Iowa Land and Property: Difference between revisions

When the area that is now [[Iowa, United States  Genealogy|Iowa]] became part of the [[United States Genealogy|United States]], a few prior land claims by early pioneers were settled in the courts, though most of the land was unclaimed. This unclaimed land became the public domain, was '''surveyed''', divided into townships (36 square miles), range and section (one square mile within the township)and then sold through land offices. Iowa land office records began in 1838, when Iowa became a territory and land offices were established. Iowa is termed a [[Government Land Grants|Federal land state]] (public domain), and the government granted land through [[Grants from the Federal Government (Public Domain)|cash sales (entries)]], [[Homestead Records|homesteads]], [[United States Military Bounty Land Warrants|military bounty land warrants]] as well as granting other claims such as [[Mining Claims|mining]] and [[Timberland|timberland claims]].  Federal land purchases are contained in a case file held at the National Archives. In order to obtain the '''case file''', a legal description of the land is needed which may be found in a deed, plat map, '''tract book''', or '''patent books'''. To learn how to obtain this land description, see the wiki article under United States Land and Property - Federal Land - [[Grants from the Federal Government (Public Domain)#Obtaining_a_Legal_Description_of_the_Land|Obtaining a Legal Description of the Land]].