United States Statutes at Large/Volume 5/28th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 17
Chap. XVII.—An Act for the relief of the citizens of towns upon the lands of the United States, under certain circumstances.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,When public lands are occupied as a town site, corporate authorities, &c. to enter the same in trust for the occupants. That whenever any portion of the surveyed public lands has been or shall be settled upon and occupied as a town site, and therefore not subject to entry under the existing pre-emption laws, it shall be lawful, in case such town or place shall be incorporated, for the corporate authorities thereof, and, if not incorporated, for the judges of the county court for the county in which such town may be situated, to enter, at the proper land office, and at the minimum price, the land so settled and occupied, in trust, for the several use and benefit of the occupants thereof, according to their respective interests;Execution of the trust, &c. to be regulated by the Legislature.
Proviso. the execution of which trust, as to the disposal of the lots in such town, and the proceeds of the sales thereof, to be conducted under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the legislative authority of the State or Territory in which the same is situated: Provided, That the entry of the land intended by this act be made prior to the commencement of the public sale of the body of land in which it is included, and that the entry shall include only such land as is actually occupied by the town, and be made in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands authorized by the act of twenty-fourth April, one thousand eight hundred and twenty, and shall not in the whole exceed three hundred and twenty acres;Any act of trustees not made agreeable to regulations, void.
Authorities of Weston, &c. And provided, also, That any act of said trustees, not made in conformity to the rules and regulations herein alluded to, shall be void and of none effect: And provided, also, That the corporate authorities of the town of Weston, in the county of Platte, State of Missouri, or the county court of Platte county, in said State, shall be allowed twelve months, from and after the passage of this act, to enter at the proper land office, the lands upon which said town is situate.
Approved, May 23, 1844.