The only explanation of why these inaccessible pieces of land I can find [0] fails to explain why they were created this way. Does anyone know? Apparently to e

The only explanation of why these inaccessible pieces of land I can find [0] fails to explain why they were created this way. Does anyone know? Apparently to encourage railways railway builders were given every other square mile of land on each side of the railway. But that should only create 2 "rows" of checkers, each accessible either from above or below. The only way to create a full checkerboard would be to build multiple railways, in parallel, only 2 miles apart. I cannot believe people did that, so what am I missing here? [0]. https://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/public-lands-locked-up https://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/public-lands-locked-up