Land Entry File (NATF 84)

What reproduction quality can I expect if I select CD/DVD or Electronic Transfer as my delivery method?

All NARA reproductions contain the best available images of the original archival documents. Due to age, physical deterioration and equipment available at the time the original documents were imaged, some images may not be up to today’s standards of clarity. NARA makes every effort to provide customers a clear and accurate duplicate of the original microfilm master.

How long will an Electronic Transfer be available?

Files will be available for 30 days from date of upload; downloads of the files should take place within that period. Files will be deleted after that point.

What is a public domain State?

Public domain states were land owned by the Federal Government and subject to sale or transfer of ownership under laws passed by Congress.

What are the public domain States?

The states created out of the public domain are AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, FL, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, ND, OH, OK, OR, SD, UT, WA, WI, and WY.

What are the eastern public land states?

The eastern public land states are AL, AR, FL, IL, IN, IA, LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, OH, and WI.

What are the western public land states?

The western public land states are AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, KS, MT, NE, NV, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, UT, WA, and WY.

What is a land entryman?

The person who entered the claim or the application. An entryman is the person for whom the initial ‘entry’ is made in a tract book by the registrar of a branch office of the General Land Office.

What is a patentee?

The patentee is the entryman who receives final title to a tract of land from the public domain.

What is an assignee?

An assignee is an individual who an entryman or warrant holder assigns their land rights to while at the same time the assignee assumes any outstanding legal responsibilities.

What is a land patent?

A land patent documents the transfer of land ownership from the Federal government to individuals, which typically includes information recorded when ownership was transferred.

What are land entry case files?

Land entry case files comprise the paperwork accumulated by a local U.S. land office in administering a land entry application.

Where do I find the legal description of the land?

This information may be obtained from the local county recorder of deeds.

If I have only the name of the entryman, how do I identify a land entry file?

We suggest that you conduct a patent search on the General Land Office website (www.glorecords.blm.gov). Complete entries from this index give the information needed to locate most case files.

How do I find land entry files for Eastern public domain states?

The Bureau of Land Management GLO website (www.glorecords.blm.gov/Visitors) contains name indexes for patents issued, except for Iowa. The website does not include listings for credit files or cancelled land entries. For these, tract books must be consulted; these are held by Eastern States BLM. Currently this website is down due to a court case. You can request this information by mail at: Eastern States Office, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior (BLM-ESO) 7450 Boston Boulevard Springfield, VA 22153

How do I find land entry files for Western public domain states?

Name indexes to land entry files pre-1908 do not exist for the states of KS, NE, and OK. You must provide either the legal land description or the type of file, land office, and land entry file number.

What is a tract book?

A tract book is a ledger kept by a branch office of the General Land Office organized by legal land description outlining individual purchases of land from the public, the act purchased under, giving entry and final patent numbers.

What are the common types of general land entry files?

l. Credit entry files: purchases paid in installments over a four year period, prior to 1820. 2. Cash entry files: sales of Federal Government land in which the purchasers paid cash under the Act of April 21,1820.

What is the difference between a Credit Prior Final Certificate and a Credit Under Final Certificate?

Credit Under patents were issued under the Act of 1820 after the reform of the public land sales system, though all credit sales were soon eliminated after that year.

What personal documentation is contained in a cash certificate?

Prior to the Civil War cash certificates contain only the entryman’s given county of residence. After 1862 homestead entries were often converted into cash entries and any of the personal paperwork required of homesteaders might be included.

What other types of general land entry files are there, in addition to cash, credit, and homestead?

1. Timber Culture: unreserved surveyed public lands valuable for timber or stone. See Acts of 1874-78.

2. Desert culture: lands which do not produce native grasses in quantity. Water rights are not included. See the Act of March 3, 1877.

3. Mineral: substances found in quality and quantity making land more valuable for mineral deposits. See the Act of July 26, 1866.

What is a timber culture land entry?

Unreserved surveyed public lands valuable for timber or stone. See Acts of 1874-78.

What is a desert culture land entry?

Lands which do not produce native grasses in quantity. Water rights are not included. See Act of March 3, 1877.

What is a mineral land entry?

Substances found in quality and quantity making land more valuable for mineral deposits. See Act of July 26, 1866.

What is a preemption?

Preemption is when an individual who has settled on the land before being surveyed by the Federal Government is given the right of first purchase before the land is made available to the general public.

What does the patent, final certificate, or document number look like?

It is a one to seven digit number (no alphabetical letters, generally). The BLM-GLO website (www.glorecords.blm.gov) makes reference to accession or internal accounting numbers that are not relevant to locating a patent in the National Archives.

What are inappropriate case file document numbers?

The BLM uses numbers assuming the format of CACAAA 031141 or LA0100_007 as internal account numbers. These numbers have no relevance to a National Archives land entry search.

Is the land office listed on the BLM website the same as the land office needed to order the case file?

For states east of the Mississippi, the land office is the same. For some western states, the National Archives will identify the land office. If the BLM website (www.glorecords.blm.gov) does not give the land office, we need the legal land description.

What is a serial patent file?

After 1909 all patent numbers were issued in one chronological series by the Headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management.

What is the most recent serial patent file held by the National Archives?

It is file 1,242,596 for 1973. Land entry files after that date are in the custody of regional offices of the Bureau of Land Management.

What does a bounty-land warrant look like?

It is a single sheet or form listing the warrantee, unit in which he served, or his survivor.

What documents are in a bounty-land warrant case file (ordered using the NATF 84)?

The surrendered warrant, any documents relating to the surrender of the warrant, and any documents relating to the transfer of the warrant to a third party.

What is a baseline meridian?

A starting point from which a surveyor’s grid is established.

What is an aliquot?

A subsection of a township.

Does the Federal Government track the history of a piece of land once it leaves the public domain?

The Federal Government only records the initial transfer of land from the public domain to the general public. Issues of subsequent ownership or eminent domain are best explored using county or judicial records.

How do I get a copy of an original bounty-land warrant application?

You should submit an order for reproductions of a Bounty-Land Warrant Application using the NATF 85 or online.

What is the difference between a reproduction of a bounty-land warrant application (ordered using the NATF 85) and a reproduction of the bounty-land warrant case file (ordered using the NATF 84)?

The military bounty-land warrant application is the material submitted by the veteran or their survivors to receive a land warrant. The bounty-land warrant case file documents the actual transfer of the land from the Federal Government.