Chapter CIII. *to amend an Act entitled “An Act making a Grant of Land*[s] *to the State of Iowa, in alternate Sections, to aid in the Construction of certain Railroads in said State,” approved May fifteen, eighteen hundred and fifty-six.*June 2, 1864.1856. ch. 28
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CHAP. CIII.— An Act *to amend an Act entitled “An Act making a Grant of Land*[s] *to the State of Iowa, in alternate Sections, to aid in the Construction of certain Railroads in said State,” approved May fifteen, eighteen hundred and fifty-six.*June 2, 1864.1856. ch. 28.Vol. x, p. 9. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, The Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company may change location of part of line.That the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company, a corporation established by the laws of the State of Iowa, and to which the said state granted a portion of the land-grant mentioned in the title of this act, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Davenport to Council Bluffs in said state, may modify or change the location of the uncompleted portion of its line, as shown by the map thereof now on file in the general land-office of the United States, so as to secure a better and more expeditious line for connection with the Iowa branch of the Union PacificNew line to go through Des Moines and Council Bluffs;and Newton, if, &c.
Railroad: *Provided, nevertheless,* That said new line, if located, shall in every case pass through the corporate limits of the cities of Des Moines and Council Bluffs; and the right of way over the public lands of the United States is hereby granted to said railroad company for that purpose: *Provided,* That said line shall pass through the town of Newton, in Jasper County or as near 96 THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 103. 1864.said town as may be found practicable, and not further north of said town than the north line of section twenty-two, township eighty north, of range nineteen, according to the United States surveys, if the citizens of the county of Jasper shall first pay to said company the difference in cost, if any, between the line proposed by the company and the one contemplated by this proviso, including extra cost of right of way, if any, said difference in cost to be estimated by competent engineers to he selected by the parties.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* Company to file map allowing location.Secretary of Interior to certify and convey lands to company.That whenever such new location shall have been established, the said, railroad company shall file in the general land-office at Washington a map, definitely showing such new location; and the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be certified and conveyed to said company from time to time, as the road progresses, out of any public lands now belonging to the United States not sold, reserved, or otherwise disposed of, or to which a preemption claim or right of homestead settlement has not attached, and on which a bona fide settlement and improvement has not been made under color of title derived from the United States or from the State of Iowa, within six miles of such newly located line, an amount of laud per mile equal to that originally authorized to be granted to aid in the construction of said road by the act to which this is an amendment; and if the amount of land granted by the original act to aid in the construction of said railroad shall not be found within the limit of six miles Limits of selections.Proviso.from such line, then such selections may be made along such line within twenty miles thereof: *Provided,* That the said company shall not be entitled to, and shall not receive, any land under this grant which is situate within fifteen miles of the line of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, as indicated by the map of said road, now on file in the general land-office.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* The Burlington and Missouri River JR. E. Co. to receive lands.That the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Iowa, and to which said state granted a portion of the land-grant mentioned in the title of this act to aid in the construction of a railroad from Burlington in said state to the Missouri River, shall be entitled to receive, and the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be certified and conveyed to said company from time to time, as the road progresses, out of any public lands now belonging to the United States not sold, reserved, or otherwise disposed of, or to which a preemption claim or right of homestead settlement has not attached, and on which a bona fide settlement and improvement has Limits of selections.not been made under color of title derived from the United States or from the State of Iowa, within six miles of said road, as now located, an amount of land per mile equal to that mentioned in the act to which this act is an amendment, as intended to aid in the construction of said road; and if the amount of land granted by the original act to aid in the construction of said road shall not be found within the limit of six miles from the line of said road, then such selections may be made along such line within twenty miles thereof.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* The Cedar Rapids and Missouri River R.R. Co. may change its location and have lands thereon.That the Cedar Rapids and Missouri River Railroad Company, a Corporation established under the laws of the State of Iowa, and to which the said state granted a portion of the land mentioned in the title to this act, may modify or change the location of the uncompleted portion of its line, as shown by the map thereof now on file in the general land-office of the United States, so as to secure a better and more expeditious line to the Missouri River, and to a connection with the Iowa branch of the Union Pacific Railroad; and for the purpose of facilitating the more immediate construction of a line of railroads across the State of Iowa, to connect with the Iowa branch of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, aforesaid, the said Cedar Rapids and Missouri River Railroad Company is hereby authorized to connect its hue by a branch with the line of the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad 97Company; and the said Cedar Rapids and Missouri River Railroad Company shall be entitled for such modified line to the same lands and to the same amount of lands per mile, and for such connecting branch the same amount of land per mile, as originally granted to aid in the construction of its main line, subject to the conditions and forfeitures mentioned in the original grant, and, for the said purpose, right of way through the public lands of the United States is herebyRight of way granted. grunted to said company. *And it is further provided,* That whenever said modified main line shall have been established or such connecting line located, the said Cedar Rapids and Missouri River Railroad Company shall file in the, general land-office of the United States a map definitely showing such modified line and such connecting branch aforesaid; and the Secretary of the Interior shall reserve and cause to beSecretary of Interior to convey lands. certified and conveyed to said company, from time to time, as the work progresses on the main line, out of any public lands now belonging to the United States, not sold, reserved, or otherwise disposed of, or to which a preemption right or right of homestead settlement has not attached, and on which a bona fide settlement and improvement has not been made under color of title derived from the United States or from the State of Iowa, within fifteen miles of the original main line, an amount of land equal to that originally authorized to be granted to aid in the construction of the said road by the act to which this is an amendment.
And if the amount of lands per mile granted, or intended to be granted, by the original act to aid in the construction of said railroad shall not be foundLimits of selections; within the limits of the fifteen miles therein prescribed, then such selections may be made along said modified line and connecting branch within twenty miles thereof: *Provided, however,* That such new located or modified line shall pass through or near Boonsboro’, inof location of road. Boon County, and intersect, the Boyer River not further south than a point at or near Dennison, in Crawford County: *And provided, further,* That inProviso in case the main line is changed. case the main line shall be so changed or modified as not to reach the Missouri River at or near the forty-second parallel north latitude, it shall be the duty of said company, within a reasonable time after the completion of its road to the Missouri River, to construct a branch road to some point in Monona County, in or at Onawa City; and to aid in the construction of such branch the same amount of lands per mile are hereby granted as for the main line, and the same shall be reserved and certified in the same maimer; said lands to be selected from any of the unappropriated lands as hereinbefore described within twenty miles of said main line and branch; and said company shall file with the Secretary of theMap of location to be filed.
Interior a map of the location of the said branch: *And provided, further,* That the lands hereby grunted to aid in the construction of the connecting branch aforesaid shall not vest in said company nor be encumbered or disposed of except in the following manner: When the governor of the State of Iowa shall certify to the SecretaryConditions of grant. of the Interior that said company has completed in good running order a section of twenty consecutive miles of the main line of said road west of Nevada, then the secretary shall convey to said company one third, and no more, of the lands granted for said connecting branch.
And when said company shall complete an additional section of twenty consecutive miles, and furnish the Secretary of the Interior with proof as aforesaid, then the said secretary may convey to the said company another third of the lands granted for said connecting branch; and when said company shall complete an additional section of twenty miles, making in all sixty miles west of Nevada, the secretary, upon proof furnished as aforesaid, may convey to the said company the remainder of said lands to aid in the construction of said connecting branch:
Proviso.*Provided, however,* That no lands shall be conveyed to said company on account of said connecting branch road until the governor of the State of Iowa drill certify to the Secretary of the Interior that the same shall have been completed as a 98first-class railroad. And no land shall be conveyed to said company situate and lying within fifteen miles of the original line of the Mississippi and Missouri railroad, as laid down on a map on file in the general Secretary of Interior to reserve certain lauds.land-office: *Provided, further,* That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior, and he is hereby required, to reserve a quantity of land embraced in the grant described in this section, sufficient, in the opinion of the governor of Iowa, to secure the construction of a branch railroad from the town of Lyons, in the State of Iowa, so as to connect with the main line in or west of the town of Clinton in said state, until the governor of said state shall certify that said branch railroad is Provisos.completed according to the requirements of the laws of said state: *Provided, further,* That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to re-lease said company from its obligation to complete the said main line within the time mentioned in the original grant: *Provided, further, *That nothing in this act shall be construed to interfere with, or in any manner, impair any rights acquired by any railroad company named in the act to which this is an amendment, or the rights of any corporation, person or persons, acquired through any such company; nor shall it be construed to impair any vested right of property, but such rights are hereby reserved and confirmed: *Provided, however,* That no lands shall be conveyed to any company or party whatsoever, under the provisions of this act and the act amended by this act, which have been settled upon and improved to good faith by a bona fide inhabitant, under color of title derived from the United States or from the State of Iowa adverse to the grant made by this act or the act to which this act is an amendment.
But each of said companies may select an equal quantity of public lands as described in this act within the distance of twenty miles of the line of each of said roads in lieu of lands thus settled upon and improved by bona fide inhabitants in good faith under color of title as aforesaid. Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* Mississippi and Missouri R. R. Co. may assign the granted lands, if, &c.That the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company shall have the right to transfer and assign all or any part of the grant hereby made to said company to any other company, or person or persons, if, in the opinion of said company, the construction of the said railroad across the State of Iowa will be thereby sooner and more satisfactorily completed; but such assignee shall not in any case be released from the liabilities and conditions accompanying this grant, nor acquire perfect title in any other manner than the same would have been acquired by the grantee herein named: *Provided,* That said transfer and assignment shall first be authorized by the governor of the State of Iowa.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* Dubuque and Sioux City R. R. Co. may change their line.That the Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad Company may so far change their line between Fort Dodge and Sioux City as to secure the best route between those points; said change shall not impair the right to, nor change the Map to be filed.location of, their present land-grant. A map of the change shall be filed with the commissioner of the general land-office within one year after the passage of this act.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* Conditions of former act to apply to this, except, &c.That all of the conditions and limitations contained in the act to which this act is an amendment, and not expressly changed by this act, shall attach to and run with the grunts made by this act, except as the said conditions and limitations have been modified, and may hereafter be modified, by the general assembly of the State of Iowa. Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* Lands hereby granted not to be certified until, &c.Pub.
Res. No. 34.*Post*, p, 573.That no lands hereby granted shall be certified to either of said companies until the governor of the State of Iowa shall certify to the Secretary of the Interior that the said company has completed, ready for the rolling stock, within one year from the first day of July next, a section of not less than twenty miles from the present terminus of the completed portion of said railroad, and in each year thereafter an additional section of twenty miles; but the number of sections per mile originally authorized shall be certified to each company, upon THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 104, 106. 1864.99proof as aforesaid of the completion of the additional sections of the road as aforesaid; and upon the failure of either company to complete either section as aforesaid, to be annually built, the portion of the bind remaining uncertified shall become subject to the control and disposition of the legislature of the State of Iowa, to aid in the completion of such road. Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted,* Lands hereafter certified, to be offered for sale within three years, &c.That all lands hereafter certified to either of the land-grant railroads in said state, and lying opposite any completed section of such road, shall be offered for sale by the company to which they shall be certified within three years from the completion of such section, if then certified; and if not, then within three years from the date of such certificate at reasonable prices; and if not all sold within that period then during the fourth yearWhen to be exposed to public sale. all such lands remaining unsold shall be exposed to public sale, after previous notice posted at the county seat of the county in which such lands shall be situated, to the highest bidder, and in tracts not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres each.
Approved, June 2, 1864.