This series consists of records related to land use, management and alienation in the Coast Range 5, Coast Range 4, Cassiar, and Cariboo Land Districts. The records date from 1877-1979. The records were created by various government officials stationed in the following locations: Cassiar, Hazleton, Omineca, Skeena, and Smithers.
Records include certificates of purchase, agreements of sale, certificates of pre-emption, certificates of improvement, township registers, land registers, lot registers, plan registers, indexes, a register of payments related to Skeena River bank protection in Hazleton, and a register of timber licence applications for the Omineca District dated 1907. There are town lot register and townsite registers for the following towns: Burns Lake, Endako, Engen, Fort Fraser, Fort St. James, Fraser Lake, Hazleton, Houston, Smithers, Telkwa, Topley, and Vanderhoof.
There are two survey systems used in the land registers: the district lot system and the township section system. Township registers are arranged by township, section and quarter section (northwest, southeast, etc.). Country land or lot registers are arranged by lot, group and district. Registers may also be arranged by plan number. The registers record the alienation of land from the Crown by purchase, pre-emption, lease, mineral claims, timber use, etc. Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. Some have related maps and correspondence tucked inside the volumes.
Some of the register volumes are duplicates created as a reference copy for the Hazleton land office. These are indicated in the file list as "duplicate for Hazleton office" when there was such a notation on the inside cover of the volume or "[Hazleton office duplicate?]" when the volume succeeds one with such a notation. The originals and duplicates have the same basic information, but notations added to the volumes at later dates will differ. Entries in the original volumes were added as the land was alienated, so each volume contains various lots or townships of land. The Hazleton duplicates were created with all lots or townships in sequential order, whether or not they were alienated. Thus, a Hazleton volume 1 will contain lots 1 to 605, and volume 2 will continue with lot 606, etc. All registers contain indexes.
The series also includes subject files and correspondence files with settlers discussing the pre-emption, lease and purchase of specific parcels of land, and the CN railway, with the Smithers Government Agent from 1920-1959.
British Columbia. Government Agent (Smithers)