It has to do with the way the federal government granted land to the railroads to incentivize them to lay track. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboarding_

It has to do with the way the federal government granted land to the railroads to incentivize them to lay track. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboarding_(land) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboarding_(land)