 Sterling Morton described as a claim meeting  According to one report, "Such clubs sprang up 'as readily as did the sunflowers wherever the prairie sod was broken' in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska..." Other reports corroborate the spread of claim clubs, with their presence felt in the aforementioned states, as well as New Mexico, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and Washington.In Colorado City, Colorado, the El Paso Claim Club was formed by members of the Colorado City Town Company in 1859.The Club reportedly "settled land disputes and recorded real property transactions until federal government regulations provided for an official land office in 1862."