Chapter XCIX. making a Grant of Land to the Territory of Minnesota, in alternate Sections, to aid in the Construction of certain Railroads in said Territory, and granting Public Lands in alternate Sections to the State of Alabama, to aid in the Construction of a certain Railroad in said State
1,414 words·~6 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-11/chapter-xcix-797385·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Chap. XCIX.— An Act making a Grant of Land to the Territory of Minnesota, in alternate Sections, to aid in the Construction of certain Railroads in said Territory, and granting Public Lands in alternate Sections to the State of Alabama, to aid in the Construction of a certain Railroad in said State. March 3, 1857. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Grant of land to Minnesota for railroads. That there be and is hereby granted to the Territory of Minnesota, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads, from Stillwater, by way of Saint Paul and Saint Anthony, to a point between the foot of Big Stone Lake and the mouth of Sioux Wood River, with a branch via Saint Cloud and Crow Wing, to the navigable waters of the Red River of the north, at such point as the Legislature of said Territory may determine; from St.
Paul and from Saint Anthony, via Minneapolis, to a convenient point of junction west of the Mississippi, to the southern boundary of the Territory in the direction of the mouth of the Big Sioux River, with a branch, via Faribault, to the north line of the State of Iowa, west of range sixteen; from Winona, via Saint Peters, to a point on the Big Sioux River, south of the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude; also from La Crescent, via Target Lake, up the valley of Root River, to a point of junction with the last mentioned road, east of range seventeen, every alternate section of land, designated by odd numbers, for six sections in width on each side of each of said roads and branches; but in case it shall appear that the United States have, when the lines or routes of said roads and branchesGrant in lieu of lands preempted or sold. arc definitely fixed, sold any sections, or any parts thereof, granted as aforesaid, or that the right of preemption has attached to the same, then it shall be lawful for any agent, or agents, to be appointed by the Governor of said Territory or future State to select, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, from the lands of the United States196 nearest to the tiers of sections above specified, so much land, in alternate sections, or parts of sections, as shall be equal to such lands as the United States have sold, or otherwise appropriated, or to which the rights of preemption have attached, as aforesaid; which lands (thus selected in lieu of those sold, and to which preemption rights have attached as aforesaid, together with the sections and parts of sections designated by odd numbers as aforesaid, and appropriated as aforesaid) shall be held by the Territory or future State of Minnesota for the use and purpose aforesaid: *Provided*, That the laud to be so located shall, in no case, be further than fifteen miles from the lines of said roads or branches, and selected for and Lands how applied.on account of each of said roads or branches: *Provided further*, That the lands hereby granted for and on account of said roads and branches, severally, shall be exclusively applied in the construction of that road for and on account of which such lands are hereby granted, and shall be disposed of only as the work progresses, and the same shall be applied to no other Act not to apply to reservation except as to right of way.purpose whatsoever: *And provided further*, That any and all lands heretofore reserved to the United States, by any act of Congress, or in any other manner by competent authority, for the purpose of aiding in any object of internal improvement, or for any other purpose whatsoever, be and the same are hereby reserved to the United States from the operation of this act, except so far as it may be found necessary to locate the routes of said railroads and branches through such reserved lands, in which case the right of way only shall be granted, subject to the approval of the President of the United States.
Sec. 2. Price of alternate sections doubled.*And be it further enacted*, That the sections and parts of sections of land which by such grant shall remain to the United States, within six miles on each side of said roads and branches, shall not be sold for less than double the minimum price of the public lands when sold; nor shall any of said lands become subject to private entry until the same shall have been first offered at public sale at the increased price. Sec. 3. Object of grant.*And be it further enacted*, That the said lands hereby granted to the said Territory or future State shall be subject to the future disposal of the Legislature thereof for the purposes herein expressed and no other;
Railroads to be a highway for government.and the said railroads and branches shall be and remain public highways for the use of the Government of the United States, free from toll or other charge upon the transportation of any property or troops of the United States. Sec. 4. Lands how disposed of.*And be it further enacted*, That the lands hereby granted to said Territory or future State shall be disposed of by said Territory or future State only in the manner following, that is to say:
That a quantity of land not exceeding one hundred and twenty sections for each of said roads and branches, and included within a continuous length of twenty miles of each of said roads and branches, may be sold; and when the Governor of said Territory or future State shall certify to the Secretary of the Interior that any twenty continuous miles of any of said roads or branches is completed, then another quantity of land hereby granted, not to exceed one hundred and twenty sections for each of said roads and branches having twenty continuous miles completed as aforesaid, and included within a continuous length of twenty miles of each of such roads or branches, may be sold; and so from time to time until said roads and branches are completed; and if any of said roads or branches is not completed within ten years no further sale shall be made, and the lands unsold shall revert to the United States.
Sec. 5. Transportation of mails.*And be it further enacted*, That the United States Mail shall be transported over said roads and branches, under the direction of the Post-Office Department, at such price as Congress may by law direct *Provided*, That until such price is fixed by law the Postmaster-General shall have the power to determine the same. Sec. 6. This act not to*And be it further enacted*, That in case any lands on the lineTHIRTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 100. 1857.197 of said roads or branches are within any Indian territory no title to theapply to lands in any territory till their title is extinguished. same shall accrue, nor shall the same be entered upon by the authority of said Territory or State until the Indian title to the same shall have been extinguished.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted*, That there be and is hereby granted to the State of Alabama, for the purpose of aiding in the construction ofSimilar grant to Alabama. a railroad “from the line of Georgia, on the Chattahoochee River, to the city of Mobile, Alabama,” “through the counties of Henry, Dale, Coffee, Covington, Conecuh, Baldwin and Mobile,” and a branch railroad “from Eufaula to Montgomery,” “through the counties of Barbour, Pike, Macon and Montgomery,” chartered by the State of Alabama by an act entitled “An act to authorize the Savannah and Albany Railroad Company to extend their railroad from the line of Georgia, on the Chattahoocee River, to the city of Mobile, Alabama, and to extend a branch road from Eufaula to Montgomery,” approved December twentieth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, alternate sections of the public lands to the same extent and in the same manner, and upon the same limitations and restrictions in every respect, as was granted to aid in the construction of other railroads under an act of Congress entitled “An act granting public lands in alternate sections to the State of Alabama to aid in the construction of certain railroads in said State,” approved June three, eighteen1856, ch. 41.*Ante*, p. 17. hundred and fifty-six.
Approved, March 3, 1857.