bigpigeon.us webpage Home > Resources > Land Records, updated by RAC 16 Apr 2021.

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

The green part of the accompanying map shows what are known as the public land survey states (PLSS). The United States acquired title to the majority of this land by treaties of cession with Native American tribes.

After the United States had acquired title, blocks of PLSS land was surveyed by the General Land Office (GLO), the precursor of today's Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Once surveyed, parcels therein could be conveyed to individuals or to other jurisdictions, who then held title to such land. 
The Public Land Survey States
The Public Land Survey States
Survey Townships

In order to identify a parcel of PLSS 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 acccompanying map shows the grid of survey townships in Iowa. Superimposed are the different Native American land cessions and today's county boundaries, with survey dates color coded.

The earth's curvature, geographic obstacles, and survey errors meant that survey townships were not exactly of the desired size.
Meridians and Baselines

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.
Iowa's Survey Townships
Iowa's Survey Townships
5th Principal Meridian Survey Area
5th Principal Meridan Survey Area
Township Identification, Section Numbering, and Section Subdivision
  • In the first diagram, the survey 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.
  • Survey townships were broken up into sections, each in theory a square mile in size and containing 640 acres. The second diagram shows the numbering system for sections, starting in the upper-right and ending in the lower-right.
  • In Iowa, General Land Offices dealt with 40-acre parcels, with 16 such parcels in a square mile section. They used a shorthand identification known as aliquot description to identify a land parcel within a section.  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

GLO township surveyors produced a map for each survey township. These maps were then sent to the GLO main office, which for Pottawattamie County was far away in Dubuque. 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
GLO Land Offices

After a block of land was surveyed and the surveys were processed, the GLO then offered most of the land therein to the public through an area land office. Conveyance to an individual might happen in several ways, 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 warrants 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, which went into effect at the beginning of 1863.
Known Iowa land offices and their dates:
  • Burlington/Fairfield (1838-55)
  • Chariton (1853-59)
  • Decorah (1855-56) / Osage (1856-59) 
  • Des Moines (1852-1910)
  • Dubuque (1838-1843) / Marion (1843) / Dubuque (1843-1859)
  • Fort Dodge (1855-1873)
  • Iowa City (1846-1856)
  • Kanesville (1853-1855) / Council Bluffs (1853-73)
  • Sioux City (1849-78)​
Land Patents

After acquiring land at an area land office, the owner would eventually receive a certificate of ownership, called a land patent, from the GLO headquarters in Washington.

Due to the large number of land purchases and the time required for correspondence between Washington and the field, months, sometimes a few years, would elapse between purchase and receipt of a land patent.
Sample Land Patent
Sample Land Patent
County Records

In Pottawattamie County, one can find land records in both the Recorder's office and the Auditor's office. I have found most-useful for my research the township books in the Auditor's office. Each section has one or more pages in a book for that township. Know the township and section and years of interest before beginning.
The complete set of papers for a real estate title, known as the abstract of title, can be very lengthy, as it includes not only purchase and sale information since the original land office entry, but mortgage and property tax lien information.

Specialized abstract companies provide the link between the real estate industry and the county Court House records.
 Township Plats

​A township plat is a map that shows land ownership of a particular township at a given time.
  • Township plats are typically produced from county records and are usually organized into county-wide atlases or plat books. 

The accompanying plat illustrates what a typical township plat looks like. Note that this plat is not fully readable. A township plat is too complex to be viewed in its entirety on a single computer screen. 

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 selecting and enlarging a township portion for viewing.
1900 Boomer Township Plat
1900 Plat for Boomer Township - T77N,R43W
Websites: Commentary:
  • Before using these websites to view a township, know the township and range number.
  • For original entry records, you will also need the section number.
  • 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.
  • The files accessed from the above links are several megabytes in size and might load slowly on your computer.
  • The GLO township survey maps are dfficult to interpret and not helpful for genealogists.
  • Printed Pottawattamie County plats for various years are available at the Pottawattamie County Genealogical Society and the Council Bluffs Public Library.
  • One can acquire recent county platbooks. However, unless you have a farmer friend with an extra copy, they are expensive.

Sources for the Resources Overview - Land Records webpage:​