                     BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT CD-ROM
                    General Land Office Records Project

                   GLO TERMS and DATA FIELD DEFINITIONS


Accession Number:
   An alpha-numeric code unique to each document that directly relates
   a document image to the original hardcopy document.  Identifies the
   state, volume number, and page of the original GLO document.  This
   item is also referred to as the Document Reference ID as discussed
   in Section 6.11.  An example of this might be  LA301__.023, which
   identifies a Louisiana document found in Volume 301, Page 23.

Aliquot Parts:
   Using the rectangular system of survey, land in each state was
   divided into Townships containing 6 square miles.  Each Township
   was subdivided into 36 Sections, each containing 640 acres. Each
   Section was further subdivided into halves and quarters,
   repeatedly, until the piece of land was accurately described. 
   Without the use of Fractional Sections, Blocks, or Lots (in the
   case of uneven parcels of land), Aliquot Parts were used to
   represent the exact subdivision of the section of land.  Halves of
   a Section (or subdivision thereof) are represented as N, S, E, and
   W (such as "the northern half of section 5").  Quarters of a
   Section (or subdivision thereof) are represented as NW, SW, NE, and
   SE (such as "the north-west quarter of section 5").  Sometimes,
   several Aliquot Parts are required to accurately describe a piece
   of land.  For example, "E SW" denotes the eastern half of the
   south-west quarter containing 80 acres, and "SWNENE" denotes the
   south-west quarter of the north-east quarter of the north-east
   quarter containing 10 acres.  It is important to remember that the
   Aliquot Parts shown on the system (e.g., "SWNENE") usually
   translates into words found on the land document.

   In general:   a section contains 640 acres,
                 a half section contains 320 acres,
                 a quarter section contains 160 acres,
                 a half of a quarter contains 80 acres,
                 a quarter of a quarter contains 40 acres, etc.

Approx Location:
   Using the rectangular system of survey, the distance is computed
   in miles North or South and East or West from the starting point
   in the state (where the baseline and meridian intersect). The
   result is the distance to the corner of the section nearest the
   meridian/baseline junction.  The boundry of the section can then
   be computed as the 1 square mile section extending in the same
   directions as the Range and Township from the Section Corner.
   More precise location can be obtained by calculation for the
   Aliquot Parts within the Section. This is a rough approximation
   but should put you within  1 mile. See the on-line help topic
   "HOW TO MAP COORDINATES" for an example.

                              N
                              |
            Range W           | Range E
            Township N        | Township N
            SE Section corner | SW Section corner
        W  -+-----------------0-----------------+-  E         
            Range 1W          | Range E              
            Township 1S       | Township S
            NE Section corner | NW Section corner
                              S


Authority Code:
   Refers to the congressional act or treaty that supports the
   transfer of land from the United States government to private
   owners.  A set of 6-digit authority codes are used to identify the
   various types of land documents.  These codes are derived from the
   chapters in the Federal Code of Regulations established for the
   various authorities.  An example is Authority Code 251101 which
   denotes the Homestead Act of 1862 (as amended).

Block:
   A one-, two-, or three-digit number used to describe a block (or
   piece) of land within a township.  For example, "Block 6 in
   Township 5 North, Range 12 West".

Canceled Document:
   Land documents that were issued and later canceled were marked
   "Canceled" across the face of the certificate with either a stamp
   or a handwritten annotation.  Canceled documents were usually
   replaced by another document.  The Comments field for a canceled
   document will sometimes make reference to the document(s) that were
   used to replace it.

Comments:
   This data item may contain general remarks about the document,
   additional patentee or warrantee names, or a reference to a
   replacement document.

Date Signed:
   The month, day, and year that the land document was signed.

Document Number:
   The primary identification number given to the original GLO
   document.  A certificate number, warrant number, serial number, or
   patent number may be used as the Document Number.

Fractional Section:
   If a section of land is not a complete section (e.g., less than 640
   acres due to a body of water), then the section is denoted as a
   Fractional Section.

Land Description Number:
   Some land documents contain descriptions of more than one piece of
   land.  In this case, the land descriptions are numbered in sequence
   as they appear on the document.  This number is used to establish
   sequence and to distinguish each land description on a patent.
   Using the rectangular system of survey, an example of a land
   description is "the southern half of the northern-east quarter of
   Section 6 of Township 5 North, Range 12 West of the Fifth Principal
   Meridian, containing 80 acres".

Land Office:
   Name of a location (usually a city or town) where the General Land
   Office established a district Land Office to handle various land
   transactions.  Patents that were issued were bound into volumes by
   Land Office names.  Usually, several Land Offices existed for each
   state.

Meridian:
   The true north-south line extending from an initial point in both
   directions.  In Arkansas the meridian is called the Fifth Principal
   Meridian.  Some states have more than one meridian.

Metes and Bounds Description:
   Some GLO documents contain descriptions of land in terms other than
   those used by the Cadastral Surveying Method.  Land bordering a
   river may contain a description or reference expressed in terms
   other than Aliquot Parts, Township, and Range.  For example, "ten
   paces north from the large oak tree".  This data item indicates
   whether or not a Metes and Bounds land description is used to
   describe the parcel of land for which the document was issued. 

Miscellaneous Document Number:
   A secondary identification number found on the original GLO
   document.  An application number, Choctaw certificate number, or
   survey number may be used as a Miscellaneous Document Number.  Not
   all documents have a Miscellaneous Document Number (e.g., Cash
   Entry patents).

Multiple Patentee/Warrantee Names:
   If the document was issued to more than one patentee (i.e., several
   persons), then this data items will display a Y.  The Comments
   field will sometimes make reference to the other Patentee Names
   that are associated with the document.

Op.Image Name:
   An electronic "picture" of the original land document that has been
   preserved on optical disk and that can be shared by several people
   at the same time.
  
Op.Image Type:
   Optical images were recorded in either Portrait or Landscape
   orientation.

Op.Vol ID:
   The optical disk volume number for optical images.

Patentee Name:
   The name of the person (i.e., Patentee) that received the document as
   it appears on the certificate. Displayed as last name, first name
   and middle initial.

Range:
   A row or tier of townships lying east or west of the principal
   meridian and numbered successively to the east and to the west from
   the principal meridian.

   A Range Number is used to identify the township.  The Range Number
   indicates the East or West relation to the principal meridian.  In
   the example "Township 5 North, Range 12 West", the number 12
   represents the Range Number that is used to identify the township
   that is 12 tiers to the left of the principal meridian.

   The range Direction indicates which side of the principal meridian
   the township is on.  In the example, "Township 5 North, Range 12
   West", West indicates the direction of the township from the
   (vertical) meridian.  Range Directions can be either East or West.

Section:
   A tract of land, 1 mile square, within a township containing 640
   acres.  Approximately 1/36 of a township. Most townships contain 36
   sections.  However, some townships contain more.  Each section within
   a township is identified by this Section Number.

Signature:
   Denotes if the document is signed or not.

Subsurface Rights Reserved:
   Land granted to a patentee was subject to certain vested and
   accrued rights for mining, agriculture, manufacturing, or other
   purposes.  This data item indicates whether or not the land
   described in the patent involved the reservation of subsurface
   rights for any of these purposes.

Total Acres:
   The total number of acres described on a land document.  For those
   documents that have more than one parcel of land described, Total
   Acres is zero for all land descriptions except for the last one. 
   In this case, the last land description will contain the total
   acreage for all pieces of land on the document.  This number is
   expressed to the nearest thousandths of an acre.

Township:
   A tract of land contained within the boundaries of the north-south
   range lines containing approximately 36 square miles or 23,040
   acres.

   A Township is a major subdivision of the public lands under the
   rectangular system of surveys. Most townships are 4-sided measuring
   approximately 6 miles on each side and containing approximately
   23,040 acres.  A township is identified by its relation to a base
   line and a principal meridian.  For example, "Township 5 North,
   Range 12 West" identifies a particular township that is 5 tiers up
   from the base line.  In this example, the number 5 represents the
   Township Number.

   The Township Direction indicates which side (north or south) of the
   baseline the township is on.  In the example "Township 5 North,
   Range 12 West", North indicates the Township Direction from the
   (horizontal) baseline.  Township Directions can be either North or
   South.

Warrantee Name:
   The name of the person (i.e., the Warrantee) that received the
   Military Warrant as it appears on the certificate.  This data item
   only applies to Military Warrants.  Displayed as last name, first
   name and middle initial.

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For those who enjoy such things, the following is the data dictionary
for all the BLM GLO CD records. This information will be especially
helpful if you are going to export the data to SDF or DELIMITED
formats to import into another program.

Field Types: C = Character
             N = Integer Numeric


  FIELD      FIELD     FIELD
  NAME       TYLE      LENGTH
----------   -----     ------
ACCESS_NR      C         12
SEQ_NR         N          3
TOTAL_PAGE     N          3
IMAGE_NAME     C          8
VOL_ID         C          3
IMAGE_TYPE     C          1
DESCRIP_NR     N          3
ALIQUOT_PT     C         18
SECTION_NR     N          3
TOWNSHP_NR     N          4
TOWNSHP_DR     C          1
RANGE_NR       N          4
RANGE_DIR      C          1
BLOCK_NR       N          3
MERIDAN_CD     C          2
TOTAL_ACRE     N         11
FRAC_SECT      C          1
PATENT_L_N     C         30
PATENT_F_N     C         30
PATENT_M_I     C          1
L_O_CODE       C          3
DOCUMENT_N     C         12
MISC_DOC_N     C         12
TITLE_AUTH     C          6
SIGNATURE      C          1
SIGN_DATE      C         10
SUBSU_RESV     C          1
METES_BOUN     C          1
SURVY_DATE     C         10
WARR_L_NAM     C         30
WARR_F_NAM     C         30
CANCEL_DOC     C          1
MULT_PATEN     C          1
MULT_WARR      C          1
REMARKS        C        100

* End of : TERMS and DATA FIELD DEFINITIONS
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