Near Anamosa, Jones County.

The Fifteenth Generaly Assembly, in 1874, passed "An act to provide for the appointment of a Board of Fish Commissioners for the construction of Fishways for the protection and propagation of Fish," also, ":an act to provide for furnishing the rivers and lakes with fish and fish spawn." this act appropriated $3,000 for the purpose. In accordance with the provisions of the first act above mentioned, on the 9th of April, 1874, S.B. Evans of Ottumwa, Wapello County; B.F. Shaw of Jones County, and Charles A. Haines, of Black Hawk County, were appointed to be Fish Commissioners by the Governor. These Commissioners met at Des Moines, May 10, 1874, and organized by the election of Mr. Evans, President; Mr. Shaw, Secretary and Superintendent, and Mr. Haines, Treasurer.

The State was partitioned into three districts or divisions to enable the Commissioners to better superintend the construction of fishways as required by law. At this meeting, the Superintendent was authorized to build a State Hatching House; to procure the spawn of valuable fish adapted to the waters of Iowa; hatch and prepare the young fish for distribution, and assist in putting them into the waters of the State.

In compliance with these instructions, Mr. Shaw at once commenced work, and in the summer of 1874, erected a "State Hatching House" near Anamosa, 20x40 feet, two stories; the second story being designed for a tenement; the first story being the "hatching room." The hatching troughs are supplied with water from a magnificent spring, four feet deep and about ten feet in diameter, affording an abundant and unfaiing supply of pure running water. During the first year, from May 10, 1874, to May 10, 1875, the Commissioners distributed within the State 100,000 Shad, 300,000 California Salmon, 10,000 Bass, 80,000 Penobscot (Maine) Salmon, 5,000 land-locked Salmon, 20,000 of other species.

By act approved March 10, 1876, the law was amended so that there should be one instead of three Fish Commissioners, and B.F. Shaw was appointed, and the Commissioner was authorized to purchase twenty acres of land, on which the State Hatching House was located near Anamosa.

In the fall of 1876, Commissioner Shaw gathered from the sloughs of the Mississippi, where they would have been destroyed, over a million and a half of small fish, which were distributed in the various rivers of the State and turned into the Mississippi.

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In 1875-6, 533,000 California Salmon, and in 1877, 303,500 Lake Trout were distributed in various rivers and lakes in the State. The experiment of stocking the small streams with brook trout is being tried, and 81,000 of the speckled beauties were distributed in 1877. In 1876, 100,000 young eels were distributed. These came from New York, and they are increasing rapidly.

A.A. Moser, of Spirit Lake, was appointed Assistant Fish Commissioner, by the Governor, under Chapter 156, Laws of 1880.

THE PUBLIC LANDS

The grants of public lands made in the State of Iowa, for various purposes, are as follows:

1. The 500,000 Acre Grant
2. The 16th Section Grant
3. The Mortgage School Lands
4. The University Grant
5. The Des Moines River Grant
6. The Des Moines River School Lands.
7. The Swamp Land Grant
8. The Railroad Grant
9. The Agricultural College Grant

I. THE FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND ACRE GRANT

When the State was admitted into the Union, she became entitled to 500,000 acres of land by virtue of an act of Congress, approved September 4, 1841, which granted to each State therein specified 500,000 acres of public land for internal improvements; to each State admitted subsequently to the passage of the act, and amount of land which, with the amount that might have been granted to her as a Territory, would amount to 500,000 acres. All these lands were required to be selected within the limits of the State to which they were granted.

The Constitution of Iowa declares that the proceeds of this grant, together with all lands then granted or to be granted by Congress for the benefit of schools, shall constitute a perpetual fund for the support of schools throughout the State. By an act approved January 15, 1849, the Legislature established a Board of School Fund Commissioners, and to that Board was confided the selection, care and sale of these lands for the benefit of the School Fund. Until 1855, these Commissioners were subordinate to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, but on the 15th of January of that year, they were clothed with exclusive authority in the management and sale of school lands. The office of School Fund Commissioner was abolished March 23, 1858, and that officer in each county was required to transfer all papers to and make full settlement with the County Judge. By this act, County Judges and Township Trustees were made the agents of the State to control and sell the sixteenth

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sections; but no further provision was made for the sale of the 500,000 acre grant until April 3d, 1860, when the entire management of the school lands was committed to the Boards of Supervisors of the several counties.

II. THE SIXTEENTH SECTIONS.

By the provisions of the act of Congress admitting Iowa to the Union, there was granted to the new State the sixteenth section in every township, or where that section had been sold, other lands of like amount for the use of schools. The Constitution of the State provides that the proceeds arising from the sale of these sections shall constitute a part of the permanent school fund. The control and sale of these lands were vested in the School Fund Commissioners of the several counties until March 23, 1858, when they were transferred to the County Judges and Township Trustees, and were finally placed under the supervision of the County Boards of Supervisors in January, 1861.

III. THE MORTGAGE SCHOOL LANDS.

These do not belong to any of the grants of land proper. They are lands that have been mortgaged to the school fund, and became school lands when bid off by the State by virtue of a law passed in 1862. Under the provisions of the law regulating the management and investment of the permanent school fund, persons desiring loans from that fund are required to secure the payment thereof with interest at ten per cent. per annum, by promissory notes endorsed by two good sureties and by mortgage on unincumbered real estate, which must be valued by three appraisers. Making these loans and taking the required securities was made the duty of County Auditor, who was required to report to the Board of Supervisors at each meeting thereof, all notes, mortgages and abstracts of title connected with the school fund, for examination.

When default was made of payment of money so secured by mortgage, and no arrangement made for extension of time as the law provides, the Board of Supervisors were authorized to bring suit and prosecute it with diligence to secure said fund; and in action in favor of the county for the use of the school fund, and injunction may issue without bonds, and in any such action, when service is made by publication, default and judgment may be entered and enforced without bonds. In case of sale of land on execution founded on any such mortgage, the attorney of the board, or other person duly authorized, shall, on behalf of the State or county for the use of said fund, bid such sum as the interests of said fund may require, and if struck off to the State the land shall be held and disposed of as the other lands belonging to the fund.

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these lands are known as the Mortgage School Lands, and reports of them, including description and amount, are required to be made to the State Land Office.

IV. UNIVERSITY LANDS.

By act of Congress, July 20, 1840, a quantity of land, not exceeding two entire townships, was reserved in the Territory of Iowa for the use and support of a university within said Territory when it should become as State. This land was to be located in tracts of not less than an entire section, and could be used for no other purpose than that designated in the grant. In an act supplemental to that for the admission of Iowa, March 3, 1845, the grant was renewed, and it was provided that the lands should be used "solely for the purpose of such university, in such manner as the Legislature may prescribe."

Under this grant there were set apart and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, for the use of the State, the following lands.

	Acres
In the Iowa City Land District, Feb. 29, 1849	20,150.49
In the Fairfield Land District, Oct. 17, 1849	9,685.20
In the Iowa City Land District, Jan. 28, 1850	2,571.81
In the Fairfield Land District, Sept. 10, 1850	3,198.20
In the Dubuque Land District, May 19, 1852	10,552.24
	________
Total	45,957.94

These lands were certified to the State November 19, 1859. the University lands are placed by law under the control and management of the Board of Trustees of the Iowa State University. Prior to 1865, there had been selected and located under 282 patents, 22,892 acres in sixteen counties and 23,036 acres unpatented, making a total of 45,928 acres.

V. SALINE LANDS.

By act of Congress , approved March 3, 1845, the State of Iowa was granted the use of the salt springs within her limits, not exceeding twelve. By a subsequent act, approved May 27, 1852, Congress granted the springs to the State in fee simple, together with six sections of land contiguous to each, to be disposed of as the Legislature might direct. In 1861, the proceeds of these lands then to be sold were constitutued [constituted] a fund for founding and supporting a lunatic asylum, but no sales were made. In 1856, the proceeds of the saline lands were appropriated to the Insane Asylum, repealed in 1858. In 1860, the saline lands and funds were made a part of the permanent fund of the State University. These lands were located in Appanoose, Davis, Decatur, Lucas, Monroe, Van Buren, and Wayne counties.

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VI. THE DESMOINES RIVER GRANT.

By act of congress, approved August 8, 1846, a grant of land was made for the improvement of the navigation of Des Moines River as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be, and hereby is, granted to said Territory of Iowa, for the purpose of aiding said Territory to improve the navigation of the Des Moines River from its mouth to the Raccoon Fork (so called) in said Territory, one equal moiety, in alternate sections, of the public lands (remaining unsold and not otherwise disposed of, incumbered or appropriated), in a strip five miles in width on each side of said river, to be selected within said Territory by an agent or agents to be appointed by the Governor thereof, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, that the lands hereby granted shall not be conveyed or disposed of by said Territory, nor by any State to be formed out of the same, except as said improvement shall progress; that is, the said Territory or State may sell so much of said lands as shall produce the sum of thirty thousand dollars, and then the sales shall cease until the Governor of said Territory or State shall certify the fact to the President of the United States that one-half of said sum has been expended upon said improvements, when the said Territory or State may sell and convey a quantity of the residue of said lands sufficient to replace the amount expended, and thus the sales shall progress as the proceeds thereof shall be expended, and the fact of such expenditure shall be certified as aforesaid.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said River Des Moines shall be and forever remain a public highway for the use of the Government of the United States, free from any toll or other charge whatever, for any property of the United States or persons in their service passing through or along the same; Provide always, that it shall not be competent for the said Territory or future State of Iowa, to dispose of said lands, or any of them, at a price lower than, for the time being, shall be the minimum price of other public lands.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That whenever the Territory of Iowa shall be admitted into the Union as a State, the lands hereby granted for the above purpose shall be and become the property of said State for th purpose contemplated in this act and for no other: Provided, the Legislature of the State of Iowa, shall accept the said grant for the said purpose." Approved August 8, 1846.

By joint resolution of the General Assembly of Iowa, approved January 9, 1847, the grant was accepted for the purpose specified. By another act, approved February 24, 1847, entitled "An act creating the Board of Public Works, and providing for the improvement of the Des Moines River," the Legislature provided for a Board consisting of a President, Secretary and Treasurer, to be elected by the people. This Board was elected August 2, 1847, and was organized on the 22d of September following. The same act defined the nature of the improvement to be made, and provided that the work should be paid for from the funds to be derived from the sale of lands to be sold by the Board.

Agents appointed by the Governor selected the sections designated by "odd numbers" throughout the whole extent of the grant, and this selection was approved by the Secretary of the Treasury. But there was a conflict of opinion as to the extent of

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the grant. It was held by some that it extended from the mouth of the Des Moines River only to the Raccoon Forks; others held, as the agents to make selection evidently did, that it extended from the mouth to the headwaters of the river. Richard M. Young, Commissioner of the General Land Office, on the 23d of February, 1848, construed the grant to mean that " the State is entitled to the alternate sections within five mile of the Des Moines River, throughout the whole extent of that river within the limits of Iowa." Under this construction the alternate sections above the Raccoon Forks would, of course, belong to the State; but on the 19th of June, 1848, some of these lands were, by proclamation, thrown into market. On the 18th of September, the Board of Public Works filed a remonstrance with the Commissioner of the General Land Office. the Board also sent in a protest to the State Land Office, at which the sale was ordered to take place. On the 8th of January, 1849, the Senators and Representatives in Congress from Iowa also protested against the sale, in a communication to Hon. Robert J. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury, to which the Secretary replied, concurring in the opinion that the grant extended the whole length of the Des Moines River in Iowa.

On the 1st of June, 1849, the Commissioner of the General Land Office directed the Register and Receiver of the Land Office at Iowa City "to withhold from sale all lands situated in the odd numbered sections within five miles on each side of the Des Moines river, above the Raccoon Forks." March 13, 1850, the Commissioner of the General Land Office submitted to the Secretary of the Interior a list "showing the tracts falling within the limits of the Des Moines River grant, above the Raccoon Forks, etc., under the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury, of March 2, 1848," and on the 6th of April following, Mr. Ewing, then Secretary of the Interior, reversed the decision of Secretary Walker, but ordered the lands to be withheld from sale until Congress could have an opportunity to pass and explanatory act. The Iowa authorities appealed from this decision to the President (Taylor), who referred the matter to the Attorney General (Mr. Johnson). On the 19th of July, Mr. Johnson submitted as his opinion, that by the terms of the grant itself, it extended to the very source of the Des Moines, but before his opinion was published President Taylor died. When Mr. Tyler's cabinet was formed, the question was submitted to the new Attorney General (Mr. Crittenden), who, on the 30th of June, 1851, reported that in his opinion the grant did not extend above the Raccoon Forks. Mr. Stewart, Secretary of the Interior, concurred with Mr. Crittenden at first, but subsequently consented to lay the whole subject before the President and Cabinet, who decided in favor of the State.

October 29, 1851, Mr. Stewart directed the Commissioner of the General Land Office to "submit for his approval such lists as had

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been prepared, and to proceed to report for like approval lists of the alternate sections claimed by the State of Iowa above the Raccoon Forks, as far as the surveys have progressed, or may hereafter be completed and returned." And on the following day, three lists of these lands were prepared in the General Land Office.

The lands approved and certified to the State of Iowa under this grant, and all lying above the Raccoon Forks, are as follows:

By Secretary Stewart, Oct. 30, 1851	81,707.93 acres.
March 10, 1852	143,980.37 "
By Secretary McLellan, Dec. 17, 1853	33,142.43 "
Dec. 30, 1853	12,813.51 "
	_______
Total	271,572.24 acres

The Commissioners and Register of the Des Moines River Improvement, in their report to the Governor, November 30, 1852, estimate the total amount of lands then available for the work, including those in possession of the State and those to be surveyed and approved, at nearly a million acres. The indebtedness then standing against the fund was about $108,000, and the Commissioners estimated the work to be done would cost about $1,200,000.

January 19, 1853, the Legislature authorized the Commissioners to sell "any or all the lands which have or may hereafter be granted, for not less than $1,300,000."

On the 24th of January, 1853, the General Assembly provided for the election of a Commissioner by the people, and appointed two Assistant Commissioners, with authority to make a contract, selling the lands of the Improvement for $1,300,000. this new board made a contract, June 9, 1855, with the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company, agreeing to sell all the lands donated to the State by Act of Congress of August 8, 1846, which the State had not sold prior to December 23, 1853, for $1,300,000, to be expended on the improvement of the river, and in paying the indebtedness then due. This contract was duly reported to the Governor and General Assembly.

By an act approved January 25, 1855, the Commissioner and Register of the Des Moines River Improvement were authorized to negotiate with the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company for the purchase of lands in Webster County, which had been sold by the School Fund Commissioner as school lands, but which had been certified to the State as Des Moines River lands, and had, therefore, become the property of the Company, under the provisions of its contract with the State.

March 21, 1856, the old question of the extent of the grant was again raised, and the Commissioner of the General Land Office decided that it was limited to the Raccoon Fork. Appeal was made to the Secretary of the Interior, and by him the matter was referred to the Attorney General, who decided that the grant extended

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to the northern boundary of the State; the State relinquished its claim to the lands lying along the river in Minnesota, and the vexed question was supposed to be finally settled.

the land which had been certified, as well as those extending to the northern boundary within the limits of the grant, were reserved from pre-emption and sale by the General Land Commissioner, to satisfy the grant of August 8, 1846, and they were treated as having passed to the State, which from time to time sold portions of them prior to their final transfer to the Des Moines Navigation & railroad Company, applying the proceeds thereof to the improvement of the river in compliance with the terms of the grant. Prior to the final sale to the Company, June 9, 1854, the State had sold about 327,000 acres, of which amount 58,830 acres were located above the Raccoon Fork. The last certificate of the General Land Office bears date December 30, 1853.

After June 9th, 1854, the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company carried on the work under its contract with the State. As the improvement progressed, the State, from time to time, by its authorized officers, issued to the Company, in payment for said work, certificates for lands. But the General Land Office ceased to certify lands under the grant of 1846. The State had made no other provision for paying for the improvements, and disagreements and misunderstanding arose between the State authorities and the Company.

March 22, 1858, a joint resolution was passed by the Legislature submitting a proposition for final settlement to the Company, which was accepted. The Company paid to the State $20,000 in cash, and released and conveyed the dredge boat and materials named in the resolution; and the State, on the 3d day of May, 1858, executed to the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company fourteen deeds or patents to the lands, amounting to 256,703.64 acres. These deeds were intended to convey all the lands of this grant certified to the State by the General Government not previously sold, but, as if for the purpose of covering any tract or parcel that might have been omitted, the State made another deed of conveyance on the 18th day of May, 1858. these fifteen deeds, it is claimed, by the Company, convey 266,108 acres, of which about 53,367 are below the Raccoon Fork, and the balance, 21,741 acres, are above that point.

Besides the lands deeded to the Company, the State had deeded to individual purchasers 58,830 acres above the Raccoon Fork, making an aggregate of 271, 571 acres, deeded above the Fork, all of which had been certified to the State by the Federal Government.

By act approved March 28, 1858, the Legislature donated the remainder of the grant to the Keokuk, Fort Des Moines, & Minnesota Railroad Company, upon condition that said Company assumed operations, reserving 50,000 acres of the land in security for the

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payment thereof, and for the completion of the locks and dams at Bentonsport, Croton, Keosququa and Plymouth. For every three thousand dollars' worth of work done on the locks and dams, and for every three thousand dollars paid by the Company of the liabilities above mentioned, the Register of the State Land Office was instructed to certify to the Company 1,000 acres of the 50,000 acres reserved for these purposes. Up to 1865, there had been presented by the Company, under the provisions of the act of 1858, and allowed, claims amounting to $109,579.37, about seventy-five per cent. of which had been settled.

After the passage of the Act above noticed, the question of the extent of the original grant was again mooted, and at the December Term of the Supreme Court of the United States, in 1859-60, a decision was rendered declaring that the grant did not extend above Raccoon Fork, and that all certificates of land above the Fork had been issued without authority of law and were, therefore void (see 32 How., 66).

The State of Iowa had disposed of a large amount of land without authority, according to this decision, and appeal was made to Congress for relief, which was grated on the 3d day of March, 1861, in a joint resolution relinquishing to the State all the title which the United States then still retained in the tracts of land along the Des Moines River above the Raccoon Fork, that had been improperly certified to the State by the Department of the Interior, and which is now held by bona fide purchasers under the State of Iowa.

In confirmation of this relinquishment, by act approved July 12, 1862, Congress enacted:

That the grant of lands to the then Territory of Iowa for the improvement of the Des Moines River, made by the act of August 8, 1846, is hereby extended so as include the alternate sections (designated by odd numbers) lying within five miles of said river, between the Raccoon Fork and the northern boundary of said State; such lands are to be held and applied in accordance with the provisions of the original grant, except that the consent of Congress is hereby given to the application of a portion thereof to aid in the construction of the Keokuk, Fort Des Moines & Minnesota RAilroad, in accordance with the provisions of the act of the General Assembly of the State of Iowa approved March 22, 1858. And if any of the said lands shall have been sold or otherwise disposed of by the United States before the passage of this act, except those released by the United States to the grantees of the State of Iowa, under joint resolution of March 3, 1861, the Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed to set apart an equal amount of lands within said State to be certified in lieu thereof: Provided, that if the State shall have sold and conveyed any portion of the lands lying within the limits of the grant the title of which has proved invalid, any lands which shall be certified to said State in lieu thereof by virtue of the provisions of this act, shall inure to and be held as a trust fund for the benefit of the person, or persons, respectively, whose titles shall have failed as aforesaid.

The grant of lands by the above act of Congress was accepted by a joint resolution of the General Assembly, Sept. 11,1862, in extra session. On the same day, the Governor was authorized to appoint one or more Commissioners to select the lands in accordance with the

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grant. These Commissioners were instructed to report their selections to the Registrar of the State Land Office. the lands so selected were to be disposed of until further legislation should be had. D.W. Kilburne, of Lee County, was appointed commissioner, and, on the 25th day of April, 1864, the General Land Officer authorized the selection of 300,000 acres from the vacant public lands as a part of the grant of July 12, 1862, and the selections were made in the Fort Dodge and Sioux City Land Districts.

Many difficulties, controversies and conflicts, in relation to claims and titles, grew out of this grant, and these difficulties were enhanced by the uncertainty of its limits until the act of Congress of July, 1862. But the General Assembly sought, by wise and appropriate legislation, to protect the integrity of titles derived from the State. especially was it the determination to protect the actual settlers, who had paid their money and made improvements prior to the final settlement of the limits of the grant by Congress.

VII.--The Des Moines River School Lands

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