Public Trust Dossier · Oregon
The $800 Square Mile: Section 36 and the Puter Land Ring
Section 36, Township 11 South, Range 7 East, Willamette Meridian · Linn/Marion County High Cascades, near Mt. Jefferson
Loading the BLM survey grid…
Split-estate stack
| Surface | Today inside the Willamette National Forest (USFS), by PAD-US. |
|---|---|
| Timber | Its value was traded away: under the 1897 Forest Lieu Act, the base land was surrendered for scrip to claim timber elsewhere. |
| Minerals | Not yet checked. |
Custody timeline
| 1859 | Oregon statehood act: Section 36 vests in the state for common schools upon survey. |
|---|---|
| 1890s | Cascade Range Forest Reserve encloses the section. |
| Late 1890s | The Puter land ring buys school sections like this one from the State Land Board at $1.25 an acre, through dummy entrymen and forged oaths. |
| 1897 | Forest Lieu Act lets an inholder surrender base land for scrip to claim timber elsewhere. |
| 1904 | Federal grand jury indictments (Puter, Looters of the Public Domain). |
| Today | National forest land, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. |
Fiduciary ledger
| Paid to the Common School Fund | About $800 for the square mile ($1.25 an acre) |
|---|---|
| What the ring got | Scrip to claim an equal acreage of prime old-growth timber elsewhere |
| Left for schools today | Nothing; the section is federal forest |
Evidence vault
- 1890s GLO survey plat TO PULL
- Oregon State Land Board certificate of sale ($1.25/acre) TO PULL
- BLM GLO serial register: Forest Lieu relinquishment TO PULL
- 1904 federal grand jury indictment list TO PULL
- PAD-US layer: Willamette National Forest TO PULL
- BLM CadNSDI section outline LIVE ON THE MAP
Work in progress: the story above comes from our research brief. The original records in the vault are being pulled and checked now, and each line will link to its scan.
Look it up yourself: BLM General Land Office Records · BLM CadNSDI