2 LANDS OF THE ARID REGION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
to the Attorney-General (then Hon. J. J. Crittenden). That officer, 
without delivering an opinion on the merits of the case, expressed the 
belief that the President ought not to interfere, but should leave such 
questions to the proper officers. The then Secretary of the Interior (Hon. 
A. H. H. Stuart) thereupon decided that the grant did not extend above 
the fork, but subsequently decided to approve the selections for lands 
above the fork. Attorney-General ‘Cushing, on the 29th of May, 1856, 
expressed the belief that on the merits of the case the grant was limited to 
@ 
the Raccoon Fork, but as Secretary Stuart had approved selections above 
that point, such practical enforcement of the grant had better be con- 
tinued. The view of Mr. Cushing was subsequently maintained by the 
Supreme Court of the United States in Railroad Company vs. Litchfield 
(23 Howard, page 66). By the act of Congress approved July 12, 1862, 
the grant was extended to the northern boundary of the State, so as to 
include the alternate odd numbered sections lying within five miles of said 
river, upon the following conditions: The lands were to be held and applied 
in accordance with the provisions of the original grant, except that the 
consent of Congress was given to the application of a ‘a portion thereof” 
to aid in the construction of the Keokuk, Fort Des Moines and Minnesota 
Railroad, in accordance with the provisions of an act of the general 
assembly of the State approved March 22, 1858. 
It is well to state that the work of improving the river was abandoned, 
and the railroad was constructed instead. 
Without examining the numerous right of way and other lesser grants, 
I desire to direct attention to what is generally considered the jirst railroad 
grant. Reference is made to the donation by the act of September 20, 1850. 
By that statute a grant was made to the State of Hlinois of “every 
alternate section of land designated by even numbers, for six sections in 
width on each side of” the road and branches therein provided for. The 
road to be built was from the southern terminus of the Illinois and Michi- 
gan Canal to a point at or near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi 
Rivers, with a branch of the same to Chicago, and another via the town of 
Galena, in Illinois, to the town of Dubuque, in Iowa. 
The second section provided that should it appear that the United 
