A Bill
Granting to the State of Missouri the right of way and a donation of public lands, for making a railroad from Lexington on the Missouri river to Ohio City at the mouth of the Ohio river in said State.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be, and is hereby, granted to the State of Missouri for the purpose of aiding said State in building a railroad from Lexington to Ohio City at the mouth of the Ohio river, on the most eligible route, a quantity of land equal to every alternate section for six miles in width on each side of said railroad, to be selected by an agent or agents, to be appointed by the governor of said State, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury; and the alternate sections which remain to the United States by the grant in this act, shall not be sold for less than two dollars and fifty cents per acre, at which price a pre-emption right is hereby granted to the State of Missouri for five years from the passage of this act.

Sec 2. And be it further enacted, That the said lands hereby granted to the said State shall be subject to the disposal of the legislature thereof, for the purposes aforesaid and no other; and the said road shall be and remain a public highway for the use of the government of the United States free from toll or other charge, upon the transportation of troops and munitions of war of the United States.

Sec 3. And be it further enacted, That the lands hereby granted shall be disposed of by said State only in the manner following, to wit: that a quantity not exceeding sixty sections on said road and including within a continuous length of ten miles of said road, may be sold when the governor of said State shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury that ten miles of said road is completed; then another like quantity may be sold on the road, and so from time to time until said road is completed; and if said road is not completed within ten years, no further sales shall be made, and the lands unsold shall revert to the United States.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That before it shall be competent for the State of Missouri to dispose of any of the lands to be selected as aforesaid, a plot or plots of the courses, distances, and points of termination of said railroad shall be furnished by the said State to the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

Sec 5. And be it further enacted, That the State of Missouri be, and is hereby, authorized to survey and mark through the public lands of the United States the route of said railroad one hundred feet wide on both sides of the central line of said road, to be reserved from sale on the part of the United States; and the use thereof forever vested in the said State, for the purposes aforesaid, and none other.

Sec 6. And be it further enacted, That no lands reserved for schools, or for military or other purposes, (nor mineral land), nor any to which the right of pre-emption has attached, shall be selected by said State under this act.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the United States mails shall be carried on said road, under the regulations of the Post Office Department, at the minimun price for similar services paid on other railroads; and in case of disagreement between the State and department as to the price, then the matter in dispute shall be referred to the United States district judge for said State.