Index to Abstracts of Lands, Colorado County, Texas, Colorado County Abstracts Collection (Ms. 43), Archives of the Nesbitt Memorial Library. As a condition of their grants, the railroads were required to survey additional tracts of land equal in size to those they were granted. These tracts, which were often referred to as the railroad's alternate tracts, were devoted to the support of the state's schools. The law by which these lands were offered for sale was passed on April 24, 1874. It called for the establishment of three-member commissions in each county to meet, when and if a prospective buyer came forth, and set a value on the land. The commission for Colorado County was established in March 1877 when the governor, acting on the recommendation of County Judge Jahu W. Johnson, named Rowan Green, John D. Gillmore, and Henry F. Dittmar to it. When a person purchased such land, the survey was designated with his or her name as though it had been obtained via a grant (see Hans Peter Nielsen Gammel, comp., The Laws of Texas 1822-1897 (Austin: The Gammel Book Company, 1898), vol. 8, pp. 144-148; Letter of Jahu W. Johnson, March 9, 1877, Letter of Jahu W. Johnson, March 16, 1877, Letter of Rowan Green, February 22, 1878, Governor's Papers (RG 301), Richard B. Hubbard, Archives and Records Division, Texas State Library, Austin).