The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-04-12
The N. p. r. z. Land Grant.
SEATTLE, April 10 81.

SEsIILE, Aprti io, isI..
ED lsTELIIGENCER 1T j. 4 fact rot
perhapI generally known and under
stood. that the laud grant Of the North
ern Pacific Railroad Company. and the
Withdrawals under it. cover nearly the
entire area Of Washington Territory.
thereby excluding from pre.ein p,ion,
homestead, or sale. aud ves,ing the !e-
gal title thereto. In said company, OF
every odd section Of land within the
limits, Of such Withdrawals. and in
creasitg the minimum price of the even
numbered sections from Sl.2j Ia 81 so
per acre. These withdra walls took place
as follows. viz. On the main line OF said
road in g %, and Oh tie branch line in
1871. The land grant was made In
1861, and the time fixed for the compile
tion of said road expires in July. 1871
The only portion Of said lines of road
within said Territory that has been
built and the lands adjacent thereto
distance If 10j miles. and the terminus
of said road has long been fixed on Pu-
get Sound az the latter place. The
main line Of said road WAS "Getinitely
fixed and u plat thereof filed in the
office of the Commissioner of the Gene
raj Land Office" III 1870. a. aforesaid
(vla the Coiumbia river down TO kala
ma and thence northcrly TO and along
the east shore of Puget Sound 10 Bel
lingham Bay. and the lands thereupon
withdrawn from mark-. as far ner,h as
the south line of township % north
The branch line of said road was
definitely fixed and and a plat thereof
filed IN the office Of the Commissioner
of the General Land Office" in 1871, as
before stated. from Lake Pen d'Oreille
via the Skagit Pass in the Cascade
mountains to Puget Sound. and thence
southerly to Tacoma. and the lands on
said line were thsfeupon withdraw
from the market.
The grant to this company by the act
of Congress Of 1864 was u grant an pre-
snfi and passed the title to the odd sec
tons designated. to be afterwards locs-
ted. and when "tbe line of said road
was definitely fixed. and pat thereof
fled in the office Of the Commissioner OF
the General Land Office" the location
became certain, and the title which was
previously imperfect. acquired precision
aud became attached to the land. See
Schulenberg. {, a IS Hartman 2lst
Wallace, p. II.
And not only Is the legal title to all
these lands vested in said company, but
even upon the failure of the company
To perform the condition subsequent.
viz: To build the road the title can only
be d,vested from said company and re-
invested in the United States. by the
action of the judicial or Legislative
branch Of the Government 1t cannot
bc done by the Nints'eriai branch Of
the government.
See Schulenberg It al VS. Hartman.
above cited.
Under this decision neither the Com.
missioner of the General Land Office
nor Secretary of the Interior, can
restore these lands Ia the Government
Even the company itself can only re-
store them by deed of conveyance in
the usual form.
u,
and after the cline of road was detin-
iteiy fixed, and plat thereof tiled in
the office of the Conn iss,oner of the
General Land Office, viz or the lith
day OF May. 1876. the Board of Direc-
tors of said company. by resolution,
abandoned their branch route over the
Skagit Pass in the Cascade mountains.
and adopted route aud map of route
of said branch road over the said
mountains. by the way Of Nstchez Pass.
which pass is about 100 miles south of
the Skagit Pass. This map and route
WAS accepted and approved by the late
Secretary of the Interior on the cath of
November. 1876.
The companys object. in attempt
ing to make this change is apparent,
but the action of the Secretary is more
difficult 10 understand His attention
has been called to the matter, and an
able argument filed IN his Office bv Hon
Orange Jacobs. our delegate in Con-
gress. protesting against this new with
dr,wal Of lands In favor of this COM
pany. The result remsins yet To bc
seen.
The object of the company is, if pos.
sible in this way, 10 make their land
grant available TO aid IN the building
Of y coal road from Tacoma In south
eas,erly direction for distance of 81
miles To their coal fields on the Puyal-
lup River. This road is wholly within
the limits Of the earned lands OF the
said company on their main line, and
IT Is notorious fac, that the company
do not propose 10 extend said
ccal road hyond said coal mines.
and alsn that they could not II
they would, as the route designated on
the map of said Natches route - known
to he entirely imprsc,icsbls for a rail
road the whole distance from said coal
mines 10 .aid hatcher Pass being inter
sso;ed with spurs iii the mountain
range. and the pass itself having an
altitude Of about ; .osl0 feet.
A. conclusive evidence that said com-
pany 10 not propose 10 construct their
branch rnad over the Cascade Noun
..,,s hy any MASS sy.s th,4 nrpyt.tnns i0