Pre-Emption Claims on BLM (Bureau of Land Management Site)

Preemption claims will not always be noted as such on the results page at the BLM site.

The search results for John Lake in Chariton County, Missouri, simply indicates the patent was issued as a cash sale as is seen in the screen shot below. There is no mention that it is a preemption claim.

But looking at the actual patent indicates it is a preemption claim by the notation in the upper left hand corner of the patent.

Preemption claims tend to contain more detail in their patent files at the National Archives than do cash sales. John's mentions a few things about his settlement and family, in addition to including testimony from a neighbor. His claim was discussed in more detail in an issue of Casefile Clues. 

This was one of many aspects of the BLM site that was discussed in my recent webinar on searching the site. 

But don't assume what is indicated is a cash sale is a cash sale. Sometimes they are not.