The School Lands Fraud and Corvallis, Oregon
by Stephen A.D. Puter ("King of the Oregon Land Fraud Ring" - 1908)
Oregon was blessed at inception by receiving twice as much land from the federal government for school support as any other state. A thirty second of every preceding state had been set aside for schools upon admission. In Oregon, the figure was doubled, to one-sixteenth. Managed wisely, these lands could have provided generous school support until the end of Time. Instead, the state legislature (click here), catering to the whims of unscrupulous operators (see below and here) who partnered with timber companies (click here). Many ordinary people collaborated. As Puter points out, this collaboration could often be bought for the price of a beer from an exiled and lawless population whose Southern origins (click here) precluded a concern for children and education. By 1910, the legacy of Oregon kids was largely squandered, and usually for a pittance, by the adults charged with their care.
 |
| Above: Check from the 'Oregon Land Fraud Ring' to Oregon Senator Mitchell, later indicted. The immensely lucrative School Lands Fraud was a small part of the Oregon Land Fraud, which involved both Oregon Senators, a Congressman, several governors, a majority of the legislature,judges, county and city clerks, several US Land Commissioners and US attorneys, the Oregonian, as well as a substantial portion of the residents of Detroit, Sweet Home, Newport, Albany, and Corvallis - the latter including Alexander Brown. It was finally broken up by Assistant US Attorney Heney from San Francisco, and a grand jury drawn from wide parts of the state and which included W. H. Dilley of Corvallis. Today, the 'land swaps' engineered by Puter remain a source of abuse. See here. For Puter's story of the Land Fraud role in the Mt. Ranier National Park, see here. |
LOOTERS OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN BY S. A. D. PUTER KING OF THE OREGON LAND FRAUD
RING IN COLLABORATION WITH HORACE STEVENS LATE OF THE GOVERNMENT LAND SERVICE
EMBRACING A COMPLETE EXPOSURE OF THE FRAUDULENT SYSTEM OF ACQUIRING TITLES TO
THE PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED WITH SPLENDID
HALFTONE ENGRAVINGS AND ETCHINGS OF IMPORTANT INCI- DENTS CONNECTED WITH THE
DIFFERENT TRIALS, TOGETHER WITH THE LATEST PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE PRINCI- PAL ACTORS
IN THE GREAT LAND FRAUD DRAMA PORTLAND, OREGON, 1908 THE PORTLAND PRINTING HOUSE
PUBLISHERS
TO THE MEMORY OF DAVY CROCKETT ONE OF THE SAINTED HEROES OF THE ALAMO, WHO GAVE
VOICE TO THE IMMORTAL EXPRESSION FIRSTBE SURE YOURE RIGHT THEN GO AHEAD THIS
VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHORS
FROM the dismal recesses of a prison cell, S. A. D. Puter, the acknowledged
leader of the Oregon land-fraud ring, who was pardoned by the President,
December 31, 1907, after serving 17 months of a two-years sentence in the
Multnomah County jail for conspiracy to defraud the Government of its public
lands, has sent forth through these pages a series of narratives that is
reasonably certain to stimulate deliberate thought and give expression to
intelli- gent opinion in every quarter penetrated by the recitals. In them are
depicted conditions, the revelation of which ought to have a tendency to awaken
the law- makers of the country to the necessity for providing legal safeguards
against all such contingencies. Through this medium, courts may ultimately come
to per- ceive the importance for removing most of the rigid bars that now
operate as a protection to the criminal element, and permit the introduction of
apparently irrelevant lines of testimony that material evidence might be
fortified. The whole civilized world has a listening ear to the ground, trained
in the endeavor to catch some sound that will appeal to the harmonies of human
nature; that will operate to lighten the burdens of existence, and foster the
higher principles of life. The better elements of society are ever on the ~4ert
to gain new ideas that will aid in the development of these commendable
features, and I am convinced that this work, unclassic as it may seem at times
in expression, cannot fail to fulfill some hopeful expectation of that
character. I have collaborated throughout with Mr. Puter in the preparation of
the book, under very trying conditions, and together we have endeavored to
clothe the different narratives with some degree of human interest, commensurate
with a strict adherence to the element of fact. Furthermore, out of all the mass
of information bearing upon the subject that has been furnished me by the
author, I have selected only such portions that appealed to me as having an
important relationship to the whole fraudulent system, realizing full well the
utter impossibility of publishing in one volume even the meagre details of the
various transactions in which Mr. Puter has figured, covering a period of at
least a quarter of a century. It may be urged by some that the printing of such
a book, exposing, as it does, numerous human frailties, can accomplish no
genuine benefit to mankind, but I beg to take issue with all such criticism.
Several local clergymen, besides many others vitally interested in the problems
affecting racial advancement, have become deeply concerned in this publication,
and have urged me repeatedly to probe the ulcer to the bottom, upon the
hypothesis that the light of day would furnish ample remedy for any existing
social ill. We have therefore undertaken, without fear or favor, or the
exhibition of the slightest particle of rancor, to comply with this seemingly
spontaneous demand, and present herewith what we know to be the truth, let the
blows fall where they may. If they are productive of bleeding hearts, then it is
because those organs are of the same quality of weakness that distinguished a
failure to resist temptation. It was in the destiny of things that the extensive
land-frauds prevalent upon the Pacific Coast should have been exposed, just the
same as it is natural that any congestion shall finally be relieved. Great
floods may overflow a river s Page 7
Page 8
banks, but we realize that it is not an everlasting condition; epidemics may
devastate communities, though history shows their existence is short-lived, and
that nothing abnormal is ever eternal. Consequently, the problems incident to
the looting of the public domain were gradually working out their own solution,
and made palpably so by reason of the fact that the disciples of the wrong were
becoming so bold in their operations, and blazing such a well-defined trail,
that the conclusion to their rascalities was plainly inevitable. One of the most
significant of the many morals pointed by the different narratives in these
pages is the powerful emphasis to the old-fashioned creed that honesty is always
the best policy. Although Mr. Puter has gone very thoroughly into details
concerning numerous fraudulent land transactions, it does not appear that he
profited to any great extent by any of his crooked deals, and in most instances
whatever he made by these unlawful operations was con- sumed by expenses
incident to getting his bogus claims through the Land Department, or by the
adoption of desperate and costly efforts to cover up his tracks. The gross
proceeds of the notorious 11-7 deal aggregated but $10,080, all of which went to
pay the price of corruptive tactics, leaving him practically without a dollar to
face the criminal charge remaining as the only legacy of his wrong-doing.
Experience and philosophy teach us that there is a cause for every effect, and
the influences at work with sufficient vigor to impel men to risk life and
liberty in their efforts to wrongfully acquire Government lands, were not of a
character to reflect general discredit upon the citizenship of Oregon, merely
be- cause there were those within her borders base enough to permit greed and
graft and their love for Mammon to run amuck with principle. It is one of the
most remarkable features of the whole situation that while dishonesty was the
basis of these frauds, many of their perpetrators were punished upon the
threshold of their offenses, among their friends and neigh- bors, and by juries
composed for the most part of those who had been life-long associates of the
accused, and naturally entertained, sympathetic interest in their behalf, if
there was any sort of compassion one way or the other. It may be said, also, to
the everlasting credit of the manhood of Oregon, that there was no shirking of
duty when it came to a question of dealing out the full measure of justice to
the guilty. The eyes of humanity were fixed upon each person sitting in judgment
as a juror in the various cases, and the honorable part of the whole world
applauded every verdict returned. Rank cut no figure with them. All criminals
looked alike to Oregon juries. Thus, a United States Senator, a Congressman, two
former United States Attorneys, sev- eral members of the State Legislature, and
others of more or less political re- nown, were actually convicted, while
another Congressman, numerous personages in the millionaire class, and many
others of greater or less degree of prominence in the political, commercial and
social sides of life, have been indicted, and are now awaiting their fates with
chilling marrows. Further along I present a complete list of all the indictments
that have been returned up to the present time in connection with recent land
frauds by the Federal grand juries of Oregon, together with a brief synopsis of
the social status of each person implicated thereby. While it may seem
appalling, in a way, it is not without its morals, because it indicates more
plainly than words of mine can portray that Justice has stalked in blindfolded
fashion through the ranks of crime. Portland, more beautiful than Palmyra of
old, with a moral refinement and culture that shines with lustrous brilliancy in
the galaxy of Northwestern cities, and famed as the most healthy municipality of
the world in civic and climatic conditions, had no important share in these land
frauds, after all the aspersions that have been heaped upon her fair name.
Oregon, one of the grandest regions of the universe, whose light is fast
emerging from the bushel under which her charms have been so long hidden, does
not hive all the land rogues of creation by any means, and never reared Page 8
Page 9
within her borders the soul so base as to inspire this wholesale depredation;
and I hurl back in the teeth of those who have been foul enough to make the
charge, the contemptible reflection that has been cast upon her law-abiding
community. Practically all the arrangements for this immense plunder originated
among unscrupulous residents of distant partsin the ranks of the devout moneyed
aristocracy beyond the Rocky Mountains, and it has remained for the honest
manhood of Oregon to redeem the commonwealth from the stigma of dishonor that
has been written across its fair name by the polluted hands of Eastern
commercial greed. Careful analysis of the situation indicates that most of these
stupendous schemes of plunder were concocted in the cunning minds of those who
had made a life-study of the subject. Upon the States of Minnesota, Wisconsin
and Michigan rests the principal burden for this kind of offspring, because they
produced A JIM HILL, with his Rainier Mountain Forest Reserve steal of the
Northern Pacific; A WEYERHAEUSER, with his tainted timber wealth that has made
him Richer than Rockefeller; A THOMAS 13. WALKER, with his 500,000-acre grab of
the public domain in California and Oregon, and his celebrated art gallery in
Minneapolis, famed for its rare exhibit of $100 bills on the back of picture
frames as a kindly remembrance to needy Special Agents of the Land Department; A
C. A. SMITH, with his army of dummy entrymen, and his 100,000 acres of perjured
titles, which the Government ought to cancel. And a host of others who are
responsible for present conditions. They are the ones upon whom these crimes
should be fastened; they are the ones who have waxed fat in the grease of loot
at the expense of the rising generations of the Westwho, after committing their
base robberies, have attempted to affix its stain upon a proud-spirited people,
and then laughed in their sleeves at the discomfiture they have caused by the
lying insinuationand it was the kind of laughter that is heard in hell over the
loss of a soul. The records will show that these men have been engaged in like
pursuits as the immortal sea-rovers of olden times followed the Spanish
Mainsince the days when their own States were the banner lumber producing
districts of the country, and that the motives which prompted them to turn their
greedy eyes towards Pacific shores, were inspired by the same debasing
principles of pillage that actuated Alexander the Great in seeking new worlds to
conquer. Having exhausted the timber resources of the Middle West by their
wanton processes of destruction and waste, the virgin forests of the Pacific
Coast appealed to them as only purity can attract the elements of lust. The
question naturally arises: Why were such men as Thomas B. Walker and C. A. Smith
not prosecuted criminally for their plain and deliberate violations of the land
laws of this country, but permitted to go scot free when the records show that
they fraudulently acquired enough land from the Govern- ment to make Puters
efforts along those lines puny in comparison ? The answer is embodied in the
fact that both are millionaires, and because the United States Attorneys for
Oregon and California during 1902 and 1903 simply shut their eyes to their
duties. In consequence, the statute of limitations was permitted to run against
their offenses, but that does not hinder the Govern- ment from cancelling their
fraudulent claims, as six years from the date of issuance o.f patent is allowed
by law in which to begin such proceedings. On the Smith entries in Oregon, this
time will expire June 4, 1908, and if there is an honest Depaitment of Justice
in Washington, there is still ample opportunity for checking this immense steal.
The proofs of the frauds relative Page 9
Page 10
to much of the Smith lands are in evidence as Government exhibits at Portland,
Oregon, in the case of the United States against John H. Mitchell, and have been
there since June, 1905, and if no action is taken by the authorities in Wash-
ington to utilize this proof and save to the public this vast domain, then it is
high time that those responsible should be impeached in disgrace for their
perfidy. In the case of the Walker lands in Northern California and Southern
Oregon, embracing several hundred thousand acres of valuable timber, much was
located by process of dummy entrymen in 1902, but patents were not issued for
fully a year thereafter; so there is no excuse for allowing the period to go by
in which to proceed, as there is still fully a year left. That the Land
Department in Washington has winked at these frauds all along is a matter of
history. On November 9, 1902, the writer made a complete report to Lewis E.
Aubury, State Mineralogist of California, covering extensive investigations of
Walkers fraudulent timber land operations in the Susanville and Redding Land
Districts of California, and a synopsis of this report was not only published in
the San Francisco newspapers on November 12, 1902, and sent broadcast throughout
the country by the Associated Press, but complete copies of the report itself
were transmitted to the Interior Department and General Land Office, and are
still on file in those offices. ~In that report, fully fifty specific charges of
fraud were alleged, and yet, in the face of this evidence, Commissioner of the
General Land Office R. A. I3allinger, during his visit to the Pacific Coast in
the Summer of 1907, in the course of an interview in the San Francisco Examiner,
is quoted as declaring that his Department would make no effort to investigate
the Walker entries unless the California State Mining Bureau, or others equally
interested, should furnish the General Land Office with specific charges of
fraud! Just as if it i~ at all necessary for any State officer to call the
attention of a high Government official to matters affecting the public domain
of the United States !~ It is an episode of history that Nero fiddled while Rome
was burning, and it is self-evident that Commissioner I3allinger is a firm
disciple of the doctrine that there ought to be a repetition of history, whether
the people want it or not. At the door of avarice can be laid all the sins of
the land frauds, and this trait is responsible for the ultimate undoing of the
perpetrators. Had Mays, Jones or Kribs been liberal enough not to have allowed
avarice to blind them, and had come to Puters rescue with bonds after his
conviction in the 11-7 case, he would have been the last man on earth to have
exposed them, and it stands as an indelible record that Puters co-operation with
the Government was the key that unlocked the vaults of corruption, and furnished
the means by which United States Senator Mitchell, and others in high official
power, were made to suffer for their offenses. It was the narrow, selfish
natures of this trio that made them afraid of their souls, and caused them to
tighten their purse-strings when their old associate in crime pleaded with them
for the small boon of freedom. Ready to put up thousands or any unlimited amount
when it came to a question of bribery or the corruption of public officials,
they were too deeply impregnated with the germs of covetousness, too much the
slaves of greed, to chance the loss of a picayune, even though well aware that
by reason of their complicity in his fraudulent operations they were completely
at his mercy, and that their indiffer- ence to his fate was planting in his
breast those seeds of hate and revenge whose harvest must be their own dishonor
and downfall. Had Senator Mitchell refrained from making his unfortunate speech
in the United States Senate immediately after his first indictment, the
probabilities are that the full measure of his infamy would never have been
known, because what he said upon that memorable occasion amounted to a challenge
for Puter to do his worst, and I have no desire to rake up the dead past to show
what that all meant. Page 10
Page 11
It is idle for Eastern magazine writers of the slobbery variety to declare that
Puters so-called confessions were brought about by detective ability of the
sixth sense order. I am in a position to state authoritatively that he went to
Heney on his own volition, exactly as he has described in one of the chapters,
and gave to the Government the information that sounded the doom of the Oregon
land frauds. Those who profited most by Puters fraudulent operations had
recognized in him a daring spirit whose early environs had stamped him with
courageous instincts, and they knew he was not afraid to take chanceswith law or
any- thing else. They found out that they could use him as a battering-ram to
break the laws, and open the doors to a vast treasure trove. Sordid motives were
behind all their concern for Puter, and when the time cameas come it must where
dishonest methods are the incentiveand they realized that the jig was up, they
deserted him as rats leave a sinking ship. To them he was simply a worked-out
gold mine, and with all their assumed superior intelligence, blunted, perhaps,
by constant contact with greed, and with minds intoxicated by the stimulant of
illegitimate gain, they were unable to cope with the problems of retributionthe
unexploded blasts in the abandoned shafts. To Ethan Allen Hitchcock,
ex-Secretary of the Interior, must be attri- buted the principal credit for the
suppression of the land-fraud evils, and his greatest luster shines forth as a
limelight upon the class of enemies he has made by the operation. Every
scoundrel in the land has denounced him for doing what they well knew was his
plain duty as an honest official, and if any reward must come to him, it must be
in the future from the hearts of a grateful people, and not from politicians. If
doubts have ever existed as to the necessity for the adoption of stringent
measures that marked the prosecution of thoge involved in the crime of looting
the public domain, I am reasonably sure a perusal of these pages will have a
tendency to remove any such feeling, and convince the most skeptical that
Secretary Hitchcock was actuated by sound and lofty motives when he throttled
the land-grabbers with the iron hand of the Government. That he did so at an
opportune moment, none can deny, because he was dealing with an element that had
become so bold in their designs that they felt themselves above the law, and it
was a case of a desperate ailment requiring a desperate remedy. The influence of
any class imbued with corruptive methods is detrimental to the best interests of
a community, and there is no use in denying that those who have been
instrumental in causing so much rank perjury in connection with the acquisition
of titles, are responsible for a condition that has left its mark upon the
people of the public land States in a manner comparable to the trail of a
serpent. There is a compensating side to these land frauds, after all. The fact
of attempted fraud of so stupendous a character discloses in itself that the
prize was great which moved men to chance their reputations and jeopardize their
personal liberty. They were at least seeking something that was worth the
having. Men are not likely to take these risks unless the inducements are
sufficiently alluring to excite, to the last degree, the cupidity in their
natures. This does not involve any defense of fraud. It simply brings to the
attention of the world, through this medium, the marvelous opportunities for the
honest acquisition of wealth that abound in the West. The history of any great
undertaking wherein exploration has figured, and wherein conditions have
demanded the exercise of abnormal energy, indicates clearly that there is
nothing in the world worth having that can be attained without a compensating
hardship of some sort. The gold of the Klondike was buried far beloxv the
surface in icy moss; the treasures of Tonopah and Goldfield lie deep beneath the
sands of an appalling desert; and so of the vast domain of Oregon, with the
immense wealth that is wrapped up in its undeveloped forests and stock ranges;
they offer difficulties in the way of acquisition by legal process Page 11
Page 12
that have moved men to criminal expedients that the road through honest attain-
ment might be shortened. It might be erroneously supposed, becanse of this
criminal activity, that there was lack of opportnnity for the honest acqnirement
of public land in this State; that as a matter of fact such land was scarce. The
contrary is the case. There are millions of acres of Government land lying
within the borders of Oregon. By far the greater portion of it is subject to
entry on a legitimate basis and in various ways. In short, the opportunity has
ripened since thieves have been run to cover for bona-fide settlers to come
forward and secure the cream of this immense domain. The land area of Oregon is
more than 66,000,000 acres. Of this 17,730,000 acres is vacant Government land,
available for settlement, according to the last report of the Commissioner of
the General Land Office. That it varies in char- acter goes without saying, but
there is a sufficiency of most excellent quality to induce any honest citizen to
become a prospector upon a legitimate basis, with the view of acquiring a
homestead or timber claim. The land laws of the United States are liberal enough
to suit every requirement. They were framed originally to encourage the
settlement of the country. In many localities chances offer for a person to
obtain temporary employment in the neighborhood where he desires to locate,
which brings to hand a measure of income while he is proving up his claim in
accordance with law. He is permitted to do this under the regulations of the
Land Department, providing he does not abuse the privilege. Soil that is rich
enough to grow pine trees of the magnitude that flourish in the Northwest, is
certainly sufficiently prolific to produce fruit of the size and flavor that has
made this region famous, and which retail in all markets at attractive figures,
so the inference is obvious, and the value of logged-off lands for agricultural
purposes has been thoroughly demonstrated in every section of the Northwest.
That this book will be found unique in many respects, is a foregone con- clusion.
Probably no other work of similar import has ever been published, and in all
human probability, occasion may never again arise for its counterpart, because
the inspiration for the idea was based upon conditions that are fast
disappearing, and the reign of the landgrabber, of the type with uncouth
methods, like the rapidly dissipating ranks of the buffalo herds, the decadence
of the red men, and the passing of all that goes to make up the picturesque
features of Western history, has departed forever, and as a class that has been
considered in these pages, they have made their last stand of any serious
consequence on this continent. In their stead has arisen a new generation of
plunderers, more subtle and swift in their operations, because the looting of
the public domain has now become one of the gentler arts, and the dummy timber
entryman and perjured homesteader, with their ways redolent of the frontier,
have given place to the polished enactments of a subservient Congress, which is
interpreting the land laws to meet the requirements of greedy corporations,
without any heed whatever to the peoples rights. It is noteworthy that the
contents of this volume furnishes an object lesson in support of the idea that
there is remarkable similarity in all fraudulent enterprises, and that the
scheme of looting the public domain is merely a by-product of the general system
of plunder running riot throughout the country. The same tools are used upon all
occasions where it is found expedient to rob the people. The same Courts are
tampered with, the same members of both branches of Congress are in line, and
the same heads of Departments in Wash- ington are polluted each time, until it
has come to be regarded as certain that vast interests have fattened on the
life-blood of the nation by process of having a veteran force at their constant
command. It goes to show that there is a close bond between the plunderers of
every description, upon the same principle that there is honor among thieves,
and they have developed a vein of activity in this Page 12
Page 13
country that has its parallel in the history of the downfall of the Roman
Enipire; ( No nation can long survive the reign of corruption that has
characterized the speculative craze existing in America during the past decade.
It has permeated all branches of public service, and the history of the land
frauds of the West is the history of corruptive tactics in other
directions.,i~Corruption is a hydra-headed monster of hideous mien, and the fact
that it has been exposed wholesale by the land fraud trials in Oregon, and the
graft prosecutions in San Francisco, and in retail fashion in other States and
other cities, should never be accepted that it is dead beyond all power of
resurrection. Portland, Oregon, March 10, 1908. Page 13 Buffalo Head on Wyoming
Plains
Page 14
Puters old home in Humboldt County, Cal. It was here the author was reared. When
scarcely 19 years old, he built the house and barn almost without assistance
Puter may be observed standing by his sisteron horseback
Page 15
Chapter I Earlylife of Futer in the California Redwoods, showing how he was
reared amidst scenes of turmoil and bereft of refining influencesDetails the
Indian outbreak of forty years ago, wherein his childhood home was reduced to
ashesGives his experience as a lumberman and practical loggerAlso tells the
story of his initial connection with Government Lands, and how his environs were
such as to inspire him with a desire to prey upon the public domainDescribes the
first fraud of any consequence under the Timber and Stone Act of June 3, 1878.
By S. A. D. Puter WAS BORN January 6, 1857, in Trinity County, California. Two
years I later my parents moved to Humboldt County, in that State, where my
father purchased the possessory title to a homestead claim on Mad River, about
twenty miles north of Eureka. Here I was reared, leaving there in 1888 and
moving to Oregon, living in Portland until 1902, at which time I took my family
to Berkeley, California, where they now reside. Our family consisted originally
of three sons and four daughters, but of these, only four of the children
surviveLawrence F. Puter, an attorney of Eureka, California, and one of my
counsels in the Township 1 1-7 case; Lucile, the youngest sister, wife of Robert
Sawyer, of Los Angeles, California; Daniel, at present engaged in mining in the
State of Idaho, and myself. During 1861-62, when I was but five years old, the
Indians broke out in Humboldt County, killing a number of farmers and stockmen
while on the warpath, and burning and destroying a .great deal of property
belonging to the settlers thereabouts, our home being among the first to suffer
in that respect, on account of its isolated position. After this episode, father
moved the family into the town of Arcata, which is situated on Humboldt bay,
twelve miles north of Eureka, and with a number of other men, formed a military
company and inaugurated a vigorous campaign against the redmen, completely
subduing them at the end of two years fighting. In 1864 father went to Idaho
an(l en- gaged in mining, leaving his family in Arcata. Two years later our
claim was jumped by squatters, as we had never completed the title on account of
the depredations of the Indians. As soon as my mother learned of the situation,
she moved the family back on the place, where we lived in a shack during the
summer and winter of 1866 and up to the fall of 1867, when my father returned
from Idaho, remaining with us on the ranch until his death in 1886. My
educational advantages, as may be imagined, were very limited, and were confined
to short terms in the public schools of Arcata during the summers of 1865-66. I
was then but nine years old, and as we moved back on our ranch in 1866 I had no
opportunity for attending school until 1873, and then only in the summer of that
year and the year following, on account of the great distance the school house
was from our ranch. Whatever knowledge I have acquired has been picked up in my
business transactions throughout the country. During fathers absence in Idaho,
the family experienced many hardships and privations, particularly so after
being forced to return to the ranch, as the place had not been under cultivation
for some years and we had no money with which to purchase farming implements of
any consequence, depending entirely tipon such work as could be done by hand in
the way of raising garden stuff. We had no horses, nothing, in fact, in the
livestock line but one cow. Fresh Page 15
Page 16
meat was an unknown quantity to the Puter family during those days, except at
such times as I might trap a quail or snare a cottontail rabbit, of which there
was plenty to be found. I had the good fortune, shortly after we returned to the
farm, to kill a flue buck elk, that probably weighed upwards of 700 pounds. It
had frequently shown himself at the edge of the timber, near the prairie where
we lived and within a quarter of a mile from our shack. Our sole firearm
consisted of an old Springfield musket, of the pattern used during the
rebellion, and as I was only nine years old, my mother hesitated to allow me to
try my luck, fearing that, should I only wound the big buck, he might turn and
kill me. It was just at a time, however, when the smaller game had not been
particularly plentiful and we felt that we must secure that meatat least, that
was my way of viewing the matter. Besides, I wanted to show the folks that I
wasnt quite such a boy as they imagined, and the killing of that elk, in my
mind, would place me on a par with the position I sought to occupy in my fathers
absencethat of being looked upon as the man of the house. As his elkship was
even now in sight, I pleaded so hard and convincingly regarding my ability to
bring him down at first shot, that mother finally consented to my shouldering
the old musket, and I was off. Taking a circuitous route, I emerged from the
timber in the rear of the point where I had last noticed the elk feeding, and
crawled through the grass and weeds to within fifty paces of where he was
standing, and where there was a mound of earth on which to rest the musket. No
doubt it was placed there through providential kindness, as my arm was too short
to reach around the stock of the gun and pull the trigger with my finger, so it
became necessary for me to find a rest for the heavy musket before I could
proceed with the work of execution. Having placed my gun in position, I took aim
and fired, the ball striking the animal in the shoulder and killing him
instantly. I did not move from my position until the smoke had commenced to
clear away, and not observing the elk, I rushed to the spot where he was last
standing, where I found him kicking on the ground and noted, happily, that my
work had been complete. My mother and sisters, who had been anxiously awaiting
developments, and watching the elk from the shack, could see him fall at the
crack of the gun, and, needless to state, they lost no time in coming to where I
was standing, alongside that vanquished king of the forest. The excitement and
joy that took possession of the Puter family for the time being was without
limit. We all knew, of course, that there was meat enough in sight for many
months to come, and incidentally, it might be said, mother patted her boy and
complimented him for his prowess, for now, indeed, he was a real man. The
question then arose as to how we should get our prize to the shack, so we
decided to quarter him first, but found, because of the great weight, that the
combined strength of the entire family was not sufficient to drag- a single
quarter, say nothing about lifting it; so we were obliged to cut the meat up
into smaller pieces, after which our nearest neighbor, who lived four miles
distant, was notified of our good fortune, and he proceeded to Arcata for
sufficient salt to cure the meat. ]My first experience with the public domain
occurred during the summer of 1875, at which time I was engaged as an axman by
Deputy United States Surveyor Forman, who had a contract to subdivide several
townships of timber land in the vicinity of our Humboldt county ranch. I became
so proficient in my duties. that after blazing the lines and marking the witness
trees for a few months, I was placed in charge of a crew and manipulated the
compass. As soon as the survey of the township had been approved by the United
States Surveyor-General, there was a rush for timber claims. By reason of my
field work on the survey, I gained a knowledge of all the desirable claims in
the tract, and located a number of applicants, charging them $25 each, at the
same time taking a contract to build them a cabin on their claims for $25
additional. Then cabins so constructed consisted of a shack made out of shakes
or split boards, Page 16
Page 17
from the timber on the claim, the size of each cabin being 12 by 16 feet and 7
feet high, one window, board floor and wooden fireplace. There were no other
signs of habitation or cultivation whatsoever, the building of the cabin being
the only improvement made on a pre-emption or homestead claim in those days. The
entrymen hardly ever slept over night there, although they made final proof
within eight or ten months from the date of filing, wherein they alleged a con-
tinuous residence. Soon after proof was made, I negotiated the sale of this
tract to a Eureka capitalist for sums ranging from $800 to $1200 per claim.
Later, the purchaser sold to the California Redwood Company for $25 per acre.
The latter corpora- tion transferred the tract to the Humboldt Mill et Lumber
Company, which erected sawmills and commenced the manufacture of the timber into
merchant- able lumber. At the present time, the timber on these lands possesses
an intrinsic value of from $200 to $300 per acre. I gradually learned the
business from the felling of a tree down to the rolling of a log from the
landing into the mill pond. I worked in the redwoods, logging for some ten or
twelve years, part of which time I engaged my services to others, while for
several years I contracted on my own account and personally drove a twelve-horse
team, hauling logs on a skid road to the landings. The first big fraud under the
Timber and Stone Act of June 3, 1878, that ever occurred on the Pacific Coast,
was consummated in Humboldt County, California, during 1882-3. In 1876, Mr.
Forman, the Deputy United States Surveyor for whom I had formerly worked, took a
contract to survey a number of townships covered with a dense body of redwood
timber in the northern part of Humboldt County. As soon as the land was surveyed
and thrown open to entry, the California Redwood Company, with offices in
Eureka, began to hire men to file on the entire tract under the Timber and Stone
Act referred to. At that time, the persons desiring to avail themselves of its
provisions, were not re- quired to make a personal examination of the portions
they wished to file on, nor were they obliged to go to the land office to make
final proof. All that was Page 17
Page 18
necessary in this connection was for the entryman to appear at the land office
at the time of making the filing, exhibit his first papers to show that he was
either a citizen of the United States, or had declared his intention to become
such, or, in the case of his being a bona-fide citizen, to make oath to that
effect, and his entry would be allowed. This law has since been amended, so as
to necessitate the personal appearance of the entryman at the land office, both
at the time of filing and when making final proof. Under these conditions, the
company was ena1~led to run men into the land office by the hundreds. I have
known agents of the company to take at one time as many as twenty-five men from
Coffee Jacks~ sailor boarding house in Eureka to the county court house, where
they would take out their first papers, (leclare their intention to become
citizens of the-United States, after which they would proceed direct to the land
office and make their filings, all the location papers having previously been
made out. Then they would appear before Fred W.Bell, a notary public, and
execute an acknowledgement of a blank deed, receive the stipulated price of $50,
and return to their ships, or to the boarding house from whence they came. The
description of the tract filed on was after- wards inserted and the transfer of
title completed to the corporation. As fast as this land came into the market,
the company gobbled it all up in this fashion, and as soon as the whole tract
had been secured, they sent their representative, Edward Everdeen, who was then
connected with the Humboldt County Bank, to England, where a sale of the entire
body of land embraced in a number of differ- ent townships, was consummated to a
Scotch syndicate. Pending the transfer to the Scottish syndicate, the California
Redwood Company was pulling out the patents to the different claims pretty fast,
and at a cost of $25 each. Concluding that they could get the patents more
quickly and at a cheaper figure, by sending their own attorney to Washington, D.
C., they adopted this course, but it proved disastrous, as the General Land
Office evidently became cognizant of the fact that there was an abnormal rush
for the issuance of patents, and it excited their suspicions that a fraud was
being perpe- trated. In consequence, all the unpatented claims were suspended by
order of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and special agents sent
out to investigate and report on the status of the entries. The first agent that
put in an appearance was soon picked up by the company at Eureka. His report to
the Commissioner did not indicate that any frauds were being committed, and
other agents that followed him told the same story, because they, too, had been
bought off. Special Agent B. F. Bergin, the fourth one sent out, was made of the
right kind of stuff, and could not be pur- chased, and as a result of his report
to the General Land Office, between 150 and -200 of these entries were
immediately suspended and were later cancelled alto- gether, involving the
forfeiture of all moneys paid thereon, including the pur- chase price of $400
per claim, together with all land office fees. The $50 paid to each of the
entrymen, of course, was also lost to the company, and while it was considered
that these rights were purchased at a low figure, -which would have been true
had the deal gone through, the company was at no small loss on this account
alone. The expense of maintaining their agents, too, amounted to a large sum of
money, and while I would not care to venture a guess at the total amount
squandered on this venture, it can safely be said that it aggregated a small
fortune. Many of the companys principal agents were indicted by the Federal
grand jury because of their connection with the transaction, and their cases
were carried through the courts from one administration to another at an
enormous expense. These cancelled entries were afterwards filed on by bona-fide
settlers residing throughout the county, they making final proofs and receiving
patents to the saline. Having participated in the survey of these - lands, and
located a good many people thereon, I was familiar with the entire tract, from
one end to the other, Page 18
Page 19
One ofthe Kings of the Redwood Forest in Hnmboldt Connty, California
Page 20
and well posted on all of the methods that the company had employed in acquiring
title thereto. It was only three years ago, in fact, that I went down to
Humboldt County with C. A. Smith, a millionaire lumberman of Minneapolis, Minn.,
and sold him 30,000 acres of this same tract, which had been cancelled and
relocated by citizens of Humboldt County. I shall have occasion later to make
reference to the Smith deal. After the big frauds in Humboldt timber lands had
been exposed, and the titles to the bogus entries suspended, and while the
prosecutions against the companys agents were still pending, the whole county
became seized with a feeling of depression and times were very dull there. I
continued to work in the logging camps until 1888, when I decided to seek
fresher pastures in Oregon. Upon my arrival in the new field, I found the land
business booming, every hotel in the timbered sections of the sti~te being
crowded with timber land speculators, cruisers and locators. I went into the
locating business the first thing and continued to do a land office business for
two years. This was in 1889 and 1890, and during all this time, the woods were
fairly alive with timber men. A fallen redwood giant My earlier experiences in
California enabled me to grasp conditions quite readily, and become acquainted
with the most desirable tracts in short order; consequently I soon got into the
swim. Moneyed men were here from Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and other
Middle West States, eager to make investments and grasp the unlimited
opportunities offered of reaping big returns, and as a result, thousands of men
were sent into the forests of Tillamook and Clatsop Counties, Oregon, as well as
throughout various sections of Washington, to file on timber claims, and in
nearly every instance, the entrymen had contracted in advance to transfer their
titles to some lumber company, or syndicate of Eastern capitalists. The Timber
and Stone Act of June 3, 1878, was the favorite method of acquiring title at
that time, as the Forest Reserve Lieu Land Act of June 4, 1897, (commonly known
as the scripper law,) had not then gone into effect,~ Iage 20
Page 21
and titles could be rushed through much quicker than by the pre-emption or
homestead laws. Some state lieu land selections were made, but this form of
scrip,~~ so called, was too scarce to be available for the purchase of large
bodies of timber. ~in the meantime, the timber lands continued to be turned over
to the differe~ t lumber concerns, and the various land offices throughout
Oregon had more business than they could conveniently attend to. As a matter of
fact, the Oregon City Land Office was obliged to suspend business for several
weeks, in order to catch up with the accumulated work, the timber filings were
coming in so fast. ~ The increasing demand for patents at this office also
aroused the suspicion of the officials at Washington, and special agents were
sent into the field for the purpose of making investigations, which action had
the effect of suspending a great many patents, as well as the holding for
cancellation of a large number of entries. There was considerable talk of
indictments by the Federal grand jury, and it had a tendency to make the land
business unpopular for the time being, the land grabbers having about all they
could do to keep out of jai~ as well as to preserve their titles. However, in
spite of all the storm of indignation that seemed to have pervaded the
Governmental atmosphere, there were compar- atively few actual cancellations,
the special agents, as usual, standing in with the land grabbers. Out of all the
howl about frauds in those days, there were but two con- victions, Stone of
Seattle, and Diamond of Portland, both of whom were locators the former for
subornation of perjury, and the latter for conspiracy. They represented the sole
production of gems from the Governments operations, among the various gigantic
mines of iniquity existing in those days. Allowing for the immense harvest which
had been gathered in by these two men, and the moderate sentences imposed, their
incarceration in the Government penitentiary was referred to as a trifling
matter, for whatever the price they may have paid in the way of humiliation and
lost time, as against the hoards they had amassed and deposited for their future
comfort, it was often said of them that they had bargained well. Thousands upon
thousands of acres, which included the very cream of the timber claims in Oregon
and Washington, were secured by Eastern lumber- men and capitalists, the
majority of whom came from Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota, and nearly all of
these claims, to my certain knowledge, were fraudulently obtained. As to the
special agents sent out by the Government, they were picked up, each in turn, as
they appeared upon the scene, and with the capitalists and locators standing
hand in hand, it was an easy matter, with the aid of these agents, to baffle the
Government in its attempt to secure evidence. Desert Auto- mobiles Page 21
Page 22
Chapter II Stephen A. Douglas Futer meets Franklin Pierce Mays, and the pair
form a mutual admiration society, which ripens into a business relationship of
many years standing. He also comes in contact with Willard N. Jones, and
subsequent events indicate that there was all kinds of pleasure and pro fit in
the association of the Triumvirate. Describes some of their crooked transactions
in connection with the public domain, and also tells how E.r-Surveyor-General
Meldrum refused to be buncoed. Operations of Futer and Jones result in a
criminal proceeding of a hold-up char- acter, and marks the Land-Fraud Kings
first appearance as a defendant. URING the Fall of 1890, Franklin Pierce Mays
was United States Attorney D for the district of Oregon. I first met him at the
U. S. Surveyor-Generals office, xvhich was then located in the present
postoffice building and on the floor above Mr. Mays office. As I was frequently
in the Surveyor-Generals office examining the field notes of different
townshipet, and was brought into contact there with Mr. Mays on numerous
occasions, he was acquainted, of course, with the nature of my business, and he
came to me personally with the expressed desire of making my acquaintance. I was
glad, indeed, for the oppor- tunity, as I had learned previously that Mr. Mays
was somewhat of a land speculator himself, and being United States District
Attorney, I considered him a good man to stand in with. Mays said he had learned
of my being in the timber land business, and after we had discussed the
situation for some time in a general way, he expressed a desire to get hold of
some first-class timber land. I promised to keep him in mind, and offered to
advise him of the first good chance. Shortly after this I secured some fine
timber lands in Lane County, Oregon, for him, and also located him on an extra
good school section in Tillamook County, Oregon, being Section 36, Township 3
North, Range 7 West. Mays then wanted to introduce me to a man by the name of
Savery, stating that he was a special agent of the General Land Office, was
stationed at the Oregon City Land Office, and had full charge of the Government
lands within the confines of that district. He suggested to me that Mr. Savery
would be the right kind of a man to stand in with, and that I had better locate
him on some good timbered school section. As in the case of meet- ing Mr. Mays,
I was o~lad to learn of this opportunity to make a new friend, more particularly
on account of the gentlemans position and the influence he might wield in my
behalf, and I was frank to inform Mr. Mays that the pleasure would be all mine,
and that I would gladly meet his friend at their convenience. Some time later
when calling on Mr. Mays in his office, he introduced me to Special Agent R. G.
Savery, Jr., and I located him on just such land as he was desirous of securing.
From my first acquaintance with Mr. Mays and up to the time of my conviction, I
consulted him in regard to a large majority of the deals in which I was
interested, in many of which he became identified with me, both in State and
Government lands, besides acting as my attorney from the beginning. During the
Summer of 1891, my first acquaintance with Willard N. Jones began. Our initial
meeting was also in the United States Surveyor-Generals office in Portland, \vhich
seemed to have been fated as the trysting place of men who have since assisted
in making land fraud history in Oregon. Jones was then a civil engineer by
occupation, and his business brought him frequently to the Surveyor-Generals
office. He learned that I was in the timber business, Page 22
Page 23
and shortly after our first acquaintance, wanted to go in with me on some sort
of timber land deal. He represented that he knew a number of lumbermen residing
in the States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, who would be
willing to invest in a tract of good timber on the Pacific Coast. At that time,
nearly all the best surveyed timber lands had been bought up, so we concluded
that the most feasible plan would be for us to find something in the line of
unsurveyed lands that would meet the requirements, get it surveyed, locate a lot
of men on it, furnish them the money with which to make final proof, and obtain
title in that way, under the Timber and Stone Act of June 3, 1878. The tract we
selected was in Township 3 North, Range 7 and 8 West, on the Nehalem River, in
Tillamook County, Oregon, one of the finest bodies of yellow fir timber in the
whole State. After cruising the tract to ascertain how many quarter sections
could be obtained in one body, we came to Portland. Jones then went East to
consummate a deal, and soon returned with a man by the name of Lumbarger. We
took him over the tract to see how he liked it and he was delighted with the
timber and entered into a contract with Jones and myself, he agreeing to advance
the sum of $750 a claim, or quarter section of 160 acres, so as to enable us to
procure titles to the claims, promising to take as many of them as we could get.
We, in turn, agreed to deed to Mr. Lumbarger as fast as proofs were made, an
undivided one-half interest to each claim so purchased. The next move was to
find people to locate on the land, and in short order we found all we wanted in
Portland and Albina, a suburb of the latter city. We then proceeded to enter
into a contract with each person, whereby we agreed to locate them on the land,
we to pay all expenses in the way of railroad fares in going to and from the
land, besides the land office fees, and to advance the money to pay the
Government at the time of final proof. In return, the entrymen agreed to deed
the land to Jones and myself, as soon as final proof was made, for the sum of
$750 a claim, all costs and expenses in procuring the titles to be deducted
therefrom, and the balance to be paid to each one upon receipt of his deed. The
understanding was that each person was to file on two claims; one under the
Timber and Stone Act of June 3, 1878, and the other under the Home- stead law,
the latter to be commuted to a cash entry after 6 months residence. The cost of
each claim was about as follows: COST OF HOMESTEAD ENTRIES: Building
cabin-------$ 10.00 Filing fee, advertising and final proof at Land Office 25.00
Government price of land-----200.00 Total--------$235.00 This amount, deducted
from $750, left a balance of $515, which was to be paid to the entryman upon
receipt of a deed to his homestead. COST OF CLAIM UNDER TIMBER ANT) STONE ACT.
Filing fee, advertising and final proof at Land Office $ 30.00 Government
price-------400.00 Total--------$430.00 This left a balance of $320 to be paid
to the entryman upon receipt of a deed to his claim under the Timber and Stone
Act. After having a fair understanding with all of the men, contracts were drawn
up and each one signed them, Jones and myself retaining the documents. In all,
forty persons were contracted with in this way, each to take two claims as
indicated, making eighty claims in all, or a total of 12,800 acres. The next
move was to locate the people on the land. Txvo trips were necessary in doing
this, twenty persons being taken at a time. The land had Page 23
Page 24
previously been surveyed, but not accepted, so there was no trouble in locating
each party on the particular tract previously contracted to file on. The
location consisted in laying the foundation for ,a cabin; four poles in the form
of a square, and a notice posted on a tree. At the same time, each person made
an examina- tion of the quarter section he was to file on under the Timber and
Stone Act. The next proceeding was to build the cabins on the different quarter
sections, calculated to be filed on under the Homestead Act. We hired two Swedes
at $1.50 per day, each, and furnished them with a tent, provisions and tools,
and set them to work constructing the shacks, or cabins, after which we
initiated efforts in the direction of having the survey of the township approved
by the government. The facts in regard to the survey of this tract of timber
land are as follows: Henry Meldrum, a United States Deputy Surveyor, who was
later appointed Surveyor-General of the State of Oregon, but afterwards removed
from office and convicted for his complicity in making fraudulent surveys, had
surveyed this tract in 1889, under contract from the Government. Meldrum Page 24
Page 25
completed his part of the contract, but the Commissioner of the General Land
Office suspended the survey for the reason that sufficient funds had not been
appropriated to cover all contracts of this character. Mr. Meldrums contract,
however, was approved in 1891, and sufficient funds appropriated for the
purpose, so it became necessary for~ him to re-survey the land. While Meldrum
was engaged in doing this, Jones and myself met him on the land on several
different occasions, and we entered into a c5ntract with him, whereby we agreed
to pay him $5 each for inserting in the field notes of the survey and on the
plats, the names of all the homesteaders located on the land by us, Jones and I
agreeing to furnish the names of the claimants, and the description of the land
each one was to file on. Mr. Meldrum complied with his part of the contract, and
inserted all of the names that we gave him in the field notes of the survey, as
well as on the official plat of each township. Our reasons for wanting these
names inserted in the field notes and on the plats, was in order to keep other
locators from rushing in and settling on the land after the acceptance of the
survey; actual settlers in a township having a preference right for ninety days
after an official survey has been made, and the plats thereof filed in the local
land office. We also wanted to make it appear that our homesteaders were
bona-fide settlers, and were living on the land prior to survey. Now, as we had
the cabins all built, and notice was posted on the land showing the name of the
claimant, and describing the particular quarter section that he claimed, and his
name appearing in the field notes, it was not at all likely that any one would
squat on the claims; so it only remained for us to wait until the survey was
approved by the United States Surveyor-General and the township thrown open to
entry. While xvaiting for the land to come into market, which would not be until
November, 1892, Jones and I concluded to make an abstract of the State school
land for the purpose of ascertaining how much, if any, indemnity lands the State
of Oregon was entitled to. This required about two months work in the State Land
Office at Salem. We found several thousand acres still subject to use as lieu by
the State, and this base we sold at the rate of $2.50 per acre, which, after
paying the State price of $1.25 an acre for the land embraced in the selection,
netted us $1.25 per acre profit. The rule of the State Land Board at that time
was that any person who should indicate to the Clerk of the School Land Board
where there was any indemnity land that the State was yet entitled to, would be
allowed to select the same amount of Government land within the State that was
vacant. Under those conditions, Jones and I were doing a land office business in
State indemnity lands, until trouble arose between us, and we dissolved
partnership. This was in the Fall of 1892, and the cause of dissolution of
partnership arose from the fact that Jones made a proposition to take Geo. W.
Davis, Clerk of the State Land Board at Salem, in with us on all State Land
business that we put through the State Land Office, the idea being, that by so
doing we could monopolize all of the State indemnity lands, and shut E. P.
McCornack, jack DArcy, and W. T. Rader out of all the indemnity business,
especially E. P. McCornack, he being the principal operator. These three, aside
from Jones and myself, were the only dealers in State indemnity lands at that
time in the State of Oregon. Jones proposition was to pay Davis fifty cents per
acre for all the indem- nity lands put through. This I objected to, as Davis was
working with us then, and doing everything we required for less than half that
amount, and as the profits were only $1.25 an acre, fifty cents was too much to
pay him. Besides, I did not think we could shut E. P. McCornack out, as he was
too big a fish, and too old at the game. Jones, however, did not view the matter
in the same light, and insisted that Davis must have fifty cents per acre on all
indemnity lands, and claimed to Page 25
Page 26
Old Par? Mays A A /7(7, 7 /7
Page 27
have already made an agreement with him to that effect. I was still confident,
notwithstanding this fact, that McCornack could not be hindered materially in
his operations, and as Jones suggested that, rather than jeopardize his own
interests he would prefer to go it alone, I agreed that it would be the better
plan, and our partnership dissolution was the result. This break in our business
relations, however, was not supposed to affect the understanding between us in
regard to the forty persons located on eighty claims in Township 3 North, Ranges
7 and 8 West, in which deal we were equally interested. Previous to this I had
met F. Pierce Mays at different times and he never lost an opportunity of
bringing up the 3-7 deal, and would invariably caution me to be careful, stating
that he would very much dislike to be forced to prosecute me, on account of the
fair manner in which I had treated him in securing certain lands for him
throughout the State, as well as school section 36 in Township 3 North, Range 7
West. Mays told me on one occasion that there was a special agent sent out by
the General Land Office to investigate the 3-7 deal in which Jones and myself
were interested, and that he was onto our scheme, and further, that this agent
would be at the Oregon City Land Office to bag those forty home- stead and
timber entrymen as soon as they made their filings. I told Mays at this time
that Jones and I had no deal on of a fraudulent character, whereupon he informed
me that he knew better; that we already had contracts signed by forty people and
that these contracts had been placed in a vault in East Portland for safe
keeping. Mays likewise volunteered the informa- tion that he was familiar with
the contents of the contracts. How Mays should know of the existence of these
contracts, and more particularly, how he should be apprised of their nature, and
of their place of keeping, was somewhat of a mystery to me, but as I was not
much given to talk- ing about my business, or making admissions, I let the
subject drop without comment. It was sometime after the dissolution of
partnership between Jones and myself, that I met the latter on the street, and
the subject of the 3-7 deal came up for discussion. Jones acted strangely and
seemed averse to going ahead with it, declaring that he had been advised by Mr.
Mays that we would both be up against it if we made any further attempt to
proceed in the matter, and further, that he had learned Mr. Lumbarger, our
financial backer, was not disposed to consider the proposition, and would
probably attempt to break his contract with us. Jones said I might go ahead with
the deal personally, if I felt so in- clined, but expressed himself as not
willing to take any hand in the transaction. That settled this deal so far as I
was concerned, as I was left without a financial backer, and besides, the time
was drawing near for the land to be thrown open to entry. As the survey of the
township had been accepted and approved and was advertised to be thrown open to
entry on November 11, 1892, the Special Agent was at the Oregon City Land Office
bright and early, waiting to bag the forty homesteaders as soon as they filed.
When the land office opened at 9 oclock and none of the supposed entrymen put in
appearance, much to the surprise and chagrin of the Special Agent, he inquired
of Register J. T. Apperson, how it was that these parties, whose names were on
the maps as bona-fide settlers, had failed to appear and file on their land. The
Register replied that he had that morning received through the mail, an
indemnity selection list from the Clerk of the State Land Board at Salem,
selecting the entire tract as State indemnity school lands, so all that the
special agent could do under the circumstances was to pack his grip and hike
back to Washington. As I had been watching the result of the Special Agents
operations at Oregon City in order to learn how matters terminated, I discovered
immedi- ately that the State had filed indemnity selection covering the entire
tract of Page 27
Page 28
eighty quarter sections, so I lost no time in going to Salem to ascertain in
whose interests the selection had been made, and was much surprised, on
examining the records, to find that my old friend Jones had gobbled np the land.
It occurred to me that Jones had evidently found a much better and cheap- er
method of getting those eighty quarter sections than to run chances of
attempting to obtain title by filing the forty people under the Timber and Stone
Act, and the Homestead law, as was previously arranged. At that time there was a
temporary withdrawal of the Grater Lake reserve, and I discovered, upon
investigation, that Jones had filed applications for the State indemnity
embraced in said reserve, selecting in lieu thereof the eighty quarter sections
in Township 3 North, Range 7 West. Some weeks later, the Certificates of
Purchase were issued and turned over to Jones. At this stage of the proceedings,
I called to mind a certain agreement between Henry Meldrum, Jones and myself,
whereby we had prom- ised to pay Meldrum $5 each for inserting the names of
settlers on the field notes and plats. As Jones was soon to become possessed of
the claims, I[ thought best to ascertain if Meldrum had received his money and
if not, to notify him that I had no fnrther interest in the matter and that he
must look to Jones for a settlement. This I did, learning that settlement had
not been made, so I notified Jones to meet Mr. Meldrum and myself at the Perkins
Hotel in Portland that evening. When Jones came to the hotel the subject of a
settlement with Meldrum was broached, but he refused to pay over the money, nor
would he agree to become obligated in any manner for the amount due, stating
that the old deal had been declared off and that the lands were now owned by Mr.
Mays and him- self. Meldrum insisted on some kind of a settlement, stating that
he had complied with his contract, and as Jones was to get the land, it was only
fair that he should settle. Jones then told Meldrum that it was part of the
duties of his office to insert the names of all bona-fide settlers on the field
notes and the plat of the survey, and that, if he attempted to make collection
for the work involved in the 3-7 case, he would make things warm for him. In
reply to this, Meldrum admitted the truth of Jones contention as regards his
duty, but stated that, at the time of inserting the names, he supposed that the
3-7 deal was legitimate, and he wondered at Jones and I making him such a
proposition. However, he had discovered since that the transaction on our part
was not on the square, so far as trying to obtain title to the land was
concerned, and that, under these circumstances, and because of the fact that we
had pulled the wool over his eyes and promised to pay a stipulated amount for
services which he would have performed anyway, it was his purpose to see that
the bill was paid. As Jones was to have the land, he must pay the fiddler, and
to show that he meant business, Meldrum produced from his pocket a telegraph
blank, and commenced to write. When he had completed his message, he handed it
to Jones and stated that the same would be forwarded to the General Land Office
at Washington, D. C., within one hour, unless the amount due was forthcoming.
The telegram read, in substance, as follows: To the Commissioner of the General
Land Office, Washington, D. C. On November 11, 1892, the Clerk of the School
Board of the State of Oregon filed an indemnity selection list in the Oregon
City Land Office, embracing all the tracts now occupied by bona-fide settlers in
Township 3 North, Ranges 7 and 8 West, Willam- ette Meridian, using as basis for
such selections the school sections lost to the State by the temporary
withdrawal within the limits of the Crater Lake Reserve, which is not available
for that purpose as yet. (Signed.)HENRY MELDRUM, 0. B. Govt-collect.Deputy U S.
Surveyor. Upon reading the telegram, Jones asked Meldrum to remain at the hotel
until his return, promising to be back inside of an hour, and hurried off to
find Mays. Page 28
Page 29
N
Page 30
Scarcely forty minutes had elapsed when Jones returned and settled with Meldrum,
well knowing that the latter had it within his power to defeat the title
completely unless his terms were acceded to. This being my first intimation that
Mays was interested with Jones iii these lands, I could readily understand why
the United States Attorney was so solicitous of my welfare in advising that I be
careful and not get myself into trouble, even going so far as to insist that I
would do well to let the deal drop altogether. It developed later, in fact, that
Mays had connived with Jones while the latter and I were yet partners, to secure
these lands and to beat me out of all interest in the deal. In thinking the
matter over, I concluded that I had no just cause for complaint, as it was a
cold deck proposition throughout. Jones and I had planned to beat the Government
in the first place. I played my hand on the square, as between Jones and myself,
but when the third m~in was introduced into the game, he proved to be too much
of a sure thing dealer for me, stacked the cards to suit himself, and won out.
The whole transaction reminds me of a story told by Francis J. Heney, in
speaking of Geo. Sorenson and W. N. Jones (the same Jones with whom I had been
in partnership), during the trial of the Blue Mountain Forest Reserve case, when
he compared these two persons to a couple of gamblers of whom he had heard, and
one of whom, according to the story, suggested to the other, that they call on a
certain gentleman that evening, who was fond of playing cards, and have a little
social game of draw, and which suggestion, his friend readily assented to. After
the game and while on their way home, the gambler who had proposed the visit,
said to the other: Well, how did you like my friend ? I think he is a dd rascal,
was the reply. Hows that ? responded the other, in astonishment. Because he
stole three jacks off my knee, was the rejoinder. And so it was in the 3-7 deal.
I had taken occasion to hold out three jacks, thinking to play them for the
benefit of Jones and myself, as against anything that the Government might be
able to show down, but sure thing Mays forced an introduction into the play and
stole my three jacks. My position in relation to the 3-7 deal, as in the case of
the man from whom the three jacks had been stolen, did not warrant me in making
a roar,~~ as the saying is, but I was determined, if within the range of
possibility, to arrange some kind of compromise, or to split the pot as it were.
With this object in view, I called on Jones and asked him, straight up, where I
got off at on the deal. Jones attempted to treat my claim much as he did that of
Meldrum on the start, but when I presented to him the fact of his living in a
glass house; that the material was extremely brittle and that, in all truth, it
required but the throwing of a small stone to destroy the entire structure, my
friend Jones was given something to think about. He then told me, as he did
Meldrum, that Mays must be consulted before anything could be done, and in this
instance, as in the former, he showed up again and when he came xvas prepared to
settle. This settlement took place on the following day, and resulted in Jones
assigning over to me the certificates of purchase to a full section, or 640
acres of this same land, and which I accepted as full liquidation of my claim.
Jones was not out of the woods on this deal, however, by any means. It was
probably in the neighborhood of two years after receiving the certificates of
purchase, when the forty men, who had previously agreed to take up the land for
us, got wind of the fact that the tract had been in the market for some time,
and had been selected by the State of Oregon, and certificates issued and turned
over to Jones. When this became known to them they pooled their issues and
employed an attorney in Portland by the name of D. D. Lynch, to investigate the
status of their case, with the result that after he had gone to Salem and discov-
Page 30
Page 31
ered the situation, he induced the men to swear out complaints against Jones and
myself. Jones was arrested forthwith in Portland, and immediately wired me at
Salem to come down, as he had been taken into custody on account of the Township
3 North, Ranges 7 and 8 West, deal. I proceeded to Portland the next morning,
and as soon as I stepped off the train at the East Side station, a warrant of
arrest was served upon me by Patsy Eccles, a deputy constable, who took me
before a justice of the Peace, where I found a number of complaints on file
against me, my bail being fixed at $500 in each case. However, Mays and Jones
arranged for my appearance, in exactly what manner I never learned, and I was
allowed to go on my own recognizance. I consulted with Mr. Mays on the following
morning for the purpose of learning what was to be done, and he advised me that,
because of the nature of the transaction, as between those forty locators, Jones
and myself, it would be best to demand an immediate trial in the Justice Court
and to get the matter over with as speedily as possible. Jones was present in
Mays office when this interview took place, and agreed with him that the case
should be settled immediately, so as to avoid publicity. Mays acknowledged being
interested with Jones in the lands, but said that he was in no wise concerned in
the case at issue. He volun- teered, however, to lend his advice, and stated
that, in his opinion, the whole trouble could be fixed for a few hundred
dollars. Should the Federal author- ities get wind of the transaction, Mays
argued, both Jones and myself would very probably be indicted and convicted, as
it could be proven that we had written contracts with each and every one of
those forty men, and they would show that Jones and I were to become possessed
of the claims after final proof had been made and that, because of our having
actually taken the men to the lands, which was evidence of our intentions to
carry out our part of the agree- ment, the charge of entering into a conspiracy
to defraud the Government could be prosecuted successfully. Under this showing,
it occurred to me that a money transaction would be the best and quickest way
out of the difficulty, so I told Mays that I would put up $250, provided he
would act as our attorney in the case. Mays replied that he did not care to
appear personally, in fact, he did not want to be known in the transaction in
any way, preferring to remain in the background, but stated that he would use
his influence in a quiet way to our material advantage. Mr. Mays then suggested
that we employ Charles F. Lord to defend us, which we did, the case being set
for trial in short order. Before the case came up, Jones came to me and demanded
that I contribute $500, instead of $250, the amount originally agreed upon,
stating that it would cost him considerably more than that and I should share a
larger portion of the expense. This I refused to do, as I had no interest in the
lands and was simply giving $250 to have the case quashed in the Justice Court,
and for the purpose of keeping it from the notice of the Federal authorities. On
the day set for hearing, both sides had their witnesses on hand ready to
proceed. The case, however, never saw the light of day, as Attorney Lord made
some sort of settlement with the counsel for the prosecution, whereby Lynch was
paid a neat sum of money to have the case dismissed. This fellow Lynch was one
of those pettifogging lawyers who make a practice of hanging around police and
Justice Courts. The fact is, he had no case in the first place, as the suit had
not been brought in the proper court. All he wanted was a chance to make a fee
out of the transaction, and this we were only too glad that he should have, in
order to dispose of the proceedings and hush the matter up, as we believed, in
all probability, the dismissal of this case would close the incident and that no
criminal charges would be brought against us. The actual cost of these claims to
Mays and Jones, under this transaction, did not exceed $205 per quarter section
of 160 acres, and the same lands were Page 31
Page 32
sold during the Spring of 1906 to Wheeler et Cook of Pennsylvania for $30 per
acre, or $4,800 per quarter section. The figure named as the cost of each claim
to Mays and Jones, will appear as exceedingly low, but it is nevertheless
correct, and I will endeavor to explain my computation thereof, as follows: At
the time of procuring titles to the claims in question, all State lands, whether
School or Indemnity, were being sold at $1.25 per acre, and any person over the
age of 18 years and a citizen of the State of Oregon, was entitled to file on
320 acres of State lands, it being merely necessary for him to appear before a
notary public, make application for the land, pay the State one-third of the
purchase price, which was $66.66, and receive a certificate of purchase therefor,
which could be assigned to any person whomsoever, and the assignee, upon payment
to the School Land Board of the balance of the purchase price due the State,
would receive a deed in his own name, as if he were the original locator. Jones
was therefore in a position to gobble up each half-section of 320 acres at an
actual cost of $410, $400 of which went to pay the State, while $10 was given to
the original applicant. The law at that time, but which has since been changed,
permitted one person to act as attorney for any number of applicants, he being
allowed to file the applications, pay to the Clerk of the State School Land
Board the stipulated price, and receive the certificates. Thus Jones, having
obtained assignments of all certificates at the time the applications to
purchase were made, as they were signed and acknowledged and turned over to him
in blank, it only became neces- sary for him to fill in the numbers of the
certificates, together with the description of the lands and date of
acknowledgement. At the time of the trial and conviction of W. N. Jones, F.
Pierce Mays and Geo. Sorenson, it was proven that Jones had been successful in
reducing the cost of applicants from $10 to $2.50 each, and it has been said,
and is no doubt true, that he secured a number of them for a glass of beer. Page
32 House made of beer bottles in Tonopak Nevada. Ten thousand bottles
incorporated in structure
Page 33
Chapter III C.A. Smith, a Minneapolis Millionaire, engrosses the attention of
the Land- Fraud King, and their acquaintance ripens into a clever scheme to
bunco Uncle Sam out of a vast tract of Oregon Timber. The outwitted Northern
Pacific seeks revenge by having McKinley arrested, and is also blamed for
reporting the matter to the Government. As a result of subsequent inves-
tigations by the Land Department, several special agents fall by the wayside
under the mystic spell of Fred. Kribs tainted money, and the effort to acquire
patents on the fraudulent entries marks the first step in the down- fall of
United States Senator fo~hn H. Mitchell. IN the course of an Eastern trip during
January, 1900, I took occasion to call upon C. A. Smith, a millionaire lumberman
of Minneapolis, Minnesota, whose acquaintance I had formed previously. At the
time of our first meeting, I had given him an option on sixty quarter sections
of timbered school lands, aggre- gating 9,600 acres, situated in Coos and
Douglas counties, Oregon. This deal had fallen through for the reason that the
tracts were not in a compact body, being merely a portion of the 16th and 36th
sections of quite a number of scatter- ed townships. Although my initial effort
to do business with Mr. Smith terminated in failure, it served as an incentive
to approach him concerning a proposition of greater magnitude, as I had become
more or less familiar with his system of operation, and felt satisfied he was
not of the cheap variety, wherever personal interest was involved, and that
nothing would balk him in the line of investment, providing there was anything
in it for himself. Upon my second visit, I endeavored to impress him with the
idea that I was somewhat of a timber-land plunger myself, and that I was in a
position to interest him on a basis that would yield large returns. Calling the
next day, as per appointment, I found him exceedingly eager, as on the day
before, to discuss the matter of timber lands and the best method of acquiring
title thereto. In fact, we had several conferences upon the subject, all of
which were arranged at the suggestion of Mr. Smith. I felt from the start that
he meant business, and was convinced further- more that he was looking for just
such lands as I had in viewthose that prom- ised to yield large returnsbut was
unaware, of course, to what extent he would go in order to secure them, or, in
fact, whether there was any limit to his ambi- tions in that respect. This
information, however, Smith divulged to me in his own good time, and in such way
as to satisfy me that he would go to any extreme in obtaining vast holdings of
timber. After exhibiting plats showing the lands I had to offer, and explaining
all the details incident to prices and the facilities for manufacturing the
product into merchantable lumber, he asked me if I was aware of any tracts of
good timber that had been surveyed, but which were still vacant and subject to
entry, to which I replied that I was familiar with several fine bodies of timber
in that condition. He then inquired if it would not be a more feasible plan, in
my opinion, to locate a lot of men under the timber and stone Act of June 3,
1878, furnishing them the money with which to make final proof, and acquire
title in that way. I informed Mr. Smith that the plan outlined would most
assuredly be considerably cheaper in the long run, but that it would necessitate
the expendi- ture of a large sum of money at the outset. Page 33
Page 34
ThomasB. Neuhausen, Special Inspector, Interior Department one of Heneys chief
aids in the land fraud prosecutions
Page 35
So far as the money feature was concerned, Smith assured me that he would be
only too glad to advance whatever amount was required, provided, however, that I
should enter into an agreement with him to attend to all the details incident to
the perfection of title. His proposition met my approbation, and I expressed
myself accordingly, whereupon he sought information concerning the probable cost
involved by the undertaking. This I could not state definitely, informing him
that it would depend largely upon circumstances. As to the land itself, we knew
exactly what the Government price was, as well as the land office fees, but when
it came to a question of compensation for the entrymen, prices would vary to a
certain extent, as some would demand more than others for their rights. Mr.
Smith was positive that in no instance would the expense of this character be
exorbitant, basing his ideas upon the theory that comparatively few men had the
necessary $400 with which to make final payment, however valuable the claim
might be, and he felt that I would be able to get all the locators I could
utilize for sums ranging from $100 to $200 each. I agreed with Mr. Smith that
his figures were doubtless correct, and being mutually satisfied, we entered
into an agreement whereby I was to secure from 8,000 to 10,000 acres for him, or
as much more as I could get, of good yellow fir timber land, practically in one
body, as near to market as possible, and to run at least 50,000 feet of
merchantable lumber to the acre, and which was not to cost him over $6 an acre,
he agreeing to advance all funds necessary in get- ting title. He then gave me a
letter to Frederick A. Kribs, his financial agent, who was then in San
Francisco, at the same time stating that he would abide by whatever trade I made
with Kribs; also, that as soon as I had located a tract and closed a deal with
the latter, he would proceed to Oregon and have a definite understanding with me
upon the subject, in the form of a written agreement. Upon my arrival in
Portland, I consulted my partner, Horace G. McKinley, in regard to the deal
discussed with Smith, and asked him if he knew of any desirable tract that we
could get hold of. IVIcKinley declared that he was aware of a large body of land
that would exactly fill the bill; that Townships 14 South, Ranges 2, 3 and 4
East, Willamette Meridian, in Linn County, Oregon, had only recently been
surveyed, and were covered with one of the heaviest and finest bodies of yellow
fir timber in the State, but if he wanted to get in on it we would have to act
promptly, as the Northern Pacific Railroad Company had its cruisers on the
ground at that time, estimating the timber with a view of making forest reserve
selections of it under the Scripper Act of June 4, 1897, so we decided to go
right to work and get in ahead of the Northern Pacific. We followed out the plan
along the lines originally suggested by Mr. Smith, and were successful in
securing a majority of the entrymen required in Portland, the balance being
picked up around Brownsville, Albany and Rose- burg, Oregon. We had a mutual
understanding with each and every person taking up a claim that we would pay all
expenses incurred, including that of going to and from the land; going to and
from the land office; the land office fees and the cost of the laud, and
further, that we would allow them $100 each, after they had made final proof and
turned over their deeds, which were to be executed in favor of whomsoever we
might designate. The entrymen were taken to the Roseburg land office in bunches
of ten or more, as we found it convenient, having arranged previously with the
Southern Pacific Company for something like a one and one-fifth fare for the
round trip, where groups of ten or upward were transported at one time. - The
descriptions of the lands filed on were secured from the Mealey brothers,
residents of the Sweet Home country, under a contract to allow them $10 a claim,
or quarter section, they guaranteeing each 160 acres so furnished to estimate no
less than 10,000,000 feet of good timber. These two brothers, William Page 35
Page 36
and Jud Mealey, had lived for years within three miles of the tract, and had
assisted in its snrvey, consequently were thoroughly posted relative to the
general characteristics of each snbdivision thereof. Within a week we had made
fifty- seven locations on timber claims, and had recorded the filings at the
land office in Rosebnrg. Shortly thereafter the Northern Pacific crnisers
retnrned with their reports to headqnarters, and C. E. Moulton, agent for the
railway corporation, was sent to Roseburg for the purpose of scripping the
entire tract. When he discovered that the land had been filed on nnder the
timber and stone act, and learned who was behind the scheme, he immediately
called on McKinley and myself, and threat- ened to institute contest proceedings
unless we had the timber filings withdrawn forthwith, giving it as his opinion
that the claims had not been taken in good faith. We objected, of course,
against any snch measnre, consequently the Nor- thern Pacific filed contests
against every entry, and the Register and Receiver of the Roseburg land office
set the hearing simultaneous with the date of making final proof on the
different claims. Shortly after this I went to San Francisco to see Mr. Kribs,
to whom I explained the entire situation, and he in turn agreed to communicate
with Mr. Smith, advising him to come to the Coast immediately, in order that
some satisfactory conclusion might be reached regarding the status of affairs.
Some weeks later I received a wire from Kribs, announcing Smiths arrival in the
Bay City, and requesting me to meet them at Albany, Oregon, at a stated time. On
the date named, McKinley and I went to Albany, where we met both Smith and Kribs,
and it was thereupon decided that our first move should be to make an
examination of the timber, and if it came up to Mr. Smiths expectations, an
agreement was to be perfected between us, with a view of acquiring the titles.
On the morning following we took the train for Lebanon, Oregon, where a team was
engaged, driving to the Mealey ranch and remaining there over night. The next
day, and for several days thereafter, we cruised the timber under the pilotage
of the two Mealey brothers, counting and measuring the trees indiscrim- inately
on different portions of the tract, which was to be a test of the whole. Some of
the land ran as high as 300,000 feet to the acre, while scarcely any estimated
less than 20,000 feet. It all averaged 80,000 feet to the acre, or 30,000 feet
above requirements. Mr. Smith was highly pleased with the results of his
inspection, and upon our return to Albany entered into a contract, whereby he
agreed to advance the money for making final proof and all other expenses,
together with the $100 bonus to be paid each entryman for his right, and as soon
as deeds were obtained, he was to pay us the sum of $5.50 an acre for the 9,120
acres embraced in the fifty-seven claims, less the amount advanced for the
perfection of titles. He suggested that as soon as final proofs were made, the
entrymen should mortgage their claims to Frederick A. Kribs for $600 each,
simultaneous with the execution of a transfer to John A. Wild, of Minneapolis,
this deed to be withheld from record for ten days after the final proof had been
made. This precautionary measure was adopted to make it appear that the claims
had not been located under any prior contract for sale, in case any question
should arise affecting the validity of the titles. About a fortnight prior to
the time for making final proofs on the entries, McKinley was arrested at
Albany. I was en route from San Francisco to Portland when this occurred, and
had wired him to meet me in Salem. McKinley sent a messenger boy to the Albany
depot for the purpose of intercepting me and apprising me of the situation, and
as soon as I learned the state of affairs, I left the train and went up town to
the hotel, where I found Horace in custody of an officer, he having been charged
with subornation of perjury and con- spiracy to defraud the Government out of
its public lands. The warrant had been sworn to by S. S. Mathers, Special Agent
of the General Land Office, whose headquarters were at the Roseburg Land Office.
I immediately qualified Page 36
Page 37
The kind of timber land acquired fraudulently by C. A. Smith through Puter and
McKinley, and liable to be cancelled by the Government. This photograph was
taken in March, 1908, and represents Puter in cruiser costume estimating the
timber on N W. ~, Sec. 20, Tp. 1I S., R. 3 E. (Linn County, Ore.) portions of
which ran 300,000 feet to the acre. The entire quarter section aggregated
20,000,000 feet, and was the claim filed on personally by Puter in 1900
Page 38
as his bondsman, resuming my journey as soon as he was released, and going
direct to F. Pierce Mays office as soon as J reached Portland, where I explained
all the circumstances attending the arrest of McKinley, and asked Mays advice
concerning the best course of procedure. He seemed much surprised to see me,
stating that it was reported I was in Chicago, and that had the Northern Pacific
people known I was in Oregon, they would not have molested McKinley. He admitted
that it was the railway corporation behind the scheme to prosecute McKinley,
thinking that by this process, coupled with the fact of his being in jail, it
would have a terrorizing effect upon the fifty-seven entrymen, making it an easy
matter, in the opinion of the companys agent, to scare them into relinquishing
their rights and enable the Northern Pacific to scrip the land without
opposition. According to Mays, the company was proceeding upon the theory that
by exercising a little persuasive force of this character with the entrymen,
practically all of whom were ignorant backwoodsmen, they would accede to their
wishes, as most of them realized that they had done something contrary to law,
and were liable to prosecution by the Government. So far as McKinley was
concerned, Mays assured me he would come out all right, and advised that the
best thing to do would be to expedite his preliminary examination, and he would
see that his brother, Edward P. Mays then Assistant United States Attorneyshould
be sent to Albany to prosecute the case, so we need feel no anxiety over the
matter. After a brief conference, McKinley and I proceeded to interview the
entrymen, informing them of the game of bluff being played by the Northern
Pacific people, at the same time cautioning them to stand pat and talk to
nobody. We then employed A. M. Crawford, ex-Receiver of the Roseburg Land
Office, and at present Attorney General for the State of Oregon, to defend
McKinley. The case was set for hearing within five days after his arrest, before
the United States Commissioner at Albany. In the meantime McKinley and I decided
to visit Roseburg and if possible, round up Special Agent Mathers, who had sworn
to the complaint, believing that for a few hundred dollars he could be induced
to view things in a different light about McKinley, and assist in having him
cleared. We likewise deemed it good policy to have Mathers on our side during
the pendency of the contest proceedings, and also to aid us in securing the
patents. As soon as we got to Roseburg we commenced to hunt for tracks, making
the rounds of Mathers various haunts until we finally found him in one of the
numerous saloons of the place, surrounded by a coterie of charmed and
enthusiastic admirers, to whom he was relating gilt-edged narratives concerning
his many deeds of prowess on the battlefields of his country. As each tale had
been accentuated by a round of drinks, and as the valiant Captain was wound up
for all night, we considered him in prime condition for opening up negotiations.
Several members of the crowd around the bar, including Captain Mathers,
recognized us as soon as we entered the establishment, and our appearance was
the signal for an invitation from all hands to join in the festivities. To say
that we accepted with alacrity would be putting it mildly, as we regarded the
situation as a golden opportunity for carrying out our plans. After imbibing
freely, all present entered into social converse, the amount of individual
talking being gauged by the quantity of liquor already consumed. McKinley and I
took a special interest in the various anecdotes, particularly so xvhenever the
Special Agents tongue got busy. We applauded his maudlin remarks to the echo,
and as a fitting appreciation of his recitals, wherein whole regiments had been
put to flight whenever he placed himself on a war footing, McKinley tossed a
double eagle over the bar and suggested that the entire house join us in bumpers
of champagne to the everlasting glory of the great warrior. The corks popped
quite freely after that, Mathers keeping up his end Page 38
Page 39
6S 33 ~N. Plats exhibiting descriptions of fraudulent entries taken up in
interest of C.A. Smith, in Township 14 South, Ranges 3 and 4 East (Linn County,
Oregon), and subject to cancellation by the Government
Page 40
in true millionaire fashion. We later toured the town with the bibulous Special
Agent, jollying him along to the queens taste, until we came to the conclusion
that he was ripe enough to be approached upon the subject of standing in with
us. Much to our surprise, Mathers informed us that the Northern Pacific people
had beaten us to him, having given his wife a free pass over their lines to New
York City, besides presenting him with $200 in cash, as an inducement to assist
them in the approaching contests. This voluntary information on the part of the
Special Agent was not exactly what we relished, but in the absence of our
ability to corral him for our own use and benefit, it answered the purpose of a
leverage, and we lost no time in acquainting Register J. T. Bridges, of the
Roseburg Land Office, with the facts in the case. Bridges thereupon called for
an explanation from Mathers, who, when confronted with the evidence of bribery,
made a complete confession to the Register, who at once wired Commissioner of
the General Land Office Binger Hermann, apprising him of the situation. As a
result, the Special Agent was relieved from duty at Roseburg and sent out of the
State, but was not dicharged by Hermann, although he was later dismissed from
service by order of Secretary Hitchcock. In due time McKinleys case came up for
preliminary hearing before the United States Commissioner at Albany, and while
the evidence was sufficiently strong to hold him under ordinary circumstances,
he was discharged. True to his promise, my old friend Pierce Mays had induced
his brother Edwin to appear for the Government in the role of prosecutor, and as
Assistant United States Attorney, his recommendation carried enough weight to
convince the Commis- sioner that there was slight chance for a conviction before
a jury, although, as a matter of fact, two of the bogus entrymen had confessed,
and had made affidavits that they had taken up the land for the benefit of
McKinley, with whom they had contracted in advance of filing to sell their
rights for $100 each. Soon after this affair, the case of the Northern Pacific
against the fifty-seven entrymen was called before the Register and Receiver of
the Roseburg Land Office. The contestants were represented by one of the
corporations special counsel from St. Paul, Minn., in addition to an attorney
from Tacoma, Wash., and F. Pierce Mays, of Portland, while the lawyers for the
entryrnen were John H. Shupe and A. M. Crawford, ex-Register and ex-Receiver,
respectively, of the Roseburg Land Office. I was dumbfounded to perceive Mays
there in the capacity of attorney for the corporation, and as soon as the chance
presented itself, demanded an explanation. Dont you know that I am one of the
regular attorneys of the Northern Pacific Railway Company ? he responded rather
haughtily. No, I answered, you have always been my attorney, and when I asked
you the other day to defend my interests in these suits, you declared that you
were unable to get away on account of pressing business, and now I find you
arrayed upon the opposite side. Mays undertook to excuse himself with the
explanation that he did not think the Northern Pacific people intended to make a
call on his services, but at the last moment they had done so, and he was in no
position to refuse, as they had all along calculated to do so, but had failed to
notify him of their intentions. At any rate, continued Mays, you will be well
represented, and I guess you will not have much trouble, as I shall be easy with
you. As I had made personal application for one of these claims, and xvas
therefore one of the contestees, I happened to be the first witness called and
was on the stand for two days. I had a satisfactory answer for every question
concerning my connection with the fifty-seven entrymen, as well as pertaining to
my individual filing, hence, so far as the testimony went, it looked as if the
Northern Pacific did not have much of a case. I had made such a good showing, in
fact, that Mays called upon me that evening at my room in the Page 40
Page 41
Sample of timber on one of the fraudulent Smith claims in Tp. 14 5., R. 3 E.
liable to revert to the Government through cancellation
Page 42
hotel and suggested a compromise, stating that the best thing I could do would
be to give up one-half the claims to the railway corporation; that he thought
they would be willing to acquiesce in an arrangement of this kind, as I had put
up such a splendid front on the witness stand the Northern Pacific attorneys
were dubious about the outcome. However, said he, you know, Puter, if we carry
these cases on, you wont be able to save a single claim, as every one of those
entrymen will go to pieces when they get on the stand, and the chances are more
than likely that you will all be indicted for conspiracy to defraud the
Government, convicted, and sent over the road. As a matter of fact, Mays was
simply taking up a collection on both sides of the aisle when he offered this
suggestion. At any rate, I declined to surrender such a large percentage of the
lands, but finally agreed to compromise upon the basis of 24 claims for the
Northern Pacific and 33 for ourselves, so I selected the ~ quarter sections I
wanted, and had the entrymen relinquish their rights to the remainder. As soon
as this had been done, the Northern Pacific proceeded to cover each abandoned
tract with forest reserve selections, at the same time withdrawing their
contests against the other 33 entries, and we then ~vent to work to have the
latter proved up. C. A. Smith wired the necessary money to Frederick A. Kribs,
at Roseburg, and as rapidly as proofs were made, he called at the Land Office
and paid the Government price for the land, as well as all the office fees,
whereupon the entrymen, as arranged previously, mortgaged their claims to Mr.
Kribs, and at the same time executed a deed in favor of John A. Wild, of
Minneapolis, receiving a cash bonus of $100 each. For some reason or other, the
patents to these thirty-three entries were suspended, pending an investigation.
A report had been sent to the General Land Office concerning the fraudulent
character of the claims, and in my opinion this complaint was instigated by the
Northern Pacific. At all events, Special Agent William D. Stratford, who
succeeded Mathers at Roseburg, was directed to make an investigation, but it is
evident he was picked up by Kribs in short order, as he came to me soon after in
Portland with an affidavit for me to sign, bearing upon the question of my
connection with the thirty-three entrymen. This affidavit was a typewritten
document of several pages. Stratford informed me that Kribs had given it to him,
and he wished me to sign it. He also wanted me to hunt up as many of the
entrymen as I could find, and obtain their affidavits in order to facilitate the
issuance of patents. I hesitated somewhat before signing, as it appeared to me
the affidavit should have been more explicit in defining my connection with the
thirty-three entrymen; but as the Special Agent had come to me direct from one
of my associates, and furthermore, because I was assured that it would innure to
the mutual benefit of Kribs and myself, I attached my signature. I then rounded
up as many of the entrymen as I could find and secured additional affidavits,
requesting McKinley to locate the balance, or those whom I had overlooked.
Stratford expressed a desire to get as many affidavits as he possibly could at
the earliest moment, that he might embody them in his report to the General Land
Office. Awhile afterward I had business in the East, and stopped off at
Minneapolis for the purpose of conferring with C. A. Smith relative to the
claims, as it will be remembered they were located in his interest. After
describing conditions in Oregon, and Special Agent Stratfords efforts in our
behalf, Smith suggested that I proceed to Washington, D. C., at once with a view
of using my best endeavors to get the patents through. He then dictated a letter
of introduction to S. M. Eddy, United States Senator from Minnesota, whom he
declared was his personal friend and one upon whom he could rely for assistance
of this character, together with a letter to R. V. Betz, a prominent Washington
lawyer. These letters xvere not presented, for reasons that will appear
hereafter. Page 42
Page 43
The Oregon City Land Office, since removed to Portland. Register A. S. Dresser
at desk Receiver George W. Bibee ~at~d in chair
Page 44
Upon arriving in Washington, I received a telegram from Mr. Smith, requesting me
not to see Senator Eddy or i~~Ir. Betz, or take any further steps in connetion
with the entries, as other arrangements had been made in Portland. Returning to
Minneapolis, I was informed by Mr. Smith that he had received advices from
Frederick A. Kribs to the effect that George F. Wilson, another Special Agent,
had been sent out from the General Land Office to make further investigations of
the claims, and that it would be useless for us to attempt to do anything in
Washington until this Agents report had reached headquarters. It developed later
that Special Agent Wilson xvas a brother to the Republican boss of Providence,
R. I., and that he owed his Government position to the political pull enjoyed by
his relative with Senator Aldrich, of that State. It is also interesting to know
that Wilson fell an easy prey to Kribs as soon as he reached Oregon, and is no
longer in the service of the Land Department on that account. Upon my return to
Portland, ]I had an interview with Kribs, who gave me full particulars regarding
Wilsons visit, and how he had disposed of him. However, Kribs still felt more or
less perturbed over the delay in securing patents, and I, too, was ill at ease,
so I suggested that he call on F. P. Mays. and solicit his aid in adjusting
matters. Later Kribs informed me that he had made an arrangement with Mays,
whereby the latter was to receive $50 each for his services in getting the
patents on the thirty-three entries. Sometime afterward I met Kribs again, and
found him in a disturbed frame of mind, as he could not understand the delays
incident to the issuance of final evidence of title to the lands, expressing the
opinion that Mays was procrastinating in the matter. I then informed Kribs that
United States Senator John H. Mitchell had just returned to the city, and
suggested that he consult with the statesman upon the subject. Kribs did as I
advised, and a few days later reported the result of his conference with the
Senator. According to Kribs statement to me, which has since been confirmed by
court proceedings, he succeeded in entering into an agreement with Senator
Mitchell, whereby the latter was to receive $25 for each patent issued in
connection with the thirty-three claims. Although the arrangement only applied
to these entries, Kribs took advantage of the situation and made a further
agreement with the Senator, whereby he was to look after his interests in the
matter of expediting all land patents he might have in future before the
Department, for which the Senator xvas to receive the stipulated sum of $25
each. It might be well to note here that the part taken by Senator Mitchell in
the matter of expediting the issuance of patents for Frederick A. Kribs was the
direct cause of his subsequent conviction, as Kribs settled with the law firm of
Mitchell et Tanner through checks drawn on the Merchants National Bank, of
Portland, Ore., of which a full account will be given in another chapter. Page
44
Page 45
7 7 Field Marshal Kribs, commander-in-chief of C. A. Smiths grand army of
dummies
Page 46
Chapter IV History of the Famous Township 11-7 deal, whereby Futer and his
associates demonstrate conclusively that there is an actual method of stealing
Govern- ment landDesperate efforts of the conspirators to secure the early issu-
ance of patents on the fraudulent claims includes the wholesale bribery of
public officials of both high and low degreeDetails of the transaction in which
United States Senator John H. Mitchell, of Oregon, figures as the taker of
tainted money in the shape of two $iooo bills for his services in securing
favorable action by the Land Department at Washington. D U RING 1899 and 1900,
my partner, Horace G. McKinley, and myself had been doing considerable
speculating in timber lands in Oregon, and be- cause of our extensive
operations, had occasion to visit frequently the Roseburg and Oregon City Land
Offices. It came to our notice that a great many unperfected homestead entries
withii the Cascade Forest Reserve were being proven up on, and it occurred to
us, because of our knowledge of the fact that a large majority of the
homesteaders were not bona-fide settlers and had not complied with the law in
any particular, and further, because of our knowledge that the lands being
proved up on were of comparatively small value, that there must be some good
reason for this abnormal rush in the line of securing titles to such lands, we
decided to make an investigation. It resulted in the discovery that these
tracts, immediately after final proofs were made, were being transferred to
lumber syndicates, for the purpose of creating base to be used in selecting
other and better lands in lieu thereof. Under the provisions of the second
section of the Act of Congress of June 4, 1897, it was specified that in cases
in which a tract covered by an unperfected claim, or by a patent, which is
included within the limits of a public forest reservation, the settler or owner
thereof may, if he desire to do so, relinquish the tract to the Government, and
may select in lieu thereof a tract of vacant land open to settlement, not
exceeding in area the tract covered by his claim or patent. The provisions of
this Act entitled the owner of any perfected title within a forest reserve to
relinquish his right thereto, through deed to the Government, and to select in
lieu thereof, the same number of acres of any unoccupied, surveyed lands, within
the United States. During 1900, the survey of Township 11 South, Range 7 East,
Willamette 1\feridian, was approved, and the lands therein were opened to entry.
This township, being within the Cascade Forest Reserve, afforded all who owned
lands therein an opportunity to exchange their holdings with the Government and
to select, in lieu thereof, any tract of vacant surveyed public land in the
United States, of the same area. Those who did not wish to make a trade of this
sort, had the option of selling their holdings at a fluctuating market value for
tracts of this kind, ranging all the way from $5 to $7.50 per acre. The
purchaser, of course was vested with the same right granted to the original
owner, relative to exchange with the Government, and these lands were used as
the basis in mak- ing other selections, and became popularly, though erroneously
known as scrip. When McKinley and I learned that Township 1 1-7 was in the
market, and realizing that it was situated near the summit of the Cascade
Mountains, at an elevation where the prospects of Governmental inquiry
concerning entries were exceedingly remote, we concluded to make a lot of
homestead filings there, under the pretense that it was being done by settlers
who had long been residents of the township, and who were about to take
advantage of the law that permitted Page 46
Page 47
0 ~ ~
Page 48
settlers in a newly surveyed township to initiate their titles within ninety
days after the approval of the survey. Titles to Government lands can neither be
perfected nor initiated in an unsurveyed township. However, the term of a
persons residence on the claim before survey counts as part of the five-year
period required for actual residence under the homestead law. Thus, if the proof
shows that a person has been a resident on a tract of land for the full five
years, it only becomes necessary for him to make his filing, advertise during a
period of six weeks, submit his final proofs and receive his final certificate,
which is followed by a patent without unnecessary delay, for no other expense
than the advertising and filing fees, which would not amount to over $25. Our
idea was to locate as many persons as possible in that township, under the
homestead law, and to furnish them the money with which to make final proof and
cover their incidental expenses, and as soon as final proof was made, to have
them deed the land to us at a price agreed upon in advance. Having determined
upon the plan described, we associated with us in the venture, Dan W. Tarpley, a
young attorney and notary public of Salem, Oregon, agreeing to pay him a certain
percentage of the commissions as soon as we procured titles and disposed of the
claims. His services, in return, were to consist of conducting the homesteaders
to the land office for the purpose of filing their claims, attending to the
advertising and the making of final proofs, and to act as a general lookout, by
keeping us posted as to how things were moving along. Persons living in the
township were entitled to make final proof before the County Clerk of the county
where the land was situated, if they so desired, or before the Register and
Receiver of the Oregon City Land Office. In view of this phase of the situation,
McKinley entered into an arrangement with Robert B. Montague, the Deputy County
Clerk of Linn county at Albany, whereby he agreed to pay him $100 for each
person who filed and made final proof before him, Montague, of course, being
made familiar with all the conditions, and he understood the situation
thoroughly. Altogether, we located twelve claims in this way, of 160 acres each,
which was done by ten people only, two of them filing upon two claims each, but
under different names, one claim, in each of these particular instances, being
filed on before Deputy Clerk Montague at Albany, and the other before the
Register of the Oregon City Land Office. Those making final proof on two claims
were: Thomas R. Wilson, who filed under the names of Joseph Wilson and Thos.
Wilkins; the other, Henry A. Young, who used his correct name in filing the
first claim, and that of Geo. A. Graham in filing upon the second one. Nellie
Backus, Alexander R. Brown, and Emma Porter, used only a portion of their real
names. George L. Pettis and Zenas K. Watson were fictitious names. The only
others using their correct names were Maud Witt, Harry C. Barr and Frank H.
Walgamot. This changing of names was done for the purpose of avoiding identity
in case there should be any investigation by the Land Department, after final
proof had been made. Six of the claims were filed on before Montague, at Albany,
and an equal number before the Register of the Oregon City Land Office. At the
time of filing, the homesteaders were required to make affidavits to the effect
that they had settled upon their claims prior to the creation of the reserve,
and at the time of making final proofs, they were obliged to make affidavits,
corroborated by witnesses, that they were not only living on their claims prior
to the creation of the reserve, but had resided there continuously up to that
date, and that the improvements consisted of a good house, with outbuildings,
such as a barn, woodshed, etc.; also that they had cultivated and fenced an acre
or so ofthe land, and that the value of their improvements amounted to several
hundred dollars. The affidavits and proofs of homesteaders must be corroborated
by two disinterested witnesses living near by, and who are personally acquainted
with Page 48
Page 49
Puters partner in fraudulent land operations, who fled to Chini after his
conviction in the 11-7 case, and was brongkt back by Detective J.F. Kerrigan
after a 30,000 mile chase Horace G. McKinley,
Page 50
those making final proofs, as well as familiar with the character of their
improvements. This proviso was easy enough to overcome, as one homesteader acted
as a witness for the other, and vice versa. As township 11-7 is located near the
very top of the Cascade range of mountains, and at an altitude of approximately
5,000 feet, it is very rough, rocky, and broken up with deep gorges, and covered
with a dense nndergrowth of brush and fir timber, with snow covering the entire
district to a great depth for three-fonrths of the year, thereby rendering it
imposible for any one to make a living in the township under existing
conditions. In fact, not a soul lives nearer than thirty miles. Under the
circumstances, it was an easy matter for us to play fast and loose with 11-7, as
there was not much likelihood of anybody disputing our assertions relative to
improvements, or anything else. As a matter of fact, not one of the ten who made
proof on the dozen claims had ever been nearer to them than Albany, and there
were no improvements on any claim. In passing the Homestead Act, it was the
intention of Congress to open up lands to legitimate settlers, who would
actually reside on the property for five years before proving up; build a
residence on same; till the soil, and in all, make snch improvements as would
justify the homesteader in remaining on the land, and making it his permanent
home. Final proofs were made on the twelve claims within a few weeks after the
filings, and as no improvements whatever had been made, nor had the entrymen
even gone to the expense of inspecting the lands, which they were supposed to
have lived on and made their homes continuously for five years, it can readily
be seen that the parties to this transaction were fraudulently attempting to
secure them purely for the pnrpose of speculation. As McKinley and I did not
wish to be known in this matter, we arranged to have the entrymen, as soon as
proofs were made, execute deeds to Mrs. Emma L. Watson, she being one of the
entrymen, having taken up a claim under the name of Emma Porter, later deeding
it to herself. Arrangements had been made previously between Mrs. Watson,
McKinley and myself, whereby she agreed to make conveyance to any person whom we
might designate, in the event of a sale. The actual cost of these claims to
McKinley and myself was as follows: Emma Porter$800 Maud Witt600 Geo. L.
Pettis600 Nellie Backus150 Alexander R. Brown150 Harry C. Barr150 Frank H.
Walgamot150 Zenas K. Watson150 Joseph Wilson150 Thos. Wilkins150 Henry A.
Young150 Geo. A. Graham150$3350 Land Office Fees300 Incidental Expenses150450
Total Cost$3800 Filings were made by the claimants in October, 1900, and final
proofs submitted six weeks later. As McKinley and I bore all costs, not only
regarding amounts paid to the various so-called homesteaders, but also the land
office fees and incidental expenses, it will be seen that each homesteader
profited to the extent of the amount credited opposite his or her name. As to
our reason for paying Maud Page 50
Page 51
A rdigah Falls, on Marion Fork of Santiam River, near southeast corner of
Township 11 South, Range 7 East
Page 52
Witt and Geo. L. Pettis $600 each, it might be stated that they were close
personal friends and had an nnderstanding with us from the beginning that they
were to be preferred to that extent. In the case of Emma Porter, the sum of $800
was paid her, for the reason that she had acted as a go-between, in so much as
these lands were all transferred to her, to be held in trust until their sale
was effected. In consideration of these services, she was paid for her claim
nearly its entire market value. A few weeks after final proofs were made, while
McKinley and I were at a hotel in Albany, a man named J. A. W. Heidecke
approached McKinley and state(l that he had lived for a long time at a little
place known as Detroit within thirty miles of Township 11-7, and that he had
heard of twelve people making proofs to homestead claims in that township; also
that he was informed that McKinley and I were at the bottom of the deal, and
that he knew very well none of the entrymen had been on their claims, nor had
they complied with the homestead law in any manner. Heidecke hinted that unless
he could get some- thing out of it he would report the matter to the
Commissioner of the General Land Office. The upshot of this conversation was
that McKinley settled with Heidecke by paying him $50, for which amount he
agreed to keep his mouth shut. However, it was not many months after final
proofs had been made, be- fore Lookout Tarpley learned through Special Agent C.
E. Loomis, that the latter had received instructions from the Commissioner of
the General Land Office to make a thorough examination of our twelve entries in
Township 1 1-7, charges of fraud having been filed against them by somebody.
Immediately upon learning these facts, I consulted with F. Pierce Mays, and
explained to him the entire situation; how these lands had been taken up twelve
claims in all, explaining further, that the parties interested had never seen
the lands and knew nothing about them, except that they were somewhere in
Township 11-7, and that, as the matter stood now, 1\IcKinley and I were the sole
owners of the entire twelve claims, although they were being held in trust for
us by iVIrs. Emma L. Watson. After listening to my story, Mays advised that I
see C. F. Loomis, Special Agent for the Oregon City Land District, suggesting
that it would be an easy matter to fix things with him. He said, in fact, that
it was about the only thing I could do. Thereupon I wrote Loomis at Oregon City,
stating that I wished to see him, and he called upon me at once at my home in
Portland, when I advised the Special Agent of having learned that he had been
instructed by the Land Depart- ment at Washington to investigate the homestead
entries in 117 and upon the advice of my attorney, Mr. Mays, I had requested
this conference, as I was the owner of all twelve claims. Loomis professed to be
well acquainted with Mr. Mays, and questioned me rather closely regarding the
entries. I told him that I knew nothing whatever about any improvements or
residence, but that, inasmuch as I had purchased tbe claims in good faith, I was
naturally anxious to secure the patents with as little delay as possible,
especially since it was my intention to use them as base in the selection of
other lands. I protested against becoming involved with the Government on
account of any controversy over the titles, and suggested that he make it
convenient to visit the claims personally at the earliest date possible, and
report his findings to headquarters at Washington without delay. I have no
knowledge of Mr. Loomis having seen iVIr. Mays before calling on me, but thought
at the time, as I still believe, that they had had an interview relative to the
subject, as Mr. Loomis lost no time in assuring me that he would do everything
in his power to have matters adjusted, and he expressed the opinion that all
would terminate to my entire satisfaction. Thus encouraged, I went on to explain
to Loomis that the trip to 11-7 would prove an ardtious one, and quite
expensive, and as I wanted to secure the patents immediately I would gladly
contribute to the expense, if he would defer action on all other business Page
52
Page 53
and proceed at once to the township named. Thereupon, I handed Mr. Loomis a
draft in the sum of $500 and informed him that, npon receipt of patents, I would
give him a similar sum, and which later was handed to Mr. Loomis, after the
patents were issued. The two drafts mentioned were purchased at the Wells Fargo
Bank of Portland, Oregon. Mr. Loomis then assured me that he would go right
ahead and do the best he could by me, and stated further, that he had no doubt
as to his ability to make a favorable report, after which, he said, I would
experience little difficulty in securing my patents. After coming to terms with
Loomis, I then wrote to J. A. NV. Heidecke requesting him to meet me at Albany,
Oregon, on Wednesday of that week, where I wished to see him on important
business. On the date indicated I went to Albany and found Mr. Heidecke awaiting
my arrival, and we proceeded to bus- iness immediately. I asked him if he was
much acquainted in Township 11-7, to which he replied, that he had lived in
Detroit for the past fifteen years and was not only familiar with the township
itself, but was also personally acquainted with every homesteader res