HISTORICAL SKETCH. 109 



1872-88, Present survey.] 



SEC. 4. The sum of two thousand dollars is hereby appropriated annually (in lieu of one 

 thousand dollars) for the purpose of the geological and natural history survey until such time as 

 the proceeds of the sales of the salt lands shall equal that amount, when such annual appropriation 

 shall cease. 



SEC. 5. The sum of five hundred dollars is hereby appropriated for the purchase of 

 apparatus and chemicals for the use of the geological and natural history survey, the same to be 

 expended by the order of the board of regents of the university of Minnesota. 



SEC. 6. It shall be the duty of the board of regents of the university of Minnesota to cause 

 duplicate geological specimens to be collected, and lo furnish to each of the three Normal schools 

 suites of such specimens after the university collection has become complete. 



SEC. 7. When the geological and natural history survey of the state shall have been com- 

 pleted, the final report on the same by the said board of regents shall give a full statement of the 

 sales of the salt lands hereby given into the custody and control of the board of regents of the 

 university of Minnesota, together with the amount of moneys received therefrom, and of the 

 balance, if any, 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. 



In compliance with the above law the state geologist made an exami- 

 nation of the peats in the southern portion of the state and rendered a 

 report on them in 1873. On examining the condition of the United States 

 grant of land for salt springs, which the same law devotes to the prosecu- 

 tion of the survey, it was found that a large part of these lands had never 

 been certified to the state, not through any fault of the governor* or other 

 state officers, but through the tardiness of the oflicers of the general gov- 

 ernment. The original grant covered 46,080 acres. Of this sum only 18,771 

 acres were then available for the prosecution of the survey. The uncerti- 

 fied lands aggregated 19,872 acres. A memorial of the state legislature 

 was presented to congress, asking the privilege to make re-selections, and 

 through the efforts of governor J. S. Pillsbury and senator S. J. R. McMillan, 

 such permission was granted, and the certified amount of the salt spring 

 lands, designed for the prosecution of the survey, was more than doubled. 



The survey has continued without interruption since its beginning in 

 1872. The principal events, and its results from year to year have been 

 recorded in the annual reports, and it is not necessary to enter upon the 

 internal and personal history involved in its management and prosecution. 



MINNEAPOLIS, JANUARY, 1881. 



[NOTE. Since this historical sketch was written Mr. Neill has published some new facts 

 concerning Mr. David Thompson, who is mentioned on page 25 as a geographer employed by the 

 Northwest Fur Company, t derived from the records of the company in the Parliament library at 

 Ottawa. From this it appears that Mr. Thompson crossed the state of Minnesota in 1798, from 



*Gov H. H. Sibley had all theie lands located according to the terms of the grant. See Report concerning the 

 salt spring lands due the state of Minnesota. By N. H. Winchell, 1874. 

 fNeill'i History of Minnesota, 4th dition, 1882. 



