Section 16 near Pedee
A school section with two pioneer claims inside it.
Section 16, Township 9 South, Range 6 West, Willamette Meridian, Polk County, Oregon · See the Surveyor’s Walk card
“Section 16 was set aside for schools. Why do two pioneer claims sit in the middle of it, and did the State get other land instead?”
Written by AI
In every township in Oregon, the squares numbered 16 and 36 were set aside for schools. But in Section 16 of the township that holds Pedee, two pioneers’ land claims take up the middle of the square. This page shows what the records here say, and just as important, what they don’t say yet.
What the record shows
On the government’s survey-grid map, Section 16 is not a whole square. Its land is a band along the north, west and south sides, wrapped around two claims in the middle: Donation Land Claim No. 45 on the west and Donation Land Claim No. 46 on the east.
Source: BLM National PLSS survey-grid data (CadNSDI), section layer: Section 16, T9S R6W (queried October 5, 2026; the drawing above is made from these coordinates)
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BLM’s records give Donation Land Claim No. 46 an area of 321 acres and Donation Land Claim No. 45 about 159 acres. Not all of Claim No. 46 is in Section 16: its east end runs into Section 15.
Source: BLM National PLSS survey-grid data (CadNSDI), claim layer: DC 45 and DC 46, T9S R6W (record areas as carried in BLM’s data: DC 46 “321.0 Acres”, DC 45 “159.36 Acres”; queried October 5, 2026; claim numbers repeat from township to township, so these are Claims No. 45 and No. 46 of this township)
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Put a pin at the very center of Section 16 and the government’s map data says you are not in Section 16 at all. You are in Donation Land Claim No. 46.
Source: BLM National PLSS survey-grid data (CadNSDI): point queries at the center of Section 16, T9S R6W (point at 123.427843° W, 44.788128° N; section layer empty, intersected layer DC 46; queried October 5, 2026)
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In 1848, when Congress set up Oregon Territory, it said that the sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in each township would be kept for schools once the land was surveyed.
“Sec. 20. And be it further enacted, That when the lands in the said Territory shall be surveyed under the direction of the government of the United States, preparatory to bringing the same into market, sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in each township in said Territory shall be, and the same is hereby, reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools in said Territory, and in the States and Territories hereafter to be erected out of the same.”
Source: Act of Aug. 14, 1848, ch. 177, § 20, 9 Stat. 323, 330
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In 1859, when Oregon became a state, Congress offered it the sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in every township, for schools, and Oregon accepted that June.
“First, That sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in every township of public lands in said State, and where either of said sections, or any part thereof, has been sold or otherwise been disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may be, shall be granted to said State for the use of schools.”
Source: Act of Feb. 14, 1859, ch. 33, § 4 (“First”), 11 Stat. 383
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The same law says what happens when part of a school section is already taken: the State was to get “other lands equivalent thereto,” meaning the same amount of land somewhere else, “as contiguous as may be,” meaning as close by as it can.
“other lands equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may be”
Source: Act of Feb. 14, 1859, ch. 33, § 4 (“First”), 11 Stat. 383
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What the record can’t say
Written by AI
- Gap in the record Who the settlers on Claims No. 45 and No. 46 were. The survey-grid data gives numbers and sizes, not names.
- Gap in the record When the settlers arrived. That matters, because the 1850 law said a claim on Section 16 or 36 only counted if the settler was living there and farming before the surveyors came.
- Gap in the record Whether the State picked other land instead of the claimed parts, which land, and when. Oregon’s lists of those picks are at the State Archives, and nobody has looked yet.
- Gap in the record What happened to the rest of Section 16, the part outside the claims, and who has owned it since.
What to look up next
Written by AI
Now try your own place Bring boots; the corner posts won’t come to you.