Absence of legislative statutes and administrative ordinances on the frontier did not mean anarchy and disorder. The early settlers of Iowa were literally, and in that good old Anglo-Saxon sense, "lawful men of the neighborhood," who from the beginning observed the usages and customs of the community. Well and truly did they observe the customs relative to the making and holding of claims. And as occasion demanded they codified these customs and usages into "Constitutions," "Resolutions," and "By-Laws." Crude, fragmentary, and extra-legal as were their codes, they nevertheless stand as the first written Constitutions in the history of the Commonwealth. They were the fundamental laws of the pioneers, or, better still, they were Squatter Constitutions. The Squatter Constitutions of Iowa, since they were a distinctive product of frontier life, are understood and their significance appreciated only when interpreted through the conditions of Western life and character. It was through cession and purchase that the United States came into possession of the vast public domain of which the fertile farming fields of Iowa formed a part. Title to the land vested absolutely in the Government of the United States. But the right of the Indians to occupy the country was not disputed. Until such right had been extinguished by formal agreement, entered into between the United States and the Indians, no white citizen was competent to make legal settlement therein. As early as 1785 Congress provided that no settlement should be made on any part of the public domain until the Indian title thereto had been extinguished and the land surveyed. Again, in 1807, Congress provided: "That if any person or persons shall, after the passing of this act, take possession of, or make a settlement on any lands ceded or secured to the United States by any treaty made with a foreign nation, or by a cession of any State to the United States, which lands shall not have been previously sold, ceded, or leased by the United States, or the claim to which lands, by such person or persons, shall not have been previously recognized and confirmed by the United States; or if any person or persons shall cause such lands to be thus occupied, taken possession of, or settled; or shall survey, or attempt to survey, or cause to be surveyed, any such lands; or designate any boundaries thereon, by marking trees, or otherwise, until thereto duly authorized by law; such offender or offenders shall forfeit all his or their right, title, and claim, if any he hath, or they have, of whatsoever nature or kind the same shall or may be to the lands aforesaid, which he or they shall have taken possession of, or settled, or caused to be occupied, taken possession of, or settled, or which he or they shall have surveyed, or attempt to survey, or the boundaries thereof he or they shall have designated, or cause to be designated, by marking trees or otherwise.