1/30/2011:
United States Land Offices were places where homesteaders could file their claims. The land offices were spaced to make it easier for people to access the land clerks and to file the necessary papers as the land was surveyed. These clerks handled the massive amount of paperwork in processing the claims for millions of square miles of public land in North Dakota. Contrary to popular belief, it was the US Department of Interior Land Office Clerk who signed the President’s name to the Homestead Certificate, not the President.
On this date in 1906, homesteaders around the Williston area were relieved to learn that the Secretary of the Interior had approved a new land office in Williston making the long trip to Minot unnecessary.
Dakota Datebook written by Jim Davis
Source:
The Williston Herald, February 1, 1906