and the owner or owners shall not be required to perform work on the surface to hold the claim.

Individual proof of citizenship may be made by affidavit. If a company, unincorporated, by the agent's affidavit; if a corporation, by the filing of a copy of charter or certificate of incorporation. Locators against whom no adverse rights rested on the date of the Act of 1872, shall have, on compliance with general law and recognized custom, the exclusive right to

Possession and Enjoyment

Of the surface inclosure, and of "all veins, lodes, and ledges which lie under the top or apex of such lines, extended downward vertically," even though they in their descent extend outside the "side-lines of such surface locations." The right to such outside parts of veins or ledges is confined to all that lies between "vertical planes drawn downward," as described, so continued that these planes "will intersect" the exterior parts of the said "veins or ledges." The surface of another's claim cannot be entered by the locator or possessor of such lode or vein.

What Constitutes a Deposit.

The word "deposit" has always been construed by the Land Office to be a general term, embracing veins, lodes, ledges, placers, and all other forms in which the valuable metals have ever been discovered. Whatever is recognized as a mineral by standard authorities, where the same is found in quality and quantity sufficient to render the land sought to be patented more valuable on this account than for purposes of agriculture, is treated by the Land Office as coming within the meaning of the act. Lands, therefore, valuable on account of borax, carbonate of soda, nitrate of soda, sulphur, alum, and asphalt, it is held may be patented. The first section of the Act of 1872 says, "all valuable mineral deposits." The sixth section uses the term "valuable deposits." Deposits of fire-clay may be patented under the act, and so may iron deposits, which may be patented as vein or placer claims. Lands, more valuable on account of deposits of limestone, marble, kaoline, and mica than for purposes of agriculture, may be patented as mineral lands.

Miners' Form of Notice.

We claim 1,200 feet along the vein, running in a northwesterly course from the discovery shaft, and 300 feet running along the vein southeasterly from the discovery shaft. We also claim 150 feet on each side of the vein from center of crevice as surface ground.

The Act of 1872 provides that no lode-claim can be recorded until after the discovery of a vein or lode within the limits of the ground claimed. The claimant should, therefore, prior to recording his claim, unless the vein can be traced on the surface, sink a shaft, or run a tunnel or drift to a sufficient depth therein to discover and develop a mineral-bearing vein, lode or crevice; should determine, if possible, the general course of such vein in the direction from the point of discovery, in which direction he will be governed in making the boundary of his claim on the surface; and should give the course and direction as nearly as practicable from the discovery shaft on the claim to some permanent, well-known points or objects, such as, for instance, stone monuments, blazed trees, the confluence of streams, etc., which may be in the immediate vicinity, and which will serve to perpetuate and fix the locus of the claim, and render it susceptible of identification from the description thereof given in the record of location in the district. He should drive a post, or erect a monument of stones at each corner of his surface ground, and at the point of discovery or discovery shaft, should fix a post, stake or board, upon which should be designated the name of the lode, the name or names of the locators, the number of feet claimed, and in what direction from the point of discovery; it being essential that the location notice filed for record, in addition to the foregoing description, should state whether the entire claim of fifteen hundred feet is taken on one side of the point of discovery, or whether it is partly upon the other side thereof; and in the latter case, how many feet are claimed upon each side of such discovery point. The following diagram of surface boundaries, etc., of a lode, will aid the locator in this work:

Parties locating a lode are entitled to all the dips, spurs, angles, variations, and ledges of the lode coming within the surface ground.

The disordered condition of Arizona consequent on the Civil War and the continued hostilities of the Apaches, so impeded mining enterprises, compelling the abandonment of valuable mines and preventing full compliance with the conditions of the preceding acts, from no lack of diligence or skill on the part of miners, that some legislation seemed to be necessary to protect them from the injustice which a strict enforcement of the law would necessitate. The following acts were accordingly passed and approved on the dates specified.

An act approved March 1st, 1873, amends Section 5 of the Act of 1872, above referred to, so as to read as follows: "That the time for the annual expenditure on claims located prior to the passage of said act, shall be extended to the 10th day of June, 1874."

An act approved June 6th, 1874, made a further extension to January 1st, 1875.

An act approved February 11th 1875, so amends Section 2324, Revised Statutes, as to provide that where "a person or company has or may run a tunnel for the purpose of developing a lode or lodes owned by said person or company, the money so expended on said tunnel shall be taken and considered as expended on said lode or lodes, whether located prior to or since the passage of said act; and such person or company shall not be required to perform work on the surface of said lode or lodes in order to hold the same, as required by said act."

Recording Location.

Within a reasonable time, after the location shall have been marked on the ground, notice thereof, accurately describing the claim in manner aforesaid, should be filed for record with the proper recorder of the district, who will thereupon issue the usual certificate of location. The district regulations or customs are followed in this regard. Within ninety days after location, a location certificate must be filed in the office of the Recorder, in the county in which the lode is situated, which should be in the following form:

Labor and Expenditures.

In order to hold the possessory rights to a claim of 1,500 feet of a vein or lode located as aforesaid, the Act requires that until a patent shall have been issued therefor, not less than 0 worth of labor on the basis adopted by the local mining regulations shall be performed, or improvements made thereon, during each year; in default of which the claim will be subject to re-location by any other party having the necessary qualifications, unless the original locator, his heirs, assigns or legal representatives have resumed work thereon after such failure and before such re-location. The importance of attending to these details in the matter of location, labor and expenditure will be the more readily perceived, when it is understood that a failure to give the subject proper attention, may invalidate the claim.

Adverse Claims.

The seventh section of the United States laws provides for adverse claims; fixes the time within which they shall be filed to have legal effect, and prescribes the manner of their adjustment. An adverse mining claim must be filed with the register of the same land office with whom the application for patent was filed, or in his absence, with the receiver, and within the sixty days' period of newspaper publication of notice. It must be duly sworn to by the party or parties filing the adverse claim, and not by an attorney, before a officer authorized to administer oaths within the land-district, or before the register or receiver; fully set forth the nature and extent of the interference or conflict; whether the adverse party claims as a purchaser for valuable consideration, or as a locator; if the former, the original conveyance, or a duly certified copy thereof, should be furnished; or if the transaction was a mere verbal one he will narrate the circumstances attending the purchase, the date thereof, and the amount paid, which facts should be supported by the affidavit of one or more witnesses, if any were present at the time; and if he claims as a locator, he must file a duly certified copy of the location from the office of the proper recorder. It will be incumbent upon the adverse claimant to file a plat showing his claim, and its relative situation or position with the one against which he claims, so that the extent of the conflict may be the better understood. This plat must be made from an actual survey by a United States deputy surveyor, who will officially certify thereon to its correctness; and in addition there must be attached to such plat of survey a certificate or sworn statement by the surveyor, as to the approximate value of the labor performed or improvements made upon the claim of the adverse party, and the plat must indicate the position of any shafts, tunnels, or other improvements, if any such exist upon the claim of the party opposing the application. Upon the foregoing being filed within the sixty days as aforesaid, the register, or in his absence, the receiver, will give notice in writing to both parties to the contest that such adverse claim has been filed, informing them that the party who filed the adverse claim will be required within thirty days from the date of such filing to commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, to determine the question of right of possession, and to prosecute the same with reasonable diligence to final judgment; and that, should such adverse claimant fail to do so, his adverse claim will be considered waived, and the application for patent be allowed to proceed upon its merits. When an adverse claim is filed as aforesaid, the register or receiver will indorse upon the same the precise date of filing, and preserve a record of the date of notifications issued thereon; and thereafter all proceedings on the application for patent will be suspended, with the exception of the completion of the publication and posting of notices and plat, and the filing of the necessary proof thereof, until the controversy shall have been adjudicated in court, or the adverse claim waived or withdrawn.

Tunnels.

Placer Claims.

The laws of the United States provide, also, that no location of a placer claim, made after July 9th, 1870, shall exceed 160 acres for any one person or association of persons, which location shall conform to the United States surveys. All placer claims located after May 10th, 1872, shall conform as nearly as practicable with the United States system of public surveys, and no such location shall include more than 20 acres for each individual claimant.

District Mining Regulations.

The following will serve as a model for the framing of district laws. They will vary a little in detail, according to the requirements of the locality.

Following are the laws passed to govern the district:

Water Rights.

The United States Revised Statutes provide:

Officers of United States Land Offices are required to file with the General Land Office, the local laws on such matters. The following is a summary of those passed by the legislature of Arizona.

Water Rights in the Territory.--All rivers, creeks, and streams of running water in the Territory of Arizona are deemed public, and applicable to the purposes of irrigation and mining. All the inhabitants of the Territory who own or possess arable or irrigable lands shall have the right to construct public or private acequias, and obtain the necessary water for the same from any convenient river, creek, or stream of running water.

All damages arising from construction of the acequias shall be assessed by the Probate Judge of the county in a summary manner.

No inhabitant of the Territory shall have right to erect any dam or build a mill, or place any machinery, or open any sluice, or make any dyke, except such as are used for mining purposes, or the reduction of metals, that may impede or obstruct irrigation.

When any ditch or acequia shall be taken out for agricultural purposes, the person or persons so taking out such ditch or acequia shall have the exclusive right to the water, or so much as may be necessary for such purpose; and it at any time the water so required shall be taken for mining purposes, the damages shall be assessed and paid.

All owners and proprietors of arable or irrigable land bordering on, or irrigable by, any public acequia, shall labor on such public acequia, whether such owners or proprietors cultivate the land or not; and all persons interested in a public acequia, whether owners or lessees, shall labor thereon in proportion to the amount of the land owned or held by them, and which may be irrigated or subject to irrigation.

In all districts or precincts, the owners or proprietors of land irrigated by public acequias are annually called together by the Justices of the Peace, to elect one or more overseers for the acequias--and it is the duty of said overseers to superintend the opening, excavations and repairs of said acequias; to apportion the number of laborers furnished by the owners and proprietors; to regulate them according to the quantity of land to be irrigated by each one from said acequia; to distribute and apportion the water in proportion to the quantity to which each one is entitled according to the land cultivated by him; and in making such apportionment, he shall take into consideration the nature of the seed sown or planted, the crops and plants cultivated; and to conduct and carry on such distribution with justice and impartiality.

If any owner or proprietor of land irrigated by such acequia shall neglect or refuse to furnish the number of laborers required by the overseer, he shall be fined, and all fines shall be applied to the benefit of said acequia.

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