I found a great new site, the BLM Government Land Office, where you can search for land records. Ole Larson, Vernon county, WI, came right up, as a title transfer issued 1 Jul 1872, for 120 acres surrounding the farmhouse I photographed in June..
The BLM does not have the plat maps posted, but in this case, the county government of Vernon County has. This is the map of 1896
1896 Ole's Land
Here is a close-up of the section where Ole’s farm is located. The boundaries and size do not exactly match the legal description in the patent. Apparently, Ole had sold or traded some of his parcel in the 24 years since the patent was issued.
close-up
Note some familiar names on neighboring parcels, especially E.O.Sletten. One can also view the land on Google Earth or Google Maps (same satellite imagery) This image shows about one square mile (not quite aligned with the section lines). Ole’s land is outlined; two squares approx. 1/4 mile on each side (40 acres each).
This is a great new resource. I also found the “legal descriptions” for the North Dakota homesteads of the four Larson’s (Axel, Isaac, Oscar, and Smith). Those plat maps are not on the Internet, but I plan to get a look at them sometime. Meanwhile, I am drawing them onto Google satellite photos as above (coming soon to a post near you).