Chapter CII. *granting Land to the State of Michigan, to aid in building a Harbor and Ship-Canal at Portage Lake, Kewenaw Point, Lake Superior.* March 3, 1865. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That there be, and is hereby, The State
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Chap. CII.— An Act *granting Land to the State of Michigan, to aid in building a Harbor and Ship-Canal at Portage Lake, Kewenaw Point, Lake Superior.* March 3, 1865. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That there be, and is hereby, The State of Michigan may locate, &c., a ship-canal, &c., through “The Portage.” Limit to grant.granted to the State of Michigan the right of locating and constructing a breakwater and harbor and ship-canal through any public lands at or upon the neck of land on Lake Superior known as “The Portage:” *Provided,* That not more than one thousand feet in width on the bank of Lake Su-perior shall be occupied by said breakwater and harbor, and that a strip of land not more than four hundred feet in width on said neck of land shall be occupied by said canal: *And provided, further,* That said ship-canal Width and depth of canal.shall be at least one hundred feet in width, with a depth of water not less than thirteen feet. 520 THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 102, 103. 1865. Grant to Michigan of public lands to aid in building ship-canal. How and where Selected. Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That there be, and hereby is, granted to the said State of Michigan, for the purpose of aiding said state in con-structing and completing a harbor and ship-canal to connect the waters of Lake Superior with the waters of Portage Lake, two hundred thousand acres of public lands, to be selected in subdivisions agreeably to the United States survey, by an agent or agents appointed by the governor of said state, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, from any lands in the upper peninsula of said state, subject to private entry: *Provided,* Proviso.That said selections shall be made from alternate and odd-numbered sections of land nearest the location of said canal in said upper peninsula, not otherwise appropriated, and not from lands designated by the United States as “mineral” before the passage of this act, nor from lands to which the rights of preemption or homestead have attached.
Lands granted to be subject to disposal by the state. Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That the said lands hereby granted shall be subject to the disposal of the legislature of said state, or, if the legislature thereof shall not be in session, or shall adjourn within ten days after the passage and approval of this act, then said lands shall be subject to the disposal of the governor and board of control of said state, Canal to be public highway, and no charge to United States vessels.for the purpose aforesaid and for no other; and the said canal shall be and remain a public highway for the use of the government of the United States, free from toll or charge upon the vessels of said government, or upon vessels employed by said government in the transportation of any property or troops of the United States.
Route of canal to be established before lands are disposed of. Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That before it shall be competent for said state to dispose of any of said lands, to be selected as aforesaid, the plan of said breakwater and harbor, and the route of said canal shall be established as aforesaid, and a plat or plats thereof shall be filed in the office of the War Department, and a duplicate thereof in the office of the commissioner of the general land-office. Unless canal, &c., completed in two years, land to revert.
Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That if the said breakwater, harbor, and ship-canal shall not be completed within two years from the passage of this act, the lands hereby granted shall revert to the United States. Account of sales of lands, and net proceeds anti-earnings and expenditures to be kept. Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* That the legislature of said state shall cause to be kept an accurate account of the safes and net proceeds of the lands hereby granted, and of all expenditures in the construction, repairs, and operating of said canal, and of the earnings thereof, and shall return a statement of the same annually to the Secretary of the Interior;
When state reimbursed, tolls to be such only as shall pay expenses of canal.and whenever said state shall be fully reimbursed for all advances made for the construction, repairs, and operating of said canal, with legal inter-est on all advances, until the reimbursement of the same, or upon payment by the United States of any balance of such advances over such receipts from said lands and canal, with such interest, the said state shall be allowed to tax for the use of said canal only such tolls as shall be sufficient to pay all necessary expenses for the care, charge, and repair of the same.
Approved, March 3, 1865.