The Checkerboard - 99% Invisible

This article details the unique land ownership pattern known as 'the checkerboard' in the American West, created during the post-Civil War era by the U.S. government granting alternating square-mile parcels of public and private land to railroad companies. It focuses on a legal battle involving hunters Brad Cape and Phil Yeomans, who attempted 'corner crossing' to access public land on Elk Mountain in Wyoming, which was surrounded by private property owned by a billionaire executive. Despite being charged with criminal trespass, the hunters fought the case, eventually leading to a U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in their favor, affirming the public's right to access checkerboarded public land. The decision, though not universally applicable across all states, highlights the ongoing debate over public land access.