Plats of the Consolidated 8 Area
1902-1903 Plat of Con. 8 area with Names of Lessees and Claim Holders
The plats are copied from a poster in the Kiowa County Clerk’s Office. It is not known who prepared it or the criteria for listing the claimant. From the names that appear here when compared in a few cases with other records and other features represented such as the early post offices, it probably represents the claimant in the period of late 1902 to late 1903. I refer to it as the 1903 plat.
The minimum time to “prove up” a claim was five years (that would be in 1906). It was possible to delay the final proof for several years beyond that, and from limited reviewing of file details, was very often the practice as a cash payment of $1.25 per acre was required to obtain the patent which transferred the land from public to private ownership. It was probably practically impossible to obtain a patent before late 1907.
Many and perhaps most of the claimants shown on the 1903 plat obtained their claim by purchase of a relinquishment. This was a process by which the claim rights could be transferred to another person in consideration for a payment for improvements apparently negotiated directly by the principals. Most of this action occurred in 1902, as those with no intent to keep the land in the first place and those who had rapidly found the situation undesirable decided to obtain some cash from their good fortune in the lottery. The claimants tended to be more stable after that first year. A few claims were abandoned (or perhaps they were “jumped” while the claimant was absent for some time. This process produced the same effect as the relinquishment except that there was no payment to the original claimant.
The circles indicate School land and the names there are those who lease the land.
In the townships 4N/18&19 W, there are many quarter sections claimed by the native Kiowa in the process whereby tribal members had a first choice of claims prior to the lottery. Elk Creek had long been a favorite camping ground for the Kiowa and many choose land along its banks. This land could not be sold for 25 years; but it could be leased in a way that also involved the Bureau of Indian Affairs as an intermediary. These were called Indian Leases, and unlike the school land the map does not indicate the Lessee or whether there is one or not.
Land from the River on the South and West, up to a Mile South of Present Highway 19
Land North of Present Highway 19, to what was called locally “The Correction Line”.
At the time of this plat, the area north of that line was part of the Little Pasture, which was leased by the Land Office to cattlemen until 1906.
1913 Plats of some of Con. 8 Area showing Owners and Lessees
A very elaborate Plat Book for Kiowa County was published in 1914. At the bottom of this page are links to photographs of two of the pages in this atlas, made from one of the two copies which are in the office of the Kiowa County Clerk. The ownership and lessees of school land are from 1913 postings. The maps also show the positions of schools and the residence structures on the land. This latter information appears to be based on data that in some cases is a year or two older than that. One has to look carefully to see the little black rectangles showing the positions of the houses.
These two pictures show most of the final Con. 8 area, although at the time Gibson, Shiloh, and Mullins which are shown were serving portions of the area. Three early schools Mackey, Lone Star, and Olive Branch are not shown on the original map, as they were disbanded when Con. 8 was first formed in 1911. I have indicated positions of those former schools with annotations in yellow.
3N/18 W and that part of 3N/19 W lying east of the river. Extends from the river on the south to 1 mile south of present highway 19.
4N/18 W and that part of 4N/19 W lying east of the river. Extends north from 1 mile south of present highway 19 to the “correction line”.
