Welcome to my library of historic land statutes and extras! The land law collection mainly focuses on federal law and public domain land, but it has more than that, including some state statutes, so check the titles. Some volumes address state statutes, but for state-specific land laws, check the statutory law page for that state. Extras include writings about land law, informative books for settlers hoping claim public domain land, and even a bit of pension and bounty land law. A book about Spanish and Mexican law relates to land transactions in states that were formerly ruled by those countries.
Not every book in the collection is the law itself. Some non-law books were valuable enough to include because they show how laws were applied, for example, when homesteading. The Western Land Owner / Copp’s Land Owner was a periodical that addressed Land Office decisions, land laws, named people who made land claims and received patents, printed articles including those about locations desirable to settlers, mines and minerals, advertisements, and more. It is a fun publication that I do not see much about.
Also see the Historic Land Case Law page!
I write a blog post introducing the historic land law collection.
Land Laws and Miscellaneous Sources |
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Year |
Title |
Statutory Law Online |
| 1820 | Act Making Further Provision for Sale of Public Land (3 Stat. 566) | Gov Info |
| 1838 | General Public Acts of Congress Respecting the Sale and Disposition of the Public Lands, v. 1 | Hathi Trust |
| 1838 | General Public Acts of Congress Respecting the Sale and Disposition of the Public Lands, v. 2 | Hathi Trust |
| 1841 | Preemption Act of 1841 (5 Stat. 453) | Gov Info |
| 1842 | An Act to provide for satisfying claims for bounty lands, for military services in the late war with Great Britian, and for other purposes (5 Stat. 497) | Gov Info |
| 1847 | An Act to raise for a limited time an additional military force, and for other purposes (9 Stat. 123, section 9 bounty land) | Gov Info |
| 1847 | The Land Owner’s Manual. Contains a Summary of Statute Regulations, in New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin | Google Books |
| 1850 | An Act to create the Office of Surveyor-General of the Public Lands in Oregon, and to provide for the Survey, and to make Donations to Settlers of the said Public Lands (aka Donation Land Claim Act of 1850) (9 Stat. 496) | Gov Info |
| 1850 | An Act to enable the State of Arkansas and other states to reclaim the “Swamp Lands” within their limits (9 Stat. 519) | Gov Info |
| 1850 | An Act granting Bounty Land to certain Officers and Soldiers who have been engaged in the Military Service of the United States (9 Stat. 520) | Gov Info |
| 1851 | An Act to ascertain and settle the private Land Claims in the State of California (9 Stat. 631) | Gov Info |
| 1851 | A Familiar Digest of all the Pension and Bounty Land Laws of the United States | Google Books |
| 1852 | An Act to make Land Warrants assignable, and for other Purposes (10 Stat. 3) | Gov Info |
| 1853 | An Act to extend Preemption Rights to certain Lands therein mentioned (10 Stat. 244) | Gov Info |
| 1855 | An Act in Addition to certain Acts granting Bounty Land to certain Officers and Soldiers who have been engaged in the Military Service of the United States (10 Stat. 701) | Gov Info |
| 1855 | Instructions and Forms to be Observed by Persons Applying to the Pension Office for Bounty Land Under the Act of March 3, 1855 | Google Books |
| 1856 | The Pre-emption Laws of the United States. Acts of 1841 and 1843. | Google Books |
| 1862 | Homestead Act of 1862 (12 Stat. 392) | National Archives |
| 1866 | An Act for the Disposal of the Public Lands for Homestead Actual Settlement in the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida (14 Stat. 66) | Gov Info |
| 1870 | Land Laws, Regulations and Decisions. Being a Continuation of Acts of Congress Respecting the Sale and Disposition of Public Lands; and Embracing Land Laws Passed Since the Publication of Vol. 1. From December, 1859, to January 1, 1870. Vol. 2. | Google Books |
| 1871 | Regulations Relating to Bounty Land, with Statutes | Internet Archive |
| 1872 | An Act to enable honorably discharged Soldiers and Sailors, their Widows and orphan Children, to acquire Homesteads on the public Lands of the United States (17 Stat. 49) | Gov Info |
| 1873 | An Act to amend an Act entitled “An Act to enable honorably discharged Soldiers and Sailors, their Widows and orphan Children, to acquire Homesteads on the public Lands of the United States,” and the Amendments thereto (17 Stat. 605) | Gov Info |
| 1873 | An Act to authorize Pre-emptors or Settlers upon Homesteads on the public Land to alienate Portions of ther Pre-emptions or Homesteads for certain public purposes (17 Stat. 602) | Gov Info |
| 1873 | An Act to encourage the Growth of Timber on western Prairies (aka Timber Culture Act) (17 Stat. 605) | Gov Info |
| 1874 | An Act to amend the act entitled “An act to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies” (18 Stat. C21) | Gov Info |
| 1874-1883 | Western Land Owner, v. 1 through Copp’s Land Owner, v. 9 | Google Books |
| 1875 | Public Land Laws, Passed by Congress from March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1875, With the Important Decisions of the Secretary of the Interior, and Commissioner of the General Land Office, the Opinions of the Assistant Attorney General, and The Instructions Issued from the General Land-Office to the Surveyors General and Registers and Receivers During the Same Period | Internet Archive |
| 1875 | An act to amend the act entitled “An act for the restoration to homestead-entry and to market of certain lands in Michigan,” approved June tenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and for other purposes (18 Stat. C516) | Gov Info |
| 1877 | An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Territories (aka Desert Land Act) (19 Stat. 377) | Gov Info |
| 1878 | An act for the sale of timber lands in the States of California, Oregon, Nevada and in Washington Territory (aka Timber and Stone Act) (20 Stat. 89) | Gov Info |
| 1878 | An act to amend the act entitled “An act to encourage the growth of timber on the Western Prairies” (20 Stat. 113) | Gov Info |
| 1878 | An act for the relief of settlers on the public lands under the preemption laws (20 Stat. 113) | Gov Info |
| 1880 | Laws of the United States of a Local or Temporary Character, and Exhibiting the Entire Legislation of Congress Upon Which the Public Land Titles in Each State and Territory Have Depended. December 1, 1880. v. 1 | Google Books |
| 1880 | Laws of the United States of a Local or Temporary Character, and Exhibiting the Entire Legislation of Congress Upon Which the Public Land Titles in Each State and Territory Have Depended. December 1, 1880. v. 2 | Google Books |
| 1880 | The Public Domain. Its History, with Statistics | Google Books |
| 1882 | The American Settler’s Guide: A Popular Exposition of the Public Land System of the United States of America | Internet Archive |
| 1883 | Public Land Laws, Passed by Congress from March 4, 1875, to April 1, 1882, With the Important Decisions of the Secretary of the Interior, and Commissioner of the General Land Office, the Land Opinions of the Attorney General, and The Circular Instructions, v. 1 | Internet Archive |
| 1883-1884 | Copp’s Land Owner, v. 10 | Google Books |
| 1884-1886 | Copp’s Land Owner, vols. 11-12 | Google Books |
| 1884 | Index to Copp’s Land Owner, Real Estate and Land Law Publication, Volumes 1 to 9, 1874-1883 [includes table of cases] | Internet Archive |
| 1884 | The Public Domain. Its History, with Statistics. Revised 1881. | Google Books |
| 1884 | A Treatise on the Public Land System of the United States | Google Books |
| 1886 | History of the Land Question in the United States | Google Books |
| 1886-1888 | Copp’s Land Owner, vols. 13-14 | Google Books |
| 1886 | The American Settler’s Guide: A Popular Exposition of the Public Land System of the United States of America | Internet Archive |
| 1887 | Regulations Relating to Bounty Land, with Statutes | Internet Archive |
| 1887 | An Act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes (24 Stat. 388) | Gov Info |
| 1888 | A Treatise on the Law of Eminent Domain in the United States | Google Books |
| 1890 | Public Land Laws Passed by Congress from April 1, 1882 to January 1, 1890, with the important decisions of the Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner of the General Land Office | Google Books |
| 1891 | An Act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes (26 Stat. 1095) | Gov Info |
| 1894 | An Act for the relief of persons who have filed declarations of intent to enter desert lands (28 Stat. 226) | Gov Info |
| 1895 | Spanish and Mexican Land Laws. New Spain and Mexico. | Google Books |
| 1896 | An Act relating to final proof in timber-culture entries (29 Stat. 43) | Gov Info |
| 1899 | An Act to provide for the acquiring of rights of way by railroad companies through Indian reservations, Indian lands, and Indian allotments, and for other purposes (30 Stat. 990) | Gov Info |
| 1899 | The American Settler’s Guide: A Popular Exposition of the Public Land System of the United States of America | Google Books |
| 1901 | Law of Real Property, v. 2 of 3 | Google Books |
| 1904 | An Act to amend the homestead laws as to certain unappropriated and unreserved lands in Nebraska (33 Stat. 547) | Gov Info |
| 1904 | Circular From the General Land Office Showing the Manner of Proceeding to Obtain Title to Public Lands Under the Homestead, Desert Land, and Other Laws | Google Books |
| 1906 | An Act to provide for the entry of Agricultural lands within forest reserves (aka Forest Homestead Act) (34 Stat. 233) | Gov Info |
| 1906 | The American Law of Real Property, Third edition | Google Books |
| 1908 | An Act providing for second desert-land entries (35 Stat. 48) | Gov Info |
| 1908 | An Act limiting and restricting the right and entry and assignment under the desert-land law and authorizing an extension of time within which to make final proof (35 Stat. 52) | Gov Info |
| 1908 | Statutes and Regulations Governing Entries and Proof Under the Desert Land Laws Together with Suggestions to Persons Desiring to Make Entries Under Said Laws | Google Books |
| 1908 | Regulations Under Timber and Stone Law Act of June 3, 1878 and Acts Amendatory | Google Books |
| 1909 | An Act to provide for an enlarged homestead (aka Enlarged Homestead Act) (35 Stat. 639) | Gov Info |
| 1909 | Instructions Under Enlarged Homestead Act of February 19, 1909 | Google Books |
| 1909 | Statutes and Regulations Governing Entries and Proof Under the Desert Land Laws Together with Suggestions to Persons Desiring to Make Entries Under Said Laws | Google Books |
| 1909 | A Summary of Our Most Important Land Laws | Google Books |
| 1910 | Instructions Under the Act Approved June 22, 1910 (36 STAT., 583), “To Provide for Agricultural Entries on Coal Lands.” | Google Books |
| 1910 | Statutes and Regulations Governing Entries and Proof Under the Desert-Land Laws Together with Suggestions to Persons Desiring to Make Entries Under Said Laws | Google Books |
| 1912 | An Act for the relief of homestead entrymen under the reclamation projects in the United States (37 Stat. 105) | Gov Info |
| 1912 | An Act to amend section twenty-two hundred and ninety-one and section twenty-two hundred and ninety-seven of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to homesteads (aka Three-Year Homestead Act) (37 Stat. 123) | Gov Info |
| 1912 | An Act to amend section one of an Act entitled “An act to provide for an enlarged homestead,” approved February nineteenth, nineteen hundred and nine (37 Stat. 132) | Gov Info |
| 1912 | An Act to amend section three of the Act of Congress approved May fourteenth, eigtheen hundred and eighty (Twenty-first Statutes at Large, page one hundred and forty) (37 Stat. 267) | Gov Info |
| 1912 | An Act Validating certain homestead entries (37 Stat. 506) | Gov Info |
| 1912 | Questions and Answers on the United States Public Land Laws and Procedures | Google Books |
| 1914 | An Act providing for second homestead and desert-land entries (38 Stat. 712) | Gov Info |
| 1914 | Statutes and Regulations Governing Entries and Proof Under the Desert-Land Laws Together with Suggestions to Persons Desiring to Make Entries Under Said Laws | Google Books |
| 1916 | An Act to provide for stock-raising homesteads, and for other purposes (aka Stock-Raising Homestead Act) (39 Stat. 862) | Gov Info |
| 1916 | Public Land Statutes of the United States: A Compilation of the Principal Statutes of Practical Importance at the Present Time Relating to the Public Lands | Internet Archive |
| 1917 | The Law of Eminent Domain: A Treatise on the Principles Which Affect the Taking of Property for the Public Use, v. 1 | Google Books |
| 1917 | The Law of Eminent Domain: A Treatise on the Principles Which Affect the Taking of Property for the Public Use, v. 2 | Google Books |
| 1921 | An Act to authorize certain desert-land claimants who entered the military or naval service of the United States during the war with Germany to make final proof of their entries (42 Stat. 348) | Gov Info |
| 1921 | Alien Land Laws and Alien Rights | Internet Archive |
| 1921 | Principles and Sources of Title to Real Property as Between the State and the Individual and the Relative Rights of Individuals | Google Books |
| 1922 | Regulations Under Timber and Stone Law | Google Books |
| 1922 | Suggestions to Homesteaders and Persons Desiring to Make Homestead Entries | Google Books |
| 1923 | An Act for the relief of certain homestead entrymen (42 Stat. 1445) | Gov Info |
| 1923 | Public Land Statutes of the United States: A Compilation of the Principal Statutes of Practical Importance at the Present Time Relating to the Public Lands | Hathi Trust |
| 1925 | An Act Validating certain applications for, and entries of public lands, and for other purposes (43 Stat. 809) | Gov Info |
| 1925 | An Act granting desert-land entrymen an extension of time for making final proof (43 Stat. 982) | Gov Info |
| 1926 | American Property Rights in Mexico | Google Books |
| 1929 | Regulations of the Department of the Interior Concerning Rights of Way Over Indian Lands | Hathi Trust |
| 1931 | Public Land Statutes of the United States: A Compilation of the General and Permanent Statutes of Practical Importance Relating to the Public Lands Down to the Close of the Second Session of the Seventy-Fifth Congress | Hathi Trust |
| 1933 | An Act to extend the provisions of the Act entitled “An Act to extend the period of time during which final proof maybe offered by homestead entrymen,” approved May 13, 1932, to desert-land entrymen, and for other purposes (48 Stat. 274) | Gov Info |
| 1934 | An Act to stop injury to the public grazing lands by preventing overgrazing and soil deterioration, to provide for their orderly use, improvement, and development, to stabilize the livestock industry dependent upon the public range, and for other purposes (48 Stat. 1269) | Gov Info |
| 1937 | An Act to further extend the period of time during which final proof may be offered by homestead and desert-land entrymen (50 Stat. 303) | Gov Info |
| 1938 | An Act to provide for the purchase of public lands for home and other sites (52 Stat. 609) | Gov Info |
| 1945 | An Act to amend an Act eentitled “An Act to provide for the purchase of public lands for home and other sites,” approved June 1, 1938 (59 Stat. 467) | Gov Info |
| 1960 | An Act to authorize an extension, of time for final proof under the desert land laws under certain conditions (74 Stat. 257) | Gov Info |
| 1964 | An Act to amend the Act of June 29, 1960, to authorize certain additional extensions of time by certain entrymen under the desert land laws and to make such additional extensions available to the succesors in interest of such entrymen (78 Stat. 1062) | Gov Info |
| 1965 | Public Land Law Review | Google Books |
| 1968 | History of Public Land Law Development | Google Books |
| 1972 | Federal Reclamation and Related Laws Annotated, Volume 1 of Three Volumes, Through 1942 | Google Books |
| 1975 | Restoration of Lost or Obliterated Corners and Subdivision of Sections [Supplement to manual of surveying instructions] | Google Books |
| 1976 | Federal Land Policy and Management Act (90 Stat. 2743) | Gov Info |
| 1988 | Opportunity and Challenge: The Story of BLM | Google Books |
| 1993 | An Act to amend the Stock Raising Homestead Act to resolve certain problems regarding subsurface estates, and for other purposes (107 Stat. 60) | Gov Info |
| 1995 | Code of Federal Regulations, Public Lands: Interior, Title 43 | Google Books |
| 2001 | Code of Federal Regulations, Public Lands: Interior, Title 43 | Google Books |
| 1942-1998 | Public Land Orders | GovInfo |
| 1942-2020 | Public Land Orders | Bureau of Land Management |
