The Timber and Stone Act of 1878 (45th Congress

45th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:-Leadership:-Senate:*President: William A. Wheeler *President pro tempore: Thomas W. Ferry -House of Representatives:*Speaker: Samuel J. Randall -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...

, Sess. 2, ch. 151) in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 sold Western

Western United States

.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...

 timberland for $2.50 per acre ($618/km²) in 160 acre (0.6 km²) blocks.

Land that was deemed "unfit for farming" was sold to those who might want to "timber

Timber

Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

 and stone

Rock (geology)

In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...

" (logging

Logging

Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...

 and mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

) upon the land. The act was used by speculators

Speculation

In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...

 who were able to get great expanses declared "unfit for farming" allowing them to increase their land holdings at minimal expense.

In theory the purchaser was to make affidavit

Affidavit

An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...

 that he was entering the land exclusively for his own use and no association was to enter more than 160 acres (0.6 km²). In practice wealthy companies fraudulently obtained title

Title (property)

Title is a legal term for a bundle of rights in a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or an equitable interest. The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different parties. It may also refer to a formal document that serves as evidence of ownership...

 for up to twenty thousand acres (80 km²) by hiring men to enter 160 acre (0.6 km²) lots which were then deed

Deed

A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...

ed to the company after a nominal compliance with the law.