Beck Family Homesteads

Herbert Bartist Beck's farm land was in four sections of Fergus County, Montana:

• Section 27 T20N R24E
• Section 34 T20N R24E
• Section 31 T20N R25E
• Section 35 T20N R25E

Each township/range was six square miles in size:

The above diagram indicates the three township/ranges where Herbert Beck bought land. Each township/range was divided into 36 sections, which were 640 acres in size. As an example, we will use Township 20 North, Range 24 East (T20N R24E):

Herbert Beck owned land in four sections of T20N R24E. Sections could be further subdivided, typically into quarters, each comprising 160 acres. Then those quarters could also be quartered. Each quarter of a quarter section was 40 acres. So Herbert Beck's land was located in the following areas of Fergus County:

This system of legal land descriptions makes so much sense to me. It is so much easier than trying to find land my ancestors bought in Virginia, for example, 300 years ago when the description uses creeks, old trees and other landmarks which may no longer exist.