Research


Scope and Content Note

This series consists of upland application files documenting grant, easement, lease, permit, transfer of jurisdiction, and license transactions of state lands during the years 1799-1916 and 1954-2001. Other transactions included in this series may be state surplus real property; gold, silver, mineral, and fossil deposits on state lands; leases and transfers of unappropriated lands to the federal government; and cessions of jurisdiction to the United States. Documents relating to individual applications are either bundled or filed together in discrete folders.

Upland files generally contain some or many of the following types of documents: declaration of abandonment; notices of abandonment; application for a land grant; survey description and/or map submitted by the applicant; property appraisal report; report on the title history of the parcel, including prior sale and foreclosure or default if applicable; notice and certificate of sale; legal objection(s) (caveat) to the proposed grant; receipts indicating payment to the state; State Attorney General's opinion and/or Office of General Services (OGS) commissioner's findings recommending issuance of letters patent; copy of letters patent; hearing transcript (if application was contested); affidavits and correspondence regarding the title, prior sale, and occupancy; and other correspondence.

Records relating to gold, silver, minerals, and fossil deposits are organized by closing date. Files include the following types of records: notice of discovery; proof of expenditures which are assessed by the State Geologist; copy of permit, consent, or lease to explore or extract deposits; copy of deed; periodic statements of quantities of deposits extracted and royalties owed to the state; receipt of monies owed to the state; and copy of notices of expiration of permit, consent, or lease. If a requester defaults, hearing transcripts, findings and decisions of facts, and memorandums from the State Attorney General may also be included.

Leases and transfers of unappropriated lands to the federal government and cessions of jurisdiction to the United States are organized by date that transaction was completed. The files consist of the following records: formal request from the federal government for purchase or jurisdiction of land; correspondence with the federal government and municipalities within which the lands are situated; OGS correspondence; copy of deed(s); and a copy of letters patent if the title is conveyed.