Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Joel Hicks, Elijah Hyde, Gersham Silliman, Samuel T. McKean, and Simon Reed, their associates, successors, and assigns, are hereby made and constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of “The LaSalle Prairie Company,” and by that name shall have perpetual succession, and be capable, in law, to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in all courts and places wherein judicial proceedings made be had.

Sec. 2. Said company shall be authorized to make a ditch or canal in the county of Peoria, in such a manner as to drain a lake or pond in said county, which covers a part of section thirty-four, in township number eleven north, of range number eight east, in Peoria county; the water to be taken from said lake or pond to the most convenient place of conveying the same into some natural channel or stream, so that it may pass off to the Illinois river without injury to individuals or the health of the neighborhood.

Sec. 3. Said company shall take all measures necessary to effect the object of its creation, and may make the ditch or canal of such depth and width as may be necessary to entirely drain the lake or pond, and prevent in all time to come any accumulation of water therein.

Sec. 4. The company shall, after opening said ditch or canal, keep the same constantly clear of all obstructions so as to afford a free passage of water through the same, and shall make and keep in repair bridges across the same at every place of the crossing of a public road, or private cart-way, established by law.

Sec. 5. The business of said company shall be transacted and conducted by five directors, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. For the present the aforesaid persons shall be the directors of the company; and for the purpose of perpetuating the existence of the company, the directors for the time being shall have power to fill all vacancies which may occur in the board by death, resignation, or otherwise.

Sec. 6. The ditch or canal shall be, and is hereby declared, a public highway; and all laws in relation to obstructing, injuring, or interfering with public highways, shall be deemed applicable to the same: Provided, Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to prevent any person from running a fence across said ditch, in such a manner as not to prevent a free passage of the water running therein.

Sec. 7. Said company shall pay all damages occasioned to individuals by the making the said ditch or canal before making the same, the damages to be assessed and paid under and according to the provisions of the act, entitled “An act

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concerning the right of way and for other purposes,” approved on the twenty-eighth of February, 1833.

Sec. 8. The directors shall have power to constitute one or more agents to attend to the making and keeping in repair said ditch or canal, and shall also have power to contract and be contracted with, in all things concerning or touching the construction, maintenance, and keeping in repair the said ditch or canal, and have and hold so much land as may be necessary to effect the object of their incorporation; but no power is conferred to purchase or hold any other real estate, or to conveyancing such estate.

Approved, February 16, 1839.