——They are not PROPERTY OWNERS-—
Yes it is. The government bought and paid for the land in question with US$. The seller was Mexico.
The remaining land is essentially that which was not homesteaded with actual deeds to the homesteader. Additionally, large acreages were transferred to the railroads and promoted the westward advancement.
Much of Utah is owned by the government and was under BLM management. This land, against the consent of the State Of Utah was declared to be a park and removed from the possibility of development. The park is the Grand Stair case Escalante.
Then there is Wyoming.....
We also “bought” Louisiana all the way up to Wyoming.
Does the government “own” Louisiana?
It’s just a crazy notion that the federal government is a property owner within our system. Even about that “Louisiana Purchase” Jefferson said that he just bought it and probably didn’t have constitutional authorization for the Fed to make the purchase.
That ties in nicely with the Constitutional statement about what it did authorize the Fed to buy.
And guess who gets what the constitution doesn’t specifically authorize? 10th Amendment: the states or the people.
I simply don’t understand this failure by conservatives to recognize that our federal government is not the crown with crown properties. The Fed is not a monarchy with changing leaders.
Why would a conservative cede such power and ownership to a transitioning body of elected officials and continuing civil servants? It absolutely amazes me.
In your mind, during the westward expansion what was “open range”?