United States. General Land Office

Under regulations approved on March 20, 1915, tracts set aside as villa sites under the provisions of an act of April 12, 1910, within the former Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana, were offered for sale at public auction, beginning at Polson, Montana, on July 26, 1915. The sale was adjourned to Dayton, Montana, on August 6 and concluded at Kalispell, Montana, on August 7, 1915. There were 889 parcels of land, not less than 2 nor more than 5 acres in area, fronting on Flathead Lake, and under the regulations could be sold for the minimum of $10 per acre. All the lands, however, brought far in excess of that amount, except about 65 acres, sold for the benefit of the Grand Army of the Republic at the minimum price. None of the tracts remained unsold. The land, having a minimum valuation of less than $35,000, sold for approximately $125,000, some tracts bringing about $300 per acre. (Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office to the Secretary of the Interior for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915, p. 40, etc.)

From the guide to the United States General Land Office plat book relating to the sale of villa sites on Flathead Lake, 1915 July 26, (University of Montana-Missoula Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)

These notes represent the field notes written by federal government surveyors. These notes were used to produce some of the first maps to documenting the geography and land ownership of the Flagstaff area. These surveys were a result of the 1785 Land Ordinance in which a vast amount of land needed to be surveyed in order to document public acquisition. This ordnance mandated that surveyors use a rectangular system where land was partitioned into township and range, with 36 parcels per township, each 1 square mile or 640 acres. Each township itself is 6 miles square and based on a series of meridians and baselines. In Arizona The baseline is Baseline road in Phoenix and the meridian is known as the Gila Salt Meridian and can be found between Williams and Flagstaff.

From the guide to the General Land Office Field Notes, 1878-1972., (Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Department.)

This patent pertains to land at the mouth of Boulder Canyon, on Pearl Street, Boulder, Colo.

From the description of Sylvester Doughty mineral certificate no. 631 1876 Dec. 23. (Boulder Public Library). WorldCat record id: 427316662

After the Revolutionary War, as additional lands were acquired by the United States from Spain, France, and other countries. Congress directed that they be explored, surveyed, and made available for settlement. In 1812, Congress established the General Land Office in the Department of the Treasury to oversee the disposition of these Federal lands. The General Land Office and the U.S. Grazing Service were consolidated to form the Bureau of Land Management within the Department of the Interior in 1946.

From the description of Land deed signed by Andrew Jackson, 1835 - 1835. (University of California, Irvine). WorldCat record id: 632391072

The United States Homestead Act, passed in 1862, gave western settlers the ability to file on public land in the West for a nominal fee. The settler was required to live on the land for a minimum of five years, build a house, and improve (or cultivate) the land. At the end of the five years, if sucessfull, the homesteader "proved up" and received title to the land.

From the description of George F. Rammell homestead act certificate, 1898-1899. (Utah State University). WorldCat record id: 426063276

Established in 1812 as a bureau of the Treasury Department, to oversee land sales, surveys, issue warrants and grants, prepare patents and deeds and maintain records. Evolved into Bureau of Land Management, 1946.

From the description of Transcripts of selected letters recieved, 1807, 1826, 1831. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 34289309

Original land given to Hus-ke-ah-hooc-ta under the terms of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.

From the description of Choctaw Certificate Transfer, 1897. (University of Southern Mississippi, Regional Campus). WorldCat record id: 17003334

These cases involved conflicting claims to the land formerly included in the Suscol Rancho, arising as a result of the Act of Congress of March 3, 1863.

From the description of Records relating to Suscol Rancho cases, [ca. 1863-1886]. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 26608770

Eugene Casserly was born in County Westmeath, Ireland, on November 13, 1820. He arrived in New York in 1822 and later graduated from Georgetown College in Washington, D.C. He practiced law in New York beginning in 1844, serving as corporation counsel from 1846-1847 and also editing the Freeman's Journal newspaper. In 1850 he traveled to San Francisco, where he published several newspapers before being elected State printer in 1851. He was elected to the Senate in 1869 and served until his resignation in 1873. Following his resignation, Casserly returned to practicing law in San Francisco and was a member of the constitutional convention of California in 1878 and 1879. He died in San Francisco on June 14, 1883.

From the description of Letter to Senator Eugene Casserly, 1870, March 21. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 635579224

United States office for the sale of federal lands.

From the description of Deed, 1873. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80365941

In 1812, Congress, with the Act of April 25, 2 Stat. 716, created the General Land Office (GLO) and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department. The Land Ordinance of 1785 mandated that surveyors use a rectangular system whereby the land was partitioned into township and range, with 36 parcels per township, each 1 square mile or 640 acres. Each township itself is 6 miles square and based on a series of principal meridians and baselines running across the land. In Montana Territory, Surveyor General Henry D. Washburn's term of office saw the first efforts to survey the land in 1869. These original surveys continued throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century, and many townships were surveyed either partially or in whole more than once as the need arose to show later settlement and land distribution.

From the guide to the General Land Office Montana Plat Map Collection, 1869-1948, (Montana State University-Bozeman Library, Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections)

John H. Clark, a member of the Mexican Boundary Survey in 1854 and 1855, was appointed by Congress in 1858 as United States Commissioner for the Texas Boundary Survey, to be conducted jointly with a Texas Commission. The survey established the boundary of Texas from the westernmost tip to the Red River.

From the description of Letterbook, 1858-1862. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702127393

The Blackfeet Indian Reservation is located east of Glacier National Park in Montana.

From the description of Maps of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, 1907-1916. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702200481

No information is available on the people granted certificates or patents.

From the description of Land grant certificates and patents collection, 1802-19uu. (Clarke Historical Library). WorldCat record id: 42787400

Ralph O. Howard was a signer of the Alabama Ordinance of Secession.

From the description of United States land deed to Ralph O. Howard, 1842 Sept. 15. (University of Georgia). WorldCat record id: 263907714

The General Land Office was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department of the Treasury. Placed into the Department of the Interior when that department was formed in 1849, it merged with the United States Grazing Service (established in 1934) to become the Bureau of Land Management on 16 July 1946.

From the guide to the United States General Land Office records MSS. 1481., 1738-1903, (W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama)

Levin Wailes was a native of Maryland, born on March 9, 1768. He married Eleanor Davis on October 28, 1796; the couple had nine children. Wailes was a sailor, a police clerk, and later a surveyor. Wailes, performed several important land surveys in Georgia between 1800 and 1805 and then moved to Mississippi. He was also the uncle of Edward Lloyd Thomas, another notable Georgia land surveyor.

From the description of Levin Wailes papers (xerox), 1822-1824. (University of Georgia). WorldCat record id: 373874051

The U. S. General Land Office was founded in 1812 to take over the land surveying functions of the Treasury Dept. It was the agency which surveyed land in the west and administered the Homestead Act. In 1946 it merged with the U.S. Grazing Service to form the Bureau of Land Management.

From the description of U. S. General Land Office records, 1929-1945. (Montana Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 271472142

Historical Background

After the Revolutionary War, as additional lands were acquired by the United States from Spain, France, and other countries, Congress directed that they be explored, surveyed, and made available for settlement. In 1812, Congress established the General Land Office in the Department of the Treasury to oversee the disposition of these Federal lands. The General Land Office and the U.S. Grazing Service were consolidated to form the Bureau of Land Management within the Department of the Interior in 1946.

From the guide to the Land deed signed by Andrew Jackson, 1835, (University of California, Irvine. Library. Special Collections and Archives.)

History

The U.S. Land Office (General Land Office), Department of the Interior, operated in Sacramento from the 1850s.

From the guide to the U.S. Land Office, Sacramento, Records, 1858-1908., (California State Library)

Established in 1812, the General Land Office (GLO) sought to meet the needs of settlers during the western expansion of the United States. Field offices were established and closed as patterns of migration and settlement dictated. The office was transferred to the new Department of the Interior in 1849. The duties of the General Land Office included overseeing the settlement of the Oregon Territory following the provisions of the Donation Law of 1850, which allowed settlers to establish limited claims at no cost per acre. This act lasted through 1855, when the cost of settlement went up to $1.25 per acre.

Source: http://www.blm.gov/or/pubroom/lohistory.php

From the guide to the U.S. General Land Office notice to settlers, April 30, 1853, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)