Adverse Claims.
The seventh section of the United States laws provides for adverse claims; fixes the time within which they shall be filed to have legal effect, and prescribes the manner of their adjustment. An adverse mining claim must be filed with the register of the same land office with whom the application for patent was filed, or in his absence, with the receiver, and within the sixty days’ period of newspaper publication of notice. It must be duly sworn to by the party or parties filing the adverse claim, and not by an attorney, before a officer authorized to administer oaths within the land-district, or before the register or receiver; fully set forth the nature and extent of the interference or conflict; whether the adverse party claims as a purchaser for valuable consideration, or as a locator; if the former, the original conveyance, or a duly certified copy thereof, should be furnished; or if the transaction was a mere verbal one he will narrate the circumstances attending the purchase, the date thereof, and the amount paid, which facts should be supported by the affidavit of one or more witnesses, if any were present at the time; and if he claims as a locator, he must file a duly certified copy of the location from the office of the proper recorder. It will be incumbent upon the adverse claimant to file a plat showing his claim, and its relative situation or position with the one against which he claims, so that the extent of the conflict may be the better understood. This plat must be made from an actual survey by a United States deputy surveyor, who will officially certify thereon to its correctness; and in addition there must be attached to such plat of survey a certificate or sworn statement by the surveyor, as to the approximate value of the labor performed or improvements made upon the claim of the adverse party, and the plat must indicate the position of any shafts, tunnels, or other improvements, if any such exist upon the claim of the party opposing the application. Upon the foregoing being filed within the sixty days as aforesaid, the register, or in his absence, the receiver, will give notice in writing to both parties to the contest that such adverse claim has been filed, informing them that the party who filed the adverse claim will be required within thirty days from the date of such filing to commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, to determine the question of right of possession, and to prosecute the same with reasonable diligence to final judgment; and that, should such adverse claimant fail to do so, his adverse claim will be considered waived, and the application for patent be allowed to proceed upon its merits. When an adverse claim is filed as aforesaid, the register or receiver will indorse upon the same the precise date of filing, and preserve a record of the date of notifications issued thereon; and thereafter all proceedings on the application for patent will be suspended, with the exception of the completion of the publication and posting of notices and plat, and the filing of the necessary proof thereof, until the controversy shall have been adjudicated in court, or the adverse claim waived or withdrawn.