GEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SURVEYS. 247 



shall give a full statement of the sales of the salt lauds hereby givea into the 

 custody au(: control of the board of regents of the University of Minnesota, 

 together with the amount of money received therefrom, and of the balance, if 

 anj', left in the hands of said board of regents. 



Sec. 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. 



Approved, March 10, 1873. 



It is reasonable to suppose tliat after the passage of this hiw all 

 private schemes for the development of fictitious salt spring's and the 

 reduction of the fund b}' doubtful attempts at exploration would 

 cease, but such was not the case. A bill was introduced in the house 

 of representatives at the next session of the legislature to grant the 

 Belle Plaine Salt Company more land in aid of their enterprise, re- 

 quiring the board of regents to give up to that company a certain 

 am.ount of the salt spring lands for every 100 feet deeper tliat com- 

 pany should sink their well at Belle Plaine, aggregating six sections 

 of land in all. It was duly referred to the proper committee, but 

 was never reported for consideration by the house. 



The salt spring lands originally granted the State aggregated 

 4G,080 acres. By various inroads and conflicts with other grants, 

 the selections made by the State not having been duly certified and 

 reserved from the available public domain, the amount that was 

 found capable of being used for the survey was only 18.771 acres. 

 The officers of the United States Government were responsible for 

 this deficit, as Governor Silby, the first governor of the State, had 

 complied with the lavv' and all the terms of the grant in having them 

 Belected. When this fact was represented to the State legislature, a 

 memorial was passed, addressed to Congress, asking the privilege of 

 making reselections of land in the State of Minnesota sufficient to 

 make the deficit good to th'e State. Such permission was granted 

 and 24 sections were added to the available land grant of the geo- 

 logical survey. These, however, v/ere not turned o^'er to the regents 

 for this purpose till the winter of ISB.*^, when the legislature passed 

 the following: 



An act to iraiisfcr to t'le custody and control of tlie bonvd of regents of tho Unlvei'sity 

 of Minnesota tho lands jrrantpd Ity Conirross to the Stato by an act entitled "An act 

 granting lands to the State of Minnesota in lieu of certain lands heretofore granted to 

 said State," approved March .", 1S70, to authorize the said board to sell such lands and 

 dispose of the proceeds of such sales. 



Whereas the State lauds known as State salt lands were by an act approved 

 March 10, IST.'?. chapter ]3?., general laws of 1873 transferred to the custody 

 .Tnd conti-ol of the board of regents of the University of Jlinnesota, to be by 

 (?nid regents sold, and the proceeds thereto held in trust by them, and dis- 

 bur.sed in accordance with the law ordering a geological and natural history 

 survey of tho State ; and 



Whereas it was found that certain ])nrcels of such State lands had been 

 wtherwise disposed of by the T'nited States to actual settlers upon such lands, 



