U. S. GENERAL LAND OFFICE:

An Inventory of Its Original Entry Tract Books and Index at the Minnesota Historical Society

Government Records

Part or all of this collection is restricted.
For details, please see restrictions.


Expand/CollapseOVERVIEW

Creator: United States. General Land Office.
Title:Original Entry Tract Books and Index.
Dates:1848-circa 1930.
Language:Materials in English.
Abstract:Tract books kept by the Minnesota local offices of the General Land Office to provide a consolidated record of the initial transfer of title to federal land from the United States to private parties or to the state of Minnesota.
Quantity:56.25 cubic feet (38 boxes); 46 microfilm reels; 1008 microfiche.
Location: See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Expand/CollapseSCOPE AND CONTENTS

For each parcel of land they give its legal description, acreage, price, name of purchaser or transferree, sale date and certificate number or other disposition data, name of final patentee, date of final patent, and citation to the patent record in the General Land Office records.

Some text is faint or obscure, due to poor condition of the original paper and/or ink. The original records may be made available if data proves to be illegible on the microfilm (see Access Restrictions below).

The index, organized by range and township, cites the volume(s) and page(s) in the original entry tract books.

Supplemented by two unfilmed volumes for lands in north central and far western Minnesota containing some entries and/or patent information that is not recorded in the main set of tract books.


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Expand/CollapseARRANGEMENT

The records are arranged in the following sections.

Index (Microfiche SAF 7-I)
Original Entry Tract Books (Microfilm SAM 46)
Original Entry Tract Books and Indexes (Unfilmed)
Closed Originals
Closed Master Microfiche


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Expand/CollapseADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access Restrictions:

Microfilmed originals (55.5 cubic feet) and master microfiche (1008 microfiche) are held by the Minnesota Historical Society and closed to general use.

In the case of records being illegible on the microfilm, the original records may be consulted. They are located off site in Remote Storage, however, and advance arrangements are required in order to view the files.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. United States. General Land Office. Original Entry Tract Books and Index. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Microfilm Production:

Microfilm. Saint Paul, MN : Minnesota Historical Society, 1984. 46 microfilm reels : 35 mm.

Microfiche. Burbank, CA and Saint Paul, MN : P.F.A., Inc. and Minnesota Historical Society, 1984. 1008 microfiche : 16 mm.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 985-1; 985-2

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 001704783


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Expand/CollapseINDEX TO ORIGINAL ENTRY TRACT BOOKS (MICROFICHE SAF 7-I), UNDATED

Organized by range and township; it cites the volume(s) and page(s) on which entries for land in a particular township appear. This index is also included on the first reel of the microfilmed Original Entry Tract Books and in a print version in the repository’s microfilm reading room.


The index was also filmed at the beginning of reel 1 in the following set of microfilm and is available in a print version in the Minnesota Historical Society's microfilm reading room.


LocationFiche
SAF 7-IAR1-63, R1-32W, 4th Prime Meridian.
LocationFiche
SAF 7-IBR3W-R42W, 5th Prime Meridian.
LocationFiche
SAF 7-ICR43W-R51W, 5th Prime Meridian.

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Expand/CollapseORIGINAL TRACT ENTRY BOOKS (MICROFILM SAM 46), 1848-CIRCA 1930

Tract books kept by the Minnesota local offices of the General Land Office to provide a consolidated record of the initial transfer of title to federal land from the United States to private parties or to the state of Minnesota. For each parcel of land they give its legal description, acreage, price, name of purchaser or transferree, sale date and certificate number or other disposition data, name of final patentee, date of final patent, and citation to the patent record in the General Land Office records.


LocationReel
SAM 461Index; Volumes 1-3.
LocationReel
SAM 462Volumes 4-6.
LocationReel
SAM 463Volumes 7-9.
LocationReel
SAM 464Volumes 10-12.
LocationReel
SAM 465Volumes 13-15.
LocationReel
SAM 466Volumes 16-18.
LocationReel
SAM 467Volumes 19-21.
LocationReel
SAM 468Volumes 22-24.
LocationReel
SAM 469Volumes 25-27.
LocationReel
SAM 4610Volumes 28-30.
LocationReel
SAM 4611Volumes 31-33.
LocationReel
SAM 4612Volumes 34-36.
LocationReel
SAM 4613Volumes 37-39.
LocationReel
SAM 4614Volumes 40-42.
LocationReel
SAM 4615Volumes 43-45.
LocationReel
SAM 4616Volumes 46-48.
LocationReel
SAM 4617Volumes 49-51.
LocationReel
SAM 4618Volumes 52-54.
LocationReel
SAM 4619Volumes 55-57.
LocationReel
SAM 4620Volumes 58-60.
LocationReel
SAM 4621Volumes 61-64.
LocationReel
SAM 4622Volumes 65-67.
LocationReel
SAM 4623Volumes 68-70.
LocationReel
SAM 4624Volumes 71-73.
LocationReel
SAM 4625Volumes 74-76.
LocationReel
SAM 4626Volumes 77-79.
LocationReel
SAM 4627Volumes 80-82.
LocationReel
SAM 4628Volumes 83-86.
LocationReel
SAM 4629Volumes 87-89.
LocationReel
SAM 4630Volumes 90-92.
LocationReel
SAM 4631Volumes 93-95.
LocationReel
SAM 4632Volumes 96-99.
LocationReel
SAM 4633Volumes 100-103.
LocationReel
SAM 4634Volumes 104-107.
LocationReel
SAM 4635Volumes 108-110.
LocationReel
SAM 4636Volumes 111-114.
LocationReel
SAM 4637Volumes 115-117.
LocationReel
SAM 4638Volumes 118-121.
LocationReel
SAM 4639Volumes 122-125.
LocationReel
SAM 4640Volumes 126-128.
LocationReel
SAM 4641Volumes 129-131.
LocationReel
SAM 4642Volumes 132-134.
LocationReel
SAM 4643Volumes 135-137.
LocationReel
SAM 4644Volumes 138-140.
LocationReel
SAM 4645Volumes 141-143.
LocationReel
SAM 4646Volumes 144-146.

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Expand/CollapseORIGINAL TRACT ENTRY BOOKS AND INDEXES (UNFILMED), UNDATED

These volumes include some entries and/or patent information not recorded in the main set.


Location
114.J.3.7B-2Volume [147] Index. 1 folder.
Volume [147].
Ranges 25-31, townships 147-157 (Becker, Itasca, and Koochiching counties.
Volume [148] Index. 1 folder.
Volume [148].
Range 48, townships 140-143, and range 49, townships 125, 136-144 (west central Minnesota, along the North and South Dakota borders).

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Expand/CollapseCLOSED ORIGINALS

Access restricted. Closed to general use, researchers are directed to use the microfilm.

Location
308.G.1.1FIndex; Volumes 1-4.
Location
308.G.1.2FVolumes 5-8.
Location
308.G.1.3BVolumes 9-12.
Location
308.G.1.4FVolumes 13-16
Location
308.G.1.5BVolumes 17-20.
Location
308.G.1.6FVolumes 21-24.
Location
308.G.1.7BVolumes 25-28.
Location
308.G.1.8FVolumes 29-32.
Location
308.G.2.1BVolumes 33-36.
Location
308.G.2.2FVolumes 37-40.
Location
308.G.2.3BVolumes 41-44.
Location
308.G.2.4FVolumes 45-48.
Location
308.G.2.5BVolumes 49-52.
Location
308.G.2.6FVolumes 53-56.
Location
308.G.2.7BVolumes 57-60.
Location
308.G.2.8FVolumes 61-64.
Location
308.G.3.1BVolumes 65-68.
Location
308.G.3.2FVolumes 69-72.
Location
308.G.3.3BVolumes 73-76.
Location
308.G.3.4FVolumes 77-80.
Location
308.G.3.5BVolumes 81-84.
Location
308.G.3.6FVolumes 85-88.
Location
308.G.3.7BVolumes 89-92.
Location
308.G.3.8FVolumes 93-96.
Location
308.G.4.1BVolumes 97-100.
Location
308.G.4.2FVolumes 101-104.
Location
308.G.4.3BVolumes 105-108.
Location
308.G.4.4FVolumes 109-112.
Location
308.G.4.5BVolumes 113-116.
Location
308.G.4.6FVolumes 117-120.
Location
308.G.4.7BVolumes 121-124.
Location
308.G.4.8FVolumes 125-128.
Location
308.G.5.1BVolumes 129-132.
Location
308.G.5.2FVolumes 133-136.
Location
308.G.5.3BVolumes 137-140.
Location
308.G.5.4FVolumes 141-144.
Location
308.G.5.5BVolumes 145-146.

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Expand/CollapseCLOSED MASTER MICROFICHE

Access restricted. Closed to general use, researchers are directed to use the microfilm.

Created from the microfilm to distribute to Department of Natural Resources [DNR] field offices. Positive copies were given to the DNR; the Minnesota Historical Society retained the negative copies.


Location
SAFN 71848-circa 1930. 1008 microfiche.
A listing of each microfiche’s contents is housed in the State Archives accession file for these records.

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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:
Land titles -- Registration and transfer -- Minnesota.
Public land sales -- Minnesota.
Public lands -- Minnesota.

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