gokeefe wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 8:38 pm
According to this nicely done report the entire Idaho segment of the Pacific Coast Extension was on federally granted land.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... LA58-7QFQf
If the link doesn't work just search "Idaho rails to trails Milwaukee road land grants" and the report should come up.
From the link so kindly provided on page 11, "Valuation Section1 (VS#1) is the portion from the Montana state line west of Portal, MT to the Idaho state line west of Mowry, Idaho. The section (VS#1) is listed in written records as including 464.9 acres of federally granted ROW. As this segment is approximately 90 miles long with a 100 ROW, it consists of approximately 1, 000 acres. Since the federally granted ROW consists of only 464.9 acres, we know only about half of this route was federally granted."
I would just simply suggest half is not all.
It certainly was not half the sections 10 miles on either side of the row either, to be specific; 90 miles x 10 miles with is an area of 900 square miles, at 640 acres per square mile around 576,000 acres. 464.9 acres is not that much - not even a section of land or square mile.
Yes, Uncle Sam's land grants made the Milwaukee Road RR rich, nope........