Title 43, Public LandsRelease 119-102
§893 Rights of Permissive Settlers on Railroad Lands Restored to Public Domain
Title 43 › CHAPTER 21 — GRANTS IN AID OF RAILROADS AND WAGON ROADS › § 893
Summary
People who honestly settled and made lasting improvements on an odd-numbered section inside railroad withdrawal land, with the railroad’s permission and expecting to buy it, but then had that land returned to the public and cannot get it under homestead laws, may buy up to 160 acres (by legal subdivisions) at $2.50 per acre. They must buy within three months after the land is returned, follow rules set by the Secretary of the Interior or someone he appoints, and will receive patents.
Full Legal Text
Title 43, §893
Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
All persons who shall have settled and made valuable and permanent improvements upon any odd-numbered section of land within any railroad withdrawal in good faith and with the permission or license of the railroad company for whose benefit the same shall have been made, and with the expectation of purchasing of such company the land so settled upon, which land so settled upon and improved, may, for any cause, be restored to the public domain, and who, at the time of such restoration, may not be entitled to enter and acquire title to such land under the homestead laws of the United States, shall be permitted, at any time within three months after such restoration, and under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior, or such officer as he may designate, may prescribe, to purchase not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres in extent of the same by legal subdivisions, at the price of $2.50 per acre, and to receive patents therefor.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
For
Transfer of Functions
of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out under section 1451 of this title. “Secretary of the Interior, or such officer as he may designate,” substituted for “Commissioner of the General Land Office” on authority of section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946. See note set out under section 1 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
43 U.S.C. § 893
Title 43, Public Lands
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102