Donation Land Claim, PLSS Definition

Before the Public Land Survey System was fully established in the Pacific Northwest, the United States government used the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 to encourage settlement of the Oregon Territory. This law granted free land — up to 320 acres for a single male settler and 640 acres for a married couple — to qualifying white and half-Native American settlers who arrived before December 1, 1850, and to other settlers who arrived before 1855.

Because these claims were made before systematic surveys were completed, donation land claims do not align neatly with the PLSS township-and-range grid. Claimants marked their own boundaries using natural features, stakes, and metes-and-bounds descriptions. When federal surveyors later subdivided the region into townships and sections, donation land claims were surveyed separately and assigned claim numbers, not aliquot part descriptions.

On BLM plat maps of western Oregon and Washington, donation land claims appear as irregularly shaped polygons overlaid on the section grid. They are referenced by the name of the claimant and the claim number (e.g., "D.L.C. No. 37, John Smith"). Title chains in areas covered by donation land claims often begin with these original grants rather than federal patents issued under the Homestead Act.

When searching historical land records or converting legal descriptions in Oregon or Washington, it is essential to be aware that a parcel might be described by donation land claim boundaries rather than section-township-range coordinates. The BLM General Land Office Records database maintains digitized donation land claim maps and patent records for both states.