§888 Selection by railroads of lands in lieu of lands entered subsequent to accrual of rights; title of settlers

Summary

When settling railroad land grants, if a settler has legally filed under the preemption or homestead laws after the land office had already decided the railroad had a claim to those lands, the railroad can give up its claim to the occupied tracts and pick the same amount of other public land instead. The replacement land must not be mineral land, must lie inside the grant area, and must not already be taken when the railroad makes its choice. The railroad then gets title to the new land as if it had been part of the original grant, and the settler can complete their claim and get full title as if the grant had not covered the land. This does not make any railroad’s grant larger or apply to lands set aside for railroad uses. It also does not approve any Interior Department decision that gave land to a railroad when a settler filed after the road was located but before the local land office was told the land was withdrawn.