Fort Wrangel news., 1898-06-22
ALASKA HOMESTEAD LAWS

An act extending the homestead laws
 and providing for right of way for
 railroads in the District of Alaska,
 and for other purposes.
 Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, that the homestead land jaws of the United States and the rights incident thereto, including the right to enter surveyed or unsuryeyed lands under provisions of law relating to the acquisition of title through soldiers additional homestead rights. are hereby extended to the District of Alaska. subject to such rcgu- lations aS may be made by the Secretary of the interior; and no indemnity, de= fcicucy, or lieu lands pertaining to any land grant whatsoever originating out side of said District of Ala ska shail be located within or taken from lands ill said district: Provided, that no entry shall be allowed extending more than eighty rods along the shore of any navi- gable water, and along such shore q space of at least eighty rods shall be re served from entry between all such claims. and that nothing herein con. tained shall be so construed as to au- thoriZe entries to be made, or title to be acquired, to the shore of any navi- gable waters within said district: And it is further provided, that no homestead shall exceed eighty acres in extent.
 SEC , That the right of way through the lands of the United States ill the District of Alaska is hereby granted to any railroad company, duly organized under the laws of any state or territory or by the congress of the United States. which may hereafter He for record with the secretary Oi the interiora copy of its articles of incorporation. and due proofs of its organization under the same. to the extent of one hundred feet on each side of the center line of said road; also the right to take from the lands of the United States adjacent to the line of said road. material. earth, stone, and timber necessary for the construction of said railroad: also the right to take for railroad Use. subject tO the reservation of all minerals and coal therein, public lands adjacent to said right of way for station buildings. .depotS, machine shops. side tracks. ttlrn-out~, waters stations. and terminals. and other legitimate railroad purposes, not to exceed ill amount twenty acres for each station. to the extent of one station for each ten miles of its roads, excepting at terminals and junction points. which may include additional forty acres. to be limited on navigable waters to eighty rods on the shore line, and with the right to Use such additional ground as may in the opinion of the secretary of the interior be necessary where there are heavy cuts or fills: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to give such railroad company, it's lessees, grantees or assigns the owner ship or use of minerals. including coal, within the limits of it's right of way, or of the lands hereby granted: Provided further, that all mining operations pros ecuted or undertaken within the limits of it's right of way or of the lands hereby granted shall, under rules and regu lations to be prescribed by the Secre- tary of the interior, be so conducted as not to iniure or interfere with the property or operations of the road over it's said lands or right of way. And when such railways shall connect with any nayigabe stream or tide water such company shall have power to construct and maintain necessary piers and wharves for connection with water trans portation, subject to the supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury: Pro vided, that nothing in this act contained shall be construed as impairing in any degree the title of any state that may hereafter be erected out of said district or any part thereof, to tide lands and beds of any of it's navigable waters, or the right of such state to regulate the use thereof, nor the right of the United States to resume possession of such lands, it being declared that all such rights shall continue to be held by the United States in trust for the people of any state or states which may hereafter be erected out of said district. The term .nayigable waters,n as herein used, shall be held to include all tidal waters up to the line of ordinary high tide and all nontidal waters navigable in fact up to the line of ordinary high-water mark That all charges for the transportation of freight and passengers on railroads in the district of Alaska shall be printed and posted as required by section six of an act to regulate commerce aS amend ed on March second, eighteen hundred and eighty nine, and such rates shall be subject to revision and modification by the secretary of the Interior.
 SEC. 3. That any railroad company whose right of way, or whose track or |. roadbed upon such right of way, passes through any canyon. pass, or defile shall not prevent any other railroad company from the use and occupancy of said canyon, pass, or defile for the purposes of it's road, in common with the road first located, or the crossing of other