Mission
Start with what you know. Follow the record trail.
Most families do not begin with a perfect legal description. This tool is built to translate family clues into a research path: enrollment records, allotment jackets, maps, county records, BIA/LTRO records, and documented land-loss history.
Launch rule: protect families first.
Before public submissions open, this site includes Privacy, Terms, and Submission Consent pages. The first version does not collect uploads or private family documents.
- Do not publish living-person private information.
- Do not treat unverified matches as proof.
- Use original records, county records, BIA/LTRO records, tribal records, and NARA records for verification.
Phase 1 data status
Map index live. Name index coming next.
The public search currently starts with the Library of Congress Cherokee Nation atlas map pages. Name, roll/enrollment-number, allotment-number, and section-level records will be added only after transcription and verification.
Guided family-land finder
I don’t know where to start.
Enter whatever you know: name, spelling variant, roll number, county, town, creek, cemetery, family story, township, range, or section. The wizard builds a research path and creates a copy-paste county record request.
Ancestor names, tribal Nation, relatives, approximate dates, old towns, cemeteries, counties, Dawes roll/enrollment number, census card number, allotment number, legal description, or old deeds.
Your research path will appear here.
Fill out the “What do you know?” form and the site will create a step-by-step plan, possible map matches, county record direction, BIA/LTRO direction, and a copy-paste records request.
Search the current index
Phase 1 searches the Library of Congress 1909 Cherokee Nation atlas by township/range. Name, roll number, and allotment-number search activates as verified records are added.
Results
0 resultsMap viewer
The land-finding process
- Identify the ancestor. Start with name variants, tribe/Nation, relatives, dates, county, town, cemetery, creek, or family story.
- Find enrollment records. For Five Tribes research, look for Dawes census card, roll/enrollment number, and enrollment jacket.
- Find the allotment jacket. The allotment jacket is the key record for land location, legal description, acreage, and sometimes plats or disputes.
- Match the legal description to a map. Use township, range, and section to open the correct allotment map.
- Route to the modern county. Search county clerk records for deeds, mortgages, releases, sheriff deeds, tax deeds, oil and gas leases, liens, and probate-related filings.
- Check federal title if needed. If land may be trust or restricted, county records are not enough; request BIA/LTRO title records or a Title Status Report where appropriate.
Evidence checklist
- Ancestor name and spelling variants
- Tribe / Nation
- Dawes roll or enrollment number
- Census card number
- Allotment jacket or allotment record
- Legal description: township, range, section
- Historical allotment map page
- Modern county and county clerk search
- BIA/LTRO title records if trust/restricted
- Record showing how land was transferred, lost, retained, or divided
County record request builder
After the wizard runs, a copy-paste request appears here. It is written for county clerk land records and can be adjusted for the specific county.
Important disclaimer
This site is a free research index. It does not determine ownership, title, heirship, citizenship, enrollment, land recovery claims, or legal rights. Always verify results against original records, county records, tribal records, BIA/LTRO records, and National Archives records.
Search results may include OCR text, user-submitted corrections, or partial data. Treat unverified matches as leads, not proof.
Volunteer indexing — coming next
Help turn map images into searchable family clues.
The LOC atlas is public and powerful, but the names on the map images are not yet a verified searchable database here. The next buildout is a careful transcription workflow: map page → name/allotment text → human review → source-linked search row.
Verification rule
- Do not publish private family submissions without consent.
- Separate OCR guesses from human-verified records.
- Every row should point to a map page or original record source.
- Use confidence levels: possible, likely, verified from map, verified from allotment jacket, verified from county/BIA record.
Coming after policies + consent
Testimonials and family discoveries
Families will be able to share what they found: an allotment map, roll number, county deed, BIA record, probate record, oil lease, tax deed, sheriff deed, or the story of how they located their family land.
Privacy-first rule: public stories will require express consent. Anonymous and private/statistical-only options should be available.
People-powered evidence project
How was allotted land lost?
After families voluntarily submit source-linked evidence, the site can build aggregate charts showing patterns such as tax sale, mortgage foreclosure, sheriff sale, private deed, probate/partition, guardian sale, restriction removal, oil/gas or mineral severance, right-of-way, fraud allegation, or unknown.
Example display only. No statistics are published until enough verified, consented submissions exist.
Phase 1 data notice
Current data starts with Cherokee Nation map pages.
The live search currently indexes the 1909 Library of Congress Cherokee Nation atlas by township/range. Name, roll-number, allotment-number, and land-loss searches will become stronger as verified records are added.
Project status
Beta tool, not a legal record system.
This site is being built as a free family research guide. It does not determine title, ownership, heirship, enrollment, citizenship, or legal rights. Results should be treated as leads until verified against original records.