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== Federal Land Records == | == Federal Land Records == | ||
When the United States acquired the area that is now [[ | When the United States acquired the area that is now [[Kansas]], most of the land became part of the public domain. Available land was surveyed by the government and could then be transferred to private ownership, a process called land entry. The first general land office in Kansas was established at Lecompton in 1856. The local offices kept tract books (records of land transactions in each section) and township plats (maps of land entries in each township). | ||
After a settler completed the requirements for land entry by either purchase (cash entry) or homesteading, his case file was sent to the General Land Office in Washington, D.C. Here a patent, or first-title deed, was issued, transferring the land from government to private ownership. | After a settler completed the requirements for land entry by either purchase (cash entry) or homesteading, his case file was sent to the General Land Office in Washington, D.C. Here a patent, or first-title deed, was issued, transferring the land from government to private ownership. | ||