lands of the United States could not obtain titles until after the Government surveys were made, and a land office established for the sale of the lands. Meanwhile, the pioneer settlers exercised the right of pre-emption; that is, they selected their lands, settled thereon, improved the same, and waited to enjoy the preference which the law gave them to purchase when the lands came into market.

THE PUBLIC SURVEYS.

The Government survey of the public lands in Lincoln County was taken about the year 1819, being mostly made by Col. Daniel M. Boone, a son of the famous hunter and adventurer, Daniel Boone, formerly of Kentucky. A land office was established at St. Louis, and afterward it was moved to Palmyra. As soon as the land office was established, the settlers who had pre-empted their lands hastened thereto and formally entered them, paid the Government price, $1.25 per acre, and received patent deeds for the same. The Spanish grants, as may be seen by reference to the county map, were never surveyed with any regard to east and west or north and south lines. They were governed by the irregular shape in which the best lands were found, and also by the course of the streams. The rectangular system formulated and adopted by the United States for surveying the public lands was not then in use, especially not by the Spaniards, under whose government the grants were made. When the surveys were made by the United States surveyors, the Spanish grants or surveys had to be regarded, and could not be interfered with. Consequently, when the line of a Government survey struck the line of one of these former surveys or grants, it had to close thereon, and be extended from the opposite side of the survey.

PRINCIPAL MERIDIANS.

The first principal meridian governing the surveys of public lands according to the rectangular system, whereby the lands are surveyed into townships, ranges and sections, is the State line between the States of Ohio and Indiana. The second principal meridian runs through the central part of Indiana, a few miles west of the city of Indianapolis. The third principal meridian runs through the central part of Illinois, about eight

miles west of the city of Bloomington. The fourth principal meridian lies in the western part of Illinois, and extends from the Illinois River, near Beardstown, north to the Mississippi, on which it closes. The fifth principal meridian lies in the eastern parts of the States of Arkansas and Missouri, and passes through the center of Lincoln County, Mo., a little over a mile east of Troy, and closes on the Mississippi a few miles above Clarksville, in Pike County. Hence the lands in this county were in ranges both east and west. Other principal meridians governing the public surveys lie west of this State and number consecutively.

BASE LINES.

The base lines are run across the meridian at right angles in the southern part of the territory to be surveyed from them; thus the base line which governs the surveys in connection with the fifth principal meridian lies in the State of Arkansas, 126 miles south of the southern boundary of Missouri, and 282 miles south of the extreme southern boundary of Lincoln County. The last mentioned base and meridian lines govern the public surveys in both Arkansas and Missouri.

PUBLIC LANDS.

The public lands have been classified under the heads of Congress lands, school lands, swamp and overflowed lands, etc.

The first covers the great bulk of lands sold and conveyed by the general Government, through its land offices, to individual purchasers. The second consists of the sixteenth section (or its equivalent) in each congressional township throughout the State, all of which was donated by Congress to the State for educational purposes. (Further mention of the school lands is made in connection with the public schools.) An act of Congress passed September 28, 1850, to enable all the States of the Union to construct the necessary drains and levees to reclaim the swamp and overflowed lands therein, made unfit thereby for cultivation, and which remained unsold at the passage of the act, granted all lands belonging to that class to the respective States in which they were situated. The act also provided that these lands should be selected and conveyed to the several States by the Secretary

of the Interior, and that the proceeds from the sale of the lands should be applied exclusively, as far as necessary, to reclaim them by means of levees and drains. In making the selection of the swamp and overflowed lands in Missouri, it seems that the people or the authorities of Lincoln County, whose business it was to look after her interest, thought the county contained no lands coming under that head. It was supposed that the act only applied to swamp lands, and not to other land subject to occasional overflow. In consequence of this strict construction of the law, and neglect of the proper officers to attend to the business, no swamp or overflowed lands were ever selected in Lincoln County. It is true that the Spanish grants covered a large percentage of this class of lands, but it is also true that there are thousands of acres of land in the county, such as the lands subject to overflow along the Cuivre and other streams, that were not covered with the Spanish grants, all of which might have been selected under the Swamp Land Act. These lands, after being selected and conveyed to the State, were transferred by the State to the counties, with instructions to the county court to appoint a swamp land commissioner to carry out the congressional act in regard to reclaiming the lands, with the additional proviso that whatever surplus of funds remained after the necessary levees and drains were constructed, should be appropriated at the option of the county court for other purposes, or made to constitute a permanent school fund. But as stated, Lincoln County acquired none of its swamps or overflowed lands, and consequently obtained no funds from that source.

The failure seems to have been the result of neglect, as evidenced by an order made by the county court, September 2, 1871, of which the following is a copy: "The Court appoints Eugene N. Bonfils agent for Lincoln County, Mo., to make an investigation into any interest which said county may have in any swamp or overflowed lands within said county, and take such steps as may be necessary to protect the interest of the county, and to ascertain and report to the Court what swamp or overflowed lands are within said county, or any proceeds thereof, to which the county might be entitled by reason of either State or National legislation.'

The record does not show that Mr. Bonfils made any report of his investigation. It is presumed, however, that he made an oral report that the "day of grace had been sinned away," in accordance with the facts previously stated. It is proper to

state here that Col. Thomas G. Hutt is entitled to the credit of calling the attention of the county court to this matter, he then representing the county in the State Legislature. Many counties in Missouri derived over $10,000 permanent school fund from the sale of swamp and overflowed lands.

RAILROADS.

The St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad was completed through Lincoln County in 1879. It enters the county from the south at Old Monroe, on the Cuivre River, and runs thence in a northerly direction, along and at the foot of the bluffs on the west side of the Mississippi bottoms, and at an average distance from the river of about three miles, and leaves the county at a point about one and a half miles east of the northwest corner of Township 51 north, Range 2 east. Its length within the county is 20.88 miles. It is valued for taxation at $148,483.

The St. Louis & Hannibal Railroad was finished through Lincoln County in May, 1882, and the first great excursion from Troy was to Sells Brothers' show at Hannibal, May 2-round trip $2. It enters the county from the south, near the mouth of Big Creek, and runs up the valley of the Cuivre in a northwesterly direction to the town of Silex, and there it leaves the valley, and bears northeastwardly, and leaves the county near the center of the north line of Township 51 north, Range 1 west. It has many curves occasioned by the hilly surface of the country through which it passes, and its length within the county is 33.04 miles. It is assessed for taxation at $136,883. The combined length of these two railroads is 53.92 miles, and their combined assessed value is $285,366. According to the present tax levies these two railroads will pay in the County of Lincoln for the year 1888 about $5,400 in taxes, and thus help the people, in a measure, to liquidate their bonded indebtedness. Of course the tax will be for all purposes. Along these railroads and elsewhere in the

county, the Western Union Telegraph Company has eighty-five miles of its line, which is assessed for taxation at $7,500.

RAILROAD BONDS.

On the 21st day of December, 1866, the county court (then being composed of Justices Milton L. Lovell, Samuel T. Ingram and James Willson), upon petition of numerous citizens of the county, made an order appropriating $100,000 for the purpose of taking stock in the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad, provided that it be located within one-half mile of the courthouse in Troy. At the same time Maj. Alex. H. Martin was appointed agent for the county, to confer with the directors of the railroad company in securing the location of their road, and to order the bonds of the county, bearing interest not to exceed 6 per cent., to be issued at such times and in such sums as he might think proper, and to sell the same to the best advantage of the county, and, in general, to do and perform all necessary things for the interest of the county in the premises. This order, upon the petition of a large number of citizens, filed January 7, 1867, was afterward rescinded.

On the 13th day of August, 1868, the county court, then being composed of Justices M. L. Lovell, S. R. Moxley and S. T. Ingram, ordered that Lincoln County subscribe $300,000 to the capital stock of the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad Company, and that county bonds for that amount should be issued. The bonds were to run ten years from the date of issue, at the rate of 10 per cent per annum, the interest to be paid semi-annually. This subscription was made on the condition that the railroad should commence on the North Missouri Railroad, at or near Dardenne, thence to cross the Cuivre at or near Chain of Rocks, and thence to re-cross the Cuivre at or near Moscow, and pass up the west side of the river within one-half of a mile from the courthouse in Troy, and thence northwardly, passing near Auburn, or between Auburn and New Hope, on the most eligible ground to the Pike County line. And for the purpose of carrying this order into effect, the Court again appointed Maj. A. H. Martin as agent for the county, with like powers as were given him on his former appointment. By order of the court, this appro