THE OCCUPATION OF THE LAND 137 



granted to the railroad of that name now comprised 

 in the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway 

 system, while the latter retains some 60,000 acres 

 of the old Marquette, Houghton and Ontonogan 

 Eailroad grant. The St. Mary's Mineral Land Com- 

 pany, present holders of the St. Mary's Ship Canal 

 land grant, still is in possession of some 92,000 acres. 

 All these holdings are mainly of timber and mineral 

 lands. In the southern peninsula, the Michigan 

 Central Eailroad still possesses some 11,000 acres 

 of the old grant to the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw 

 section of its present system, which carry a price of 

 $2 to $10 an acre. 



The grants of land by the United States for edu- 

 cational purposes in Michigan were likewise very 

 extensive. According to the famous Ordinance of 

 1787, section number 16 of each surveyed township 

 was bestowed on the State in aid of primary educa- 

 tion. In this manner approximately 1,021,000 acres 

 came into the possession of the State.^ These lands 

 were disposed of, first by the Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction and then by the Commissioner 

 of the Land Office after 1843, along with other lands 

 granted to the State for educational purposes. At 

 first the minimum price of school lands was set at 

 $12 an acre, later reduced to $5, then to $4. Accord- 

 ing to Knight, the average sale price of two-thirds 



'This is the niiinlu'r of aores rpjjortcd l)y tlio Commis- 

 sioner of the General Land OfRco. Knifjlit in "Mich. Pioneer 

 and Hist. See. Collections," VII, 28, gives the total num- 

 ber of acres patented to the State at 1,067,397. 



