A History of the Public Land Policies

"The phrase "a land office business" still echoes in American speech, although it’s now rare for anyone to have firsthand knowledge of the tremendous volume of business those offices once conducted. Benjamin H. Hibbard's book, A History of the Public Land Policies, aptly captures the spirit of that era. Hibbard, having experienced firsthand the sentiments of people who acquired land through early land policies, draws extensively on newspapers to document reactions from the past. One striking example of this is an eyewitness account of an encounter that occurred over a weekend in 1857, as people scrambled to be the first served by the land office the following Monday morning. The line began to form outside the office as early as six o'clock on Saturday evening. As the crowd grew, so did the scuffling and fighting for the best positions, and this frenzied activity continued unabated through Sunday. The account concludes: “At 9 o'clock the door opened, and many fell prostrate and nearly helpless upon the floor. To sum the matter in brief, we have never seen a more distracted and desperate set of men than those gathered about that office. All were armed and resolved to defend themselves to the last. Mr. E. M. Downs of this place had a leg broken; a gentleman from Ohio had two or three ribs broken...” Hibbard’s exploration of land claim associations, land speculation, grants for schools and internal improvements, and the abuses of various land policies are made all the more vivid through contemporary comments and the expressions of concern from a diverse range of people. Additionally, he employs tables and maps to illustrate the quantities, values, and locations of the lands involved."