Minor Correction
 

Actually, technically, the RRs were not given alternate sections of land for
building the RRs, they were given the land for providing RR service. When
the routes and services were drastically cut the RRs were taken to court (in
the middle 70s, as I recall) to force them to give back the land they still
owned because they were not providing the service. You can imagine the
phalanxes of lawyers musterred to quash that suit!
--
Steve Juniper
"... patriotism has run the world through so many blood lakes:
and we always fall in."
-- Robinson Jeffers

"fbloogyudsr" wrote in message
...
"Tim McNamara" wrote
Mike1 writes:

I don't know about "research", but I do know that a man named James
J. Hill built a transcontinental railroad across thousands of miles
of NOTHING (without a wooden nickel of tax-funding) with *precisely*
that in mind, and his Great Northern became so wildly successful
that his competitors ran bawling to Congress to shut him down.

Actually, James J. Hill built his railroad across the sovereign lands
of more than four dozen distinct tribal groups without regard to
property rights or ethics. But, as is usually the case in these
discussions, the owners of the property didn't count (and still don't
because they aren't white and mostly can't afford to buy Congressmen
for themselves).

And you forget that all (repeat: all) railroads, including the predecessor
of the Great Northern (Minnesota & Pacific) benefited from being
able to raise money by mortgaging/selling the checkerboard lands they
were granted by the state/feds. Granted that Hill was not given as
much as, say, the Northern Pacific, the fact remains that all the
x-country rr's were built all or in part with govt subsidies.

Floyd