The late Paul Wallace Gates was John Stambaugh Professor Emeritus of History at Cornell University. He was the author of books including The Illinois Central Railroad and Its Colonization Work and The History of Public Land Law Development.

Preface
Preface to the Second Edition1. Land Policy and the Agricultural-College Act
2. The States Dispose of Their Land Scrip
3. Ezra Cornell Founds a University
4. Hazards of Land Speculation in Wisconsin
5. Cornell Acquires Wisconsin Pine Lands
6. The Pine-Land Ring
7. The Chippewa Lumber Industry
8. Tax Warfare
9. Cornell against the Railroad Lobby
10. Sales of Pine Land
ConclusionBibliography
Index