SECRETARY OF STATE:

The Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota, established by Act of Congress of March 3, 1857, was responsible for conducting the original government survey of the public domain in the territory and state of Minnesota.

The earliest surveys of land in Minnesota were conducted under the jurisdiction of the Surveyor General of Iowa and Wisconsin, headquartered at Dubuque, Iowa. These surveys, completed between 1848 and May 1857, were primarily on land located between the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers or in the southeastern corner of Minnesota. After the establishment of the Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota, copies of the field notes, plats, and other records relevant to these surveys were transferred from Dubuque to St. Paul.

The Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota continued in operation until December 1907, when the survey of Minnesota was essentially complete. After 1907, the commissioner of the U. S. General Land Office served, ex officio, as Surveyor General of Minnesota, and handled any requisite surveying activities and questions. A congressional act of 1940 provided that the records of the Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota be turned over to the Minnesota Secretary of State.

A more detailed history and origin of the Public Land Survey System in Minnesota and the United States is available on the web: GLO Historic Plat Map Retrieval System

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Included are materials on surveying of islands and the state's western and northern boundaries; resurveying; projects to microfiche, 1972-1981, and electronically image, 1990-1994, the land survey field notes; U.S. Department of Interior letters and opinions, 1908-1911; lists of deputy surveyors, 1981; procedures for government land office surveyors, 1983; and land area by townships, 1950. Also two Bibles, 1831, 1845, used to administer the official oaths to the public land surveyors; a record of public land surveys in the state, circa 1847-1891; and maps of the military post (Fort Gaines) site, 1848, Indian (Grand Portage) reservation, 1858, Township 159N, Ranges 42-43, 5th Meridian, 1909, Lake Fremont, Sherburne County, circa 1920, and the Sioux Reserve, 1859.

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Access Restrictions:

The Map of the Sioux Reserve, 1859, is closed to the public. A digital version is available in the Detailed Description of this finding aid. Requests to use the original map should be directed to the Minnesota State Archivist.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. Secretary of State. Land Survey Miscellaneous Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 2008-30; 2009-60

Processing Information:

Digitized by: Minnesota Historical Society, January 2026.

Digitization was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.

Catalog ID number: 007469387

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Indian reservations -- Minnesota -- Surveys.

Military reservations -- Minnesota -- Surveys.

Oaths -- Minnesota.

Sioux Reserve (Minn.) -- Maps.

Surveying -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.

Surveying -- Islands -- Minnesota.

Surveying -- Public lands -- Minnesota.

Surveyors -- Minnesota.

Townships -- Minnesota.

Organizations:

Minnesota. Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota.

United States. Department of the Interior.

Places:

Fort Ripley (Minn.) -- Maps.

Grand Portage Indian Reservation -- Maps.

Minnesota -- Surveys.

Roseau (Minn.) -- Maps.

Sherburne County (Minn.) -- Maps.

Document Types:

Maps.

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