
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 43USC178]

 
                         TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS
 
                          CHAPTER 7--HOMESTEADS
 
                    SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
 
Sec. 178. Patents for lands in New Mexico; lands contiguous to 
        Spanish or Mexican land grants
        
    Whenever it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary of 
the Interior that a tract or tracts of public land, contiguous to a 
Spanish or Mexican land grant, in the State of New Mexico, not exceeding 
in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres, has or have been held in 
good faith and in peaceful, adverse possession by a citizen of the 
United States, his ancestors or grantors, for more than twenty years 
under claim or color of title, and that valuable improvements have been 
placed on such land, or some part thereof has been reduced to 
cultivation, the Secretary may, in his discretion, upon the payment of 
$1.25 per acre, cause a patent or patents to issue for such land to any 
such citizens: Provided, That where the area or areas so held by any 
such citizen is in excess of one hundred and sixty acres the Secretary 
may determine what particular subdivisions, not exceeding one hundred 
and sixty acres in the aggregate, to any such citizen may be patented 
hereunder: Provided further, That coal and all other minerals contained 
therein are reserved to the United States; that said coal and other 
minerals shall be subject to sale or disposal by the United States under 
applicable leasing and mineral land laws, and permittees, lessees, or 
grantees of the United States shall have the right to enter upon said 
lands for the purpose of prospecting for and mining such deposits: 
Provided further, That the term ``citizen'', as used in this section, 
shall be held to include a corporation organized under the laws of the 
United States or any State or Territory thereof.

(Feb. 23, 1932, ch. 52, 47 Stat. 53.)

                       References in Text

    The leasing and mineral land laws, referred to in text, probably 
mean the mineral leasing laws, which have been defined in sections 351, 
505, 530, and 541e of Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining, to mean acts 
Oct. 20, 1914, ch. 330, 38 Stat. 741; Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, 41 Stat. 
437; Apr. 17, 1926, ch. 158, 44 Stat. 301; and Feb. 7, 1927, ch. 66, 44 
Stat. 1057. The act of Oct. 20, 1914, was repealed by Pub. L. 86-252, 
Sec. 1, Sept. 9, 1959, 73 Stat. 490. The act of Feb. 25, 1920, is known 
as the Mineral Leasing Act and is classified generally to chapter 3A 
(Sec. 181 et seq.) of Title 30. The act of Apr. 17, 1926, is classified 
generally to subchapter VIII (Sec. 271 et seq.) of chapter 3A of Title 
30. The act of Feb. 7, 1927, is classified principally to subchapter IX 
(Sec. 281 et seq.) of chapter 3A of Title 30. For complete 
classification of these Acts to the Code, see Tables.
