REVISION OF THE MINING LAW OF 1872 Prepared by IRVING SENZEL at the Request of HENRY M. JACKSON, Chairman Committee on Energy and Natural Resources United States Senate CONTENTS I. Introduction--The Mining Law and the public land system---- II. The Mining Law of 1872-Its basic character and provisions--- III. Uncertainties in the Mining Law of 1872- IV. Costs of the Mining Law of 1872_-_. V. Some recommendations for revision__. A. Public Lands Commission-1880_ B. Commissioner of the General Land Office-1942 and 1943_ C. A miscellany of suggestions-1953-- D. Assistant Director, Bureau of Land Management-1966-. L. Alaska Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission- 1976 Page 40 REVISION OF THE MINING LAW OF 1872 (By Irving Senzel) I. INTRODUCTION-THE MINING LAW AND THE PUBLIC LAND SYSTEM The discovery of gold in California in 1849 drew thousands of men and women to the newly acquired American territory. In the absence of effective governmental authority and governing law, the gold seekers proceeded to establish their own rules and regulations for the supervision of their search for and recovery of the precious metal. Authorities differ somewhat as to the sources of these rules and regulations, some ascribing them to precedents under Spanish or Cornish law. Explorers in the gold fields of California no doubt drew upon such experiences. It is very likely that they also drew deeply upon the American experience itself with its tradition of self-reliance, its understanding of the processes and advantages of self-government, and its precedents in the American public land disposal history. This was not the first time that Americans had, in effect, made their own rules for acquisition of public lands. Early efforts of the Government to stem the tide of westward migration until orderly processes could be established and maintained could not withstand the pressures of a self-reliant people on the move. Congressional reaction was realistic; from 1800 to 1841, the Congress passed a series of laws1 legalizing, ex post facto, existing intrusions on the public lands by granting the occupants a right of preemption of the lands they occupied. Finally in 1841,2 8 years before the California Gold Rush, the Congress gave up the charade and enacted a general prospective preemption law, throwing the public lands open to those who would take them. Requirements of the law were modest. The price for the lands was $1.25 per acre. This was essentially the type of response made by the Congress to the situation it faced in the western mining areas. After some consideration of possible alternatives, in 1866 (and 1872) it finally conceded the ground to the miners, throwing the public lands open to exploration and granting the mineral deposits therein to those who found them. Again Federal requirements were modest. For the most part, activities were to be controlled by the rules and regulations established by the miners themselves. The Congress met other needs of a growing nation in a similar fashion. For example, it permitted the taking of lands for towns,3 1 E.g., Act of Mar. 15, 1816 (3 Stat. 260), extended at least twice (3 Stat. 393, 451); Acts of May 29, 1930 (4 Stat. 420); July 14, 1832 (4 Stat. 603); June 1, 1840 (5 Stat. 382). 2 Sec. 10 of the act of Sept. 4, 1841 (5 Stat. 455). 3 Act of Mar. 23, 1844 (5 Stat. 657). 85-810-77 |