Having toured the state for several months, Gleason was one of the first post-war visitors to realize the great potential for business. He rented a schooner and moved his family to the old military post, Fort Dallas, in 1866 (near present-day Miami). This was a time of great transition in Florida. Gleason sought investment land under control of the state's Trustee's of the Internal Improvement Fund and proposed to ditch and drain land in exchange for bargain rates on nearby real estate. The board originated in Congress with the 1850 Internal Improvement Act that granted certain swamp and overflow lands to the states. Florida received millions of acres, and not all was swamp. The mission of the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund was to work with private companies to improve the state. Developers like Gleason were allowed to purchase of state land for $40 in consideration for every of ditching completed. This amounted to just over six cents per acre and provided an 800% return on investment if the land could be resold at fifty cents per acre.