A FACSIMILE CADASTRAL MAP, "Deaf Smith, General Land Office, Feb. 10th, 1880," EARLY 20TH CENTURY, lithograph on pale pink paper after the original, showing the "Capitol Land Reservation," area, identifying Gregg Co. School Lands, in the north appears plots designated to Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad and the somewhat curious and abandoned G.B. & C.N.G. Railroad. 20 3/4" x 25" Note: "The various governments of Texas have a long history of utilizing land to entice settlers and soldiers, pay debts, and promote commercial interests in the absence of cash wealth...The Republic of Texas continued this practice while also paying the soldiers who fought for independence with land. The state of Texas crucially retained its public lands upon annexation. Railroad companies were rewarded with millions of acres for building the iron and steel infrastructure that connected Texas to the rest of the United States. This map documents one of the last land programs of this nature — the financing of the State Capitol in Austin with public lands...On November 20, 1875, an ordinance was passed stating, “Three million acres of the public domain are hereby appropriated and set apart for the purpose of erecting a new state Capitol.” An additional 50,000 acres were appropriated to provide a fund to pay for surveying said land. In 1879, the Legislature funded the surveying of the land, which was finished in 1880." Special thank you to the Texas General Land office. Reference article: "Map of the Capitol Land Reservation," Save Texas History Articles from the Texas General Land Office Save Texas History Program, published June 3, 2019. Provenance: Property from a Corporate Collection, Houston, Texas. Property from a Corporate Collection, Houston, Texas