The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-02-13
RETURNED TO STATE
JUDGE LoCHREN ENTERS DECREE
RESTORING $4,000
ACRES
IS WORTH MILLION DOLLARS
Was ErrOneOusIy Listed in Land
Grant to Duluth & Iron Range
ROad-COmpany to Get
Other Land.

BY way of consumm alton of the st in1l-
lation between the land department of the
Duluth q Iron Range road and State
Auditor Dunn, as to certain lands in
cluded in the railroad company's grant
Judge Lochren, of the United States cir
cult court filed yesterday supplemental
~ decree in the case of The State OF
Minnesota against the Duluth & Iron
Range railroad Company Walter f.
Cobb, Minneapolis & St Cloud Railroad
company and the Great Northern Rail
way Company. This decree is fully in
consonance with the stipulation and close
ly follows its terms, which were outlined
at some length in II G ! o at the
time the negotiations were completed.
the decree provides that certain tracts
of land in St Louis, Lake and Cook
counties, which are specifically desig-
mated in schedule attached, shall be ex-
copied from the original decree of the
court III the case mentioned, bearing the
GATE Of Jan. s. 1900, wherein those tracts
We're decreed to be the property Of the
Duluth & Iron Range Railroad company.
and by this order they are decreed to be
the property of the state of Minnesota
1t is further provided that the Duluth
Iron Range Railroad company shall
nave the right to select an amount of
swamp land in the counties of st. Louis.
eNANN SOOtAs
and sufficient to make up the amount so
released and discharged from the origi-
nal decree The decree provides. how
ever, that the railroad company NAV not
select any land in the counties mentioned
which has heretofore been selected by the
state auditor and land commissioner to
I'LL the grant or appropriation of state
public institutions; but those officers are
NOT to make any further selection under
the state public institution grant until
the expiration of the time allowed the
railroad company to fill its grant, the
company being allowed for that purpose
the period of six months, after all of the
swamp lands in the unsurveyed town
shlps OF the three counties mentioned
shall have been surveyed and patented
to the state Of Minnesota by the United
States government Should the railroad
company fail to fill it's grant within the
time specified the auditor and land COM
missioner may then proceed with the Sc
lection of lands for the state public insti-
tuition grant
The aggregate area of the land involved
in this supplementary decree is 1861
acres, and its value is estimated at near
ly $1,O00001
This stipulation and decree are the re-
suits of negotiations between State Audi
tor Dunn and the railroad company.
which have extended over more than
-yea;.
When the company agreed to build its
road north from Duluth to Tower, it was
granted several hundred thousand acres
OF land by the state on condition that
the road be built by tne shortest feas.-
bic route and within a specified time.
The road was not completed within the
time specified, and the grant was for
felted A few years later the grant was
renewed and the road completed but in
the meantime a constitutional amendment
had been adopted prohibiting such grants.
and it was commended by some that the
renewal of the grant subsequently was
void 1t was also contended that the
road, which runs up the lake shore to
Two Harbors and veers off to Tower, had
not been constructed by the shortest
route, and the company had therefore
obtained larger grant than its contract
called for
Judge Lochren sustained the claim OF
the railroad company. The company sub
mitted q list of lands claimed, and de-
cree was issued confirming the grant
Later it was found that the list had,
through error. included about $1,000 acres
of swamp lands belonging to the state In
sdtutions, and Auditor Dunn began pro-
ceedings to recover these. Under the stip-
ulation between the auditor and Mr. KEEL
logg, which is confirmed by Judge Loeb
ren's decree, the deed of these 45, 600 acres
to the railroad company is Cancelled, the
lands are reconveyed to the state, and
the railroad company will be allowed to
select an equal number of acres elss-
where