The Great Land Grant Rebellion
Farmers in the Snake River region revolt against the Northern Pacific Railroad's land policies, demanding the forfeiture of unearned land grants.
The farmers of the Snake river, in the Dayton and Pataha sections, held a mass meeting at Dry Hollow, in Garfield county, on the 4th instant, to express their views regarding the Northern Pacific land grant questions. They passed a series of resolutions stating that in 1864, Congress granted vast lands to the Northern Pacific Railroad to aid in the construction of a line from Lake Superior to Puget Sound. The original grant was large enough to build the entire road without further help, yet the company delayed building until the country was developed by settlers. Now, the company attempts to dispose of land and improvements made by settlers at exorbitant prices, with contracts that allow the company to declare the contract void at any time and reserve rights to all minerals and a 400-foot-wide right-of-way. The settlers demand that any land not actually earned by the construction of the road within the time specified be forfeited and restored to the public domain.
“Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting the Northern Pacific Railroad Company is not justly entitled to an acre of land in this Territory.”
This 1884 showdown between settlers and a powerful railroad monopoly over land ownership and the cost of the 'frontier' mirrors current Seattle debates over housing affordability, corporate influence in urban planning, and the legacy of early land-grant policies.
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