Nebraska was one of the 29 States (and the Territory of Alaska) which was known as "public land States". All lands are now owned by either the Federal Government or persons receiving titles from that source.

The General Land Office was first established in 1812, and functioned under the Treasury Department. In 1849 it was transferred to the Dept. of Interior, then, in 1946, after the consolidation with the Grazing Service, the Bureau of Land Management resulted. The Bureau of Land Management supervises the public domain and executes the laws relating to public land.

A person wishing to make an "entry" (obtain a tract of land) went before the Register of the district land office and completed documents and made financial arrangements to indicate the desire to obtain a title to the type of "entry" he wished. After these formalities the papers were forwarded to the General Land Office for review. If all was proper a patent was issued, but often a delay of months and even years would occur before the patent was issued because the General Land Office was often far behind in its work.

To receive land entry and patent papers for Nebraska settlers it is necessary to know:

1. Legal description of land (i.e. section, range, township, meridian), or
2. Date or approximate date, name of the land office through which the entry was made. The tract books are located in the National Archives. These books are organized by class of entry, district land office and by each

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   category of entry at every land office. The Nebraska State Historical Society has the original federal land records for Nebraska. After the legal description or the date and the land office are known the researcher can write the Bureau of Land Management for copies of the land entry and patent papers.

1. Name, residence (post office) of entryman.
2. Entryman's age.
3. Number of members in the household and relationship.
4. Date of settlement and purchase and number of acres.
5. Type of improvements (description of home, other buildings, type of crops, number of acres farmed).
6. Naturalization proceedings if naturalized citizen or if an an alien, his intentions.

The following indicates the various land offices in Nebraska and their tenure:

Guide to Genealogical Records in the National Archives. 1964.

Preliminary Inventory of the Land-Entry Papers of the General Land Office. 1949.