Special to the HT
MEEKER | As part of the Homestead Act, there was also a process for settlers who had already taken up residence on public domain land without a prior homestead claim. In other words, they were squatters without a title of any sort. Such public domain land was often offered at public auction and sold to the highest bidder. Before any claims or sales, the area had to be properly surveyed by the federal government.
To circumvent the auction process, the squatter could use the right of “preemption.” This policy of first right of refusal was designed to protect settlers who had put considerable time and effort into improving the land with buildings, fences and crops. Otherwise, land speculators might bid on and win your farm or ranch. Squatters would often pay as little as $1.25 an acre under preemption. Garfield and Rio Blanco county clerks have books filled with preemption records.
The land occupied by the Town of Meeker was almost put up for federal auction. After a short but vigorous protest, the General Land Office removed it from auction and allowed the Town of Meeker to purchase the land patent in 1887 for $700.
Another way to obtain land in the public domain was to buy it outright from the General Land Office. Much of Rio Blanco County’s land was purchased under the 1820 statute. These purchases appear in records as “cash entry.”
There was also an overlapping law that allowed owners to obtain an additional 160 acres by planting trees on a portion of a homestead. Under the Timber Culture Act of 1873, according to my research, no patents for timber culture were issued in Rio Blanco County, but Moffat County had 10 patents issued under this legislation. The law was prone to fraud because of the way it was written and was repealed in 1891.
As you travel Highway 13 between Meeker and Craig, you will see a reminder of the Timber Culture Act. Twenty-eight miles north of Meeker is a grove of trees that looks like a fenced picnic area. The Iles Grove is five acres of cottonwoods still surviving after more than 140 years. Thomas H. Iles was granted a patent for 80 acres in 1894.
After 1877, an applicant could obtain an adjoining 160 acres, in addition to his original 160 acres, by claiming it under the Desert Land Act of 1877. Title to the desert land could be obtained by irrigating 20 acres.
County governments loved it. Instead of public domain land paying no taxes to the county, they could now collect taxes on improvements, livestock and other personal property, even before the homesteader proved up and received title to the land. The 1889 Rio Blanco County assessment book shows taxes being assessed on improvements on public land, cattle, horses, buggies, watches and more.
The Homestead Act continued to be modified whenever politicians were lobbied enough. By 1916, the law was changed in a drastic way. The Stock-Raising Homestead Act of 1916 created a “split estate.” Only the surface rights could be obtained. This meant the federal government retained the mineral rights beneath the land.
This would become a huge factor in the emerging oil industry. In the 1920s, Rio Blanco County became the focus of oil drillers from Texas, Pennsylvania and California. Homesteaders who proved up before 1916 could sell or lease their mineral rights to oil companies. After 1916, oil companies had to compete for federal mineral leases at auction.
Homesteading continued until 1976, when Congress repealed all of the homestead acts.
Sources: National Park Service; Rio Blanco Historical Society; Rio Blanco County Clerk; Mike Selle; The Museum of Northwest Colorado
