Donation Land Claims

The Donation Land Claim (DLC) Act of September 27, 1850 (99 stat. 496) served to encourage early settlement of the northwest by US citizens. By the expiration of this act on December 1, 1855 tens of thousands of pioneers had rushed in covered wagons via the Oregon and Applegate Trails to secure free land for their families. This popular act was followed by the Homestead Act of 1862 resulting in a sufficient population of US citizens to establish the Oregon Territory as a US territory gained without financial purchase or warfare.

Approximately 360 DLC claims were applied for in Jackson County, some of which were denied for various reasons. Settlers were required to build a cabin, cultivate a portion of the land and live on the property for a period of years before a land patent was issued.

Follow this link, Land Patent Index to return to the land patent index page.