Statute ⅠⅠ.
Chap. CXIV.—An Act to grant a quantity of land to the Territory of Wisconsin, for the purpose of aiding in opening a canal to connect the waters of Lake Michigan with those of Rock river.[1]
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,Certain lands granted to Wisconsin to aid in opening a canal, &c. That there be, and hereby is, granted to the Territory of Wisconsin, for the purpose of aiding in opening a canal to unite the waters of Lake Michigan, at Milwaukee, with those of Rock river, between the point of intersection with said river, of the line dividing townships seven and eight and the Lake Koshkonong, all the land heretofore not otherwise appropriated or disposed of in those sections and fractional sections which are numbered with odd numbers on the plats of the public surveys, within the breadth of five full sections, taken in north and south, or east and west tiers, on each side of the main route of said canal, from one end thereof to the other, and reserving the even numbered sections and fractional sections, taken as above, to the United States;Lands so granted shall be subject to the disposal of the Legislature.
Proviso. and the said land, so granted to aid in the construction of said canal, shall be subject to the disposal of the Legislature of the said Territory, for the purpose aforesaid, and no other: Provided, That the said canal, when completed, and the branches thereof, shall be, and for ever remain, a public highway, for the use of the Government of the United States, free from any toll or other charge whatever, for any property of the United States, or persons in their service, passing through the sameProviso. Provided, That said main canal shall be commenced within three years, and completed in ten years, or the United States shall be entitled to receive the amount for which any of said land may have been previously sold, and that the title to purchasers under the Territory shall be valid.
The Governor shall transmit a plat of the route, &c. to the Com. of the Gen. Land Off., who shall ascertain the lands herein granted, and cause lists of them to be prepared, &c.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That so soon as the route of the said main canal shall be definitively located and established, agreeably to an act of the Legislature of said Territory, incorporating the Milwaukee and Rock river Canal Company, approved January fifth, 1838, it shall be the duty of the Governor thereof, to transmit a plat of the same, showing its terminations and its connections with the section-corners of the public surveys, to the Commissioner of the General Land Office whose duty it shall be to ascertain, under the direction of the President of the United States, the particular lands herein granted to said Territory; and shall cause duplicate lists of the same to be prepared from the plats on file in his office, one of which he shall transmit to the Governor of said Territory, who, or such other person or persons as shall be appointed for the purpose, under the authority of the Legislature of the said Territory, or of the State which may be erected out of the same, after the admission of such State, shall have power to sell or convey the whole, or any part of said land, at a price not less than two dollars and fifty cents per acre, and to give a title in fee simple therefor, to whomsoever shall purchase the whole or any part thereof.
Prices of the land.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the alternate sections and fractional sections which shall remain to the United States, agreeably to the first section of this act, shall not be sold for a less sum than two dollars and fifty cents per acre, nor be subject to pre-emption.
Sections divided by route of main canal, how to be counted.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That in reference to the provisions of the first section of this act, where a section shall be divided by the route of the main canal, such section shall be counted (in fixing the lateral limits of said grant) as being on or towards that side of the line next the larger portion of said section, ascertained by reference to the mile-lines and corners of the sections, and the land and water thereby included.- ↑ See notes of the acts relating to the territory of Wisconsin, April 20, 1836, chap. 54.
