National Forest Land
While hunting on national forest lands I often find remains of old home places.How did this property go from being someones home to being own by the federal government?
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From what little I know buddyb, I have good friends that lived in a rented home within RMNP. I questioned how someone could own a home inside the park. I was told by my friend that he lived in a group of 3 or so small homes owned by the same person. That owner owned the land before it was part of the park. He could remain there but never sell it or it would revert to the government. I'm not sure if a son or daughter could inherit it.
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Old homesteads are disappearing from Forest Service lands. The Forest Service doesn't like them, and burns them to the ground.
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Dad had a high school buddy whos family had a cabin on a island in the Boundary Waters. I believe their lease ran
out in the 90's and the site was wiped clean. I guess it was about a half hour boat ride in.
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My wifes family experienced pretty much the same thing with the Corp of Engineers back in the 60's along the Alabama-Georgia line when a large power-dam and lake was built but they had even less choice in the matter. The COE didn't even bother to knock down houses or barns, but even worse they didn't even bother to remove any graves from a local cemetery as they said they would before the lake filled. 😡 🤬
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Some folks donate land to the National Parks.
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In the Jefferson National Forest, all the timber was logged during the early 20th century. Most land owners sold the stripped land to the federal government dirt cheap. I have ran across a few old homesteads, even an old moonshine still, but most of the land was too steep to farm.
My 90 yr old friends family owned 400 acres almost surrounded by NF land. They had two cabins on the land. The government wanted it bad, but the family wouldn’t sell.
A local business man offered them a huge amount of money and a promise to let them keep the cabins and hunt.
A few months after he bought it, he sold it to the government. The first thing forestry folks did was tear up the access road and burn down the cabins.
Forestry service bosses continue to block forest roads and restrict access to NF lands. I suspect they would like to keep everyone out. The less work for them and the more money in their paychecks.
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I take very careful steps when I see old house places back in the deep woods especially if I'm by myself, and no spring water nearby. Most generally they tried to build by a spring or creek but if none close by the used a hand dug well.
Some of them places have old dug wells just ready for someone to step onto a piece of rotten metal or wood and fall inside.
I've seen lots of old home sites way back in Mountains, just wagon roads, where no electric is even close by today. Them were tough people to actually live in such places.
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Back in the late 70's the area around the Sleeping Bear Dunes lake shore in Leelanau County in Michigan was bought up by the Federal Gov't. All of the home owners were paid the current assessed rate for their properties and were given life long leases to stay there until their demise.
There are not too many people left today and the homes and buildings have been demolished.
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Property next to mine was privately owned then listed as "Lands of the USA" on a survey, then private again. Not sure of the process but I think people "traded" the Government land that may have been more connected to National Forest, probably timbered it made the money and then traded smaller parcels for larger ones knowing how things work in our Gubermint.
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The USACE took my Great Grandparents property and that of 4 Great Uncles, and a couple hundreds other families for Lake Shelbyville in central Il.
For "flood control".
Of course they were paid a little for it, but, nothing that would equal the hard work and memories of raising 11 children there.
The foundation of my grandparents house is still there.
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It just seemed strange that I would find old home sites,family cemetaries and such,knowing that at sometime ago this land was owned by someone and now the federal government owns it.
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I've been enjoying the heck out of the Mark Twain National Forest near me. Lots of vehicle legal trails to explore. Friend of mine and his whole extended family camp and hunt deer at the one right near me. While I probably wont join them this next deer season, I will go visit them in the evening and have a beer or 2 near their campfire.
Access to public hunting land is something I look at when considering states for potential moves. That basically eliminates Texas.
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Our Idaho Ranch was homesteaded on federal land, Still have the original deed framed, and signed by President Taft. They use to have a law, that if you farmed their land for something like more than three years, and they didn't claim it back before the 3yrs was up, you owned it. At the time, and remote as it was, my great uncle would move a mile fence line out 20yrds or so, every other year. The original deed says it's only 420 acres, I laugh every time I see it.
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TRAP55: 31034482429595/comments/31034504359451
Our Idaho Ranch was homesteaded on federal land, Still have the original deed framed, and signed by President Taft. They use to have a law, that if you farmed their land for something like more than three years, and they didn't claim it back before the 3yrs was up, you owned it. At the time, and remote as it was, my great uncle would move a mile fence line out 20yrds or so, every other year. The original deed says it's only 420 acres, I laugh every time I see it.
Nice!!!
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Here's a listing of Motor Vehicle Use Maps by state:
USDA Forest Service - Caring for the land and serving people.
Your browser does not support JavaScript or it is disabled. This disclaimer is the alternative display of information that is normally triggered when activating a link to non-Federal Government sites. You are now leaving the USDA Forest Service website (see disclaimers).This shows all the legal forest service roads in the National Forests around the USA.
Lots of those trail have no maintenance and require ground clearance / 4x4. Lots of fun to be had if you're in off road driving.
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