OF LANDS GRANTED TO AID IN THE CONSTRUCTION ACT OF JUNE 3, 1856-11 U.S. STATUTES AT LARGE, 21. AN ACT making a Grant of alternate Sections of the Public Lands, to the State of Michigan, to aid in the Construction of certain Railroads in said State, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That there be and hereby is, granted to the State of Michigan, to aid in the construction of railroads from Little Bay de Noquet to Marquette, and thence to Ontonagon, and from the two last named places to the Wisconsin State line; and also from Amboy, by Hillsdale and Lansing, and from Grand Rapids to some point on or near Traverse Bay; also from Grand Haven and Pere Marquette to Flint, and thence to Port Huron, every alternate section of land designated by odd numbers; for six sections in width on each side of each of said roads; but in case it shall appear that the United States have, when the lines or routes of said roads are definitely fixed, sold any section or any part 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 State, to select, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, from the lands of the United States 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 right of preemption has attached as aforesaid; which lands (thus selected in lieu of those sold, and to which preëmption 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 State of Y Michigan for the use and purpose aforesaid: Provided, That the lands to be so located shall in no case be further than fifteen miles from the lines of said roads, and selected for, and on account of each of said roads: Provided further, That the lands hereby granted 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 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 operations of this act, except so far as may be found necessary to locate the routes of said railroads 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. 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 each of said roads, 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 have been first offered at public sale at the increased price. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said lands hereby granted to the said State, shall be subject to the disposal of the Legislature thereof, for the purpose aforesaid, and no other; and that the said railroads 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. And be it further enacted, That the lands hereby granted to said State shall be disposed of by said State only in manner following, that is to say: That a quantity of land not exceeding one hundred and twenty sections, for each of said roads, and LANDS DONATED TO MICHIGAN. 37 included within a continuous length of twenty miles of each of said roads, may be sold; and when the Governor of said. State shall certify to the Secretary of the Interior that any twenty continuous miles of any of said roads is completed, then another quantity of land hereby granted, not to exceed one hundred and twenty sections for each of said roads having twenty continuous miles completed as aforesaid, and included within a continuous length of twenty miles of each of said roads may be sold; and so from time to time until said roads are completed; and if any of said roads is not completed within ten years, no further sales shall be made, and the lands unsold shall revert to the United States. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the United States mail shall be transported over said roads, 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. Approved June 3, 1856. Act of August 4, 1852–10 U. S. STAtutes at Large, 28. AN ACT to grant the Right of Way to all Rail and Plank Roads and Macadamized Turnpikes passing through the Public Land belonging to the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the right of way shall be, and is hereby granted to all rail and plank road, or macadamized turnpike companies that are now or may be chartered within ten years hereafter, over and through any of the public lands of the United States, over which any rail or plank or macadamized turnpikes are or may be authorized by an act of the legislature of the respective States in which public lands may be situated; and the said company or compas nies are hereby authorized to survey and mark through the said public lands, to be held by them for the track of said road, one hundred feet in width: Provided, That in case where deep ex cavation or heavy embankment is required for the grade of such road, then at such places a greater width may be taken by such company, if necessary, not exceeding in the whole two hundred feet. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said company or companies shall have the right to take from the public lands, in the vicinity of said road or roads, all such materials of earth; stone, or wood as may be necessary or convenient, from time to time, for the first construction of said road or roads, or any part thereof, through said land. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That there shall be, and is hereby granted to said company or companies, all necessary sites for watering places, depots, and workshops along the line of said road or roads, so far as the places convenient for the same may fall upon the public lands: Provided, That no one depot or watering place shall contain over one square acre, and that said sites shall not be nearer to each other than ten miles along the line or lines of said road or roads: Provided further, That the said grants herein contained, as well of the use of the public lands, as of the materials for the construction of said road or roads shall cease and determine, unless the road or roads be begun within ten years from and after the passage of this act, and completed within fifteen years thereafter: And provided, moreover, That if any road, at any time after its completion, be discontinued or abandoned by said company or companies, the grants hereby made shall cease and determine, and said lands hereby granted, revert back to the general government: Provided further, That when a location for either of said railroads or plank roads, macadamized turnpikes, or sites for depots on the line of such road or roads shall be selected, the proper officers of such road or roads shall transmit to the Commissioner of the General Land Office a correct plat of the survey of said road or roads, together with the survey of sites for depots before such selection shall become operative: Provided further, That none of the foregoing provisions of this act shall apply to, or authorize any rights in any lands of the United States other than such as D LANDS DONATED TO MICHIGAN. 39 are held for private entry and sale, and such as are unsurveyed and not held for public use by erection or improvements thereon. way SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the right through the public lands of the United States lying in Black Rock, in the county of Erie and State of New York, be, and the same is hereby granted to the Lockport and Buffalo Railroad Company: Provided, That in the opinion of the President of the United States such grant be not injurious to the public interest, and that the location shall be approved by the President as to the position and width of the said railroad: And provided further, That if the said railroad shall not be completed within two years, or if at any time after its completion, the said railroad be discontinued or abandoned, the grant shall cease and determine. Approved August 4, 1852. 2 ACT OF JULY 5, 1862-11 U. S. STATUTES AT LARGE, 620. JOINT RESOLUTION relative to a certain Grant of Land for Railroad Purposes made to the State of Michigan in eighteen hundred and fifty-six. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the words "Wisconsin State line," in the first section of an act entitled "An act making a grant of lands to the State of Michigan, in alternate sections, to aid in the construction of railroads in said State," approved June third, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, shall, without forfeiture to said State or its assigns of any rights or benefits under said act, or exemption from any, of the conditions or obligations imposed thereby, be construed to authorize the location of the line of railroad provided for in said act from Marquette, on Lake Superior, to the Wisconsin State line, upon any eligible route from the township of Marquette aforesaid, to a point on the Wisconsin State line, near |