I found this old booklet about the railroad expansion into the west and the 100 plus million acres given to the railroads by the US Govt from the 1850s to the 1910s. It's quite possibly the only copy existing, and it is thoroughly and conclusively analytical as to why it was a good deal for the US govt, and the citizens

it totals 2 dozen pages, and I've buried the whole thing in the archives, out of the way, but complete if you actually want to take about a half hour to read it, or print yourself a copy

it was an incredibly impressive condensed analysis of 30 books about what the railroads were given, and what the govt got in return, and there probably will never be another like it, as the books it's based on are likely to be impossible to find now or in the future.

anyway, summed up, the govt gave away on average, 10 percent of the west, and in Washington they gave away nearly 25 percent of the state. (in the historical context, the wild west was the middle of the country, the states between North Dakota and Texas, and the states just West of the Mississippi)

in return the country was opened up, troops were moved, pioneers went west and stated populating and farming the states, and troops were moved 66 percent cheaper than stage coaches.

just one example of nation building by smart statesmen, mostly in Lincoln's presidency, and unlikely to ever be duplicated by our current greedy corrupt politicians