Railroad Land Grants Part 1

 Rail lines have played a crucial role in the development of America. After the Civil War, rail lines accepted huge gifts of land to subsidize railroad construction and operations across the American Plains and Canadian Prairies. Leaders in both countries contended (and rightly so) that whoever controlled access across this region would control the Pacific Coast.

The rail lines across middle America differed from rail lines in the East. These lines fostered towns and communities. Between 1850 and 1871, railroad companies were given an estimated 185 million acres of land from individuals and from governments. The Federal Government offered 20 square miles of land for each mile of track laid in territories and 10 miles of land for each mile laid in states. These land grants were in alternate sections with the government holding every other section. 

Much has been argued about the this land-granting method: who got rich? No question, the rail lines were built. Too many politicians in Washington felt that the land in the west was desolate or frozen and of little worth. By 1900, when James J. Hill took control of the Northern Pacific and greatly expanded the reach of the rail lines and fostered extensive publicity to bring in settlers. The immigrants flooding into Eastern ports came for the exact purpose of buying land and were not disappointed. 

Another, lesser known, factor pushing development of rail lines across the plains and prairies was a sobering realization that America needed to consolidate her land holdings or possibly lose them to Texas or Mexico and maybe even to Britain and France. Washington politicians realized that the East could not afford to be cut off from the West. 

So land grants acted as a form on non-cash subsidy, making the construction of extremely expensive rail lines across 1000 miles of unsettled land financially feasible for private companies. Ultimately this newly settled land would allow the creation of many thousands of new farms, ranches, mines and towns.

Railroads..... Museum & Facts

 

Have you been to the Inland Northwest Rail Museum just a hoot and holler west of Reardan?? If you're into trains, train history, engines, different rail lines, anything "railroad," this is the place to go. While not open every day year round, they have plenty of regular open days and a host of special events. Do check it out. 

Coming up on Saturday, May 11th, there are Big Happenings planned for the entire weekend and I will be offering a class on "Did Your Ancestor Work For The Railroad." Come, enjoy the displays, the train rides and, on that day, the class.

Railroad Facts you perhaps did not know (according to a 1990 factsheet I have):

• Freight traffic on major U.S. railroads is measured in "ton-miles." This is a term denoting the movement of one tone of freight a distance of one mile. Our U.S. railroads achieve millions of ton-miles every year
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• There are no legal limits on how long a train can be but there are practical limits, such as power of the engine.
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• During WWII, railroads moved practically all the men and supplies of the American Expeditionary Force to seaports. 
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• From 1 Dec 1941 to 30 Aug 1945, U.S. railroads carried approximately 44-million service men and women in special troop trains, hospital trains and in special cars attached to regular trains.
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• The first known instance of mail being moved by rail occurred in South Carolina in Nov 1831. By 1840, railroads had begun to provide space and facilities for handling of the mail enroute. But as the movement of mail by air grew, the railroads' mail business declined. The last mail run, between Washington and New York, was in June 1977. 
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• What are the commodities carried by railroads? Coal ranks first in tonage, followed by farm products, chemicals, nonmetallic minerals, food and kindred products, frozen products, lumber and wood products.
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• Railroads are deemed vital to the U.S. economy. The steel industry depends on railroads to deliver its ore and coat; the car industry depends on railroads to deliver the steel and parts of making cars and then to carry cars to their destination. 
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• There are more railroad-railroading websites available to you than you likely have time for. Use Google and go for it! 
• The place your railroading ancestor lived
• The railroad he worked for
• Railroads have historical societies and archives!

 Remember all the good railroads have done for our country, and still do, the next time you're stuck seemingly forever at a railroad crossing. 

More Railroad Trivia

 

What were railroad land grants? Did your ancestor receive one?

The land grants were business transactions between the federal government and 61 pioneer railroads, all of them in the West and South. The grants, made from 1850 to 1871, were meant to encourage railroad construction through underdeveloped territory in order to attract settlers, increase the sale of government-owned lands and unify the westward-expanding nation. These objectives were accomplished.

Map showing the land grant of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company in Montana, Idaho, and in part of North Dakota, and in part of eastern Washington, reaching from Dickinson, North Dakota, to Ritzville, eastern Washington.

It is a bit hard to see, the the areas shaded in green were the railroad land grants in the west, including Eastern Washington.  Below is the bit I snipped to share from FamilySearch:

Railroad History Bits, Pt. 2

 

* Chicago became the nation's leading rail center by 1860

* Railroads reached the Mississippi River in 1854; first railroad bridge over the Mighty Mo was in 1856.

* West coast rail operations began in Sacramento Valley in 1856 with two locomotives that had been brought around Cape Horn by ship.

* The first railroad tunnel was built in 1833 near Johnstown, Pennsylvania; it was about 900 feet long.

* The hook-headed spike used by railroads to fasten rails to crossties was first patented in 1840.

* As of December 2021, CyndisList had 382 links under the topic of railroads............ go learn more! 

Railroad History Bits

 

Railroads were a major factor in the forming of our United States as we know them. Let's learn some history! And please think about your ancestor's timeline fitting into these bits. 

* The first railroad in the U.S. was a short track of wooden rails built in 1795 at Boston and was operated by horsepower. :-) 

* Along with horsepower, the early railroads were powered by the use of sails and a horse walking on a treadmill aboard the train. Steam soon made all that obsolete.

*In 1815, the first railroad was chartered to run between New Brunswick and Trenton, New Jersey

* Steam power was a major force for railroad locomotion until the 1950s when most U.S. railroads shifted to diesel-electric engines.

* Early rails were built of wood with strips of iron attached on the top. By 1850, most track was made of iron and soon of steel.

* Andrew Jackson was the first U.S. president to travel by rail; he went 13 miles in 1833.

* The greatest period of growth for U.S. railroads was during the country's westward expansion, especially during the 1870s and 1880s.