bigpigeon.us webpage Home > Resources Overview - Land Records, updated by RAC 9 Apr 2021. This page is currently being edited.

This is a sister webpage to Pott. Co. > Big Pigeon Area > Maps & Plats, which focuses on early land ownership in the Big Pigeon area.
Overview of Public Land Distribution
Note the part of the United States that is marked in green on the accompanying map. After the United States had established title to a block land in this area, it was surveyed by the General Land Office (GLO), the precursor of today's Bureau of Land Management (BLM).. Once surveyed, parcels could be conveyed to individuals or to other jurisdictions, who then held title to such land. Conveyance to an individual might happen in a number of modes, including:
  • Purchase - The most-common price for Iowa land in the mid-19th century was $1.25 per acre.
  • Presentation of a land warrant - These were awarded for military service in conflicts preceding the Civil War.
  • Occupying and improving the land for a number of years - This was first implemented by the 1862 Homestead Act.
The Public Land Survey States
The Public Land Survey States
Survey Townships
In order to be able to identify a parcel of land, the GLO surveys divided land into a grid of survey townships, also known as congressional townships. Each survey township was in theory a square six miles in dimension, thus consisting of 36 square miles.
The earth's curvature, geographic obstacless, and survey errors meant that around a third of the survey townships, maybe more, were not exactly of the desired size.

The acccompanying map shows the grid of survey townships in Iowa. Superimposed are the different Native American land cessions and today's county boundaries, with land survey dates indicated by color coding.
Iowa's Survey Townships
Iowa's Survey Townships
Meridians and Baselines

As the above map suggests, surveying public lands in the United States was a complex, multi-step process extending over many years. Public lands were broken up into survey areas, each using a north-south meridian and an east-west baseline.

​As the accompanying map shows, Iowa was among the midwestern states surveyed in reference to the 5th principal meridian which runs through extreme eastern Iowa and uses a baseline in Arkansas.

As illustrated below, within a survey area two numbers, township and range, identified a survey township in reference to the area's baseline and meridian.
5th Principal Meridian Survey Area
5th Principal Meridian Survey Area
The Township Grid, Section Numbering, and Section Subdivision
  • A survey township is identified by its location relative to a base line and a prime meridian. For instance, in the first diagram on the right the township in white occupies the second row south of the baseline and the third column west of the meridian and is thus denoted T2S R3W.
  • Each survey township is in theory a  square six miles on a side, consisting of 36 square miles. A survey township is broken up into 36 sections, in theory each a square one mile on a side. The second diagram illustrates the numbering system for sections.
  • A square mile contains 640 acres. General Land Offices in Iowa dealt with 40-acre parcels, with 16 such parcels in a square mile. To identify a parcel of land, a shorthand notation is used. For instance, the crosshatched 40 acres in the third diagram is NE 1/4 of NW 1/4 of Section 14 T2S R3W or more concisely NE1/4 NW1/4 S14 T2S R3W.
Township Gride, Section Numbering, Section Subdivision
Township Grid, Section Numbering, and Section Subdivision
Survey Maps

Township surveyors produced a map for each survey township. These maps were then sent to the GLO main office, which when Pottawattamie County was surveyed was located far away in Dubuque, Iowa. Microfilms of most Iowa survey maps exist.

The accompanying map is the survey township map of a portion of northern Decatur County in northeastern Iowa.
Sample Survey Map
Sample Survey Map
Township Plats

​A township plat is a map that shows land ownership of a particular township at a given time.
This 1900 Boomer Township plat illustrates what a township plat looks like. Note that this plat, courtesy of iagenweb.org/pottawattamie, is not fully readable. A township plat is too complex to be viewed in its entirety on a single computer screen. Both the Iowa township survey maps and township plats accessible from digital.lib.uiowa.edu were scanned at a high resolution and include controls that allow you to enlarge and select a township portion for viewing.
Pottawattamie County Area Land - history and acquisition:
  • 1803 - The United States acquires the Missouri River basin from France through the Louisiana Purchase.
  • 1804 - Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery hold their first council with Native Americans near today's Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, north of today's Omaha. The surrounding area on both sides of the Missouri River becomes known as Council Bluffs.
  • 1837 - The Illinois Potawatomi bands of Native Americans  vacate the Platte Purchase in northwestern Missouri and move north into a temporary reservation in today's southwestern Iowa.
  • 1838 (4 Jul) - Iowa Territory established from the western portion of Wisconsin Territory.
  • 1846 - Illinois Potawatomi agree to move to a new reservation in northeastern Kansas west of the Missouri River.
  • 1846 - Mormons expelled from the Nauvoo, Illinois area; most move west and settle temporarily in the Council Bluffs area, both on former Potawatomi lands and, with permission of the Omaha tribe, in Winter Quarters in today's North Omaha.
  • 1846 - In December, the State of Iowa is established from a portion of Iowa Territory.
  • 1847 - Mormons begin to leave the Council Bluffs area for Utah; most remaining Mormons west of the Missouri River move east across the river into former Potawatomi lands.
  • 1847 (24 Feb) - Pottawattamie County established (boundaries encompass most of the former Illinois Potawatomie reserve).
  • 1848 (21 Sep) - Pottawattamie County organized.
  • 1851 (15 Jan) - Pottawattamie County reduced to current size by establishment of other counties, including neighboring counties of Harrison, Shelby, Cass., Montgomery and Mills.
  • 1851 - Survey of Pottawattamie County land began. Survey extended into 1852.
  • 1853 (12 Mar) - Council Bluffs Land Office opened. Howver, for the first few months only preemption law purchases, by individuals who had already settled and made improvements to a parcel of land, were processed. 
  • 1853 (7 Jun) - Council Bluffs Land Office opened to the general public. In the next several years much of the land was acquired by speculators using land warrants issued to veterans of previous conflicts; those using cash typically paid $1.25 per acre. A purchaser received a land patent, a title document showing that he or she was the owner, free and clear, of the specified tract of land.
  • 1853 (8 Jun) - Formal Mormon evacuation of the Pottawattamie area ended with the departure of the Miller-Cooley Company of 282 individuals from Six-Mile Grove west of Winter Quarters. However, until made obsolete by the Union Pacific Railroad, Winter Quarters vicinity will sometimes be used to stage Mormon companies to Utah.
  • 1856 (31 May) Council Bluffs Land Office temporarily closeed (except for preemption law purchases) while land grants to railroads were prepared.
  • 1858 (23 Feb) Council Bluffs Land Office reopened to the general public.
  • 1863 (1 Jan) First Council Bluffs Land Office entry under the 1862 Homestead Law.
  • 1873 (May) Council Bluffs Land Office permanently closed. Remaining business was handled by the Des Moines Land Office.
Commentary:
  • Much Pottawattamie County land remained owned by speculators and unfarmed into the 1870s. Some speculators (such as the Graham family) continued to own land, which they rented out to farmers (such as my bachelor great-uncle, Hans Peter Hansen), into the 1940s.

Websites: Commentary:
  • Before using these websites, find the township and range number of interest using the above index map link. (E.g., Boomer Township is township 77N, range 43W.)
  • Then find the section number using a township plat in one of the following atlases. (I’m interested in Section 21).
  • To find the land survey map for your township, click on the above hotspot and scroll until you find the correct township.

  • To find the original entry records for your township, click on the above hotspot and complete  the Location and Land Description information on the left-hand side. You can leave the meridian field blank as all of Iowa has the same prime meridian.
  • Most land in the Big Pigeon area was bought by speculators in the 1850s and wasn’t put into use by a farmer until after some years after the Civil War ended.
  • For subsequent land transactions, the Auditor’s office in the Pottawattamie County Court House has a collection of books summarizing rural sales.  Before accessing these books, know the township description, section, and approximate year of the transaction.  Boomer Township's description is "Township 77 North, Range 43 West".  Hazel Dell is "Township 76 North, Range 43 West".  These land books are much easier to use than the alternate collection in the Recorder’s office, but I have found some errors in them. 

​Some notes about land records:​
  • The files accessed from the above links are several megabytes in size and might load slowly on your computer.
  • The GLO land survey maps are dfficult to interpret and are I believe are not helpful for most researchers.
  • Printed Pottawattamie County plats for various years are available at the Pottawattamie County Genealogical Society and the Council Bluffs Public Library.

Sources for the Land Records webpage:​
  • The Public Lands Survey States map is courtesy of Digital Data Systems Inc. and was found at http://www.plssdata.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=472&Itemid=857.
  • The Iowa's Survey Townships map and the Sample Survey Map are taken from pages 2 and  4 of http://publications.iowa.gov/29828/1/EnhancedAccesstoIowasGeneralLandOffice.pdf, a 24-page 2008 publication of the Iowa Office of the State Archeologist.
  • The 5th Principal Meridian Survey Area map is courtesy of The American Surveyor and was found at https://archive.amerisurv.com/PDF/TheAmericanSurveyor_Elgin-5thPrincipalMeridianIntialPoint_April2015.pdf.
  • The Township Grid, Section Numbering, and Section Subdivision diagram is courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management and was found at https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/uploads/IB2013-057_att1.pdf.