Western Mining Records by John Mudge Wed May 13 1992 ------------------------------- Most of this is being written from memory, so bear with me if I am slightly off on dates, but here goes: Since the MINING ACT OF 1878(?), all mining claims filed west of the Mississippi River (including Alaska) were filed with the clerk of the local mining district if an organized mining district existed. This mining district was a quasi-official entity, but was not related to county governmental operations, since mining districts often overlapped county lines. Alaska has no county government structure at all. If no organized mining district existed, the county, or in Alaska, the Territorial government handled the filing of claims. There exist two types of mining claims; placer and lode (hardrock). The size of the claims depends on the type, and sometimes on the rules of the local mining district. At some point in history (I do not know when, how, or if it just gradually happened in different areas, most mining claim filings became the province of the county governments. I believe that in the case of Alaska, this happened at about the time of statehood. However, since Alaska had no county governmental structure, and there was the upcoming question of native land claims to prepare for, the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), took over custody of the records. They are most likely still in Anchorage, Alaska. In the past few years, it has been required that all new claims be filed with the BLM , County, and US Forest Service. The BLM has been doing a fairly good job of trying to reduce all records to microfiche, and can sometimes be talked into giving out free samples. A call to your closest BLM office should bring information on the exact location to check. Portland, OR. has them for several of the Nortwestern states now. Two or three types of records should exist. The initial filing on a claim is known as a "Location". Each year after the first, work must be done to improve the property. This could be as simple as cutting brush and marking boundary lines, or could be as complex as tunnels, adits, and drifts. This work is called "Assessment Work", and must be filed each year in order to keep the mining claim active. If a claim was proven to be a good one, after a certain number of years of assessment work, and payment of a small fee, the land could be "Patented", meaning that it then became private property. Many pieces of land in the West and Alaska became privately owned just that way. Patents can be searched like any other land title. Title Insurance companies often have better records than the local government offices. John Mudge Shelton, WA 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � This file is from The Source of Magic, Ridgefield CT � � 203-431-4687, source for genealogy, radio, & Windows � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴�