Introduction
The Federal government promoted development in the Northwest Pacific area by chartering the railroad companies and granting them land grants. There were sixty railroads that received various land grants from the government. The land given by the government was over 130 thousand acres. The cost of building the railroad varied from $ 21,000 to $ 30,000 (Raugust, 2009). For each mile of land that the company received they would sell on cash or credit. This sale would therefore finance the construction of the railway. The companies would therefore own the land at no cost and sell it to finance ...
