The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1879-05-16
THE vICksBURG, SHREVEPORT AND
TEXAS RAILROAD.

works of public Improvement and util.
ity," approved March IL, 1852, for the
purpose of "constructing and making
a railroad from the Mississippi river,
at q point opposite Vicksburg, running
Westward through the northern part OF
the State of Louisiana, by way of Mon.
roe, on the Ouachita river; thence west
by the most direct practicable route to
Shreveport, on Red river; thence west
to the line of tho State Of Texas
ssThe said railroad to be constructed on
such scale as shall serve for the main
J trunk of a continuous limo of cOmmu-
nication westward to the Pacific Ocean,
! via Ell Paso."
Capital stock $2,5OO, 900; shares $25
each; domicile Monroe, Ouachita parish,
State of Louisiana. Fifteen directors
to constitute board. Five per cent. OF
subscription payable at time OF sub
scribing; remaining payments not to
exceed ten per cent. each, after ninety
days public notice, and ssnot more
than two calls'' to be made "in any
successive twelve months;" which
would seem to indicate that the pro-
jectors of this road did not expect to
! complete it quickly. BY act No. 22s,
approved April %, 1858, this company
was specially reincorporatetl, with per-
petual existence of charter; exemption
from taxation ssfor ten years after COM
pletion of said road within the limits
of this State;" capital stock $4,000, 900,
in shares of $25, with right to convert
same into shares of 500 each; right of
way through State lands for 800 feet in
width, and right to use timber and
other materials from State lands within
one mile on each side of the line of
said road; right to borrow money on
mortgage of road and property, pro-
vided "tbat the amounts borrowed do
not exceed - ,OOO, ,OOO," etc. By act No.
17s, approved April %, 1853, the State
became a subscriber for $4,000 shares OF
the stock of this company, equal to
$500, 1000, or one-fifth of the capital
stock, payable in six per cent. forty
year bonds at par, in the proportion Of
one-fourth the payments OF all other
subscribers.
Not having been able to obtain
copies of any of the annual reports of
the Vicksburg company, our history
of the details Of the construction of the
road will be necessarily brief. No re-
ports have been published since the
war.
Section 10 of act No. 231, approved
April %, 1858, t'to provide for the man.
ner of giving the aid of the State to
railroad companies," declares "that
the president and directors OF any rail.
road companies in which the State is a
stock ckholder, shall, within one week
after the annual meeting of the legis-
lature in each year, report to the same
the general condition of the said COM
pany, the amount of capital expended,
money borrowed, length of road fin
ished aud under contract, and particu-
lar statement of its receipts and ex-
pendftures." This same section is con-
tanned in the act approved March ~,
1856, but, as the State now is a second
mortgage bondholder and not stock
holder In said road, it is presumed that
it is considered that no report is re-
quired.
Soon after the organization of the
Vicksburg, Shreveport and Texas Com
pany, surveys were commenced for the
location of the line of the road; the
preliminary surveys were completed
in March, 1853. From DeSoto, immc-
diately opposite Vicksburg, to Monroe,
on the cast bank of the Ouachita river,
the distance was ascertained to be 74A
miles. All but about five miles of this
distance Immediately west of Bayou
Macon), is across an alluvial country,
comprising the valleys of the Missis-
sippi, Ouachita and B.euf rivers, af-
tording a soil of inexhaustiblc fertility,
but not al all favorable for the cheap
construction and maintenance of a rail-
road. The Macon hills or table lands
only, We're above the reach of overflow.
From the Mississippi river to the Bayou
Macon, distance of about 36 or 81
miles, the country was subject to inun-
datiOn whenever crevasses occurred in
the levees OF the Mississippi river, any
where from Vicksburg to and above
the Arkansas State line.
From Monroe, on the Ouacllita river,
to Shreveport, on the western bank of
Red river, the distance by the survey
cd line is 9G miles. Over all but about
seven miles Of this portion of the route
in the valley of Red river-the To-
Gated line traverses high, undulating,
but moderately hilly country, (gener-
ally we'll settled,) with a productive
soil. From Shreveport to the State
line of Texas, distance of nearly 20
miles, through the parish of Caddo,
tho line crosses hilly country through
out.
The total distance from DeSoto, op-
posite Vicksburg, to the Texas line,
was about 100 miles.
The work of construction was COM
mcnced, opposite Vicksburg, in June,