Land guide
New booklet gets down to basics of historic property research
A new state publication combines streamlined history, simplified maps, technical how-to, and a guide to sources to aid in Oklahoma land research.
The booklet, "A Guide to Researching Land in Oklahoma at the Oklahoma Historical Society," is by Katie Bush, research librarian at the Oklahoma History Center.
Bush condenses Oklahoma land history to the basics, from the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to the Free Homes Act of 1900.
In between, she recounts Indian removal, the Boomer movement, land runs and other U.S. public property dispersal, allotment of tribal land to individual members and freedmen, leasing, grafting and other history that underlies land title in Oklahoma.
Anyone new at looking into government, tribal or personal ownership or control of property would find Bush's work useful, whether for genealogical or general research.
To say that Oklahoma land history is built on a legal patchwork — of federal, tribal and extralegal laws and customs — is an understatement. Bush untangles it for basic researchers.
"I decided to give a little more background information about each region because each region has its own rules, basically, whether it was a land allotment with the tribes, or it was a homestead, the infamous land runs that everyone around the world knows Oklahoma for," she said. "I tried to go into detail and explain that whole process and how that happened.
"(Plus) the land lotteries, that whole process, how they applied, how they found out they got the land — if it was announced in the newspaper — and the stuff they needed to do after that. They still had to go to the land office, like anyone else in the land run, and actually register for that land and put their name down and claim that land.
"The same goes for the sealed-bid method, which was a little different from both of those processes. They would literally bid on the land and whoever won would also have to register their name."
Bush said she is especially pleased with the simplified state maps.
"We have some really good maps," she said, but she redrew them minus intricate detail.
"They seemed to be a little bit busy for people who are just getting started out. And that's what a lot of this is for: people who are just getting started out researching land — how to do it, and the easiest process to go about it," she said.
They range from Indian Territory when it included all of present Oklahoma but the Panhandle — "No Man's Land," officially the Neutral Strip — at the Indian Removal Act of 1830; to maps of lands opened by run, lottery and sealed bid; to jurisdiction maps of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole nations as they existed for most of the 19th century and up to statehood in 1907.
The 38-page guide is divided into four main sections.
• Creation of Oklahoma, including establishment of Indian Territory; Indian Removal Act; Organic Act that created Oklahoma Territory; and surveying of Indian Territory.
• Oklahoma Territory, including Boomer Movement and homesteads; Unassigned Lands; Iowa, Pottawatomie, and Sac and Fox reservations; Kickapoo Reservation; Cheyenne and Arapahoe Reservation; Greer County Neutral Strip; Land lotteries for Wichita, Caddo, Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache lands; and Big Pasture opened by sealed bid.
• Indian Territory, including Dawes Commission; use of land allotments to "civilize" American Indians; allotments to freedmen; safeguarding Indian lands
from Boomers; dispute with railroads; grafters and the use of lease agreements; recording districts; Allotments (Tonkawa; Pawnee; Ponca and Otoe-Missouria; Osage and Kaw-Kansa; Choctaw and Chickasaw; Cherokee; Seminole; Muscogee-Creek); land allotments of tribes in northeastern Indian Territory (Seneca, Shawnee, and Quapaw; Peoria; Ottawa; Wyandotte; Modoc).
• Homesteading in Oklahoma, including rules; who qualified under the Homestead Act; special provisions for military servicemen; inheriting land if applicant dies/special cases; Free Homes Act of 1900; town sites; land entry case files/applications; simultaneous applications; and settlement and cultivation options.
The guide also has a section on obtaining government land documents, and "how to read legal descriptions for your ancestor's land patent."
It also has lists of records and archives held by the Oklahoma Historical Society, and contact information for the National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas, and every county clerk's office in Oklahoma.
“A Guide to Researching Land in Oklahoma at the Oklahoma Historical Society” is $15 in the Research Center at the Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive. Order by mail for $20 by calling 405-5225223 or sending an email to kbush@okhistory.org.