The Effect of Land Alienation on Settlement

Abstract

The process of land alienation involves the disposal of the public domain by the federal government and the acquisition of land by settlers. Land alienation policies affected the way in which the land was settled. Homesteads, railroad grants, purchase via scrip, and state grants all played a role in the settlement of Kandiyohi County, central Minnesota, during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Dutch and Swedish settlers took up land in restricted areas of the county because of the pattern of available land resulting from the various policies. Homestead entries contained the largest proportion of original farmsteads in the mid1880s. These patterns resulting from initial settlement conditions are still observable.OST studies of land alienation by geog-M raphers have been concerned with the order in which parcels of land were ch0sen.l The objective of this research has been to reveal the preferences prospective land owners had for location, vegetation cover, and other attributes of the land. Little attention has been given to the way in which the process of land alienation itself has affected settlement. Hart has recently pointed out the need for "far more detailed and intensive investigations of the interaction of land alienation policies and initial settlement, and their impact upon the contemporary rural landscape of the United States."2 Using a case study in Minnesota, this paper will explore the interplay between the disposal of the public domain by the federal government and its acquisition by settlers. It will show that land alienation policies and practices guided the course of settlement and in so doing created settlement patterns which are still in evidence today.

“A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours”: Territorial Expansion, Land Policy, and U.S. State Formation

“… 80 See, e.g., Gates 1979, Hudson 1973, 442; Larson 1979; Ljungmark 1971; Rice 1978 (64); Chicago Tribune , “Minnesota Indian Lands to be Opened to Homestead Entry,” March 1, 1891. …”

Patenting and Arid Frontier: Use and Abuse of the Public Land Laws in Owens Valley, California

“…The method of public land disposal established the original pattern of private ownership in Owens Valley, but the pattern was altered through time as a result of subsequent land transfers. It has been shown that in the humid prairies and subhumid plains, land alienation policies had a significant influence on later settlement patterns (Rice 1978;Okada 1979).The impact of federal land alienation policies on settlement in this arid frontier is examined by analyzing the degree t o which initial parcel size and arrangement persisted through time. Once patent t o an individual parcel had been conveyed by the federal government, the land could either be retained, sold or subdivided.…”

“…A variety of interrelated approaches have been employed: Some studies focus on the chronological pattern of public land disposal to reflect cultural perception and the progress of settlement in unfamiliar environments (Bowen 1970(Bowen ,1976Kiefer 1969, 24-42;Mclntosh 1976;McManis 1964,62-72); others emphasize the manner in which public land laws were used t o adjust to environmental variability and location (Mclntosh 1974(Mclntosh ,1975(Mclntosh ,1981 Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 79(4), 1989, pp. 544-569 Roet 1985); a third approach diminishes the role of environmental factors and emphasizes the process of land disposal itself as an influence on subsequent land ownership and settlement patterns (Curry-Roper 1987;Preston 1981,97-112;Rice 1978;Sauder 1984;Sauder andSauder 1986, 1987). This body of research illustrates that different environmental settings, different periods in time, and the specific provisions of each land measure all played a role in influencing patterns of public land disposal and settlement.…”