Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2
It was never 'done'. This is an important and oft-overlooked point.
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Polite disagreement; apples & oranges.
I was using the US Census Bureau's definition of 1890. (IIRC this was "more than 2 and less than 5 persons per square mile.)
Basically, while the Western US had and has very low population density, by 1890 all property was owned by "somebody" -- either private citizens or the states or the Federal Gov't -- and the property had been surveyed so that every square inch was assigned to some owner.
You can't just go out and raise a cabin on land you like -- there is now some sort of title transfer. You can still homestead (IIRC) but the rules for ownership have changed. (Among other things, I think there are limits on how much of the mineral rights you can claim.)