Editing Timber and Stone Act

The '''Timber and Stone Act of 1878''' in the [[United States]] sold timberland in surveyed public lands of the United States within the states of [[California]], [[Oregon]], and [[Nevada]], and in the [[Washington Territory]]. The legislation specifically noted that military, Indian, or other reservations of the United States within these territories were exempt. The price of sale was $2.50 per acre ($618/km<sup>2</sup>), and land was sold in 160 acre (0.6&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) blocks.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/llsl-v20/ |title=U.S. Statutes at Large, Volume 20 (1877-1879), 45th Congress. |publisher=United States Federal Government |year=1877–1879 |location=United States |pages=Chapter 89 |chapter= |access-date=June 4, 2023}}</ref>
[[File:Oregon Timber (75492).jpg|right|200px]]
Land that was deemed "unfit for [[farming]]" was sold to any citizen of the United States, or any person intending to become a citizen who might want to "[[timber]] and [[Rock (geology)|stone]]" ([[logging]] and [[mining]]) upon the land. The act was used by [[Speculation|speculators]] who were able to get great expanses declared "unfit for farming" allowing them to increase their land holdings at minimal expense.<ref name=":0" />

In theory the purchaser was to make an [[affidavit]] that he was entering the land exclusively for his own use and that no [[Companies law|association]] was to hold more than {{convert|160|acre|ha}}.  In practice however, many wealthy companies and individuals seeking to access natural resources fraudulently circumvented the law by hiring individuals to purchase {{convert|160|acre|ha|adj=on}} lots that were then [[deed]]ed to the company in direct violation of the law. In this way, more than 90 percent of the several million acres of timberland privatized under the Act in Washington, Oregon, Nevada and California were fraudulently compiled. Ultimately, said companies were able to obtain [[Title (property)|title]] on up to {{convert|100000|acre|km2}}.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Dunham |first1=Harold |url=https://www.archives.gov/files/calendar/genealogy-fair/2014/handouts/session-11-handout-5of5-martinez-land-other-land-acts.pdf |title=Government Handout |date=1941 |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=New York |lccn=79087564}}</ref> By the year 1923, twelve million acres of land had been transferred from the public domain to the private via this act.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Curry-Roper |first=Janel M. |date=1989 |title=The Impact of the Timber and Stone Act on Public Land Ownership in Northern Minnesota |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4005103 |journal=Journal of Forest History |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=1 |doi=10.2307/4005103 |issn=0094-5080|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Desert Land Act]]
*[[Homestead Act]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:United States federal public land legislation]]
[[Category:1878 in American law]]


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