whose name shall be entered on the record. He shall, when requested by any such claimant, go with him to his claim and examine any shaft that may be sunk by him, or tunnels that may be opened to the same, and make measurements of the same, and a record and certificate as aforesaid; and he shall in like manner examine, measure, or estimate, and make and record a certificate of any work which is required by law to be done by a claimant. And the said recording officer shall, quarterly, file with the clerk of the probate court of the county in which said district is located a copy by him certified of all records made by him for the three months last preceding, which shall be duly recorded by said clerk, and a copy of said record duly certified by him shall be evidence of its contents in all courts of this Territory. And such recording officer shall be liable to all the penalties provided in the preceding section if he shall neglect or refuse to perform any of the acts and duties required of him by this section, but shall not be required to perform any such service until his fees for the same, to be fixed by the mining districts, are paid him, if he requests it And if any paper deposited with him for record is required to be recorded by the clerk of the probate court, he shall at the time said paper is so deposited with him take and receive the fee fixed by law for recording such paper by said clerk, and pay the said clerk said fee when he deposits said paper with him to be recorded as aforesaid. All such mining districts may make laws not inconsistent with the laws of the Territory, may elect officers for the government of such districts, and fix their compensation, but all such acts and proceedings shall be recorded, and all records and papers thereof filed with the clerk of the probate court as aforesaid. II. Any number of persons, not less than twelve, owning mining claims in any mining district, or in any contiguous mining districts, or who have discovered and may wish to denounce a mine or mineral lands, not within the limits of any established mining district, may proceed to make a new mining district at a meeting of persons holding claims in such district so to be established, and of claimants in any districts to be divided or to be included therein. They shall cause a notice in writing, and specifying the limits of said contemplated district, signed by them, to be posted in three conspicuous places in said district, and if any part of an established district is to be included therein by leaving a copy of said notice with the recorder of said district at least ten days before the day of said meeting. At said meeting all persons holding claims as aforesaid may vote, and may determine by a majority vote of those present whether said new district shall be established. and its limits, but within the boundaries named in the notice for said meeting, and thereupon the persons holding claims in such newly established district shall proceed to select a name, and make laws therefor, and elect a recorder, who shall be qualified as aforesaid, who shall perform all the duties and be subject to all the liabilities provided in this chapter for such officers, and shall file with the clerk of the probate court as aforesaid a record of the proceedings of this and all subsequent meetings at the time and in the manner herein provided.

SEC. 28. It shall be the duty of all claimants of mineral tracts to sink at least one shaft of thirty feet in depth, or to run a tunnel of fifty feet in length, in the body of the vein or in the adjoining rock, so as to test the vein from the surface, for the purpose of ascertaining the character and capacity of such mineral deposit, within the space of one year from the day of first taking possession thereof, and they shall notify the recorder of the mining district that said shaft or other work is completed, and that they intend working the vein or mineral deposit. And the recorder shall examine said work in person, and make and record a certificate of the result of such examination, which shall contain a statement of the condition and quality of the vein or mineral deposit, the amount of labor performed, and a general view of the results obtained. Said report shall be accompanied by three specimens taken from different parts of the work, which said specimens, with a copy of the record so made by him, shall be filed

by him within the time required by this act in the office of the clerk of the probate court. And said clerk shall make a record of the same. Such specimens shall be numbered and described by him, and be preserved for the use of the mineralogical professorship of the University of Arizona.

SEC. 29. The judge of the probate court, at any time within thirty days after the record made by the clerk of said court, as providedi n the preceding section, upon complaint in writing made to him by such claimants, describing fully their claims, stating the labor performed by them, and the certificate thereof, and that the registration of the same has been made as required by law, and requesting that their title thereto may be confirmed, shall cause a summons, under the seal of his court, to be issued, requiring all persons interested to appear at a day named therein, and which shall not be less than sixty days from the day the same was issued, and show cause why the title of such complainants and claimants should not be confirmed, a copy of which complaint and summons, duly attested by the clerk of the probate court, shall be published twice in the Territorial newspaper, and, be kept posted in the office of said clerk from the day of issuing the same to the return day thereof; and if no person shall appear on such return day to contest the right of the claimants to such claims the judge of probate shall examine all the records filed in the office of his clerk relating to such claims, and if he finds that the said claimants have in all respects complied with the provisions of this chapter, he shall make a decree in substance that the complainants having complied with the laws of this Territory relating to the denouncement and registration of mines have acquired a perfect title to their claims (describing the same) until the 1st day of January, A. D. 1868, and forever after unless abandoned by them. And the said clerk shall give the said claimant a copy of such decree, under the seal of the court, which shall be conclusive evidence of title in any proceedings relating to such claims, until they are abandoned. And unless the persons adversely interested and contesting the title of the complainants shall appear on the day named in said complaint, and proceed as hereinafter provided, they shall be forever barred from contesting the title of said complainants to such claims. And if the contestants shall so appear they shall on that day or some day to be fixed by said judge proceed to file an answer, setting forth their claim and case, and the proceedings shall then be conducted in conformity to the provisions of this chapter and the code of civil practice. And whenever a final decree is made thereon, determining the title to said claim or mine, by said judge, or by any other court on appeal, the said judge shall cause a record to be made in the office of his clerk of such decree, and a certified copy thereof may be made as aforesaid, with the like effect. And any claimants of mineral lands who before this act takes effect have in any way or under any law acquired a title to such mineral lands, after filing with the clerk of the court their evidence of title and description of claim as required by this chapter, may cause an examination of the shaft sunk by them or other work done by them to be made as aforesaid, and take the like proceedings for the confirmation of their titles, with the same effect: Provided, This section shall not apply except when the complainants are in possession of such mine or mining rights, claiming title thereto.

SEC. 30. By reason of the Indian wars and unsettled condition of the country, the time within which a shaft is required to be sunk, or other labor performed on a claim, shall not commence until two years from the day this act takes effect, and all the provisions of this chapter relating thereto are suspended for that time; but any claimant may sink a shaft or do such other labor, and at any time after the record of their claims with the probate court, and thereupon institute proceedings to confirm their titles, and be entitled to all the rights and privileges provided for in this chapter.

SEC 31. No single person or company shall be compelled to sink shafts or make other improvements on more than one of the tracts of land claimed by

him or them for the same vein or mineral deposit; and any number of claimants on the same vein or mineral deposit, who may unite for said purpose, shall be allowed to concentrate labor, capital, and energy to any one single point which to him or them shall be best suited to ascertain to the best advantage the general character, quality, and capacity of that particular vein or mineral deposit, and may take the like proceedings to confirm their titles.

SEC. 32. After the work required by section 28 of this chapter has been performed, and the record thereof made as therein provided, two years shall be allowed the claimants of mineral lands to develop the same, and procure machinery and provide for working the same; and during that time the same shall not be considered abandoned, although no work be done thereon: Provided, That, in such an event, they shall annually, and before the first day of June in each year, file with the clerk of the probate court an affidavit signed by them that they have not abandoned such claims, but intend, in good faith, to work them; and said term of two years shall not commence until the first day of January, A. D. 1868. And after the expiration of said term of two years, it shall be obligatory upon claimants to such mineral lands to hold actual possession of them and work the vein, which obligation shall be considered as complied with by doing at least thirty days' work thereon in each year; but if such claimants are prevented from working such vein by the hostility of Indians. or other good cause, rendering said working difficult or dangerous, they may, by authority of the judge of probate first obtained, be relieved from performing labor thereon from time to time, but for not more than one year at any one time, during the continuance of such cause.

SEC. 33. Any person who may discover a mineral vein or deposit as aforesaid, which is not included within a mining district, or which may be in a mining district in which there is no legally authorized recorder, may acquire title thereto, and to auxiliary lands, by giving notice as aforesaid, and recording the same with the clerk of the probate court of the county in which the same is situated, and may take the same proceedings, with the like effect, with the clerk of the probate court that are required to be taken with the recorder of a mining district.

SEC. 34. Discoverers of mines on lands in the legal ownership or possession of others, and not public lands, before doing the work of sinking the shaft required by section 28 of this chapter, shall pay to such parties such compensation for the use of the same as may be awarded by the judge of probate upon complaint of either party, or shall give bond to such parties for payment of the same, and sureties to be approved by said judge; and whenever it becomes necessary or advantageous to construct tunnels for the purpose of drainage, ventilation, or the better hauling of ores or other subterraneous products or mining materials, it shall be lawful for any party or parties to construct such tunnel or drift through all private and public property: Provided, That all damages arising from such subterranean works to the other parties, to be determined as provided above, shall be paid by the parties for whose benefit such tunnelling is done, to be paid before such work is commenced, or security given to the satisfaction of the judge of probate for the payment of the same; but no damages shall be paid on public lands when claims for such lands shall be set up after such tunnel shall have been projected or actually in process of construction: Provided, That the lapse of time between projection and actual work shall not exceed ninety days, and that the tunnelling parties give timely notice of their project to any new claimant of the so affected ground.

SEC. 35. Whenever such tunnel as mentioned in the preceding section shall intersect or traverse mineral deposits, or run along lodes claimed and held by other parties, then it shall be at the option of the owners of such other mineral deposits either to pay one-half of the expense of excavation for the distance that such tunnel runs through their mineral deposits, and secure the whole of

the ores excavated, or to divide the ores with the tunnelling parties, the latter paying all expenses of excavation; or it shall be optional with either party to abandon all claim to the ores excavated.

SEC. 36. If, in the construction of such subterranean works, new veins or deposits are encountered in ground not claimed or owned by other parties, they shall become the property of the party for whom such tunnel is constructed, and shall be denounced and registered as is required of new mines, and shall be governed by the same laws as are prescribed in this chapter.

SEC. 37. Any claimant or claimants not complying with any of the foregoing conditions and obligations shall forfeit all right to any such recorded or unrecorded claims to mineral and auxiliary tracts; and it shall not be lawful for him or them to register such claims anew within a period of three years after such forfeiture. All such tracts shall be free for working and registry to any but those excepted in this section.

SEC. 38. All veins and mineral deposits situated on public lands, which have not been worked and occupied from the time of the acquisition of the Territory by the United States up to the time of the passage of this chapter, except as ⚫ herein provided, shall be considered as abandoned and subject to registry and denouncement.

SEC. 39. All veins and mineral deposits that have been or may be abandoned hereafter shall, in all cases and respects, be governed by the laws regulating the opening, and working of new veins and deposits, as prescribed in this chapter.

SEC. 40. Whenever any mine, vein, or mineral deposit shall have been abandoned or forfeited in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, and registered anew by other parties, it shall be obligatory upon such parties to give the former owners warning thereof, so as to remove from the tract within the space of three months anything he or they may claim valuable or useful. Such warning shall be given in the nearest newspaper published in the Territory, and by posting it at three of the most conspicuous places in the county where the mine is situated. Three months after the expiration of such warning, any and all buildings, furnaces, arrastras, metals, and every other species of property which may still remain on the ground of such mine, vein, or mineral deposit, shall become the undisputed property of the new claimant, without compensation of any kind to any person whatever.

SEC. 41. Any person taking possession of or entering upon a mining claim or auxiliary lands, registered according to the provisions of this chapter, and before it is abandoned, shall be ousted therefrom in a summary manner by the order of the probate judge, and the malfeasor shall be adjudged to pay all damages and costs consequent thereon.

SEC. 51. It shall be the duty of persons who may discover and claim mining rights or mineral lands, at the same time that they may define the boundary of their claim or claims to any lode or mine as required by the provisions of this chapter, to lay off and define the boundary of one pertenencia as required by the provisions of this chapter, adjoining their claim or claims, which shall be the property of the Territory of Arizona. And at the same time that they present their notice of claim or claims to be recorded by the recorder of the mining district, they shall also present to such recorder the claim of said Territory. And if said discoverers and claimants shall neglect or refuse to present to such recorder the claim of said Territory as aforesaid, they shall forever forfeit all. claim to the mine or ledge so discovered by them. Any recording officer recording the claim or claims of such discoverers and claimants, when the claim of said Territory is not filed therewith as aforesaid, shall be subject to all the penalties provided in section 26 of this chapter. Such claim shall be recorded as provided in this chapter for like claims, but no work shall be required to be done thereon, nor shall it be considered to be abandoned so long as it is the property of the Territory; and if sold, the time within which the purchaser

shall be required to work said claim shall commence from the day of sale, except when the time is suspended as before provided. Every clerk of the probate court, as soon as he records the said claim, shall send a copy of his record to the treasurer of the Territory, and no fees shall be charged by any recording officer in any matter relating to said claim. And the territorial treasurer may at any time after six months from the day he receives such record as aforesaid, and at such time and place as in his opinion will be most for the interest of the Territory, cause such claim to be sold at auction to the highest bidder, but every such sale shall be at least twice advertised in the territorial newspaper, and be held at his office, or the office of the clerk of the probate court, or recorder of the mining district of the county where the claim is situated. And the treasurer is authorized to make a deed of the same to the purchaser in the name of the Territory; and the amount received by him shall be added by him to any fund now or hereafter provided for the protection of the people of the Territory of Arizona against hostile Indians, and be expended as provided by law. And after all expenses as are incurred by the territorial authorities for the purpose of destroying or bringing into subjection all hostile Indian tribes in this Territory are liquidated, then all remaining or accruing funds, out of all or any sales of territorial mining claims, shall be applied as a sinking fund for school purposes. SEC. 52. The extraction of gold from alluvial and diluvial deposits, generally termed placer mining, shall not be considered mining proper, aud shall not entitle persons occupied in it to the provisions of this chapter, nor shall any previous section of this chapter be so construed as to refer to the extraction of gold from the above mentioned deposits.

SEC. 53. This chapter shall be in force and take effect from and after the 1st day of January, A. D. 1865.

23. THE MINING LAWS OF MEXICO.

The following are extracts from the royal ordinance of the King of Spain, published in 1783, and ever since in force in Mexico. The translation is by Rockwell.* Only those portions of the ordinance are copied relating to the location, size, and tenure of claims. The sections not quoted are devoted mainly to a statement of the manner in which the miners are to enforce their legal rights:

CHAPTER IV.

SECTION 1. As it is most just and proper to reward with particularity and distinction those persons who devote themselves to the discovery of new mineral places and metallic veins found therein in proportion to the importance and utility of such discovery, I order and command that the discoverers of one or more mineral mountains, wherein no mine or shaft has been open before, acquire in the principal vein as much as three portions, together or separate, where it best pleases them, according to the measures hereafter signified; and that, on having discovered more veins, they shall acquire a portion in each vein, fixing on and marking the said portions within the term of ten days.

SEC. 2. The discoverer of a new vein in a mountain known and worked in other parts may hold in it two portions, together or separated by other mines, on condition that he specifies them within ten days, as mentioned in the preceding section.

SEC. 3. He who proposes for a new mine in a vein already known and worked in part is not to be considered a discoverer.

*A compilation of Spanish and Mexican law in relation to mines and titles to real estate in force in California, Texas, and New Mexico, and in the countries acquired under the Louisiana and Florida treaties when annexed to the United States. By J. A. Rockwell. New York, 1851.

H. Ex. Doc. 29-17