# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 9/31st Congress/1st Session/Chapter 61

Enacted September 20, 1850.
Chap. LXI.—An Act granting the Right of Way, and making a Grant of Land to the States of Illinois, Mississippi, and Alabama, in the Aid of the Construction of a Railroad from Chicago to Mobile.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, Right of way granted for railroad and branches, with privilege of using the materials found. That the right of way through the public lands be, and the same is hereby, granted to the State of Illinois for the construction of a railroad from the southern terminus of the Illinois and Michigan canal to a point at or near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, with a branch of the same to Chicago, on Lake Michigan, and another via the town of Galena in said State, to Dubuque in the State of Iowa, with the right also to take necessary materials of earth, stones, timber, etc., for the construction thereof: Proviso. Provided, That the right of way shall not exceed one hundred feet on each side of the length thereof, and a copy of the survey of said road and branches, made under the direction of the legislature, shall be forwarded to the proper local land offices respectively, and to the general land office at Washington city, within ninety days after the completion of the same.
Sec. 2 And be it further enacted, Alternate sections of land granted. That there be, and is hereby, granted to the State of Illinois, for the purpose of aiding in making the railroad and branches aforesaid, every alternate section of land designated by even numbers, for six sections in width on each side of said road and branches; but in case it shall appear that the United States have, when the line or route of said road and branches is definitely fixed by the authority aforesaid, sold any part of any section hereby granted, Preemption rights secured. 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 aforesaid, from the lands of the United States most contiguous to the tier 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 to which the right of preemption has attached as aforesaid, which lands, being equal in quantity to one half of six sections in width on each side of said road and branches, the State of Illinois shall have and hold to and for the use and purpose aforesaid: Proviso. Provided, That the lands to be so located shall in no case be further than fifteen miles from the line of the road: Further proviso. And further provided, The construction of said road shall be commenced at its southern terminus, at or near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and its northern terminus upon the Illinois and Michigan Canal simultaneously, and continued from each of said points until completed, when said branch roads shall be constructed, according to the survey and location thereof: Further proviso. Provided further, That the lands hereby granted shall be applied in the construction of said road and branches respectively, in quantities corresponding with the grant for each, and shall be disposed of only as the work progresses, and shall be applied to no other purpose whatosoever: Further proviso. And provided further, That any and all lands reserved to the United States by the act entitled "An Act to grant a quantity of land to the State of Illinois, for the purpose of aiding in opening a canal to connect the waters of the Illinois River with those of Lake Michigan", 1827, ch. 51 approved March second, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, be, and the same are hereby, reserved to the United States from the operations of this act.
Sec. 3 And be it further enacted, Price of lands remaining to the United States. 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 said road and branches, shall not be sold for less than double the minimum price of the public lands when sold.
​Sec. 4 And be it further enacted, Lands granted to be used only for the purposes aforesaid. Railroads to be free for use of government of U. States. That the said lands hereby granted to the said State shall be subject to the disposal of the legislature thereof, for the purposes aforesaid and no other; and the said 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. 5 And be it further enacted, If not completed within ten years, Illinois to pay the U. States the amount recieved on sale of lands by that State, and the lands unsold reinvest. That if the said railroad shall not be completed within ten years, the said State of Illinois shall be bound to pay to the United States the amount which may be recieved upon the sale of any part of said lands by said State, the title to the purchasers under said State remaining valid; and the title to the residue of said lands shall reinvest in the United States, to have and hold the same in the same manner as if this act had not been passed.
Sec. 6 And be it further enacted, Transportation of U.S. mail. That the United States mail shall at all times be transported on the said railroad under the direction of the Post-Office Department, at such price as the Congress may by law direct.
Sec. 7 And be it further enacted, All the rights, etc., herein conferred shall be granted to Alabama and Mississippi, to aid in constructing a railroad from Mobile to the Ohio River. That in order to aid in the continuation of said Central Railroad from the mouth of the Ohio River to the city of Mobile, all the rights, privileges, and liabilities hereinbefore conferred on the State of Illinois shall be granted to the States of Alabama and Mississippi respectively, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a railroad from said city of Mobile to a point near the mouth of the Ohio River, and that public lands of the United States, to the same extent in proportion to the length of the road, on the same terms, limitations, restrictions in every respect, shall be, and is hereby, granted to said States of Alabama and Mississippi respectively.
APPROVED, September 20, 1850.