If you don't know what bounty land is you can learn more by simply googling the topic. [If you want a handy reference and more info, try Christine Rose's book Military Bounty Land 1776-1855. This is my favorite "refresher" every time I need to order or identify bounty land for a time period I haven't worked in for a while. Note: This is an affiliate link.] This post is specifically about federal bounty land, there is also state bounty land.
Unfortunately, most bounty land is "unindexed" making it much more difficult to identify than pensions. As a complication, you must know the ancestor's name and service for the unindexed land to be found by the National Archives (NARA) search staff and sometimes slight variations in spelling may result in the request being returned as "not found" even though it exists. Having the BLW number (or application no. in the case of rejected applications) helps.
NARA is creating an index to the unindexed BLW applications but it currently covers surnames starting with A through part of K but is only available on a single computer in the microfilm reading room at NARA I in Washington, D.C. [Update: This index is now available at Fold3. It is "Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Index." It covers A to Ki surnames as of the end of December 2015 and surnames listed as "[Blank]." Here's the catch, everyone is listed as serving in 1812. However, these are volunteers from all eligible wars. Soldiers from 1812 were NOT explicitly picked out for the Fold3 index so don't be confused. You can not verify the war from this index. You can use the BLM GLO website to find an image of the patent which should list the correct service details which you will need to request the file.] The index also leaves a lot to be desired if you want to use it to identify multiple applications (either all variations of a surname or all applications for a unit, which is currently impossible). In other words, when it comes to BLW applications many genealogist ask "why bother?" when it is so difficult to identify.
