U. S. GENERAL LAND OFFICE:

An Inventory of Its Land Files, Miscellaneous at the Minnesota Historical Society

Government Records

Expand/CollapseOVERVIEW

Creator: United States. General Land Office.
Title:Lands files, miscellaneous.
Dates:1863-1938.
Language:Materials in English.
Abstract:Records documenting the variety of issues dealt with by the general land office in regard to the transfer of title to public land in Minnesota from the federal government to private individuals, corporations, and the state of Minnesota.
Quantity:0.4 cubic feet (1 partial box).
Location: See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Expand/CollapseSCOPE AND CONTENTS

Types of lands involved include Chippewa pine and allotment, swamp, school, and railroad. Included in the records are an index to the General Land Office Tract Books, 1938; land patents to the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Duluth and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, 1916; the General Land Office Inventory of State School Lands, circa 1880; examples of land entry papers, 1863-1908; and land examination field notes concerning swamp lands in northern Minnesota, 1909.


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Expand/CollapseADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. United States. General Land Office. Lands Files, Miscellaneous. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: None; 989-5

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 007585774


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Location
106.K.11.3BReappraisal of Chippewa Pine Lands, 1897.
Reappraisal data on 23 tracts of ceded pine lands of the former Red Lake Reservation, prepared on a preprinted form at Interior Department request.
Correspondence regarding Northern Pacific [Railroad Company] Selection List No. 169, 1905.
Correspondence between Thomas Cooper, Northern Pacific land commissioner, and the U. S. Land Office regarding the latter’s rejection of Northern Pacific selections; also a copy of the list.
Index to General Land Office Tract Books, 1938.
Handwritten (41 pages) and typed (30 pages) copies, each annotated File 503. Handwritten copy is titled: This is an original longhand index to Federal Tract Books received from General Land Office July 29, 1937, George R. Barrett. Four typewritten copies have been made up. June 9, 1938.
Swamp Land: Original Selection of Eliminated Tracts, circa 1878.
Cover sheet containing, for each land district, the date of original selection, the date the list of eliminated tracts was sent to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and the date of original selection sent to the commissioner. Also lists of individual tracts for several land districts.
Chippewa Allotments: Correspondence and lists, 1901-1919.
Mainly letters of transmittal from the General Land Office Commissioner to the register and receiver of the various Minnesota district land offices; includes lists of or referrals to land allotments made to specific Indians.
Cass Lake Land Office: Northern Pacific and miscellaneous railroads correspondence, 1907-1927.
Regarding various actions taken on selection lists.
Patents: Protestant Episcopal Church and Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, 1916.
Copies of two land patents issued to the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Duluth and one to the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions.
GLO: Inventory of State School Lands, circa 1880. 2 folders.
For Benson, New Ulm, Fergus Falls, Redwood Falls, St. Cloud, Crookston, and Taylors Falls land districts. Includes legal description and, if present, deficiency and cause of deficiency.
Land entry papers, 1863-1908.
Examples of various documents filed in the process of land entry: pre-emption declaratory statement, homestead entry application, homestead entry receipt, proof of right to pre-empt, contest affidavits and notices, relinquishments, affidavits and proofs relating to timber and stone act entries, and homestead proof.
Land examination field notes, 1909. 2 folders.
Notes (annotated township land examiner form sheets), made by or under the direction of O. H. Cass, of field examinations of land in northern Minnesota, apparently for the purpose of verifying or proving which parcels were swamp land and thus eligible for selection by the state. Includes cover letters to the State Auditor.

Expand/CollapseCATALOG HEADINGS

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.
Land grants -- Minnesota.
Land titles -- Registration and transfer -- Minnesota.
Ojibwa Indians -- Land tenure.
Public land sales -- Minnesota.
Public lands -- Minnesota.
Railroad land grants -- Minnesota.
School lands -- Minnesota.
Special funds -- Minnesota.
Persons:
Barrett, George R.
Cass, O. H.
Cooper, Thomas.
Organizations:
Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions (U.S.)
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Duluth.
Northern Pacific Railroad Company.

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