Government Moves to Forfeit Railroad Land Grants in Washington
Federal attorneys begin the legal process to reclaim millions of acres granted to railroad companies that failed to fulfill their construction promises.
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.
SEATTLE, July 30.—United States Attorney McArthur, assisted by W. Carey Johnson, appointed special attorney for that purpose, is now engaged in preparing suits in equity against the military wagon road companies of this state for the forfeiture of the lands granted to them by acts of congress in March, 1864. These suits were authorized by an act of congress on March 3, 1887. The lands are those of the Willamette Valley and Cascade Mountain Wagon Road Company. The total area will be large and will include several hundred thousand acres in this and other counties. The lands have all been sold by the companies to which they were granted; it was when the lands were of no value that the grants were made as an incentive that they would construct much needed roads across the Cascade mountains to the eastern portions of the state. It is now claimed that the roads were not built and completed according to agreement, and that only enough work was done to secure certificates, and for this reason the lands are to be forfeited.
“It is now claimed that the roads were not built and completed according to agreement.”
This reflects the long-standing tension between government land policy and private corporate interests in the Pacific Northwest. The struggle over 'land grabs' and failed infrastructure promises continues to echo in modern arguments over public lands and utility monopolies.
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