§987 Lands to be certified to State within one year

Summary

The Commissioner of the General Land Office must turn over to California any land shown as swamp and overflowed on approved township surveys and plats made under U.S. authority, whether those surveys were done before or after July 23, 1866. The Supervisor of Surveys will check the State’s segregation maps. If they match the U.S. survey system, the Supervisor will make and approve township maps and send them to the General Land Office. For very large, clearly swampy areas, only the outside boundary needs to be run instead of subdividing them. If the State’s surveys don’t follow the U.S. system, or if the United States made no survey in a township, the Commissioner must order the Supervisor, after the Governor asks, to survey the swamp and overflowed land and report back within one year of that request, describing what land was swampy under the grant using the best evidence available. If the State claims land not shown as swamp on the original maps or survey returns, the Supervisor will take testimony about the land’s condition on September 28, 1850 and decide, subject to the Commissioner’s approval.