The Great Railroad Land Grab
A government commissioner issues a sweeping order to restore millions of acres of Western land to the public domain after decades of railroad control.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Commissioner Witt has issued a sweeping order regarding land grants, which will have the effect of taking from the railroad companies many millions of acres of land within their railroad limits. With the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, these lands have been proclaimed to the country as restored to the public domain. The question of the adjustment of these land grants has been a long-standing source of controversy. The court decisions purport to follow a decision of the Supreme Court in the case of the Winona and St. Peter Railway Company vs. Barney, which left no further room for discussion. It occurred to the Commissioner that the decisions of the Supreme Court were in harmony with the law, and that these railroad lands, where the road had not been built, belonged to the people. He therefore determined that the lands should be returned to the department to be treated as government land and available for public entry, effectively ending the era of concentrated railroad monopoly on these territories.
“It occurred to the Commissioner that the decisions of the Supreme Court were in harmony with the law, and that these railroad lands, where the road had not been built, belonged to the people.”
This 1887 report captures the era of the 'railroad barons' and the intense struggle over public vs. private land, a precursor to modern debates about concentrated corporate ownership and housing affordability in Seattle. Just as Commissioner Witt sought to reclaim territory for the public, today's residents continue to wrestle with the legacy of how land distribution shapes the city's accessibility.
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