United States, Bureau of Land Management Tract Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection consists of 3,907 United States federal tract books containing the official record of each parcel of public land until it was transferred from federal to private ownership in 28 of the 30 federal land states between the years 1820 and 1908. The federal tract books for Alaska and Missouri are lost. The collection described here does not include any tract books maintained by state  or county  governments, even when the property they describe may partially overlap.

Why they were created. These tract books show the federal government transactions and status of each parcel of surveyed public land. These books indicate who obtained the land, and include a physical description of the tract and where the land is located. The type of transaction is also recorded such as cash entry, credit entry, homesteads, patents (deeds), timberland rights, or mineral rights granted by the federal government, and other conveyances of title such as Indian allotments, internal improvement grants (to states), military bounty land warrants, private land claims, railroad grants, school grants, and swamp grants.

Why genealogists use them. These tract books show details about when and where an ancestor first obtained land from the federal government. Tract books provide information to help find further federal and local land ownership records which sometimes hold clues about an ancestor's residence and family members. Also, after finding where an ancestor lived, a researcher can search for a variety of non-land records of the ancestor in that area. Tract books also can be used to find information about neighbors—people who sometimes turn out to be relatives. Tract books even show when an ancestor applied for federal land but failed to obtain it.

Tract books lead to case files. Tract books also help researchers find information to access over ten million land entry case files preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC. These case files show the application papers of each individual who attempted to obtain a private claim to some public land, whether they succeeded or not. Successful claims  received a patent (original title) and are indexed in the BLM Land Patent Search 1820-1908 for all federal land states. Unsuccessful claims  still have case files, and tract books are one of the best ways to find the information needed to obtain a case file from the two million otherwise unindexed land entry case files that were never finished, forfeited, rejected, or cancelled.

Arrangement. Tract book volumes are organized by state, in some states by land offices, and by township number and range number. Within each tract book volume the land entries are in order by their legal land description (section, township, and range); terms from the rectangular surveys used in the Public Land Survey System used for most parts of 30 federal land states. Typical tract books list the land entries for about one to 30 townships; about five townships per tract book seems to be the most common.

Each land entry in a tract book was recorded across two pages. Each page set covers part or all of one township; tract books rarely have two townships listed on the same page.The townships usually only change one range or one township at a time within a tract book.


 * For a list of the townships (described with both a township number and a range number) and land offices included in this collection, see the Tract Books Coverage Table.
 * For a detailed list of this collection's contents by film number, see the FamilySearch Catalog entry:
 * United States, Bureau of Land Management,  (Washington, D.C. : Records Improvement, Bureau of Land Management, 1957). FamilySearch Historical Records online version; ;.

Storage of the original tract books. The National Archives in Washington, DC has the original tract books for 16 western states. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Eastern State Office, 7450 Boston Blvd, Springfield, VA 22153 has custody of the tract books for the 12 eastern federal land states (AL, AR, FL, IL, IN, IA, LA, MI, MN, MS, OH, and WI).

Record Content


Information found in this collection may include:


 * Name of purchaser
 * Description of the land
 * Date of transaction
 * By whom patented
 * Date of patent

Additional items of information included in the tract books are as follows: number of acres, date of sale, purchase price, land office, entry number, final Certificate of Purchase number, and notes on relinquishments and conversions.

How to Use the Record
What it helps to know. To begin your search of federal tract books it is helpful to know (or guess) the following:


 * Name of the entryman (person who filed a claim)
 * State
 * Land Office location
 * County
 * Land description (section, townhsip, and range) See Rectangular surveys for an explanation of these terms.

Sources which show the land description.


 * Land patent. If your family still has the patent (original title) for a piece of property, that patent will show the land description.
 * BLM land patent search. The online index to eight million land patents 1820-1908 and military bounty land shows each entry's land description. However, this index does not include the two million case files which were never finished, forfeited, relinquished, or cancelled.
 * Seven states index. The seven states index  at the National Archives in Washington, DC, also gives each entry's land description. The index covers Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada and Utah for pre-1908 case files both patented and unpatented.

Options depending on what you know.


 * If you know the land description, locate land entry in the appropriate tract book volume under the appropriate numbered section, township, and range listed on the left side of each page in the volume.
 * If you do NOT know the land description, search each appropriate tract book volume line-by-line and page-by-page for the name of an ancestor in order to find the accompanying land description.

Determine which tract books to search. The following sources can help narrow the number of tract books to search.


 * Coverage table. Use the description of the townships and ranges covered in each tract book as described in the Tract Books Coverage Table to narrow down the volumes you will need to view to find an ancestor's land entry.
 * Index. Or, if you have access to the National Archives in Washington, DC, use the Index to Tract Books, RG 49, MLR# UD2321, to each state's tract books which allows researchers to identify the tract book number that covers the area in which they are interested.
 * Townships and ranges in each county. In addition, "Appendix A" in Land and Property Research in the United States  lists each present-day federal land state and county together with its farthest north-, east-, south-, and west- township and range for that county, and the meridian(s) that applies. This information can help you narrow down the number of tract books you will need to search.
 * Land offices. Tract books for some states, such as Alabama and Ohio are organized by land office. Others are organized for the whole state. "Appendix B" in Land and Property Research in the United States  shows the varying land office boundaries in each state over many years.

Search the Collection
To browse the 28-state online federal tract book collection 1820-1980, click here.


 * ⇒Select the "State"


 * ⇒Select the "Volume." In some states the land office is mentioned with the volume number. Clicking on a volume takes you to the images.


 * If you need help deciding which volume to search, the Tract Books Coverage Table may help. This table lists each volume along with the town where the land office was located and the townships and ranges in that volume.

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Make a photocopy of the deed, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. For example:


 * Use the residence and names to locate other records such as church and census records.
 * Search for the land transactions of a couple and their children. The parents may have sold or given property to a son or daughter. Such transactions confirm relationships that might not be found in other records.
 * Search for records of people in the county who shared a surname. These may have been the couple’s parents, uncles, or other relatives. Your ancestor may have been an heir who sold inherited land that had belonged to parents or grandparents.
 * To find later generations, search the land records a few years before and after a person’s death. Your ancestor may have sold or given land to his or her heirs before death, or the heirs may have sold the land after the individual died. For daughters, the names of their husbands are often provided. For sons, the given names of their wives may be included. Heirs may have sold their interest in the land to another heir even though the record may not indicate this. Continue this process for identifying each succeeding generation.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Check the land records of other known family members.

Related Websites
Bureau of Land Management General Land Office

Related Wiki Articles

 * Tract books is a more generic alternative page explaining much of the same material covered in this Wiki article.
 * BLM Land Patent Search discusses the index to eight million patented (finished) land applications, and military bounty land papers. Each entry in this index includes the land description useful for finding an ancestor in a tract book.
 * Rectangular surveys includes a section about tract books. This article shows how principal meridians, baselines, townships, ranges, sections, and aliquots are used for land descriptions found in tract books and other property records.
 * United States Land and Property page is a general discussion of land record research for genealogists. It serves as a table of contents to related Wiki pages about American land records including tract books, related land entry case files, and the BLM land patent search.

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information (often called citing your sources). This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection citation:

Image citation: