148 RURAL MICHIGAN 



Company, owned 14 per cent. The last mentioned 

 corporation, with its subsidiaries, was credited with 

 holding 1,515,392 acres, a tract of land which, if 

 blocked off in a single area, would comprise sixty- 

 six townships whose circumference would amount to 

 195 miles. There were twelve holders of over 100,000 

 acres each, nineteen of 40,000 to 100,000; twenty- 

 seven of 15,000 to 40,000; and thirty-one of less 

 than 15,000 acres each but still possessing over 

 60,000,000 feet of timber. These ninety holders of 

 land in the Upper Peninsula possessed 5,999,036 

 acres, which comprised 56.3 per cent of the whole 

 area.^ These extensive holdings were promoted by 

 the large grants of land conveyed by the federal gov- 

 ernment in aid of various works of internal improve- 

 ment, roads, railroads and canals, with lavish gen- 

 erosity and with little consideration of the prospec- 

 tive value of the rights bestowed. Thus the rail- 

 roads of this section received grants from Fort Wil- 

 kins on Keweenaw Point to the Wisconsin state line, 

 221,013 acres were patented to the builders, and 

 762,803 acres in the northern peninsula alone in 

 aid of canal construction. 



In 1850, Congress had bestowed on the states tracts, 

 designated "swamp lands," within their borders, on 

 condition of their being reclaimed; and Michigan 

 thus came into possession of 5,655,689 acres to June 

 30, 1914. These lands were in turn disposed of 

 in large amounts in aid of the construction of roads 

 and railroads. Thus in 1881, the just completed 



'"Lumber Industry," II, 188-190-198. 



