§ 19-3-1 — [Possessory rights of occupant; notice and record;

abandonment.] Any person who has taken or may hereafter take possession of any lands being a part of the public domain of the United States, either for agriculture or stock-raising, may make out a notice setting forth that he has taken possession of such land, giving a description of the same according to legal subdivisions, if known, if not, then the best description possible, which said land shall not exceed three hundred and twenty acres, which said notice shall be dated and acknowledged as conveyances of real estate, and may then be recorded in the record of conveyances in the county where the property is situate, after which it shall be a notice to all persons of the contents thereof. And the person so making and recording the same shall have the right to the possession of said lands described therein, as against every other person except the United States, and those holding or deriving title from the United States, and may maintain an action of ejectment or forcible entry and detainer for the same: provided, that if such person shall not occupy said lands for the period of six months at any one time, he shall be deemed in law to have abandoned the same: and provided, further, that if such person shall fail to occupy said lands for one-half of the time in each year, counting from the date of recording said notice, he shall be deemed in law to have abandoned the same, but if he shall reenter upon the same before anyone else may take possession thereof, then he shall not be held to have abandoned the same.

Legislative History

Laws 1878, ch. 6, § 1; C.L. 1884, § 2579; C.L. 1897, § 3753; Code 1915, §