The need to populate vast areas of the open West dictated an ever more openhanded land policy by the Federal government in the mid-1800's. This culminated in the Homestead Act of 1862, a law that would transfer millions of acres to settlers virtually free of charge. The base price of public land was lowered from $2 to $1.25 an acre and the minimum purchase was reduced from 160 to as few as 80 acres. Heads of household, widows, and singles over 21 years who were citizens or had declared their intention to become citizens were granted the right to settle on 160 acres of unoccupied public land, which, provided that he cultivated it, he would own after living on it for five continuous years. An entryman could commute a claim to cash entry and pay minimum price per acre but was still required to build a home and cultivate the land. Only half of the homestead entries filed before 1900 went to patent.
Public Domain States are those in which the land was once owned by the Federal government and where the Federal government oversaw the transition of land from public to private. There are a total of thirty such states, mostly in the West and Midwest. Rather than naming them, they are most often designated by listing the states that are not public domain: The original 13 plus KY, TN, TX, and HI. In these non-public domain states, the State government controlled the disposition of land.
When the Federal Government undertook to survey the public lands, they used a rectangular survey system that imposed a grid over the land. The units of measurement were sections composed of one square mile, and therefore containing 640 acres. A piece of property could then be described precisely using the number of units North and South of a baseline (Township) and East and West of a meridian (Range).
Thus a 40 acre plot in Eureka Township of Aurora Co., Dakota Territory, might be described as SW4-NE4-S28-T103N-R65W. This would be read "the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 28, township 103 north and Range 65 west [of the 5th Prime Meridian]."
When land passed from government ownership into the hands of an individual, a document was issued to certify ownership. This document is called a Land Patent. It was then used by the individual to prove his ownership when he registered the deed with the appropriate county government officer.
For the period of South Dakota settlement, this was usually
either "Cash Purchase" or "Homestead". Some
cash transactions may have begun as a homestead transaction since
a homestead could be converted to a cash purchase at any time
after six months of residency.