CFedS Advanced Mineral Surveys Course Materials

• Advanced Topics and Case Histories in Mineral Survey Resurveys course outline:
  CFedS_Parrish_Kooper_PLSC_2020_Course_Materials.pdf
• Advanced Topics and Case Histories in Mineral Survey Resurveys course materials - Part 1 - Overview of Mining Claims
  CFedS_Mineral_Surveys_Part_1_Basic_Elements.pdf
• Advanced Topics and Case Histories in Mineral Survey Resurveys course materials - Part 2 - Discrepancies in the Official Record
  CFedS_Mineral_Surveys_Part_2_Discrepancies.pdf
• Advanced Topics and Case Histories in Mineral Survey Resurveys course materials - Part 3 - The Binger Hermann Period
  CFedS_Mineral_Surveys_Part_3_Binger_Hermann_Policy.pdf
• Advanced Topics and Case Histories in Mineral Survey Resurveys course materials - Part 4 - Department of the Interior Land Decisions and Chapter X of the 2009 Manual
  CFedS_Mineral_Surveys_Part_4_Decisions_and_Manual.pdf

Wow this is a great offer of information!?ÿ Thank you for sharing!

Now that's what I call an awesome share! Thank you, Gene, this kind of stuff is why SurveyorConnect exists. ?????ÿ

One of the more obscure, but nonetheless still important research document for the resurvey of mineral surveys is the Land Entry Case File (LECF). The LECF can be obtained by placing an order with the National Archives on their dedicated web page. The cost of an LECF is currently $50 and the Archives states that delivery of the LECF is between 60 and 90 calendar days. Personally, I've never waited more that 3 to 4 weeks to receive the file. Also, I request hard copy as the scanned documents are usually at a lower resolution that the Xerox machine.

Here are the National Archives Land Entry Case Files and Related Records Introduction and Land Entry File (NATF 84) order form.

The LECF includes all of the forms and documents that the patent applicant was required to include in the patent application (also referred to as patent package).

So, what is included in the LECF....well, no surprise it changed over time. One of the best references that I have found that documents the changes in the patent application over time are Robert Stewart Morrison's, "Mining Rights" hornbooks. Morrison published 15 editions (1874-1917) of the hornbook and after his death, his son and son-in-law published the 16th edition (1936). Several of these editions are available for download from GoogleBooks and the Internet Archive.

Excerpt of the patent application section of "Mining Rights in the Western States and Territories: Lode and Placer Claims, Possessory and Patented," R. S. Morrison & Emilio D. De Soto, 10th Edition, 1900.

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Example LECF of the Silver Gem and Fanny Randolph lode mining claims, Sur. No. 4617, date of patent April 8, 1890. Please note that the date of mineral entry is the same date as the date the patent application was submitted to the local Land Office. In this case, April 11, 1887.

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There are two documents included in most mineral survey LECFs that modern surveyors may find of value. The first is a title abstract. What, you say?!? How can you have a title abstract before the issuance of the patent? Well, you can (see the two examples in the above LECF). The abstract starts with the discovery of a valuable, locatable mineral and the location certificate granting the possessory right to the mineral estate.

The second important document is a transcribed copy of the official field notes of the mineral survey. This can be important when there is a difference in the legal description between the official field notes and the metes-and-bounds description in the patent. For the rare instance of an adverse claim being filed against the patent applicant, the LECF usually contains documentation of the adverse claim.

While I don't "always" order the Land Entry Case File, there are times when it is clear that information contained therein might be critical to my analysis. The thing is, you don't really know what might be in the File, until you look through it! Some things (as you alluded to above) are nearly always in there, but there is a multitude of other possible documents that might be invaluable. At 50 bucks, it is a [very] small price to pay for what might be the Rosetta Stone you are looking for.

BTW, Land Entry Case Files relating to Homestead Entries (and other patents) can also shed new light on a project too.

Loyal?ÿ?ÿ

Loyal,

The title abstracts are a great way to quickly find the location certificates, affidavits of labor and other documents that are recorded at the county. Having the book and page for each of these recorded instruments is a big time saver; well worth the $50 just for that. We both know how much fun it can be searching the lode and locator books at the county before finding the location certificate(s) and affidavits of labor.

For one mineral survey resurvey, I needed to know the timeframe for developing an adit that started on one mineral survey and ended under the adjoining mineral survey. I added the information in the annual affidavits of labor to my plat to document whether any unwritten rights had ripened, i.e. document whether the second claim had established a prescriptive easement to use the adit.

Posted by: @gene-kooper

We both know how much fun it can be searching the lode and locator books at the county before finding the location certificate(s) and affidavits of labor.

This is especially true when those records can be spread over multiple towns or even states. A great example is the OLD Esmeralda Mining District in Nevada (Aurora in particular). Some of the documents are in Bridgeport California, others in Hawthorn Nevada, and some in Goldfield Nevada. It's a long story, but chasing those records require more than one tank of gas!

Loyal

Here in Colorado it is not uncommon for the original location notice to be at one county courthouse and the amended location certificate in another. For example, early location certificates in the Cripple Creek mining district are in the El Paso courthouse (Colorado Springs). In 1899, Teller County was cut out from El Paso County, so everything after that are in the courthouse in Cripple Creek.

The thread that Placerlode started is similar with early location certificates in the Summit County courthouse (Breckenridge) and later ones (after 1883) in the Eagle County courthouse (Eagle).

@gene-kooper When I first moved to Idaho I thought the early occupants must have been careless, daft, or both. The earliest deed records are full of references to the 'wrong' County. Turns out I was the ignorant one. Settling the county names and lines is very recent history here.

Are any of those CO records destined for an on-line dstabase?

The counties that I normally work in do not have digital archives of recorded documents that far back. I always end up in the vault in the basement of the courthouse to look in the Lode, and/or Locator, and/or Affidavit of Labor books.

After 1887, the official field notes of mineral surveys in Colorado have the location certificate(s) included at the end. If the location is amended there is usually a reference to the Book/Page of the original location certificate.

For the mineral surveys before 1887, the Denver National Archives has GLO holdings of the mineral survey order application. The application had to include a certified copy of the location certificate(s).

The short answer to your question thebionicman is NO.