ROW Mapping Case Studies The Older I Get, the Less I Know Alaska - - PDF document
ROW Mapping Case Studies The Older I Get, the Less I Know Alaska Surveying & Mapping Conference 2015 The Art of Historical Research From survey to settlement and private ownership What happened before patent ? In Alaska,
Alaska Surveying & Mapping Conference 2015 ”The Older I Get, the Less I Know… ”
In Alaska, we often need to look at the history before settlement and private ownership…
Excerpt from Map of Alaska, prepared by The American Geographical Society for The Alaska Road Commission, 1923 (Image from NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey Historical Map and Chart Collection)
Focusing on…
Excerpt from Anchorage, Alaska quadrangle Edition of 1951, Alaska Reconnaissance Topographic Series (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
E xc e r pt fr
r
(Note : Ac t o f Januar y 27, 1905 e stablishe d the Bo ar d of Road Co mmissio ne r s for Alaska)
De mo nstra te d tha t fo r muc h
Chic ka lo o n, the Gle nn Hig hwa y wa s no t c o nstruc te d
“my pate nt do e sn’ t say anything ab o ut a hig hway ROW”
Source: Alaska Road Commission maps and drawings Series 1380
Oc to b e r, 1940
e le g ra m fro m Co mma nding Ge ne ra l o f the Ala ska De fe nse F
ro ute
b e g ins in the summe r o f 1941
de ta il, o utlining whe re ro a d dive rg e d fro m o ld ra ilro a d b e d
Re q ue st fo r E O, June 11, 1941 ARC T aylo r to Go v. Grue ning , fo rwarde d to Divisio n o f T e rrito rie s in D.C. fo r ac tio n
NARA, Pa c ific Re g io n (Anc ho ra g e ) ROW Co rre spo nde nc e
July 12, 1941 re ply fro m Co mmissio ne r o f the Ge ne ral L and Offic e (CGL O) F re d Jo hnso n
NOTE: Letter of January 20, 1939 discusses ARC’s authority to construct roads and appropriate ROW under Revised Statute 2477 (R.S. 2477). “This grant becomes effective upon the construction or establishing of the highway in accordance with the State or Territorial laws.” However, if ARC wanted the ROW noted to GLO’s land records, maps of definite location are required.
No tatio ns o f ROW o n the Status Cle rk Re po rt c o ntaine d in e ac h ho me ste ad c ase file :
Excerpt, Status Clerk Report for BLM Serial Case File Anchorage 011066 from GLO Land Entry Files, NARA, Washington, D.C. Excerpt, Status Clerk Report for BLM Serial Case File Anchorage 010741 from GLO Land Entry Files, NARA, Washington, D.C.
Why did the CGL O c ha ng e his mind a b o ut the E O? Why wa sn’ t the a re a we st o f Chic ka lo o n inc lude d in the E O? Whe re is the ma p da te d Ma rc h 14, 1942, No . 1877260 “o n file in the Ge ne ra l L a nd Offic e ”? Wha t do c ume nt c re a te d the “re se rva tio n” o f April 10, 1942? Wha t is the sig nific a nc e o f 44 L D 513? Wha t do e s 1877260 “F ” me a n?
(Se e Appe al o f Do yo n, L imite d, 87 I .D. 480 fo r an e xc e lle nt disc ussio n o f the histo ry o f 44 L .D. 513)
Afte r se ve ral faile d atte mpts to find the file at NARA thro ug h pho ne and e mail re q ue sts, I hire d a re se arc he r spe c ializing in DOI re c o rds.
Na tio na l Arc hive s, Wa shing to n, D.C. RG 49, Re c o rds o f the Bure a u o f L a nd Ma na g e me nt Misc e lla ne o us L e tte rs Re c e ive d, 1910-46 E ntry A1, 2009 F ile 1877260, Co rre spo nde nc e , June 11, 1941-July 26, 1944
Co nta ins a c o mple te re c o rd o f the e sta b lishme nt o f the
ROW o f the Pa lme r-Ric ha rdso n Hig hwa y a s we ll a s the ma p o f Ma rc h 14, 1942
O de ta iling a jo int GL O/ ARC c o nfe re nc e he ld in Oc to b e r, 1941, disc ussing the Pa lme r- Ric ha rdso n ROW a nd the sta tus o f the Ma ta nuska Bra nc h
Ric ha rdso n Hig hwa y
c o nstruc tio n
O tha t a ROW re se rva tio n wa s a lso re q uire d fo r the se c tio n we st o f Chic ka lo o n
e b rua ry 13, 1942: me mo fro m CGL O to Div T e rrito rie s e xpla ining why the Pa lme r to Chic ka lo o n se c tio n, MP 5 to 31 will no t b e inc lude d in E O 9145
F e b rua ry 13, 1942: “I na smuc h a s tha t po rtio n o f the hig hwa y fro m its te rmina l po int in Se c . 9, T . 18 N, R. 2 E ., to Chic ka lo o n is lo c a te d e ntire ly in surve ye d la nds a nd c a n b e de finite ly ide ntifie d o n the g ro und a s sho wn b y the c o py o f ma p o f surve y o f the hig hwa y a b o ve me ntio ne d, a re se rva tio n o f the rig ht-o f-wa y unde r a n e xe c utive o rde r fo r this po rtio n o f the hig hwa y is no t b e lie ve d to b e pra c tic a b le o r ne c e ssa ry… Unde r de pa rtme nta l instruc tio ns o f Ja nua ry 13, 1916 (44 L .D. 513) a re se rva tio n ma y b e ma de o f rig hts-o f-wa y fo r the pro te c tio n o f ro a ds a nd tra ils c o nstruc te d b y the F
c o nne c tio n with the a dministra tio n o f Na tio na l F
he instruc tio ns a re , the re fo re , c o nside re d like wise a pplic a b le to ro a ds o r hig hwa ys c o nstruc te d b y the Ala ska Ro a d Co mmissio n a nd a n e xc e pting c la use simila r to tha t q uo te d in the instruc tio ns ma y b e inse rte d in a ny fina l c e rtific a te o r pa te nt whic h ma y b e sub se q ue ntly issue d fo r the pub lic la nds a ffe c te d.”
Ma rc h 14, 1942, re fe re nc e d in E O 9145 a s “o n file a t the Ge ne ra l L a nd Offic e ”
O to Re g iste r, Anc ho ra g e Ala ska , o rde ring no ta tio n o f the ROW o f the Gle nn Hig hwa y, 200 fe e t wide , a c c o rding to the ma p pro vide d b y ARC.
fro m CGL O to Re g iste r, Anc ho ra g e Ala ska , o rde ring no ta tio n o f the ROW
200 fe e t wide , a c c o rding to the ma p pro vide d b y ARC.
“When a letter arrived at the GLO Central Office in Washington, a Division D, Mails and Files clerk would stamp it with a file number, read it for substance and then forward it to the appropriate division, in this case Division F (Railroads, Rights of Way, and Reclamation), which would determine what action if any would be taken, i.e., sent to the Commissioner of the General Land Office or to others for review and
would be compiled into a file under the original assigned letter back in Division D... Miscellaneous Letters Received…is a difficult record series to work in because there is no subject index. The series contains way more than a million letters and unless you have reference to a letter file number it is virtually impossible to locate anything within the entry…In most cases the "file" consists of no more than one or two letters. However, at times significant files were created which fortunately was the case in this instance.”
ARC’ s a utho rity to e sta b lish ROW unde r RS 2477 wa s we ll-a c c e pte d b y GL O a nd DOI a dministra to rs – the ROW fo r the Gle nn Hig hwa y we st o f Chic ka lo o n wa s a ppro pria te d a t c o nstruc tio n.
GL O re q uire d ma ps o f de finite lo c a tio n in o rde r to no te the ROW to the pub lic re c o rds. A la rg e pro je c t like the Gle nn Hig hwa y ha d the b udg e t to do this kind o f wo rk – ma ny o the r ARC pro je c ts did no t.
De c isio ns o n ROW ma tte rs we re ma de in Wa shing to n, D.C. prio r to e sta b lishme nt o f BL M Re g io n VI I (Ala ska ) in 1947; e ve n the n the a utho rity wa s no t g ive n to Re g io n VI I a dministra to r until 1949.
44 L D 513 no ta tio ns we re use d lib e ra lly b y GL O a nd BL M fo r ma ny purpo se s – so me fa c ilitie s no te d ma y ha ve ha d a utho rity to a ppro pria te a n inte re st in la nd – c he c k the histo ry o f the fa c ility no te d a nd ta lk to BL M sta ff.
Histo ric le tte rs a nd file s a re a c c e ssib le if c lue s a nd re fe re nc e s c a n b e fo und. No w tha t NARA, Pa c ific Re g io n (Anc ho ra g e ) is c lo se d – this c o uld b e muc h mo re diffic ult.
A g o o d re se a rc he r in the Wa shing to n, D.C. a re a is e sse ntia l.