instead of popping off about things you dont know entirely about, you should read the book. it is very well documented. congress was in the railroads' pockets. corruption existed then, just as it does now. cronyism, congress/politicians holding stock or interest in large corporations that benefit from congressional grants and contracts, guess what this doesnt just happen in other countries. you should reserve judgement until you have read the book and looked at the references and bibliography. it's all there.

the checkerboard pattern of clearcuts in the west has been disastrous for forest management and we are still trying to clean up the mess. but all that land shouldnt have ended up in plum creek's, weyerhauser's (etc) hands to begin with. it only happened because the law was broken.

FACTS.