United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Hastings & Dakota R. Co. v. Whitney, 132 U.S. 357 (1889)

Hastings and Dakota Railroad Company v. Whitney

No. 49

Argued October 31, November 1, 1889

Decided December 9, 1889

132 U.S. 357

Syllabus

So long as a homestead entry, valid upon its face, remains a subsisting entry of record whose legality has been passed upon by the land authorities, and their action remains unreversed, it is such an appropriation of the tract as segregates it from the public domain, and precludes it from a subsequent grant by Congress.

A defect in a homestead entry on public land in Minnesota made by a soldier in active service in Virginia during the war, caused by want of the requisite residence on it, was cured by the Act of Jane 8, 1872, "to amend an act relating to Soldiers' and Sailors' Homesteads," 17 Stat. 333, c. 338, § 1 (Rev.Stat. § 2308).

While the decisions of the Land Department on matters of law are not binding on this Court, they are entitled to great respect.

The case is stated in the opinion.