Whenever the governor is satisfied by the commissioner of the general land office that the title to any lands which may have been certified to the state under any of the several grants is inferior to the rights of any valid interfering pre-emptor or claimant, the governor is authorized and required to release by deed of relinquishment such color of title to the United States, to the end that the requirements of the interior department may be complied with, and that such tract or tracts of land may be patented by the general government to the legal claimants.