>Here's something I've always wondered about, how does one "own land"? Wether or a country, or an indivudual, how do you get to be a "land ownder"? Whoever sold land to a land owner had to have some rightful claim to the land in the first place. Did someone sell it to him? If so, how did they get it? And where did it start?

Let's look at recent US history in Oklahoma. Before it became a state, the territorial government marked parcels of land to be given away to settlers. At an appointed date and time, those wishing to claim a parcel of land had to appear at a designated starting place. At the appointed time, all participants raced to whatever parcel of land they wanted, pulled the stake that described the parcel of land. They then became the owner of that land once they obtained the corresponding deed. There were wome cheaters who started to quickly and were called Sooners. This is how Oklahoma became known as the Sooner State.

That is basically how land ownership originated in all the States of the US. In fact, my family still owns land originally obtained prior to the Revolutionary War as part of colonial expansion. This family farm is in South Carolina, and I am a direct decendant of the colonist who was given the original deed to the land. He also fought in the Rev War, is buried on the property and has a DAR headstone marking the site.

How's that for a bit of history?