This dataset was automatically cataloged from the creator's Open Data Portal. In some cases, publication year and bounding coordinates shown here may be incorrect. Additional download formats may be available on the author's website. Please check the Resource Link for additional information.
Wisconsin’s original land patent data provided by the General Land Office (GLO) and Bureau of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL), mapped to the PLSS quarter-quarter section, provided in file geodatabase format.Shortly after the United States Government signed treaties with the indigenous peoples of Wisconsin, the General Land Office (GLO) conducted surveys of the treaty areas. These surveys mapped the state and laid out the Public Land Survey System grid of towns, sections, quarter sections, and quarter-quarter sections. Under a range of congressional authorities, the government was authorized to sell or give these lands to individuals thus transferring the ownership from the public domain to private hands. In recent years, the GLO has made these data available online (https://glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx). In some cases, the federal government allocated land directly to the State of Wisconsin who was then allowed to transfer the ownership to private hands. These data are available from the Bureau Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL). This dataset includes valid patent for 75% of the quarter-quarter sections in Wisconsin. Sources of missing data include railroad and canal grant patent as well as patents that were issued for non-standard PLSS area or parcels smaller than a quarter-quarter section.Please see the data dictionary for the dataset to a description of the field names.