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.

History: Laws 1878, ch. 6, § 1; C.L. 1884, § 2579; C.L. 1897, § 3753; Code 1915, § 4642; C.S. 1929, § 111-115; 1941 Comp., § 8-301; 1953 Comp., § 7-3-1.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.

Cross references. — For location of mining claims, see 69-3-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.

Elements of adverse possession. — A person claiming ownership of a piece of land on the Albuquerque town grant, by means of the running of the statute of limitations, must have been in the actual, visible, exclusive, hostile and continued possession thereof for a period of 10 years. Johnston v. City of Albuquerque, 1903-NMSC-011, 12 N.M. 20, 72 P. 9.

Recovery of possession. — Individual who had filed the possessory notice called for under this section, and was in the quiet and peaceable possession of the land in question at the time he was ousted, would be entitled to recover possession thereof, even though such land was unsurveyed government land which he had no right to retain or possess. Murrah v. Acrey, 1914-NMSC-051, 19 N.M. 228, 142 P. 143.

Grazing cattle on federal public lands. — While this section and 19-3-13 NMSA 1978 purport to grant "possessory" interests in public domain lands that may be enforceable against non-federal claimants, no New Mexico statute grants (nor could it grant) a property interest in federal lands that may be enforced against the United States. Diamond Bar Cattle Co. v. U.S., 168 F.3d 1209 (10th Cir. 1999).

Contracts for disposal of territorial lands are valid after statehood. 1913 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 13-1124.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 63A Am. Jur. 2d Public Lands §§ 5, 7.

Constitutionality and construction of statutes relating to grazing and pasturing sheep or goats on public land, 70 A.L.R. 410.

73A C.J.S. Public Lands § 41.