Someone on this forum recently provided me with a link to listing of the original mineral leases, going back into the 1800s even! I needed to spend a lot of time with that link, but I guess I failed to save the address. Does anyone have that information handy? I would sure love to have it again.
Have you used the search function on the site?
Don, I think you mean the original patents from statehood. These are the original deeds.
Leases would be filed in the individual county and state. I frequently use the Bureau of Land Management site. Home - BLM GLO Records.
Make sure select the correct state and the type of map. I use it mostly for OK, so select Search Documents and then the LSR option since OK is in the Section Township Range world or the Rectangular Grid Surveys. Select your state and you will see what is offered.
Thanks Martha, exactly what I was looking for. That said, I am now even more confused I think. ALL my mineral interests were generated in the 20s and 30s by a James Welton Brown, who I was led to believe was a fellow who would find a place primarily in Lea and Chaves County NM to drill for oil - and was pretty good at it. I had assumed therefore that his name would appear on those files - but it seems to not be. What I am attempting to do is get a starting point of ownership by him, and determine if some of those minerals were improperly sold off (I have reason to believe they were). I am now guessing that the patents only recorded the principal owner of the minerals, not the lesser owners, is that correct?.
The patents only have the original owner. Any sales after that should be recorded in the county clerk’s office as the deeds are supposed to be filed there to be legitimate. Depending upon the county, the digital files only go back so far, so you would need to visit and go through the actual books. Can be fascinating.
So back then when a well was drilled, who would be considered the “original owner”? The land owner, the drilling company, the financial backers of the operation, the fellow with the treasure map, or who? What document then would be made to convey ownership portions to each of the parties?
The patent is the original document. The patent was issued at statehood or thereabouts and listed the original owner. The original owner had both the surface rights and the minerals rights. Over time, the minerals could be severed from the surface completely or partially. For example, a land owner might have had 160 acres, but he sold 80 acres of minerals and kept all the surface, etc. Over time, the original owner has passed away and various generations have inherited, bought, sold, etc. the rights for both surface and minerals. Each of the purchases should be recorded as a deed of sale and filed in the courthouse. Inherited properties are a bit harder to track. If done correctly, they were passed by a will. If not will, then the laws of intestate will be used. Lots of detective work when that happens. You are looking for the affadavits of heirship then. Whomever has the mineral rights is the actual owner. Depending upon the state, there are slightly different rules about the products produced. The leases are the documents that say who has the rights to the products and in what proportion. So you have to find all the documents.
Rats! I was hoping you had a supply of “easy buttons” to distribute.
I wish I did as well. I spend hours and hours tracking down my history for my tracts. Texas and Oklahoma both have sites that carry most of the digital data back into the 90’s. Maybe NM has a similar one.