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 _first_ 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 Illinois 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 Michigan 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 States had, when the lines of said road and branches were definitely fixed, sold any part of any section thereby granted, or that the right of preëmption had attached to the same, it should be lawful for any agent or agents (to be appointed by the governor of the State) to select so much land as would be equal to the tracts lost within the granted limits. This “indemnity” was to be selected within fifteen miles of the road and branches. The third section provided that the sections and parts of sections which by the operation of the grant remained to the United States within six miles on each side of said road and branches, should not be sold for less than the double minimum price when sold. Section 4 provided for the disposal of the lands, and declared that the road should remain a public highway for the use of the Government free from toll or other charge. The fifth section declared within what period the roads should be completed, and provided that in the event of a failure on the part of the State to comply with the conditions of the grant, it was “bound to pay to the United States the amount which may be received upon the sale of any part of said lands by said State”. The title of the purchasers was to be valid, but the tracts not sold were to revert and revest in the United States. Section 6 said that the mails were to be transported at all times at such price as Congress might direct. By the seventh section the grant was extended, on the same terms and conditions, to the States of Alabama and Mississippi, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a road from Mobile to connect with the first above named road.