Chapter LXXXIV. *for a Grant of Lands to the State of Iowa, in alternate Sections, to aid in the Construction of a Railroad in said State.*May 12, 1864. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Land granted to Iowa for a railroad from Sioux Ci
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CHAP. LXXXIV.— An Act *for a Grant of Lands to the State of Iowa, in alternate Sections, to aid in the Construction of a Railroad in said State.*May 12, 1864. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Land granted to Iowa for a railroad from Sioux City, to soil th line of state;That there be, and is hereby, granted to the state of Iowa, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a railroad from Sioux City, in said state, to the south line of the state of Minnesota, at such point as the said state of Iowa may select between the Big Sioux and the west fork of the Des Moines river; also to said state for the use and benefit of the McGregor Western Railroad Company, for the purpose for the McGregor Western railroad.of aiding in the construction of a railroad from a point at or near the foot of Main Street, South McGregor, in said state, in a westerly direction, by the most practicable route, on or near the forty-third parallel of north latitude, until it shall intersect the said road running from Sioux City to the Minnesota state line, in the county of O’Brien, in said state, every alternate section of land designated by odd THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 84. 1864.73numbers for ten sections in width on each side of said roads; but, in case it shall appearIf any lands granted have Deen before sold, &c., other lands may be selected in lieu thereof. that the United States have, when the lines or routes of said roads are definitely located, sold any section or any part thereof granted as aforesaid, or that the right of preemption or homestead settlement has attached to the same, or that the same has been reserved by the United States for any purpose whatever, then it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to cause to be selected, for the purposes aforesaid, from the public lands of the United States nearest to the tiers of sections above specified, so much land in alternate sections, or parts of sections, designated by odd numbers, as shall be equal to such lands as the United States have sold, reserved, or otherwise appropriated, or to which the right of homestead settlement or preemption has attached, as aforesaid, which lands thus indicated by odd numbers and sections, by the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be held by the state of Iowa for the uses andLimit of location. purposes aforesaid: *Provided,* That the lauds so selected shall in no case be located more than twenty miles from the lines of said roads: *Provided, further,* That any andLands formerly granted, &c., excepted from this act, but right of way may be had. 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 other purpose whatever, be, and the same are hereby, reserved and excepted from the operation of this act, except so far as it may be found necessary to locate the routes of said roads through such reserved lands, in which case the right of way shall be granted, subject to the approval of the President of the United States.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That the sections andMinimum price of lands not granted. parts of sections of land which by such grant shall remain to the United States within ten miles on each side of said roads shall not be sold for less than double the minimum price of public lands when sold, nor shall any of said binds become subject to sale at private entry until the same shall have been first offered at public sale to the highestWhen subject to sale at private entry.Proviso.Actual preemption settlers, and those under the homestead law. bidder at or above the minimum price as aforesaid: *Provided,* That actual bona fide settlers under the preemption laws of the United States may, after due proof of settlement, improvement, and occupation, as now provided by law, purchase the same at the increased minimum price: *And provided, also,* That settlers under the provisions of the homestead law, who comply with the terms and requirements of said act, shall be entitled to patents for an amount not exceeding eighty acres each, anything in this act to the contrary notwithstanding.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That the lands herebyLands, how to be disposed of and for what purposes only.Roads to be public highways. granted shall be subject to the disposal of the legislature of Iowa, for the purposes aforesaid and no other. And the said railroads shall be, and remain, public highways for the use of the government of the United States, free of all toll or other charges upon the transportation of any property or troops of the United States. Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That the lands herebyLands, how to be disposed of. granted shall be disposed of by said state, for the purposes aforesaid only, and in man ner following, namely :
When the governor of said state shall certify to the Secretary of the Interior that any section of ten consecutive miles of either Of said roads is completed in a good, substantial, and workmanlike manner as a first-class railroad, then the Secretary of the Interior shall issue to the state, patents for one hundred sections of land for the benefit of the road having completed the ten consecutive miles as aforesaid. When the governor of said state shall certify that another section of ten consecutive miles shall have been completed as aforesaid, then the Secretary of the Interior shall issue patentsPatents to issue for a hundred sections of land upon completion of ten consecutive miles of road. to said state in like manner, for a like number; and when certificates of the completion of additional sections of ten consecutive miles of either of said roads are, from time to time, made as aforesaid, additional sections of lands shall be patented as aforesaid, until said roads, or either of them, are completed, when the whole of the 74THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 84, 85. 1864.McGregor Western Railroad to complete twenty miles of its road annually.lands hereby granted shall be patented to the state for the uses aforesaid and none other: *Provided,* That if the said McGregor Western Railroad Company, or assigns, shall fail to complete at least twenty miles of its said road during each and every year from the date of its acceptance of the grant provided for in this act, then the state may resume said grant, and so dispose of the same as to secure the completion of a road on said line and upon such terras, within such time as the state shall determine: *Provided, further,* That if the said roads are not Lands to revert to state unless roads are completed within ten years, &c.Not to be encumbered, except, &c.completed within ten years from their several acceptance of this grant, the said lands hereby granted and not patented shall revert to the state of Iowa for the purpose of securing the completion of the said roads within such time, not to exceed five years, and upon such terms as the state shall determine: *And provided, further,* That said lands shall not in any manner be dis-posed of or encumbered, except as the same are patented under the provisions of this act; and should the state fail to complete said roads within five years after the ten years aforesaid, then the said lands undisposed of as aforesaid shall revert to the United States.
Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* Secretary of Interior to withdraw lands, when, &c.That as soon as the governor of said state of Iowa shall file or cause to be filed with the Secretary of the Interior maps designating the routes of said roads, then it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to withdraw from market the lands embraced within the provisions of this act. Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* Mails to be transported.Pay, how determined.That the United States mail shall be transported on said loads and branch, under the direction of the post-office department, at such price as congress may by law provide: *Provided,* That until such price is fixed by law the Postmaster-General shall have power to fix the rate of compensation.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* Grant to Minnesota for road from St. Paul to southern line of state.That there be, and is hereby, granted to the state of Minnesota for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a railroad from St. Paul and St. Anthony, via Minneapolis, to a convenient, point of junction west of the Mississippi, to the southern boundary of the state, in the direction of the month of the Big Sioux river, four additional Conditions of grant.1857, ch. 99.Vol. xi. p. 195.Lands may be selected, where.alternate sections of land per mile, to be selected upon the same conditions, restrictions, and limitations as are contained in the act of congress entitled “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, to alternate sections, to the state of Alabama, to aid in the construction of a certain railroad in said state,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven: *Provided,* That the land to be so located by virtue of this section may be selected within twenty miles of the line of said road, but in no case at a greater distance therefrom.
Approved, May 12, 1864.