of the 26th of May, 1824, preëmption rights were given north of the Arkansas River, to all who were entitled to such rights, under the act of 1814, and by the third section of the act of the 1st of March, 1843, every settler on the public lands south of the Arkansas River was entitled to the same benefits *38 under the provisions of the act of 1814, as though he had resided north of said river. By these acts a right of preëmption was given in virtue of the first settlement upon the land.
But there was another and prior act which gave to the occupant of this tract a right of preëmption. By the act of the 19th of June, 1834, every settler upon the public landsprior to the passage of that act, who was in possession of a quarter section and cultivated a part of it in 1833, was entitled to a preëmption. In 1833, Pintard was in possession of the quarter section and cultivated a part of it, and he continued to occupy and improve it until the spring of 1835, when he sold his right to Rhodes.
By his purchase Goodloe entered into the possession of a valuable property, and if he desired to rescind the contract it was incumbent on him to relinquish the possession of the quarter section, and claim the cancelment of the contract. He cannot avail himself of the benefit of the contract and resist a performance of it on his part.
But Pintard, when he sold to Rhodes,