Land and Title "Services, Searches and Solutions" for individuals, government, business and Land, Energy or Mineral exploration and development projects
|
| Land and Title "Services, Searches and Solutions" for individuals, government, business and Land, Energy or Mineral exploration and development projects |
|
|
|
 BC Crown & Railway Land Grants
. The establishment of surface and mineral jurisdictional areas through early Railway and Dominion conveyances Prior to the signing of the Oregon Boundary Treaty in 1846 the entire area between the Russian possessions in the north (Alaska), the Mexican (California) territory in the south, the Rocky Mountains in the east, and Pacific Ocean in the west (including Vancouver Island, the Gulf islands and the San Juan Island area) was generally referred to as the Oregon Territory The Oregon Territory was a disputed area in terms of sovereignty and Great Britain and the United States had agreed in 1818 that it was free and open to citizens of both countries. However, in 1838 Britain granted the Hudson’s Bay Company the exclusive trading and hunting licence on the north-west coast of America and around the same period the United States began an aggressive settlement program. The Oregon Boundary Treaty established British sovereignty to land north of the 49th parallel and United States ownership to the south but the San Juan Island area remained as a disputed area until 1872 when it was finally judged to be United States territory. The British North America Act of 1867 admitted the colony of British Columbia into the Dominion of Canada and although the Hudson’s Bay Company had prior to that time been continuously allotting lands to settlers the terms of the union provided for the construction for railways with associated conveyances of large areas of land to assist in construction and financing, The construction of these railroads was the catalyst in opening up the territory to the earliest settlement of British Columbia The main areas of early settlement promoted by railway construction in BC were: THE RAILWAY BELT AREA - basically a 20 mile strip of land on each side of the trans-continental railway line, as finally located, within the southern part of mainland BC extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast THE PEACE RIVER BLOCK - Railway construction delays, re-routing, and modifications to the terms of union with respect to railway construction necessitated the establishment of a 3,500,000 acre area in the north-eastern part of mainland BC in lieu of granting additional adjoining lands to replace lands initially disposed of within the originally prescribed trans-continental railway belt. ESQUIMALT AND NANAIMO (E&N) RAILWAY AREA - basically an 20 mile wide belt of land along the south-eastern coast of Vancouver Island from Victoria to Campbell River - (several smaller railway entities were also granted land concessions on the mainland around this same period) Subsequent surveying and Land Grant conveyances by the Railway authorities and the Crown established indisputable individual ownership of surface rights and some minerals (see Notes) in these early settlement areas. (see BC Land Grant Search" page in this section to order) Notes: - For those unfamiliar with subsurface mineral rights in the early settlement areas of mainland BC, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands it should be pointed out that extensive research is usually necessary to determine mineral ownership as subsurface title is normally uncertain due to historical anomalies arising through the issuance of Crown and Railway Land Grants including subsequent forfeitures and re-grants and the fact that registration of subsurface mineral rights through the years was not required and even where registration has occurred the minerals being claimed may not be clearly identified - For the most part, BC Crown lands, Railway lands and Peace River lands are subject to First Nations land claims which are currently in the early stages of the aboriginal land claim process. The First Nations contend that Canada and BC had no power to extinguish or abrogate the prior aboriginal rights that existed with respect the lands and that they had a responsibility to protect the best interests of the First Nations and are accountable for such responsibilities. | BC Land Grant Search | | Return Home | Sekani Resources | Den-Mara Enterprises | Admin Services | BC Registries | ONLINE SEARCHES | Title Research | BC Land Grants | Contact Info | |
||
