Lands granted who claims as an agriculturist, and such quantity for each Approved, July 2, 1864 (13 Stat., 356). NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. An Act Granting lands to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from Lake Superior to Puget's Sound, on the Pacific coast, by the northern route. to colleges not included herein. Pa cific Railroad Co. May lay out a railroad and tele Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives Northern of the United States of America in Congress assembled, incorporated. That [certain persons mentioned] are hereby created and erected into a body corporate and politic, in deed and in law, by the name, style, and title of the "Northern Pacific Railroad Company," * * * And said corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to lay out, lo- graph line. cate, construct, furnish, maintain, and enjoy a continuous railroad and telegraph line, with the appurtenances, namely, beginning at a point on Lake Superior, in the State of Minnesota or Wisconsin; thence westerly by the most eligible railroad route, as shall be determined by said company, within the territory of the United States, on a line north of the forty-fifth degree of latitude to some point on Puget's Sound, with a branch, via the valley of the Columbia River, to a point at or near Portland, in the State of Oregon, leaving the main trunk-line at the most suitable place, not more than three hundred miles from its western terminus; and is hereby vested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities necessary to carry into effect the purposes of this act as herein set forth. * * * SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the right of way through the public lands be, and the same is hereby, granted to said "Northern Pacific Railroad Company, its successors and assigns, for the construction of a railroad and telegraph as proposed; and the right, power, and authority is hereby given to said corporation to take from Right of way. construction. the public lands, adjacent to the line of said road, material Materials for of earth, stone, timber, and so forth, for the construction thereof. Said way is granted to said railroad to the extent of two hundred feet in width on each side of said railroad where it may pass through the public domain, including all necessary ground for station buildings, workshops, depots, machine shops, switches, side tracks, turn-tables, and water-stations; and the right of way shall be exempt from taxation within the territories of the United States. The United States shall extinguish, as rapidly as may be consistent with public policy and the welfare of the said Indian titles to Indians, the Indian titles to all lands falling under the operation of this act, and acquired in the donation to the (road) named in this bill. be extinguished.. Grant of public lands. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That there be, and hereby is, granted to the "Northern Pacific Railroad Company," its successors and assigns, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of said railroad and telegraph line to the Pacific coast and to secure the safe and speedy transportation of the mails, troops, munitions of war, and public stores, over the route of said line of railway, every alternate section of public land, not mineral, designated by odd numbers, to the amount of twenty alternate sections per mile, on each side of said railroad line, as said company may adopt, through the territories of the United States, and ten alternate sections of land per mile on each side of said railroad whenever it passes through any state, and whenever on the line thereof, the United States have full title, not reserved, sold, granted, or otherwise appropriated, and free from preemption, or other claims or rights, at the time the line of said road is definitely fixed, and a plat thereof filed in the office of the commissioner of the general land-office; and whenever, prior to said time, any of said sections or parts of sections shall have been granted, sold, reserved, occuLands in lieu of pied by homestead settlers, or preempted, or otherwise reserved, disposed of, other lands shall be selected by said company in lieu thereof, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in alternate sections, and designated by odd numbers, not more than ten miles beyond the limits of said alternate sections: Provided, That if said route shall be found upon the line of any other railroad route to aid in the construction of which lands have been heretofore granted by the United States, as far as the routes are upon the same general line, the amount of land heretofore granted shall be deducted from the amount granted by this act: Provided, further, That the railroad company receiving the previous grant of land may assign their interest to said "Northern Pacific Railroad Company," or may consolidate, confederate, and associate with said company upon the terms named in the first section of lands this act: Provided, further, That all mineral lands be, and the same are hereby, excluded from the operations of this act, and in lieu thereof a like quantity of unoccupied and those etc. Mineral excluded. unappropriated agricultural lands, in odd numbered sections, nearest to the line of said road may be selected as above provided: And provided, further, That the word "mineral," when it occurs in this act, shall not be held to include iron or coal: And provided, further, That no money shall be drawn from the treasury of the United States to aid in the construction of the said "Northern Pacific Railroad." SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That whenever said Commissioners "Northern Pacific Railroad Company" shall have twenty-five consecutive miles of any portion of said railroad and telegraph line ready for the service contemplated, the President of the United States shall appoint three commissioners to examine the same, and if it shall appear that twenty-five consecutive miles of said road and telegraph line have been completed in a good, substantial, and workmanlike manner, as in all other respects required by this act, the commissioners shall so report to the President of the United States, and patents of lands, as aforesaid, shall be issued to said company, confirming to said company the right and title to said lands, situated opposite to, and coterminous with, said completed section of said road; and, from time to time, whenever twentyfive additional consecutive miles shall have been constructed, completed, and in readiness as aforesaid, and verified by said commissioners to the President of the United States, then patents shall be issued to said company conveying the additional sections of land as aforesaid, and so on as fast as every twenty-five miles of said road is completed as aforesaid: Provided, That not more than ten sections of land per mile, as said road shall be completed, shall be conveyed to said company for all that part of said railroad lying east of the western bound-ary of the State of Minnesota, until the whole of said railroad shall be finished and in good running order, as a first-class railroad, from the place of beginning on Lake Superior to the western boundary of Minnesota: Provided also, That lands shall not be granted under the provisions of this act on account of any railroad, or part thereof, constructed at the date of the passage of this act. Patents. Ten per mile. sections constructed in SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That said Northern Railroad to be Pacific Railroad shall be constructed in a substantial and substantial manworkmanlike manner, with all the necessary draws, cul- ner. verts, bridges, viaducts, crossings, turnouts, stations, and watering places, and all other appurtenances, including furniture, and rolling stock, equal in all respects to railroads of the first class, when prepared for business, with rails of the best quality, manufactured from American iron. And a uniform gauge shall be established throughout the entire length of the road. And there shall be constructed a telegraph line, of the most sub- Telegraph line stantial and approved description, to be operated along the entire line: Provided, That the said company shall Gauge. Other may form connections. not charge the Government higher rates than they do individuals for like transportation and telegraphic service. roads And it shall be the duty of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to permit any other railroad which shall be authorized to be built by the United States, or by the legislature of any territory or state in which the same may be situated, to form running connections with it, on fair and equitable terms. Lands on both sides of road to be surveyed. cific Railroad Co. Portland to Pu SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States shall cause the lands to be surveyed for forty miles in width on both sides of the entire line of said road, after the general route shall be fixed, and as fast as may be required by the construction of said railroad; and the odd sections of land hereby granted shall not be liable to sale, or entry, or preemption before or after they are surveyed, except by said company, as provided in this act; but the provisions of the act of September, eighteen hundred and forty-one, granting preemption rights, and the acts amendatory thereof, and of the act entitled "An act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," approved May twenty, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, shall be, and the same are hereby, extended to all other lands on the line of said road, when surveyed, excepting those hereby granted to said company. And the reserved alternate sections shall not be sold by the government at a price less than two dollars and fifty cents per acre, when offered for sale. Joint Resolution Granting right of way for the construction of a railroad from a point at or near Portland, Oregon, to a point west of the Cascade Mountains, in Washington Territory. Northern Pa- Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives may extend its of the United States of America in Congress assembled, branch line from That the Northern Pacific Railroad Company be, and get Sound, and hereby is, authorized to extend its branch line from a with its main line point at or near Portland, Oregon, to some suitable point cade Mountains. On Puget Sound, to be determined by said company, and connect same west of the Cas also to connect the same with its main line west of the Cascade mountains, in the Territory of Washington; said extension being subject to all the conditions and provisions, and said company in respect thereto being entitled to all the rights and privileges conferred by the act incorporating said company, and all acts additional to and amendatory thereof: Provided, That said company shall not be entitled to any subsidy in money, bonds, or additional lands of the United States, in respect to said extension of its branch line as aforesaid, except such lands as may be included in the right of way on the line of such extension as it may be located: And provided further, That at least twenty-five miles of said extension shall be constructed before the second day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and forty miles per year thereafter until the whole of said extension shall be completed. Approved, April 10, 1869 (16 Stat., 57). A Resolution Authorizing the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to issue its bonds for the construction of its road and to secure the same by mortgage, and for other purposes. Northern Pa gage. filed as proof of road. of in lands, how made Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of cife Railroad Co. the United States of America in Congress assembled, That may issue bonds the Northern Pacific Railroad Company be, and hereby secured by mort. is, authorized to issue its bonds to aid in the construction and equipment of its road, and to secure the same by mortgage on its property and rights of property of all kinds and descriptions, real, personal, and mixed, including its franchise as a corporation; and, as proof and notice of its legal execution and effectual delivery, said mortgage shall be filed and recorded in the office of the Mortgage to be Secretary of the Interior; and also to locate and construct, its execution. under the provisions and with the privileges, grants, and duties provided for in its act of incorporation, its main road to some point on Puget Sound, via the valley of the Columbia river, with the right to locate and construct its Location branch from some convenient point on its main trunk line across the Cascade Mountains to Puget Sound; and in the event of there not being in any State or Territory in which Deficiency said main line or branch may be located, at the time of up. the final location thereof, the amount of lands per mile granted by Congress to said company, within the limits prescribed by its charter, then said company shall be entitled, under the directions of the Secretary of the Interior, to receive so many sections of land belonging to the United States, and designated by odd numbers, in such State or Territory, within ten miles on each side of said road, beyond the limits prescribed in said charter, as will make up such deficiency, on said main line or branch, except mineral and other lands as excepted in the charter of said company of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, to the amount of the lands that have been granted, sold, reserved, occupied by homestead settlers, pre-empted, or otherwise disposed of subsequent to the passage of the act of July two, eighteen hundred and sixty-four. And that twenty-five miles of said main line between its western miles of road to be terminus and the city of Portland, in the State of Oregon, completed shall be completed by the first day of January, anno and 40 miles each Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and forty year thereafter. miles of the remaining portion thereof each year thereafter, until the whole shall be completed between said points: Provided, That all lands hereby granted to said company which shall not be sold or disposed of or remain Lands after five years subject to the mortgage by this act authorized, at the ex- from completion piration of five years after the completion of the entire ject to settlement road, shall be subject to settlement and preemption like and preemption other lands, at a price to be paid to said company not per acre. 61002°-S. Doc. 547, 64-1-15 Twenty-five by January 1, 1872, unsold of road to be sub at not over $2.50 |