This morning I discovered an excellent article by the Legal Genealogist, Judy G. Russell, about records on the Bureau of Land Management's website -- to be precise, the General Land Office (GLO) automated records and the detailed maps available. If your family history research involves any homesteaders, you'll want to read "Thank You, BLM" at http://legalgenealogist.com/blog/2015/06/15/thank-you-blm/

A number of enhancements have occurred on the site since my last query of land patents. The map feature about which Russell writes is very helpful. Thank you, BLM and Judy Russell! My paternal grandparents both acquired land from the Federal government through land patents. In 2012 my husband and I undertook a driving adventure in Lyman County, South Dakota, trying to find the property which my grandmother had purchased in 1909. The area is now part of the Fort Pierre National Grasslands, which is 200 square miles of mostly nothing but grass and rolling hills. The BLM map aid could have helped us hone in on the right location - but alas, for the property we sought, "Due to data limitations, we could not map the aliquots or lots of this land description." Actually, I was relieved to read that more detail was unavailable; otherwise I'd want to jump in the car and drive to Lyman County to try again.

Still searching the GLO records, I paused to query another surname, "Groub." The Groubs were the original family homesteading the South Dakota farm my parents purchased in the 1940s and which my brother and I continue to own. In fact, we still have an elaborately framed portrait left behind in the old farmhouse when the widowed Mrs. Groub moved out. I've done some research but can't decide for certain who's pictured. Is it Zachariah Groub? Or John J. Groub? They are both listed among Jerauld County land patents in the 1890s, but another odd name popped up in today's search: "Pink Groub." Pink? Really? The Groubs had a propensity for curious first names. Zachariah Groub was known as "Trix." He and his wife had a son they named "Welcome Paul" and nicknamed "Buster." But I don't immediately find any records (other than the land patent) listing Pink Groub. A mystery to be solved another day.