United States Statutes at Large/Volume 5/24th Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 49
Chap. XLIX.—An Act to grant the Atchafalaya Railroad and Banking Company the right of way through the public lands of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,The right of way granted through such portions as the road shall pass.
Proviso. That there be, and is hereby granted to the Atchafalaya Railroad and Banking Company, a corporation created by the Legislature of the State of Louisiana, the right of way through such portions of the public land as the road or roads of said company is authorized by its charter to construct, shall pass: Provided, That the portion of the public land occupied thereby shall not exceed eighty feet in width.
The route of said road to be surveyed and designated through the public lands, &c.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the route of said road and its branches, shall, at the expense of the aforesaid company, be surveyed and designated through the public lands by plain marks or monuments, and copies of the field-notes, with plat or plats of the lands, and a description of the said land-marks or monuments, and their connection with the previous official surveys of the adjacent lands, shall be returned to the office of the Surveyor General of the State of Louisiana, and to the General Land Office in Washington, within sixty days after the said surveys or plats are completed, and which shall be within one year from the date of the passage of this act.
Portions of the public land granted for depots, &c.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That for such depots, watering places and workshops, as may be essential to the convenient use of said road, there is also granted to said company such portion of the public land as they may under like restrictions and conditions, select, on either or each side of said road:Proviso. Provided, That not more than four acres, to be laid off in a square form, shall be selected for such use or purpose at any one place, and not more than one such square shall be granted for every ten miles of the said road or its branches, lying within the public lands; which selections shall be surveyed and returned in the manner aforesaid, and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury for the time being.
Permission to use earth, stone, &c., granted.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That so long as the public land in the vicinity of said road or its branches shall remain unsold, the said company shall have permission to take therefrom such materials of earth, stone, or wood, as may be necessary for the construction of said road.
The grants contained herein shall cease, &c. unless said road be commenced and completed with in the periods fixed by the charter, &c.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the grants herein contained, as well the use of the public lands, as of the materials for the construction of said road and its branches, shall cease and determine and be of no effect, unless the said road be commenced and completed within the periods fixed by the charter of the company; and if the said road shall be, at any time after its completion, or during the time of its construction, discontinued or abandoned by said company, the grants and privileges hereby made and allowed shall cease and determine and be of no effect.
Approved, March 3, 1837.