Railroad Company v. Smith

Messrs. James Carr and W. P. Hall, for the plaintiff in error; Mr. Drake, contra. The grants of lands by Congress to the States in aid of railroads have generally been made with reference to the lands through which the roads were to pass, and, as the line of the road had to be located after the grant was made, it has been usual in the acts making the grant, to describe them as alternate sections of odd numbers within a certain limit on each side of the road, when it should be located.