Lassen County CA Archives History - Books .....Laws Of Honey Lake Valley 1882 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 16, 2006, 1:30 am Book Title: Illustrated History Of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties To provide for their own government until such time as congress should incorporate them in a new territory, the people of the valley again met, in February, 1858, and adopted the following laws: LAWS OF HONEY LAKE VALLEY. ADOPTED FEBRUARY 13, 1858. SEC. 1—Each White Male twenty-one years of age shall, have the right to take up and locate vacant land to the amount of 640 acres. Provided, that within 30 days from the taking up and locating he shall have it surveyed, and a mound three feet high thrown up at every corner, and a stake set in each mound 6 ft. long, and the claimant's name placed on Record, and to occupy and improve to the amount of one dollar per acre claimed within twelve months from the date of locating, said one dollar per acre to be placed on the land claimed as follows: 12 1/2 cts. per acre within 30 days from the locating; 12 1/2 cts. per acre within the next 30 days; 25 cts. per acre within the next 60 days; 25 cts. per acre within the next 4 months; 25 cts. per acre within the next 4 months. Said improvement to consist in plowing, fencing, building, and the planting of fruit trees. SEC. 2.—An actual residence within the district where the land lays shall be held an occupation of land claimed. A substitute can represent. No one person can represent more than one claim. SEC. 3.—Claims may be held in fractions, where such fractions have been made by prior surveys of claims, provided that the number shall not exceed 4, and the whole not more than 640 acres, and each and every fraction shall be improved agreeable to section one. SEC. 4.—All sales and transfers of land shall be acknowledged to by the Recorder, and to be placed on record. SEC. 5.—No person or persons shall divert water from its original channel to the injury of any prior occupant. SEC. 6.—Owners of hogs shall be held to pay all damages their hogs may do between the first day of April and the first day of November. SEC. 7.—All difficulties, disputes, and suits at law, of any nature, shall be had before a Board of Arbitrators, and a majority of said Board shall render a decision; and when a decision shall not be satisfactory to both or either party, the one so grieved may take an appeal within ten days thereafter, and have it tried before a Board in an adjoining district; and if the former decision shall have been sustained by a majority of the second Board, then such a decision shall be final; but if the decision shall have been reversed by a majority of the second Board, then the case shall be left to seven citizens, three to be chosen by each party, the seventh to be called by the six, and a decision the majority shall make shall be final. SEC. 8.—There shall be an election held on the first Saturday in May in each district, for the purpose of electing one Recorder and three Arbitrators in each district. SEC. 9.—The fees of the Arbitrators shall not exceed five dollars each a day, to be paid by the party losing the suit. The county government was feebly maintained in Carson county during all the efforts to secure a new territory. The efforts to secure such a government were continued in 1859, and delegates were chosen from the various sections interested, who met in convention at Genoa, July 18, 1859, for the purpose of framing a constitution and establishing a provisional government. The delegates who were given seats in that convention from Honey Lake district, and who were entitled by election and by proxy to cast the number of votes set opposite their names, were: W. T. C. Elliott, 1 vote; J. Bowdone, 1 vote; A. F. Chapman, 2 votes; J. Williams, 1 vote; John Robinson, 2 votes; A. M. Vaughan, 3 votes; W. S. Bryant, 1 vote; James O. Robertson, 1 vote; William Naileigh, 1 vote; Isaac N. Roop, 1 vote; John H. Neale, 1 vote; A. A. Smith, 1 vote. Two of the gentlemen who sent proxies were John S. Ward and Lewis Stark. Mr. Roop was one of four vice-presidents of the convention. A constitution was framed for the territory of Nevada, giving it the following boundaries: "Commencing at a point on the Sierra Nevada mountains, where the 42° of north latitude touches the summit of said mountains; thence southerly with said summit to the 35° of north latitude; thence east on said parallel to the Colorado river; thence up said river to its junction with the Rio Virgin; thence up said Rio Virgin to its junction with Muddy river; thence due north to the Oregon line; thence west to the place of beginning." By this it will be seen that the people of this valley were incorporated in the proposed territory. The convention also canvassed the vote which had been cast at an election held July 14, 1859, for the purpose of electing a delegate to congress. The two candidates were Judge J. M. Crane and Major F. Dodge, the former being declared successful by a majority of 61 votes. The total vote was 817, of which 84 were cast in the Honey Lake district. An election was held on the seventh of September for the ratification of the action of the convention and the election of territorial officers. This resulted in the adoption of the constitution and the election of Isaac N. Roop as governor, thus giving to this section the highest office in the new commonwealth. How many votes were cast here cannot be ascertained, as no record of the election exists. On the twelfth of December, 1859, J. J. Musser, president of the convention, issued a certificate of election to Governor Roop, in which he certified "that Isaac Roop was elected governor of the said territory by a large majority." Members of the territorial legislature were also elected at this time, Honey Lake valley being allowed one councilman and two delegates. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties San Francisco: Fariss & Smith (1882) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/lassen/history/1882/illustra/lawsofho124gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 6.5 Kb