I wrote back in October 2015 about the Oregon land laws in the 1840s, and in that post I mentioned the Oregon Donation Land Claim Act (known as the Donation Land Law), which was passed by Congress on September 27, 1850. My current work-in-progress takes place in late 1850 and 1851, and I have needed to research the Donation Land Act in more detail than I did for my earlier books.
The Donation Land Claim Act was a huge factor in encouraging settlement in Oregon. It was the precursor of the later Homestead Act that similarly led to development in the Plains territories.
The Oregon act passed in 1850 was not the first land law in Oregon. An earlier law permitted each male 21 years of age and older to claim up to 640 acres of land—farmland and timberland, in one or more parcels. If they improved the land and lived on it for four consecutive years, they could receive clear title to the land.
Oregon pioneers James and Nancy Howard
Although the new law permitted the 640-acre claims of the earlier law, it restricted men to 320 acres and provided that their wives were eligible for 320 acres. Thus, claims were now limited to 320 acres per man, though a married man’s wife could also claim another 320 acres, and both spouses would then own the entire 640 acres jointly.
The text of the new law, the Donation Land Act, was published in the Oregon Spectator (an Oregon City newspaper) on December 5, 1850. Local Oregon residents immediately had questions about the impact of the new law on them. Many men who had emigrated to Oregon in the 1840s had already claimed 640 acres in their own names.
Even if married men who had already filed claims could be kept whole by having their wives join with them on the claim, what about single men?
The new law was clear—if a man who lived in Oregon prior to December 1, 1850, married by December 1, 1851, he and his new wife could each claim 320 acres, and he could keep his whole 640-acre parcel.
The result was a lot of marriages in 1851 to beat that December 1 deadline. As one historian wrote:
“A by-product of the act the and ensuing land rush was the sudden rash of marriages in the territory, since a man could double his land claim by taking a wife.”
Sounds like a good plot point for a novel, don’t you think?
The emigrants in my fictional 1847 wagon train (read Lead Me Home and Forever Mine to see what happened on that wagon journey) had filed their land claims in the last few months of 1847. As of passage of the Donation Land Act, they had lived on the land for three years—not the four years required to acquire title to their farms.
Oregon pioneers John and Mary Henderson
Some of my characters were married, but at least one young farmer was single. In my current work-in-progress, I am exploring how both his family’s circumstances and the new laws impact his romantic life.
There were many other provisions in the Oregon Donation Land Claim Act that provoked controversy. The law required citizenship or expression of an intent to become an American citizen. It denied land ownership to all races except whites and half-blood Native Americans (full-blooded Indians could not file claims)—African-Americans and Hawaiians were expressly denied land.
Despite its shortcomings, the Donation Land Act was a significant shaper of today’s Pacific Northwest. The grid laid out in support of the Act can still be seen in Oregon today. Emigration to Oregon increased significantly after the Act was passed, and over 7400 land claims were granted, providing settlers with more than 2.5 million acres of property.
For more on the Donation Land Claim Act, see here. A more comprehensive article can be found on JSTOR. See James M. Bergquist, The Oregon Donation Act and the National Land Policy, Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 58, No. 1 (Mar. 1957), pp. 17-35. The Bergquist article discusses in depth the issues debated in Congress before the Act was passed, as well as the problems that occurred after it was enacted.
Writers, what historical facts have played into the plots of your books?
In the novel I published last year, the events are Napoleon’s campaigns in the Italian Republics, then, after my characters emigrate to USA when Napoleon becomes a dictator, the purchase of Louisiana (felt as “three flags day” in St. Louis), New Madrid earthquakes, 1812 war… MY characters claim 640 acres when setting Venice, IL as per the laws of that time.
I am shocked, though, that if your characters had claimed the land properly, before the legislation changed, they were still forced to comply with the new law when it changed. Because usually laws don’t apply retroactively.
Marina,
I was surprised also, because as you say, most legislation is not applied retroactively, and I don’t know the rationale why this law was. There were lots of issues behind the Oregon land laws, starting with whether the U.S. government had the right to give it away. Also, title didn’t actually vest in the homesteaders until they had satisfied the 4-year residency and other requirements, so perhaps that was part of the reasoning. For purposes of my novel, I only need there to be some question as to whether this young farmer gets to keep his entire claim. That’s enough to motivate him to do what I need him to do in my plot.
Theresa