Dear folks, Here's new information about a database that should be of interest to anyone interested in United States land records. Although some records are on the database, a search of the index may lead you to a local BLM office to get a copy of a record made from their microfiche. Those living away from convenient offices may need to send a letter. What is new is that the database now includes records for lands west of the Mississippi River. Prior to this, only records for east of the Mississippi were online. Jerry in Idaho ------------------ Press Release: BLM expands internet we site: new searchable federal land patent database includes eastern AND western land records at www.glorecords.blm.gov Springfield, VA "Westward, Ho!" You might have heard those words many times if you were among the hardy pioneers who left the Colonies to seek a new life on the fertile lands of the Northwest Territory. You can still hear those words today, electronically speaking, in the Springfield, Virginia, Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Department of the Interior agency responsible for the historic General Land Office (GLO) records that literally tell the story of the settlement of the West. The BLM's expanded web site now offers information on historic land patents from all thirty public land states (those not included in the original 13 Colonies), east and west. Patent images and data for 12 eastern public lands states have been online for about 2 years. Recently, BLM Eastern States has automated the "serialized" patents--those post-1908 conveyances issued chronologically from the headquarters General Land Office/BLM in Washington, D.C. The data and images for about 160,000 serialized patents are now online. Over the next 3 years, additional serialized patents will be added. The new web site also includes indexes to patents issued prior to 1908 from most western states. A special feature of the new site allows you to query the GLO database by name, whether the name belongs to the patentee, warrantee, assignee, or heir. Also, the image display capabilities have been expanded, permitting the user to choose among TIFF, GIF, and PDF file formats. BLM is the successor agency to the GLO and has responsibility for the Secretary of the Interior's copies of documents that transferred ownership of land from the Federal Government to private citizens. Genealogists have found these documents to be a valuable research tool to verify lineage or to place an ancestor in a specific place and time. Title companies also use the information to ensure clear land titles. The BLM has computerized millions of these federal land records and has made the data easily accessible on the Internet in a user-friendly, name-searchable format at www.glorecords.blm.gov.