By the President:
EDW. BATES,
_Attorney-General_.
Whereas by the twelfth section of an act of Congress entitled "An act
to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the
Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the
use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes," approved July
1, 1862, it is made the duty of the President of the United States to
determine the uniform width of the track of the entire line of the said
railroad and the branches of the same; and
Whereas application has been made to me by the Leavenworth, Pawnee and
Western Railroad Company, a company authorized by the act of Congress
above mentioned to construct a branch of said railroad, to fix the gauge
thereof:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of
America, do determine that the uniform width of the track of said
railroad and all its branches which are provided for in the aforesaid
act of Congress shall be 5 feet, and that this order be filed in the
office of the Secretary of the Interior for the information and guidance
of all concerned.
Done at the city of Washington, this 21st day of January, A.D. 1863.