One grid, one origin near Three Forks. Here is what the legal description on your deed, lease or division order is actually telling you, and where to check it for free.
Montana uses public land survey system. One grid, one origin near Three Forks.
A principal meridian and its base line are the origin of a rectangular survey. Township and range numbers count outward from that origin, which means the same township and range numbers repeat under every meridian. The meridian is the part of the description that says which grid you are on.
Montana descriptions read smallest to largest. SE quarter of the SW quarter of the SW quarter of Section 15 is a ten acre parcel, not a 160 acre one. Out of state heirs regularly stop reading after the first quarter call and assume they own four times what they own.
Deeds are with the county Clerk and Recorders.
What it covers, how many net mineral acres it actually is, and whether anything is producing on it. Free, no obligation, and the answer does not change if you never sell anything to us. We do this every day and it usually takes us an hour.
Ask a Landman Get a Free ValuationCompiled from BLM, state land offices, state archives and statute, current as of 2026-08. Berlin Royalties is a mineral buyer and a landman shop in Tulsa, not a law firm or a licensed surveyor. Nothing here is a boundary opinion, and a description that matters to a transaction should be run by a title attorney or a licensed surveyor in the state where the land sits.