The Creation of Mt. Rainier National Park from Mt. Ranier National Forest Reserve
by Stephen Puter ("King of the Oregon Land Fraud Ring"; written from prison)
The entire idea of making a National Park out of the unprepossessing
country
surrounding Mt. Rainier, was clever in the extreme. It was the work of a master mind, because there was no more necessity for endowing this region
with such exclusiveness than would exist in the contemplation to create National
Parks out of every high mountain peak in the country. In short, Mt. Rainier owes its distinction in this respect to the fact that the Northern Pacific Railroad
Company owns a lot of land in the neighborhood. Had the Jim Hill corporation
possessed the odd-numbered sections adjacent to Mt. Shasta, in California, Mt.
Hood, in Oregon, or Mt. Anything, in Anywhere, there is no question but what
Congress would have wisely recognized the utmost importance of making National Parks out of them also. Hence, good fortune must have smiled upon Mt.
Rainier with peculiar blessings when old Nature itself took a hand in the game
ages before anything human was ever dreamed of, and reared the snow-capped
summit of the mountain ‘mid territory that millions of years later, perhaps, fell
within the granted limits of the Northern Pacific.
In no essential particular, however, was the ingenuity of the plan to make
Mt. Rainier a National Park more clearly defined than was contained in the cunning arrangement to permit the Northern Pacific to have the right of selection
of unsurveyed lands of the United States in exchange for the worthless portions of its holdings in the entire Mt. Rainier Forest Reserve as well as the National
Park. This National Park idea was a subterfuge from the start to cloak the
real intentions of the corporation, and was calculated to lull the public into the
belief that Congress was moved by consideration of deep public interest when it
enacted the measure that made the National Park possible.
It should be borne in mind that the Mt. Rainier Forest Reserve was established February 22, l897—two years before the National Park of that name
—and embraced a much greater scope of country. It included all of Mt. Rainier.
besides a vast area adjacent thereto, aggregating 2,565,760 acres, of which the
railway company owned practically one-half, and while it enjoyed the same
rights as others under the Act of June 4, 1897, applicable to forest reserves,
and could exchange its lands in the reserve for any unappropriated lands of the
United States, it had no exclusive privileges, such as would accrue under a
special Act, and it is the purpose to show herein how this seeming obstacle was
overcome. In order to circumvent any possible future hostile legislation, and at
the same time clothe the great railway corporation with a complete monopoly
along certain lines—after the fashion of starting a back fire—the company on
March 2, 1899, caused the passage of an Act setting aside a comparatively small
proportion of the Rainier Mountain Forest Reserve as a National Park. It
was a veritable “wheel within a wheel” proposition, and it has never developed
why any such action was necessary as a measure of common interest.
So far as Mt. Rainier was concerned, the forest reserve laws protected
it fully as much as it could possibly be under the laws governing National
Parks, hence the scheme of creating a National Park was in reality a cloak for
some hidden purpose. In order to indicate precisely what that purpose was,
there is presented herewith the full text of the bill creating the National Park.
There is nothing on the face of the measure to show that it had to do with any-
thing except the proper protection of natural wonders that could not be pre-
served in any other way. Other National Parks were in existence at the time,
so what objections could there be to adding to the list? The wonders of Yellow-
stone are thus guarded; so are those of the Yosemite Valley, the Calaveras Big
Trees, and other notable points of interest throughout the country, but then it
must be considered that they are marvelous attractions, and besides were not
included in any forest reserve at the time of being converted into National
Parks. True, the Crater Lake National Park was cut out of the Cascade Forest
Reserve, but there are no signs that anybody got the benefit of exclusive privi--
leges by the operation. It is between the lines of the Act creating the Mt. Rain-
ier National Park where its worst features exist...and it is this phase of the sit-
uation that shall be analyzed in detail during the course of this article.
The original Pacific Forest Reserve was located where the Mt. Rainier
National Park now is. It included an area about twice as large as the present
park and was proclaimed by the President, February 20, 1893. By a second
proclamation, February 22, 1897, this Pacific Forest Reserve and a large addi-
tion was proclaimed to be the Mt. Rainier Forest Reserve. By act of March 2,
1899, the Mt. Rainier National Park was created. The Mt. Rainier Forest
Reserve was withdrawn from settlement March 1, 1898. Recent additions were
made March 2, 1907. What was called the Mt. Rainier Forest Reserve is now
known as the Rainier National Forest. The law establishing the latter reads as
follows:
CHAP. 377.—An Act To set aside a portion of certain lands in the State of
washington, now known as the Pacific Forest Reserve, as a public park, to be known as
the Mount Rainier National Park.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled, that all those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land
lying and being in the State of Washington, and within the boundaries particularly
described as follows, to-wit: Beginning at a point three miles east of the northeast
corner of township numbered seventeen north, of range six east of the Willamette mer-
idian; thence south through the central parts of townships numbered seventeen, sixteen,
and fifteen north, of range seven east of the Willamette meridian, eighteen miles, more or
]ess, subject to the proper easterly or westerly offsets, to a point three miles east of the
northeast corner of township numbered fourteen north, of range six east of the Willam-
ette meridian; thence east on the township line between townships numbered fourteen
and fifteen north, eighteen miles, more or less, to a point three miles west of the north-
east corner of township fourteen north, of range ten east of the Willamette meridian;
thence northerly subject to the proper easterly or westerly offsets, eighteen miles, more or
less, to a point three miles west of the northeast corner of township numbered seventeen
north, of range ten east of the Willamette meridian (but in locating said easterly bound-
ary, wherever the summit of the Cascade Mountains is sharply and well defined, the said
line shall follow the said summit, where the said summit line bears west of the easterly
line as herein determined); thence westerly along the township line between said town
ships numbered seventeen and eighteen to the place of beginning, the same being a por-
tion of the lands which were reserved from entry or settlement and set aside as a public
reservation by proclamation of the President on the twentieth day of February, in the
year of our Lord eighteen hundred and ninety-three, and of the Independence of the
United States the one hundred and seventeenth, are hereby dedicated and set apart as
a public park, to be known and designated as the Mount Rainier National Park, for the
benefit and enjoyment of the people; and all persons who shall locate or settle upon or
occupy the same, or any part thereof, except as hereafter provided, shall be considered
trespassers and be removed therefrom
Sec. 2. That said public park shall be under the exclusive control of the Secre-
tary of the Interior, whose duty it shall be to make and publish, as soon as practicable,
such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary or proper for the care and
management of the same. Such regulations shall provide for the preservation from injury or
spoilation of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders within said park,
and their retention in their natural condition. The Secretary may, in his discretion,
grant parcels of ground at such places in said park as shall require the erection of
buildings for the accommodation of visitors; all of the proceeds of said leases, and all other
revenues that may be derived from any source connected with said park, to be expended
under his direction in the management of the same, and the construction of roads and
bridle paths therein. And through the lands of the Pacific Forest Reserve adjoining said
park rights of way are hereby granted, under such restrictions and regulations as the
Secretary of the Interior may establish, to any railway or tramway company or companies,
through the lands of said Pacific Forest Reserve, and also into said park hereby created,
for the purpose of building, constructing, and operating a railway, or tramway line or
lines, through said lands, also into said park. He shall provide against the wanton
destruction of the fish and game found within said park, and against their capture or
destruction for the purposes of merchandise or profit. He shall also cause all persons
trespassing upon the same after the passage of this Act to be removed therefrom, and
generally shall be authorized to take all such measures as shall be necessary to fully
carry out the objects and purposes of this Act.
Sec. 3. That upon execution and filing with the Secretary of the Interior, by the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company, of proper deed releasing and conveying to the United
States the lands in the reservation hereby created, also the lands in the Pacific Forest
Reserve which have been heretofore granted by the United States to said company,
whether surveyed or unsurveyed, and which lie opposite said company ‘s constructed road,
said company is hereby authorized to select an equal quantity of non-mineral public lands,
so classified as non-mineral at the time of actual Government survey, which has been or
shall be made, of the United States not reserved and to which no adverse right or claim
shall have attached or have been initiated at the time of the making of such selection
lying within any State into or through which the railroad of said Northern Pacific Rail-
road Company runs, to the extent of the lands so relinquished and released to the United
States: Provided, That any settlers on lands in said National Park may relinquish their
rights thereto and take other public lands in lieu thereof, to the same extent and under
the same limitations and conditions as are provided by law for forest reserves and
National Parks.
Sec. 4. That upon the filing by the said railroad company at the local land office
of the land district in which any tract of land selected and the payment of the fees
prescribed by law in analogous cases, and the approval of the Secretary of the Interior,
he shall cause to be executed, in due form of law, and deliver to said company, a patent
of the United States conveying to it the lands so selected. In ca e the tract so selected
shall at the time of selection be unsurveyed, the list filed by the company at the local
land office shall describe such tract in such manner as to designate the same with a
reasonable degree of certainty; and within the period of three months after the lands
iincluding such tract shall have been surveyed and the plats thereof filed by said local land
office, a new selection list shall be filed by said company, describing such tract according
to such survey; and in case such tract, as originally selected and described in the list
filed in the local land office, shall not precisely conform with the lines of the official
survey, the said company shall be permitted to describe such tract anew, so as to secure
such conformity.
Sec. 5. That the mineral land laws of the United States are hereby extended to
the lands lying within the said reserve and said park.
Approved March 2, 1899.
Could the human mind conjure a more cunning device for flim-fiamming
the public than is contained in this measure? Consider all phases of the situation,
and what is the result? Here was a vast extent of country already embraced
within the protecting folds of a forest reservation, and within the limits of which
the Northern Pacific Railroad Company owned fully 1,000,000 acres of various
kinds of lands—good, bad and indifferent—all available for use as base in the
selection of other lands under the Act of June ~, 1897. In order to clothe itself
with even greater and more exclusive privileges than were enjoyed under the
Forest Reserve Act, the company—through its hirelings in Congress secures
the passage of a law so cleverly drawn that it operates as a blanket in the better
protection. of the Company’s base lands. The process was simple enough after
it is understood properly; by creating a National Park within the limits of an
established forest reserve, and inserting a sufficient quantity of “jokers” in the
measure, making the National Park project possible, the railway corporation is
not only endowed with exclusive privileges, but the scheme is executed in such
an artistic manner as to convey the idea that a great public benefit has been
accomplished; whereas, the whole thing is a low-down means of granting the
Northern Pacific extraordinary powers in the selection of lands in lieu of its
worthless holdings in the two reserves. The Act of June 4, 1897, did not give
the railway corporation enough margin in this respect, so the National Park idea
was played up for all it was worth.
It is evident that from the moment the plot was conceived of making a
National Park—and incidentally letting down the bars for the Northern Pacific
to get in on the ground floor with its lands in the big forest reserve—the corporation had its hungry eyes fastened upon the rich unsurveyed townships of
Oregon,. Washington, Idaho, and other States penetrated by its lines. Like
charity, this law creating the National Park covered a multitude of sins, and no-
where was this idea more clearly outlined than in the clause that has permitted
the company to operate with a free hand in the selection of tracts in townships
that were not subject to entry through any other process. Under this privilege
the Northern Pacific has filed selection lists covering upwards of 50,000 acres
of unsurveyed lands in Oregon alone, with several States yet to hear from.
The clause referred to provides as follows:
James Henry Booth, ex-Receiver of the United States Land Office, at Roseburg, Ore., who
was removed from his position and indicted on account of too close
connection with frandulent land operations
“In case the tract so selected shall, at the time of selection, be unsurveyed, the
list flied by the company at the local land office shall describe such tract in such manner
as to designate the same with a reasonable degree of certainty; and within the period of
three months after the lands including such tract shall have been surveyed and the plats
thereof filed by said local land office, a new selection list shall be filed by said Company,
describing such tract according to such survey; and in case such tract, as originally
selected and described in the list filed in the local land office, shall not precisely conform
with the lines of the official survey, the said Company shall be permitted to describe such
tract anew, so as to secure such conformity.”
In other words, it is not only given the perpetual right of doing something
that none others are allowed to do—file on unsurveyed lands—but is further
granted the privilege of cruising everything in the township, and then, if it finds
that any mistake has been made in the matter of securing the cream of the
timber, it is privileged to float its base around like a bogus Mexican grant and
light upon anything in sight worth having! In fact, the whole bill, from beginning to end, is a mass of subterfuge, and to say that the Congressmen who voted
for the measure did not know what they were doing or could not see any of its
glaring features, is to write them down a lot of asses.
It would have been bad enough, under the most extenuating circum-
stances, for Congress to have confined the operations of the Act of March 2,
1899, to the Mt. Rainier National Park alone, as the Northern Pacific owned
fully 100,000 acres within its confines, and the greedy corporation ought to have
been satisfied with that amount of plunder; but that was not the point; the idea
was to bring in all the lands owned by the company in the larger area contained
in the Rainier Mountain Forest Reserve—aggregating about 1,000,000 acres—
and this Congress has succeeded in doing with a vengeance, as may be seen by
reference to the third section of the Act creating the Mt. Rainier National Park
which provides that “also the lands in the Pacific (Rainier Mountain) Forest
Reserve which have been heretofore granted by the United States to said Com-
pany, whether surveyed or unsurveyed,” shall come under the operations of the
law. Those voting for the bill may seek pardon for their offense upon the
theory that the law gives actual settlers in the Park the same privileges as those
enjoyed by the great railway company, but when it is considered that there
never were any settlers in the region, and that, by reason of the rough character
of the country, no self-respecting billy goat would even be tempted to try and
exist there, the humor of the allusion to “actual settlers” may be fully
appreciated. It was merely a sop to pull the wool over the eyes of those members of
Congress who voted for the measure in the half-hearted belief that they were
aiding a lot of poor homesteaders, when as a matter of fact, they were entirely
unacquainted with conditions, and accepted that view of the situation as a drug
to their consciences in having become accessory to a highway robbery.
The whole bill is a tissue of deceit from beginning to end, because it is
paved with the same kiiid of good intentions that another place is supposed
to be noted for. There is a whole lot of buncombe in it about “preservation from
injury or spoilation of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders
within said park, and their retention in their natural condition.” Any ten-
year-old child knows that the only “natural curiosity or wonders” in any way
connected with the alleged “park” exists solely in the phraseology of the law
that created it. Even with this tremendous pull in the weights the Northern Pacific
was not satisfied, so what was its next course? Why, its henchmen in the halls of
National legislation adopted a protective measure so as to clinch its bargain
beyond any question of doubt, and here in the proceedings of the Fifty-Eighth
Congress (see pages 4239, 4240 and 4241, Congressional Record, March 4,
1905), we find Congressman Lacey, of Iowa, calling for unanimous consent for
the substitution of the statement for the conference report upon the repeal of
the forest ‘reserve lieu land Act of June 4, 1897, and its amendments of June 6,
1900, and March 3, 1901., There being no objection, the Clerk read the statement of the Committee instead of the full report, as follows:
‘‘The Senate amendment provides for the repeal of the Acts of June 4, 1897,
June 6, 1900, and March 3, 1901, in so fat as they provide for the relinquishment, selection
and patenting of lands in lieu of tracts covered by an unperfected bona fide claim or
patent within a forest reserve. It also provides for the protection of all contracts hereto-
fore entered into by the Secretary of the Interior on this subject. The amendment to the
Senate amendment, insisted upon by the house conferees, protects selections heretofore
made in lieu of lands already relinquished to the United States.”
This statement was signed by Congressmen John F. Lacey of Iowa, F. W. Mondell of Wyoming, and John Lind of Minnesota, as managers on the part of
the House.
Of conrse there was a long debate on the floor involving the repeal of the
obnoxious “Scripper” Act of June 4, 1897. All the big corporations in the
country could afford to kill the law, because it had outlived its usefulness, and
the next move was to make a grandstand play before the country and pretend
to bow to the people’s will, and incidentally shut the stable door after the horse was
gone. All these proceedings were part of the game to help along the good cause
for the Northern Pacific. It was a lot of horseplay calculated to fool the people.
By pretending virtuous indignation against the poor, old, wornout Scripper Act—
which really never did possess any sincere friends—the schemers in Congress were
enabled to throw a protecting arm around all the base belonging to the great
railway corporation in the Mt. Rainier Forest Reserve, as well as the Mt. Rainier
National Park, and practically give it a free license to do as it pleased with
the
public domain in those States penetrated by its lines. The Jim Hill road takes
its different courses through the State of Washington like the uncertain wander-
ings of a tangled skein, and yet it has made selection of but 100,000 acres herein;
it also traverses Idaho for a considerable distance, and here the records show that
120,000 acres have been selected for the benefit of the corporation; while in Ore-
gon, its few miles of line in that State, extending froni Kalama, on the Columbia
river, to the City of Portland, gave them a franchise, under the clever wording of
the Act quoted above, to select more than 320,000 acres of its best timber! Nor is
this intended as any commentary upon the good taste of the Northern Pacific in
preferring to make selections in Oregon to other States. It simply goes to show
that it was worth while to build that much road in the State, even if it had to
letit go to rot, for the divine privilege of acquiring such a vast amount of valuable
property, because, had the Northern Pacific lines not penetrated Oregon to some
extent, it could not have selected an acre of its magnificent forests in lieu of the
worthless, burned-over and logged-off tracts in the Mt. Rainier Reserve and
National Park. That is as plain as day, as a careful perusal of the Act will show.
Then comes the question: How could the Northern Pacific make forest
reserve selection of lands in any of these States—and particularly unsurveyed
lands—when the Act of June 4, 1897, was supposed to be repealed? That is
where the fine ... hand of the Northern Pacific comes in—because Congress,
in its passage of the measure repealing the Act of June 4, 1897 (no doubt, inad-
vertently!) very kindly clothed the Jim Hill corporation with an exclusive right
when it provided “for the protection of all contracts heretofore entered into by
the Secretary of the Interior on this subject.” Which means, that the Northern
Pacific, having already filed with the Secretary of the Interior proper deeds
“releasing and conveying to the United States the lands in the reservation hereby
created, also the lands of the Pacific (Rainier Mountain) Forest Reserve which
have been heretofore granted by the United States to said company, whether
surveyed or unsurveyed,” was entitled to select “an equal quantity of non-mineral
public lands, so classified as non-mineral at the time of actual Government survey,
which has been or shall be made, of the United States not reserved and to which
no adverse right or claim shall have attached or have been initiated at the time
of the making of such selection lying within any State into or through which
the railroad of said Northern Pacific Railroad Company runs, to the extent of
the lands so relinquished and released to the United States.”
This clause in the Act of March 2, 1899, has been construed by the Interior
Department as a contract between the Secretary of the Interior and the railway
corporation. If it had been a lawful contract from the start, there would never
have been any occasion for laying particular emphasis upon it, as a constitutional
provision prohibits Congress from passing any act that will impair the obligations
of a contract where the Government is a party; so it would seem that there was
some doubt upon the subject, even in the controlling minds of the great railroad
corporation, and as the Secretary of the Interior is vested with -arbitrary power
in the interpretation of these fine points, the next move on the programme was
in the direction of making sure that there would be no question concerning the
confirmation of selections under the act itself.
Secretary on March 4, 1907. Up to that time comparatively few of the Northern
Pacific selections had been patented, and those already approved by the Interior
Department were based upon the recommendation of chiefs of divisions. In this
respect the conclusions of the Commissioner of the General Land Office had a
certain amount of influence, and whenever any difference of opinion arose upon
the subject, the matter would be broubht to the attention of the Secretary, who
usually referred it to his legal advisers. During the last days of the Hitchcock
administration, there was considerable friction between the Interior Department
and the General Land Office, for obvious reasons, and, in consequence, the opin-
ions of Commissioners Hermann [later indicted] and Richards carried little weight. Practically
everything was left to the discretion of those close to the Secretary, and where
there were no serious objections to a list selecting public lands, it was generally
approved without much ceremony.
The situation in regard to some of the rulings of the Interior Department
during Secretary Hitchcock’s administration may be parenthetically explained by
the statement that it was utterly impossible for one man to keep in constant touch
with the multitudinous duties of the Deparment. Mr. Hitchcock was obliged
to repose a certain amount of confidence in those around him. He was forced
from necessity to rely upon the good judgment and integrity of his advisers, and
in this he was often deceived. One of those most trusted in this respect
was Willis Vandevanter, now a Federal judge in Colorado, but for a
long time head of the legal staff of the Interior Department, and the Secretary
left much of that branch of duty to his consideration. He prepared most of the
important decisions of the Department affecting momentous questions, so that
the duties of the Secretary in this connection were merely perfunctory. There is
no doubt that had Secretary Hitchcock been in a position to analyze carefully
every question coming before him, some of the decisions emanating from the
Department during his term would never have been rendered, as no one has ever
questioned his honesty of purpose, and his whole official career indicates that he is
a man of irreproachable character.
As to Mr. Vandervanter, his connection with the Interior Department is
best told ‘in an Associated Press dispatch from Salt Lake, dated December 27,
1906, detailing the proceedings of the Interstate Commerce Commission in its in-
vestigation of the methods of acquiring coal lands by the Rio Grande Railroad and
its allied companies, the Utah Fuel Co., and the Pleasant Valley Coal Co.
“During the hearing here today, a glimpse of the real power behind the
throne was given, when it was stated by Government Land Agents that they had
been compelled to see Senator Francis E. Warren, of Wyoming, regarding official
business of the Land Department. Senator Warren is charged with having ruled
the General Land Office for a number of years. It was his influence and that
of Senator C. D. Clarke, of Wyoming, which secured the appointment, during
President McKinley’s administration, of Willis Vandevanter to be Assistant
Attorney-General for the Interior Department. Vandevanter was the legal conscience of the Land Department, and had been attorney for the companies charged
with stealing the land.”
Coincident with the beginning of the Garfield administration arose a demand
from somewhere that a Western man should fill the position of Commissioner of
the General Land Office. This office has been a hotbed of intrigue for almost a
generation, and it is sad to relate that some of the greatest scandals have affected
Western Commissioners, so just why there should have been any extraordinary
call for a Westerner under the circumstances surpassess comprehension, unless
the explantion is found in subsequent events.
For some reason or other, the sentiment in favor of a western representa-
tive in the General Land Office seemed to center around R. A. Ballinger [later
implicated in the Oregon Land Frauds], the
former mayor of Seattle, Wash., a city where the Northern Pacific and other Hill
lines controls about everything worth having in a political sense. It has been
asserted, in fact, that the law firm of which Mr. Ballinger is a member, has occa-
sionally represented the Hill lines in local litigation, and as Mr. Ballinger himself
was an old college chum” of Secretary Garfield at Harvard, it was but natural
that he should be favorably considered. Of course, at first it required a great
amount of coaxing to get him to accept the position. He had a worthy precedent
in this respect, because it is a matter of record that Caesar thrice refused the
crown of Rome, if Shakespeare is of value as a historian, and it is believed that
Mr. Ballinger was equally modest—-but he got there, just the same.
He finally consented to accept the place upon condition that as soon as he
had succeeded in getting the American government—including the General Land
Office—in smooth running order, he should be permitted to retire to Seattle—pre-
sumably upon his laurels. In the meantime, whit has happened? Only this, that
during Ballinger’s short term of office the Northern Pacific lieu selections have
been patented by the wholesale.
Soon after entering upon his duties, it was shouted in clarion notes by
various Washington correspondents, that the new Commissioner was the Moses
that was going to lead the poor homesteader out of the slough of despond. With
little regard to the law or the significance of prevailing conditions, it was asserted
quite freely that the poor, honest settler was going to get his patent without delay,
so that he could sell his land and be enabled to live in luxury the rest of his life
on the proceeds. It was never brought out in the course of any of these sudden
manifestations of assumed virtuous concern, that if a homesteader has faithfully
complied with the land laws, and has proven up on his claim and secured his final
certificate, that this evidence of title is just as good as a patent for all practical
purposes, and that no human power on earth can ever deprive him of his rights.
That wasn’t the idea. I have before me the Portland Morning Oregonian
of September 3, 1907, wherein is printed more than a column tirade from the
pen of Harry Brown [alsoimplicated in the Oregon Land Fraud Ring], its Washington correspondent, reflecting severely upon
Ex-Secretary Hitchcock for his plain duty in suspending a lot of bogus Oregon
homestead entries, and proclaiming that it would be Commissioner Ballinger’s
policy to patent everything where there was no protest. In a little three line sen-
tence at the bottom of this article, Brown made allusion to the fact that all lieu
selections would also be approved, and I was forced to conclude that his 1,200-
word preamble about the benefits that were going to be derived by the poor,
honest settler, was merely the cloak to the real intentions of Commissioner Bal-
linger. It was simply his artistic way of breaking the news gently to the public,
little realizing that the American people have heard that sort of buncombe with
such religious frequency, that it has ceased to excite comment.
In accordance with the Commissioner’s determination, as outlined by press-
agent process, Ballinger instructed the Chiefs of Field Divisions in Oregon, Cali-
fornia and Washington—and, I presume, elsewhere—to make field investigation
of the different homestead, timber and desert land claims within their jurisdictions,
and in cases where there was no evidence of fraud, or where no protest had been
filed within two years, that the entries should be passed to patent. When this
sweeping order was issued, Horace Stevens was officiating as assistant to Special
Inspector Thomas B. Neuhausen, who was then Acting Chief of Field Division
No. 1, comprising the State of Oregon. In that capacity, all the notices of inten-
tion to make final proof on homestead, timber and desert land entries at the
various United States Land Offices of Oregon came under his personal observa-
tion. Pursuant to instructions from headquarters, these notices of final proof
were sent direct to Acting Chief Neuhausen by the Registers and Receivers of
the Portland, Roseburg, Lakeview, Burns, La Grande and The Dalles Land Dis-
tricts. Fully 4,000 of these final proof notices were thus received within a very
short time, and as only a limited period was allowed in which to make field inves-
tigations, it can be readily surmised hoxv much progress was made in this direction,
especially when it is considered that Acting Chief Neuhausen had but seven
Special Agents available for that service.
Under cover of the humane spirit displayed by Commissioner Ballinger, in
seeking to have the poor, honest homesteader get his patent in a hurry, there
was a grand rush from all parts of the State to get aboard before the Government
pulled in its gangplank. Instances were numerous where claims were steeped
in fraud, and how many escaped detection may perhaps never be known, but a
large percentage of those investigated by the Special Agents was found to be
bogus, and they only represented a small proportion of the whole, as it was
utterly impossible for such a small force as Neuhausen had at his command to
consider properly so many claims, situated as they were in remote districts of
the State.
At all events, under cover of this seeming concern for the poor settler, the
lieu selection lists of the Northern Pacific have been approved without question,
until the corporation has practically exhausted its supply of base thrown on the
market by the creation of the Mt. Rainier Forest Reserve, and its bi-product, the
Mt. Rainier National Park. The Congressional enactment had been so cleverly
prepared in the start, and later fortified by Congressional proceedings of a similar
character, that the great railway company was granted autocratic power in the
selection of tracts in lieu of those surrendered, and clothed with an authority in
this respect that was denied individuals or competitors of any kind. In round
numbers, the Northern Pacific was privileged to select 1,000,000 acres of Govern-
ment lands by this process, giving in exchange whatever “culled” or worthless
tracts it possessed in the two reservations, and retaining any portions therein that
were valuable for their timber.
Of the 1,000,000 acres of base in this condition, about 540,000 acres have
been used by the Company in making its own selections; approximately 200,000
acres sold to speculators for selection purposes—for which the Company derived
$8 an acre—and 260,000 acres of its lands in the reserves were transferred to the
Weyerhaeuser Syndicate at $6 per acre. The latter embraces lands that were
considered too valuable to trade to the Government even as exchange for other
desirable tracts, being the cream of the forest that was set aside when the Rainier
Mountain Forest Reserve was established.
The lands selected by the Northern Pacific in Oregon are today worth
$100 an acre, or $32,000,000 altogether; those taken in Washington are equally
as valuable, so far as they go, and at $100 an acre are worth $10,000,000; while
the 120,000 acres selected by the corporation in Idaho aggregate a total of
$7,200,000, based upon a conservative market valuation of $60 per acre. This
makes a total of $49,200,000 for its selected lands alone, without counting the
$1,600,00 the Northern Pacific received from outsiders for lieu, or the $1,560,000
it got from the Weyerhaeuser Syndicate. It all foots up $52,360,000 that was
given the Hill corporation through the kindness of Congress—a sort of present
from the people of the United States, as it were—and is a sermon in itself as to
the measures liable to be employed by the company to remove all obstacles in the
way of getting the selections through the Land Department in Washington, D. C.
Appended herewith is a list of selections made in the Oregon City (now
Portland) and Roseburg Land Districts by the Northern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany. They aggregate 197,447.33 acres, and constitute the bulk of these selec-
tions in Oregon. The balance, necessary to make up the total of 320,000 acres
selected by the railway corporation in Oregon, is divided among the four other
Land Districts, those in the two named being the most important.
Surveyed lands selected by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, in
the Roseburg, Oregon, Land District:
List No. 2. Tp. 14 S., B. 3 E., Tp. 25 S.,R3W., and Tp. 26 S.,Th3W.
4. Tp. 22 S., R. 2 W., Tp. 24 5., R.1OW., andTp. 25 S.,R.1OW.
“ 6. Tp. 15 S., ii. 2 E., Tp. 22 S.,Th2W., and Tp. 26 S., R.2W.,
Tp. 25 S., B. 3 W., and Tp. 26 5., R. 3 W
“ 8. Tp. iSS., R.1 E., Tp.17S.,IR.land2E.,Tp.22S.,R.2W.,
Tp., 24 S., B. 10 W., and Tp. 24 5., R. 11 W
10. Tp. 25 S., R. 10 W
“11. Tp. 22 5., B.2W., and Tp. 225., R. 3W
12. Tp. 26 5., B 3 W., Tp. 24 S., iR. 10 W., and Tp. 25 5., B. lOW.,
Tp. 24 5., R. 11 V(/
“ ‘‘ 14. Tp. 16 5. R 3 E
15. Tp. 17 S., R. 3 E., and Tp. 22 S., iR. 1. W
16. Tp. 23 S., R. 10 W
17. Tp. 24 5., R. 10 W
18. Tp. 14 5., R. 2 E., and Tp. 14 5., R. 3 E
19. Tp. 23 5., R. 1 XV., and Tp. 23 5., R. 9W
20. Tp. 23 S.; R. 9 W
21. Tp. 23 5., B. 3 W
22. Tp. 23 S., R. 9 W
23. Tp. 23 5., B. 9 W.
24. Tp. 16 5., B. 1 W., Tp. 28 5., R. 8W., and Tp. 28 5., B. 9W.,
Tp. 21 5., B. 1 W
25. Tp. 21 5., B. 1 XV., Tp. 28 5., R. 13 W., and Tp. 29 5., R. 13
and 14 W
26. Tp. 21 5., B. 1 W., Tp. 23 5., R. 8W., and Tp. 28 5., R. 9 W.
27. Tp. 23 5., B. 9 and 10 W
29. Tp. 28 5., R. 9 W., Tp. 21 5., B. 1 XV., and Tp. 23 S., R. 3 W.
30. Tp. 22 5., R. 3 XV., Tp. 23 S., B. 2 and 3W
31. Tp. 23 5., R. 3 and 4 XV., Tp. 27 5., B. 10 W
“ “33. Tp. 155., R. 1W., Tp. 21 S., R.7W., and Tp. 16 S., R.9W.
37. Tp. 245., RiW., and Tp. 27 5., R. 10 W
38. Tp. 27 5., R. 12 W
39. Tp. 25 5., iR. 9 W
40. Tp. 25 5., B. 9 W
41. Tp. 25 5., B. 9 W
42. Tp. 25 5., B. 8 W
43. Tp. 25 5., B. 9 XV
44. Tp. 32 5., R. 2 XV
“ “ 45. Tp. 27 S., B. 2 W
46. Tp. 27 5., R. 2 W
47. Tp. 27 5., B. 2 W
48. Tp. 27 5., R. 2 W
49. Tp. 27 5., R. 2 W.
1,440.00 acres
7,361.33 acres
3,867.53 acres
4,370.19 acres
1,280.00 acres
1,242.72 acres
7,668.54 acres
2,920.00 acres
4,979.95 acres
1,160.00 acres
2,819.40 acres
3,828.72 acres
1,973.54 acres
1,253.82 acres
1,600.00 acres
960.68 acres
4,052.54 acres
3,748.02 acres
5,203.51 acres
2,288.97 acres
1,807.18 acres
2,028.48 acres
3,375.67 acres
1,844.54 acres
2,414.33 acres
1,595.48 acres
80.00 acres
40.00 acres
3,680.00 acres
4,280.00 acres
1,520.00 acres
320.00 acres
160.00 acres
2,760.00 acres
4,080.00 acres
160.00 acres
120.00 acres
160.00 acres
94,445.14 acres
Unsurveyed lands selected by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, in
the Rosebnrg Land District, Oregon:
List No. 7. Tp. 24 S., IR. 9 XV 10,080.00 acres
9. Tp. 25 S., B. 9 W 6,960.00 acres
50. Tp. 25 S., iR. 9 W 160.00 acres
‘‘ ‘‘ 51. Tp. 25 5., IR. 9 XV 160.00 acres
‘‘ ‘‘ 52. Tp. 25 S. IR 9 17~,T 320.00 acres
‘‘ ‘‘ 53. Tp. 25 S., B. 9 W 160.00 acres
“ ‘‘ 54. Tp. 25 S., B. 9 W 160.00 acres
18,000.00 acres
Surveyed lands selected by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, in the
Oregon City Land District, Oregon:
List No. 2. Tp. 6 5., B. 3 and 4 E., Tp. 2 5., B. 6 W., Tp. 4 N., R. 10 W 6,889.53 acres
3. Tp. 5 5., IR. 4 E., and 7 S., B. 4 E 4,204.47 acres
4. Tp.12S.,R.3E.,Tp.3N.,B.7W., and Tp. 3 N., B. 8 W 3,379.25 acres
5. Tp. 8 5., B. 3 and 4 E., Tp. 7 5., B. 4 E 10,819.77 acres
6. Tp. 12 S., B. 4 E 4,074.71 acres
7. Tp. 12 5., B. 4 E 6,969.42 acres
8. Tp. 11 5. B 4 E 4,453.04 acres
9. Tp. 10 5., R. 4 iR 8,252.93 acres
10. Tp. 11 5., B. 4 E 5,185.96 acres
14. Tp. 2 and 3 N., B. 6 W 3,093.12 acres
57,322.19 acres
Unsurveyed lands selected by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, in
the Oregon City, Oregon, Land District:
List No. 6. Tp. 12 5., B. 4 E 3,680.00 acres
7. Tp. 12 5. IR 4 E 9,600.00 acres
‘‘ ‘‘ 8. Tp. 11 5. IR 4 E 600.00 acres
‘‘ ‘‘ 9. Tp. 10 5., R. 4 E 400.00 acres
10. Tp. 11 5., B. 4 E 5,760.00 acres
‘‘ ‘‘ 11. Tp. 7 5., B. 8 W. j 160.00 acres
‘‘ ‘‘ 11. Tp. 9 5., R. 7 W 160.00 acres
12. Tp. 11 5., B. 4 E 1,440.00 acres
13. Tp. 7 5., B. 8 W 5,880.00 acres
27,680.00 acres
Approximately 1,000,000 acres were in the Rainier Mountain Forest
Reserve belonging to the Northern Pacific. One-half of this was covered with
a heavy growth of timber, which the company sold several years ago to the
Weyerhaeuser Syndicate, before their value was realized, and the balance was
used as scrip. Of the above quantity, about 100,000 acres were situated within
the limits of the Mt. Rainier National Park, and were absolutely worthless for
any pnrpose whatever, except as basis for the selection of other lands. The
Company selected in the State of Washington practically 100,000 acres of yellow
fir timber, worth at this time at least $100 an acre, and in the State of Idaho
probably 120,000 acres more of white and yellow pine timber valued at from
$50 to $100 per acre, while in Oregon 320,000 acres of the finest yellow fir timber
in the State was selected, having a market value of at least $100 an acre, 50,000
acres being unsurveyed and considered the cream of the selections. The re-
mainder of their scrip, with the exception of a few thousand acres, the Company
sold to speculators throughout the country at a price ranging from $5 to $15
an acre.
That the Northern Pacific Railroad Company has a fondness for grasping
opportunities is shown by the fact that not much time was lost in clinching the
bargain after the Act of March 2, 1899, went into effect, as the records show
that on July 19 of that year the company executed a blanket deed, conveying to
the United States all its culled and worthless tracts embraced in the Mt. Rainier
National Park and Rainier Mountain Forest Reserve. Some sort of intuition
must have inspired this step, because the clause in the Act of June 4, 1897,
permitting the exchange of lands situate in a forest reserve for unsurveyed
Government lands became inoperative after October, 1899. The fact of the
Northern Pacific having relinquished to the United States all claims to a large
percentage—the worthless portions, in short—of its holdings in the two reserva-
tions, gave the company full authority to sit back and select lands in lien thereof
at its pleasure, and it has since followed this policy at all times.
While individuals are not permitted to make selections under the dead
“scripper” law of June 4, 1897, the favored Northern Pacific is allowed to do
so, and can take its pick from the cream of all townships, surveyed or unsur-
veyed, in any State penetrated by its lines. During the period the Act in question
was in effect, whenever an individual presented a selection under its provisions, he
was required to do so simultaneously with his transfer of the base to the Govern-
ment. Not so with the Northern Pacific, however. Under the broad and sweeping
regulations of the Act of March 2, 1899, arranged especially for the benefit of
the corporation, it was kindly granted the privilege of conveying to the Govern-
ment all portions in the two reserves that it did not want, or had no use for, and
then leisurely awaiting developments until it saw something that appealed to its
desires! This was not the worst feature of the situation, either; whenever the
great railway corporation once feasted its eyes upon a township rich in timber
resources, like a hungry pack of wolves inspired by the taste of blood, it would
brook no obstacle in the way of acquiring a foothold, and in furtherance of this
grasping idea, has been known to harass settlers in every illegitimate manner
possible. By bulldozing tactics, no less than fifteen families were frightened out
of a surveyed township in Clark County, Washington, upon one occasion, notwith-
standing they had made substantial improvements upon their claims, were acting
in good faith, and had presented their homestead filings at the local Land Office
when the official survey was approved. The Northern Pacific had made selection
of the various tracts in accordance with the rights conferred by Congress under
the Act of March 2, 1899, and had instituted contests against the settlers, who
gave up their possessions rather than take chances against such odds, knowing
that they had no show in either the Courts or the Land Department, where it
was realized the Northern Pacific had full sway.
In some sections of Oregon, cruisers and guards warn intending settlers
away from unsurveyed townships that have been covered by Northern Pacific
selections, and around the various United States Land Offices of the different
districts in that State, are stationed agents of the corporation who discourage
settlers from attempting to find homes within the confines of any region wanted
by this grasping octopus.
The fact that the company has adopted such stringent measures discloses
in itself that a question exists concerning the validity of titles acquired to such
tracts. I am unaware that the issue has ever been determined by any competent
legal tribunal, but if the Northern Pacific was really satisfied in its own mind
that the Act of March 2, 1899, granting them such exclusive privileges was not
special legislation of a dangerous type, and liable to be upset by process of Court
proceedings, it is hardly likely that such brutal tactics would be resorted to.
There was one notable instance where the Northern Pacific got badly left
in its efforts to grab a whole township of unsurveyed land. This was in connec-
tion with Township 15 South, Range 3 East, situated in Lane County, Oregon.
Although the entire township had been settled by squatters prior to survey, with
a view of filing homestead claims thereon as soon as the survey was approved,
the Northern Pacific made forest reserve lieu selection of every acre in the town-
ship shortly before it came into market, and sent its agents around to notify the
squatters to vacate their claims, threatening that unless they did so the railroad
company would contest each entry on the ground that it was more valuable for
its timber than for agricultural purposes. Rather than run any risk of a lawsuit
with the gigantic corporation, the settlers, who were all poor persons, gave up
their claims. As the Act of March 2, 1899, required the company to file a new
list to lands that had been selected prior to survey, within 90 days after the
survey of the township had been approved, Frederick A. Kribs[later indicted in
the Oregon Land Fraud] became aware of
this fact, and his stand-in with the Register and Receiver of the Roseburg Land
Office enabled him to work a clever scheme on the Northern Pacific and beat
the corporation out of more than 20,000 acres of fine timber land.
Kribs knew that as soon as the survey of the township was approved the
Northern Pacific would be obliged to file an amended selection, under the term of
the Act of March 2, 1899, heretofore quoted. He therefore placed in the hands of
Register J. T. Bridges and Receiver J. H. Booth a selection list in his own name,
covering the entire township, with instructions for those officers to file the same
as soon as the Northern Pacific withdrew its base for the purpose of amendment,
in order to conform with the strict lines of the new survey. By keeping in close
touch with the survey before the official plat was filed in the Land Office, Kribs
had been enabled to secure an accurate description of the lands he wanted, so
that when the Northern Pacific withdrew its selection for the purpose of amend-
ment, the officers of the Roseburg Land Office permitted Kribs’s selection to have
the right of way, and the bold operator thus became the owner of more than
23,000 acres of choice yellow fir timber land, easily worth $50 an acre, at a cost
of $6 an acre—the price of the scrip.
It is believed that the Northern Pacific now has in view another base
project, almost equally as brazen as its successful effort in connection with the
Mt. Rainier National Park scheme. This contemplates the conversion of Mt.
St. Helens into a National Park, and the consequent creation of more lieu for
the railway corporation. This high peak was originally outside the limits of
the Rainier Mountain Forest Reserve, but has since been included therein, and
it begins to look as if it were omitted intentionally at first for some ulterior
purpose of the character indicated. The fact is, the Northern Pacific finds
itself running short of lieu, and something like this has to be done in order to
relieve the congestion. Besides, what is the use of keeping a lot of hired men
around without any visible means of support?
No plausible reason exists why Mt. St. Helens should not have been
included in the Rainier Mountain Forest Reserve in the first place. It was only
separated from the southwestern boundary of the old limits by a single township,
as the map shows, and as the company owns the odd-numbered sections surround-
ing it for many miles, and as there are all kinds of golden opportunities to get
in on the ground floor with a lot of jokers of the kind that are very much in
evidence in the Act of March 2, 1899, the country can expect something in the
shape of a duplicate of the Mt. Rainier National Park scheme sooner or later.
It is claimed that all these high peaks in the Northwestern country were
active volcanoes during prehistoric days, and if indications count for anything,
they are still gifted with eruptive tendencies in the way of belching forth enor-
mous benefits for great and greedy corporations.
At the time I was taken to Washington as a witness for the Government
in the case against Binger Hermann, an episode occurred that bears out the ideas
I have undertaken to convey herein. On December 27, 1906, I published a state-
ment in the Portland Morning Oregonian, foreshadowing an attack in my forth-
coming book upon the methods pursued by the Northern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany regarding the Rainier Mountain Forest Reserve steal. That was sufficient
notice to put the “faithful” on guard, so that when I reached the National capital
in March, 1907, my coming had been anticipated in that respect. Upon arrival
there I gave out an interview in the local press, to the effect that it was my
intention to take advantage of the situation and gather material for the book,
and this was the signal for all hands to be on the alert.
About two weeks after my arrival, accompanied by Deputy United States
Marshal J. F. Kerrigan, who had escorted me across the continent, I went to
the General Land Office, equipped with an order from United States Attorney
D. W. Baker, of the District of Columbia, for certain data to be used at the
Hermann trial. This included the status of the six fraudulent homestead claims
in Tp. 24 S., R. 1 E., together with information pertaining to the seven bogus
entries in 11-7, acquired by McKinley and Montague. A clerk in Division “P”
of the Land Office was sent with us for the purpose of enabling me to secure the
data required, and after having obtained this information, I next made inquiry
pertaining to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company’s lieu selections in Oregon.
This was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky to the clerk, and notwithstanding
that United States Attorney Baker’s order called for this information, objection
was raised to showing the Northern Pacific lieu selection records to me that day,
upon the plea that the clerk was too busy to do so, and for me to call again.
At the time we entered the room where the lieu selections were kept, a person
was present whom the clerk declared in our presence was an attorney for the
Northern Pacific, and he seemed to manifest considerable interest when the
subject of the corporation’s selections came up.
On the day following my visit to the General Land Office, I was called as
a witness in the Hermann case, and was on the stand at intervals for three days.
About three or four days after my first visit, I returned to the General Land
Office, still accompanied by Kerrigan, and was asked by Assistant Commissioner
Dennett what was wanted this time.
“I desire to finish up the work for which I was given an order several days
ago,” was my response.
After questioning me very closely concerning the nature of the business,
Dennett went into Commissioner Ballinger’s private office, and upon emerging
therefrom, after quite a long conference with his chief, told me that having
testified already in the Hermann case, I would have to get a new order from
Baker.
I thereupon returned to the latter’s office, and at 11 o’clock the next morn-
ing came back to the General Land Office with a new order from the United
States Attorney, requesting him very plainly to give me what information
was required relative to the Northern Pacific lien selections, adding that it might
be necessary for use in the Hermann trial. The order was delivered to a clerk,
who took it in to Dennett.
Dennett came out and questioned me about it, asking me what I wanted
the information for. I replied that I was a witness in the Hermann case, and
might need the information sought to strengthen my testimony. Dennett then
said that he would have to see the Commissioner about it, so taking the order,
he went into Mr. Ballinger’s office, and upon his return, informed me that the
matter would have to be taken up with the Secretary of the Interior, and for me
to come back at 2 o’clock that afternoon.
About half an hour later I met the clerk in the hallway of the Court house
where the Hermann case was in progress. He held in his hand the same en-
velope I had given him from Baker. Deputy Marshal Kerrigan, who had
formerly been a member of the Portland detective force, called my attention to
this fact, and will corroborate me upon the point. The clerk went into Baker’s
office, and we heard them wrangling over the matter for several minutes, with the
result that Baker told the clerk in unmistakable language that the Commissioner
would have to let me have what I wanted.
[ADDENDUM]
HISTORY OF THE PICTURE THAT ELECTED HERMANN TO
CONGRESS.
One of the most brazen efforts to gain cheap notoriety ever recorded is
portrayed in the illustration, revealing President Roosevelt in the act of deliver-
ing a rear-platform speech, with Binger Hermann, the disgraced former Land
Commissioner, standing complacently by his side, as if ordained to assist in court-
ing the plaudits of the multitude.
Those unfamiliar with the relations existing between the two at the time
would very naturally assume that the Ex-Commmissioner of the General Land
Office was the favored companion of the President upon this auspicious occasion,
and that the Chief Executive found an affinity-like pleasure in his presence. As
a matter of fact, he was simply a skeleton at the feast, and had appeared unbidden
upon the scene at a moment when the photographer for a local newspaper was
about to snap his camera.
During President Roosevelt’s tour of the West in the Spring of 1903, his
itinerary included a visit to Portland, Oregon, and by some unexplained hocus-
pocus, Hermann, who resides at Roseburg, in the southern part of the State,
and was a candidate upon the Republican ticket for representative from the
First Congressional District of Oregon, had smuggled himself on board the
Presidential train, and with an exhibition of that rare quality of pure and
unadulterated audacity that has invariably been the Ex-Land Commissioner~ s
principal stock in trade, had ensconsed himself in the private car of Mr. Roose-
velt, who, but a short time previously, had unceremoniously ousted Hermann
from office on account of his crooked transactions.
As the train moved into the depot at Portland, a vast concourse of citizens
had assembled to pay its respects to the distinguished visitor, and, in response
to the popular demand, the President appeared upon the rear platform and pro-
ceeded to deliver one of his characteristic addresses. At this juncture, H. M.
Smith, a member of the art department of the Evening Telegram, set his camera
in position, with a view of taking an interesting scene. The arrangements of
the photographer were not lost to the eagle eyes of Mr. Hermann, who discerned
in the situation a golden opportunity for retrieving his rapidly fading political
fortunes.
With an acumen worthy of a better cause, Hermann timed his arrival
coincident with the photographer’s operations, and the two men are shown as
if on terms of the utmost intimacy.
Not content with the veneering of fame thus obtained, Hermann had
enlarged copies of the picture circulated broadcast throughout his Congressional
District, with the result that he was triumphantly elected, as President Roosevelt
has always been such a popular idol in the Oregon country that Hermann’s con-
stituents were under the impression they were doing the Chief Executive a per-
sonal favor by sending the deposed Land Commissioner to a seat in the legis-
lative halls of the nation; general publicity to the reasons for his removal from
office not having been given at this time.
Hermann’ s connection with the incident mentioned, is on a par with his
conduct at the time he first appeared before the Federal Grand Jury of Oregon
that returned indictments against him afterward. He had been called to give
testimony in his own behalf in one of the several cases under consideration
against himself, and as Hermann entered the Grand Jury room, he threw his
right arm familiarly over the shoulders of Special Assistant Heney, who pre-
ceded him, as if the latter were his bosom companion, and in this manner stalked
majestically into the presence of the inquisitorial body, much to Heney’s uncon-
cealed disgust. In fact, the most plausible explanation as to why the Ex-Land
Commissioner refrained from maintaining a continuous loving embrace of the
Government prosecutor throughout the entire proceedings exists in the belief
that the rear portion of Heney’s neck was becoming too warm for further
comfort.