Most of the land granted for these purposes went for irrigation ditches.
Earlier, on June 2, 1873, the Legislature allowed four sections of land for each mile of the Trinity River that was cleared of snags and sand bars.
Industry
Another improvement encouraged by the State was the use of more efficient machinery for the preparation of iron from ore, the conversion of cotton or wool into thread, or paper. An Act of December 15, 1863, provided that any person or corporation installing improved equipment by March 1, 1865, would be granted 320 acres of land for each $1000 worth of machinery.
Shortages arising out of the Civil War undoubtedly compelled this legislation. Southern States had been cut off from northern and European manufactures and took this, among other, means of encouraging Southerners to establish their own industry.
One of the few companies that took advantage of this legislation was the Waco Manufacturing Company, which received 58 certificates for 320 acres each on January 6, 1873, and which later claimed and received the land to which they were entitled.
Highways
The Republic was interested in highway building as early as 1844. On February 5 of that year the Legislature provided for the construction of “The Central National Road of the Republic of Texas”, later called the Kiamisha Road. The legislative body decreed that the cost of the road should not exceed 160 acres of land for each mile constructed.
The road was to stretch from near the mouth of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River to the Red River opposite the mouth of Kiamisha Creek, from which the road took its name. The highway was to be at least 30-feet wide, and all bridges were to be at least 15-feet wide.
The Kiamisha Road was never built.