GOVERNMENT LANDS IN MISSOURI. The State of Missouri owns no lands and therefore has none for sale. But the United States has yet much valuable land within this State which is available for entry for homesteads or may be purchased outright at $1.25 per acre. All remaining swamp and school lands belong to the counties wherein they lie and are for sale by the county courts thereof. Such lands are nearly all in counties lying south of the Missouri river. On June 30, 1904, the total area of government land in Missouri subject to entry, as reported by the Registers of the United States Land offices located at Boonville, Ironton and Springfield, was 189,481 acres, and the distribution and acreage of these lands are shown in the following tables: Pulaski... Maries. Miller. Benton. Total.. Barry.... Dallas.. Laclede. McDonald Ozark Pulaski Stone Taney-. Texas GOVERNMENT LANDS IN MISSOURI. SUBJECT TO HOMESTEAD OR PURCHASE AT $1.25 PER ACRE. Total... The following general information relative to the rules of the Interior Department governing the entry of public lands will be of service to homeseckers: Unless a man is married, or is the head of a family, he must be 21 years of age before he can make a homesetad entry of land. A single woman over 21 years old can make a homestead entry, but a married woman cannot make such entry. Homestead entries can only be made for 160 acres of land, but purchase may be made of an additional 160 acres. One person can acquire title to only 320 acres of government land. Final proof in homestead entries can be made after five years from date of entry, or of actual residence on the land, and must be made before the expiration of seven years from the date of entry. The time which the homestead settler has served in the army, navy or marine. corps during the Civil War will be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, or if discharged on account of wounds received or disability incurred in the line of duty, then the time of enlistment will be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, without reference to the time he has served; but no patent shall issue any homestead settler who has not resided upon, improved and cultivated his homestead for a period of at least one year after he shall have commenced his improvements. All of the aforesaid lands are for sale at $1.25 per acre, the purchaser being vested with title upon payment for same. follows: On 160 acres, $14; 120 acres, $13; 80 acres, $7; 40 acres, $6. The land office commission, payable at the time of making final proof, are as follows: On 160 acres, $4; 120 acres, $3; 80 acres, $2; 40 acres, $1. The fees for reducing testimony to writing in making final proof are 15 cents for each 100 words, which in each case amounts to $1, sometimes to $1.50, and must be paid with the other final proof commissions. The tables of "Surplus Productions Shipped" from the several counties in which these lands are located, to be found elsewhere in this Report, will convey a fair idea about their possibilities of production; and persons desiring any information other than is contained in this chapter should address the Register of the United States Land Office at either of the points named. |