Background of Arkansas Land Records
The Missouri Territory, established in 1812, which encompassed present-day Arkansas, agreed to honor private land granted previously by Spain and Mexico, and also awarded two grants to prior French claims. A substantial portion of these Spanish and Mexican grants were situated in current Arkansas and Desha counties. Land claim issues arose frequently due to non-compliance with regulations and fraudulent activities such as forgeries of governor’s signatures on land grants. The term ‘arpents’, a French measurement unit used in some Spanish grants, is roughly equivalent to four-fifths of an acre. Most early land grants to heads of households were for about […]
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