🗞️ CREEKER CHRONICLE — FRONT PAGE

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“Where the Line Holds: 2.5 Acres on Record, 2.197 on Paper”

RANCHO DEL ORO, AZ —
In the unincorporated corners of Maricopa County, the Creekers of the Hood know what the records don’t always show: a federal land patent doesn’t shrink just because a tax map does.

The Bureau of Land Management’s original grant shows 2.5 acres of private desert. The County’s record, however, lists only 2.1 taxable acres, quietly setting aside the rest for a long-planned 40-foot corridor “for highway purposes.” The easement exists on paper—not as a built road.

“We’ve walked every marker,” said landowner K. Kirton Niner, who’s lived on the land since before the subdivisions crept in. “That line is there if you know how to find it. But what we stand on is still our land. We’ve just let the County keep a ribbon for drainage and passage, same as our neighbors.”

The so-called “invisible road” winds through washes and fence lines, a path first carved by tires, hooves, and rainwater. No curb, no gutter, no annexation notice—just the living boundary of a community that maintains itself.

“We’re not against the County,” Niner said. “We just believe freedom and stewardship travel the same trail.”

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🗂️ INSERT — FACTS ON RECORD

Patent & Parcel Clarification – Rancho del Oro

• Land Patent (BLM) – 2.5 acres, full sovereign conveyance into private ownership.
• County Record (Assessor) – 2.1 acres taxable, remainder recognized as public-use easement.
• Easement Purpose – East 40-foot corridor reserved “for highway purposes.” Title remains with the landowner.
• Legal Basis – A.R.S. § 28-7210 (county right-of-way), A.R.S. § 9-471 (annexation by consent only), 43 CFR § 3814 (federal surface-mineral estate separation).
• Status – Parcel remains unincorporated, privately owned, and fully protected by the original BLM patent.

Does This Help® Summary:

A land patent defines ownership, not taxation.
The County lists 2.1, but the patent still stands at 2.5.
The 40-foot east line is a right-of-way, not a loss.
Creekers of the Hood keep it rural, lawful, and free.

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