What were the railroad land grants for 1862?
What were the railroad land grants for 1862? In 1862 the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads were orginally promised ten miles of checkerboard land on each side of the tracks, but to help meet expenses, ten was changed to twenty miles on each side in 1864.
Did the railroads sell land to settlers?
Together, the Burlington and Union Pacific Railroads had sold more than 7 million acres to private purchasers. Over 9.6 million acres was obtained free of charge under the Homestead Act. The railroads did not abandon settlers after they sold them the land.
Why were railroad land grants checkered?
The checkerboard pattern of the land grants had begun during the canal land grant era, and continued with the railroad grants as a concession to opponents both of land subsidies and of interstate railroads. Land grant proponents compromised by agreeing to grant every other square-mile section of land to the railroads.
How much land did the government give to the railroads?
The total of public land grants given to the railroads by states and the federal government was about 180 million acres. At the time, the value of this land was about one dollar per acre, which was the average price realized by the government for sales in the land grant states during that period.