# Looters of the Public Domain/Chapter 20

Chapter XX
IN the course of my twenty years' experience connected with the public domain of Oregon, I have devoted considerable attention to handling State School and Indemnity Lands. School Lands comprise the 16th and 36th sections of every township, while the State indemnity lands embrace those tracts selected in lieu of the school sections. That is to say, where the State loses any portion of a 16th or 36th section., by reason of appropriation before survey by a claimant under the United States laws, or any other process, it is entitled to select an equivalent area in lieu thereof. Lender the "Donation Claim," Homestead and Pre-emption laws, actual settlers were permitted to perfect title to school sections after survey, and in consequence, nearly all the 16th and 36th sections in the Willamette, Umpqua and Rogue River valleys have been acquired in this manner.
The State Land Office of Oregon, as at present constituted, was created by an Act of the Legislature in 1887, at which time the Secretary of State ceased to be the keeper of its records, an officer technically known as the "Clerk of the Board of Commissioners for the Sale of School and University Lands," being made the practical head of the institution. Now the law creating the office of Clerk of the State Board made him the keeper of its records, the conductor of its correspondence, and required him to give bonds, as well as subscribe to an oath to "faithfully perform the duties of his office;" and while the Act of 1887 did not specifically require the Clerk of the Board to furnish basis for lieu land applicants, it was evidently within the purview of the law that he should answer such questions as might be put to him concerning matters of record in his office by persons wishing to purchase lands from the State. So, as a matter of fact, the law of 1887 demanded that the applicant to purchase lieu land should "state in his application designating the loss to the State the 16th and 36th section or fractional township in lieu of which the land is to be taken." In other words, he could not buy any indemnity land until he had named its base, and as no citizen of the State, with the exception of the Clerk, was accorded access to these records, they had no way of ascertaining where a deficit existed.
For several years following the passage of the Act of 1887, there was a great deal of speculation in lands, and especially in connection with fine tracts of Oregon timber. Timber land could be obtained under the Act of June 3, 1878, at $2.50 an acre, but the price of the same character of lands purchased from the State was equivalent to but one-half that amount, and in addition, the applicant ​was permitted to purchase 320 acres, as as against 160 acres under the Timber and Stone Act of the United States, and allowed deferred payments besides. Such advantage naturally amounted to a great inducement to buy from the State. The School Land Commissioners consisted of the Governor, Secretary of State and State Treasurer. The price of State Lands is fixed by legislative enactment.
In 1890, learning that a great many different tracts were being selected by the State as indemnity, and afterwards transferred to timber land operators, I concluded to make a trip to the State Land Office at Salem with a view of ascertaining the methods of acquiring title under the State indemnity laws. At that time the School Land Board consisted of Governor Sylvester Pennoyer, Secretary of State George W. McBride (later elected United States Senator from Oregon), and State Treasurer G. W. Webb. Napoleon Davis was chief clerk of the Land Office. Upon inquiry, I found out that all persons over the age of 18, married or single, and residents of the State of Oregon, who had not already exhausted their right to take up school lands, were entitled to make application for 320 acres, and receive a certificate of purchase upon payment of one-third the purchase price of $1.25 an acre. The deferred payments were provided for in the shape of two notes, payable in one and two years respectively, and drawing 10 per cent interest per annum.
The form of application was very brief, the only requirements being that the applicant should state in the affidavit that he was over the age of 18 and a citizen of the United States; that the proposed purchase was for his own benefit, and not for the purpose of speculation; that he had not directly or indirectly made any previous purchase of land from the State of the kind described, nor had any one for him, which, together with that sought to be purchased, exceeds 320 acres; that he had made no contract or agreement, expressed or implied, for the sale or disposition of the land applied for, in case he was permitted to purchase the same, and that there was no valid claim thereto. The applicant was not required to inspect the land, nor appear at the land office. Under powers of attorney, any number of applications could be filed by one person, who would be entitled to receipt for the certificates of purchase or deeds to the various tracts in the name of the original applicant. A blank assignment accompanied each certificate of purchase, allowing the applicant to assign to whomsoever he chose, and this assignee could get a deed from the State in his own name the same as though he were the original purchaser.
By this process, several thousand acres could be secured by one person. The system looked good to me, so I concluded to round up a lot of applicants accordingly, and have them make blank assignments to me of all their interests in the lands, in order that the deeds could be issued directly to me in due time. Napoleon Davis, the Clerk of the Board, had educated me to a certain extent relative to the manner of procedure in acquiring title to these lands the first day I made his acquaintance, but he had failed to teach me fully upon the subject. I labored under the impression that in applying; for an indemnity State selection, all that was necessary would be to hand in the applications to the Clerk of the Land Board and he would supply whatever basis was required. Much to my surprise, when I appeared before him with ten applications embracing 320 acres each, I was met with the assurance from Mr. Davis that it would be necessary for me to designate the basis myself. I had already paid $25 to each applicant for his right, and therefore felt considerably upset when met with this proposition, as I did not know how or where to find the necessary basis any more than the man in the moon.
At this point Davis kindly came to my rescue by informing me that one E. P. McCornack, of Salem, was engaged in the business of furnishing basis for selections of this character, and that for a certain consideration, I could have all I wanted. It seems McCornack was Davis' predecessor, having held the position of Clerk of the Land Board from March 15. 1878, to January 31, 1887, and during that period had made hay while the sun shone, as he possessed a set ​of records exhibiting a full and complete list of all indemnity due the State from the United States by reason of loss to the school sections in various townships. Upon inquiry, McCornack informed me that his charges for this "lieu" was $1.25 an acre, making the cost of State selections under the indemnity system $2.50 an acre. The whole thing impressed me as a graft, pure and simple, with Napoleon Davis standing in with McCornack on the deal; but as I wanted the lands, I paid the extra $1.25 an acre without murmuring, and was given the certificates of purchase by McCornack after the selections had been made through him.
This system of procuring timber lands worked like a charm, from a financial point of view as well as avoiding the possibility of contact with the Government in connection with the Homestead, Pre-emption, or Timber and Stone Acts, notwithstanding the fact that I felt I had been gulled by McCornack. Before leaving his office I ascertained that the latter held a close monopoly upon all the available base in the State, and that it was useless to try and do business along those lines without paying his toll. In this he was greatly aided by Clerk Davis, who insisted that, inasmuch as he had kept no records of the indemnity lands, he had no idea as to the quantity thereof due the State by the Government. This seemed rather "raw" to me, so I determined to make a personal examination of the records with a view of ascertaining how much base was left.
Within a very short time I unearthed several thousand acres of available base in the Klamath Indian Reservation. Securing enough applications to cover this amount, I designated it as the basis of my selections, and requested Clerk Davis to file my applications. At this I was met by his assurance that while the base indicated had not been used, there were a sufficient number of applications on file in the office to exhaust the same. Upon examining the applications in question, I discovered that they were mere "dummy" applications filed by McCornack to cover up the base. Going still further into the matter, I ascertained that McCornack had been playing this game since the Act of 1887 was passed, practically running the State Land Office of Oregon in pretty much the same fashion as that pursued by Hyde and Benson with the State Land Office of California. It appeared that Davis was a mere tool in the hands of McCornack.
So many complaints came to the Land Board about Davis, in fact, that on on August 1, 1891, he was removed from office, and George W. Davis appointed to the vacancy. Just before being ousted, however, Napoleon Davis persuaded the State Land Board to issue an order requiring all applicants for unsurveyed school sections to deposit with the Clerk of the Land Office one-third of the purchase price on agricultural lands, and one-half on timber lands. At that time there were applications of this character on file aggregating fully 200,000 acres, upon which no cash deposit had been made. Immediately after the Board had made this order, Davis notified all applicants to either pay up within thirty days or else sufl:'er the cancellation of their applications. The result was that upward of $100,000 was deposited with the clerk within the period specified. This money was not deposited in the State Treasury, however, as the law provides, but instead was transferred to McCornack's private bank in Salem, Davis giving his personal receipt therefor.
At all events, the remaining applications together with the money deposited thereon, continued in the possession of Napoleon Davis, who seemed to have been well-named, so far as his financial ability was concerned. When the land upon which these applications had been filed were surveyed by the Government, it was found in almost every instance that there was an actual settler upon each tract of school land, and as these claimants, under the United States laws had a preference right for ninety days after the approval of the survey in which to initiate their claims, the State applicant was left out in the cold, and whatever titles were procured through Napoleon Davis were absolutely valueless. All the applicant could do under the circumstances was to surrender his receipt to the Clerk of the Land Board, who would refund the amount paid thereon, while those who had failed to secure certificates were obliged to look to Napoleon Davis for their money. A large percentage of this money remained in McCornack's bank for a number of years, and I venture that several thousand dollars are still there, for the reason that the applicant had either left the country or lost his receipt. Their applications, never having been filed in the State Land Office, were without legal standing, consequently the only available recourse for the applicant placed in this position was to quietly submit to the loss of his money.
Li a preceding chapter mention is made of the fact that during the Winter and Spring of 1891 and 1892, Willard N. Jones and myself undertook to make an abstract of the State indemnity lands with a view of determining the amount of basis the State was yet entitled to. The idea occurred to us at that time, because of the removal of Napoleon Davis from office, and the appointment of George W. Davis to succeed him, that the latter, being unacquainted with the duties of the office, would be an easy mark. We reasoned that there was a chance for us to get in and break up McCornack's monopoly on the sale of State lieu. Our deductions proved correct, as we won George W. Davis over in short order by agreeing to whack up with him on the commissions derived from the sale of this basis. In consequence Napoleon Davis and McCornack were shut out completely from gaining control of any new basis that had not already been gobbled up by them.
Our work in this connection occupied something like three months, during which period we made a complete search of the State Land Office records. This investigation revealed the fact that shortly after the Act of 1887 went into effect, the Umatilla Indian Reservation was thrown open for the selection of basis, and 16,980.03 acres had been used therein; that in 1888 the Klamath Reservation was ready, and the lieu sharks got 63.011.94 acres from that source; in 1889 the Grand Ronde Reservation afforded them 6,065.14 acres more, and in the same year the Siletz Reservation became ripe, with an additional 10.864.14 acres. Then in 1891 the Warm Springs Reservation yielded 36,643.66 acres, making in the aggregate the snug amount of 133,564.91 acres of basis, for which lieu land purchasers were mulcted to the probable extent of $250,000 for services which under the present management of State lands would not have cost them a cent, according to the first biennial report of State Land Agent T. W. Davenport, made in 1897 to W. P. Lord, Governor of Oregon.
​There were other sources of basis than those already referred to, being deficits in fractional townships, filings that had been made under the Donation, Homestead and Pre-emption Acts, where settlers had gone onto the school sections prior to survey of the township, amounting- practically to 20,000 acres, and making a grand total of fully 150,000 acres in round numbers.
After an exhaustive research, Jones and myself managed to find about 10,000 acres of base that had been overlooked. It consisted principally of fractions ranging from 10 to 100 acres in different sections and townships. There were probably 40.000 acres of the 150.000 acres remaining for use by the State, but as McCornack had "dummy" applications on file in the State Land Office covering the whole, nobody but himself was entitled to use it. according to the peculiar regulations then in force. Whenever anybody wanted to make an indemnity State selection, he was compelled to pay tribute to McCornack to the extent of from $1.25 to $2.50 an acre, according to quantity desired, and in this manner the lieu land shark profited to the extent of about $250,000.
Jones and I continued to deal in State indemnity until friction arose between us. and we dissolved partnership. The trouble was caused by Jones insisting on paying Clerk Davis 50 cents an acre on all lands selected by us. He had conceived the idea that there were great possibilities of securing large quantities of additional base through the creation of new reservations within the State, and by taking Davis in as a full-fledged partner, we could monopolize the whole indemnity land business, thus shutting out McCornack, Jack D'Arcy and W. T. Rader completely, they being the only ones aside from ourselves operating in State lieu lands. I objected to paying Davis such a large commission, and besides 1 considered it rather doubtful about our ability to shut McCornack out. To adopt such a course, in my judgment, was liable to result in shutting us all out of the State Land Office, as the others were not likely to quietly submit to any such proposition. Jones, however, did not agree with me, and declared that rather than jeopardize his personal interests, he would prefer to go it alone. The fact of the matter is. that Jones simply adopted this as a subterfuge to get rid of me. as himself and Davis had a clear-cut understanding that when this was done they would operate together independently of me.
From this time on I had to fight for everything I wanted to get through the State Land Office, as Davis blocked me at every possible turn. However. I managed to hold my own, and succeeded in getting away with most of the basis in cases where homestead and pre-emption filings had been made on school sections. As a great many settlers had located on these tracts before survey, I generally kept a close tab on the surveys, and as soon as the township was thrown open to entry, would make it my business to see that the settler filed either a homestead or pre-emption on his claim. As soon as this was done, the State was intitled to indemnity for the loss thus sustained.
The rule in vogue at the State Land Office in those days was that the first applicant for this base was entitled to its use. The information that the base was subject to use usually came in the form of a telegram from the local United States Land Office where the homestead or pre-emption claim had been filed. This system resulted in much confusion, there always being considerable rivalry to see who was entitled to use the base. By way of illustration. I will cite an instance to show how the thing was worked.
When the time came for certain townships to be thrown open for entry, I would arrange with some local attorney in the district where the land was situated to attend to the filing of the different claims. After doing so he would immediately wire me at Salem the particular tract covered by the homesteader or pre-emption claim. There were always a lot of land attorneys hanging around the various United States Land Offices, and some of them would have a similar arrangement with Jack D'Arcy and McCornack, one of whom would be stationed at the telegraph office in Salem awaiting the notice. As a rule D'Arcy would post himself in the Western Union Office, while I patronized the Pacific-Postal. At ​that time William Dumars, who is now superintendent of the Western Union at Sacramento, California, was the manager for the same institution at Salem, and likewise chief operator.
The messages announcing the filings were sent in duplicate from the local land office, as the Register, before whom the filings were made, would immediately after swearing the entryman to the filing papers give a copy of the telegram to the representative of each contending faction, which was the signal for a wild scramble for the telegraph offices. For some reason or other, D'Arcy generally managed to get his dispatch a few seconds ahead of me. I have always fancied that it was because Dumars was a better operator than his competitor, and handled the message faster. At any rate, it gave D'Arcy a good lead, and as we usually secured the fleetest saddle-horses in town and our course led through the main street from the two telegraph offices to the State Capitol building, about one mile distant, it was better than the Suburban or Brooklyn Handicap to watch the outcome. Each contest of this character involved a stake of from $1,000 to $3,000, as there were always from four to eight entries made at the same time in the United States Land Office. As we would race at breakneck speed through the principal streets, we could perceive frightened faces peering from behind the window curtains of the residences passed in our mad flight, the inmates evidently suspecting that a raid had been made upon Ladd & Bush's bank, and that the robbers were making their escape to the mountains. Although D'Arcy usually got the start of me I generally beat him to the office, but it was frequently nip and tuck all the way.
Obtaining title to timber land under the school indemnity system became more popular as its merits were made known, consequently this kind of basis was soon in great demand. The forest reserve lieu land Act had not then gone into effect, and as Valentine Scrip, Sioux half-breed scrip, and military bounty and land warrants of every description were held at prohibitive figures, the fact that the State lieu selections could be made at such a comparatively low price, and answered the same purpose, appealed to those who wished to secure large bodies of timber throughout Oregon. In addition to its right to select lands in lieu of tracts lost in the different Indian reservations, lakes, rivers, fractional townships, and homestead and pre-emption filings on school sections before survey, the State was granted indemnity for school sections shown to be mineral in character, even though they had not been returned as such at the time of the approval of the official survey of the township by the United States Surveyor-General.
Grasping this phase of the situation, I obtained authority from the State Land Board to adjudicate on a number of school sections in Eastern Oregon at my own expense with a view of determining the mineral character thereof, it being understood that I was to be allowed the use of the basis on all such sections that I succeeded in having returned as mineral. The process of determining the mineral character of these lands, in vogue with the General Land Office, contemplated the posting of notices upon each legal subdivision of the ground; the insertion of an advertisement for a period of thirty days in some paper nearest the land to the effect that a hearing was to be held before the United States Land Office on a certain date for the purpose of determining the mineral character of the land, and the sworn testimony of two or more competent witnesses that they had been acquainted with the tract prior to survey, and knew that it was mineral in character. After this evidence had been passed upon by the Register and Receiver it was transmitted to the Commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington, D. C, and if he considered the evidence sufficiently competent to sustain the mineral claim, the lands selected in lieu thereof could be listed to the State. This adjudicating process proved to be a successful venture, from a financial standpoint, as it cost but twenty-five cents an acre, while the basis was worth from $1.25 to $2 per acre. As the school sections thus acted upon were invariably utterly worthless for any purpose, and it was hardly ​likely that they would ever be applied for. the State profited greatly by the exchange, and as usual the Government got the worst of it. During the two years that I was engaged in the business of adjudicating these mineral lands, I succeeded in having about 40,000 acres so returned, while W. T. Rader got through about 30.000 acres in the same way.
There was such a demand for school land base at that time that every available acre was exhausted, and those engaged in the business were put to their wit's end to supply more lieu. The "School Land Ring," composed of McCornack, D'Arcy, Rader, Jones and myself, finally conceived the idea of establishing an immense forest reserve in the Cascade range of mountains, upon the theory that the State would be entitled to indemnity for all the unsurveyed school sections within the limits of the proposed reserve. Acting upon this belief, a fund of about $1400 was subscribed by those interested, which was to be devoted to the expenses incident to preliminary steps. We had an elaborate map made of the country that was proposed to be withdrawn, indicating that its boundaries extended along the Cascade range from one end of the State to the other, and embraced a strip about 30 or 40 miles in width. This map indicated that there were fully 195,000 acres of unsurveyed school sections within the proposed reserve, for which the State would be entitled to indemnity.
We then engaged the services of Will G. Steel, of Portland, giving him the map and all other data at our command, and started him back to Washington for the purpose of promoting the establishment of the reserve. He was successful in the undertaking, and we soon had the satisfaction of knowing that the now famous Cascade Poorest Reserve was upon a firm basis. Our attorney in Washington kept us apprised of the situation, and we were notified fully ten days in advance that it was President Cleveland's intention to sign the proclamation creating the reserve. We took advantage of this information to procure enough "dummy" applications to cover every available school section within the reserve, and these we were prepared to file with the Clerk of the Land Board as soon as we received word that the President had signed the proclamation. Upon receipt of this intelligence by wire, the Clerk of the Land Board submitted a selection list of a few hundred acres to Governor Pennoyer as a "feeler," but he had been laying for us, and refused absolutely to sign the list, at the same time notifying Clerk Davis not to receive or file a single application for any tract based upon Cascade Forest Reserve indemnity, and stating further that it was his intention to have a bill introduced before the next Legislature raising the price of all school indemnity lands to $10 an acre.
The vigorous stand taken by the executive was a body blow to the school land ring, for we had figured upon making an enormous "killing" in connection with the sale of the 195.000 acres of base existing within the limits of the proposed reserve, there being a profit of from $1.50 to $2.50 an acre thereon. However, we did not lose all hope, but concluded to wait a few months until the Legislature met. when we could resort to the same methods that had so often proven successful upon former occasions—work the "third house" for all it was worth in the effort to prevent any change in the price of school indemnity lands.
Pennoyer's term as Governor expired in January. 1895, and in his final message to the Legislature, he made a strong plea for his pet measure. The school land ring attended the session of lawmakers in a body, and exerted every effort to defeat any bill affecting prices of these lands to our detriment. Several measures were introduced, raising the price all the way from $5 to $10 an acre, but the ring succeeded in holding the price down to $2.50 an acre, provided for in a bill introduced by the late John D. Daly, Surveyor-General for Oregon at the time of his death recently.
This fact did not deter Mr. Davenport from performing his duties, however. The educational interests of the State were at stake, and as neither the Governor, Secretary of State nor any other official had the power to reimburse him for any outlay, Davenport conceived an idea of his own on the subject. He secured the adoption of a rule by the State Land Board to the effect that those making State indemnity selections should forward their applications to the Land Agent, designating the tract desired, accompanied by a fee of fifty cents an acre, together with $2 on each quarter section as fees at the United States Land Office, it being stipulated that the Agent should make the selection and at the expiration of two years, the time fixed by law, the applicant should have a preference right to purchase the land.
Pursuant to this decision by the State Board, a printed circular of instructions was issued, and sent broadcast throughout the State, notifying those interested of the conditions. The scheme succeeded beyond all expectation, and applications for indemnity lands kept pouring in from all directions. There was soon sufficient funds on hand to meet whatever expense attached to making the selections, besides enough to pay the salary of the Land Agent, the intention of the latter being to have the next Legislature make an appropriation reimbursing him for his expenditures, and providing for the disposition of the funds in his hands.
Although the action of the State Land Board in thus making provision for correcting the omissions of the Legislature was surrounded with the best of intentions, it soon became apparent that it likewise created a golden opportunity for the school land ring to take advantage of its salient features. This was accomplished by process of "dummy" applications for desirable tracts of timber in different portions of the State, these selections being filed with the Land Agent, who would hold them in abeyance until the expiration of the two years, when the selections could be approved. As the Daly law had doubled the price of State School lands, it might be inferred that there was not much in it for the ring, but it must be considered that in the meantime there had been a great increase in the value of Oregon timber lands, and this more than compensated us for the difference.
Approximately, the ring selected 40,000 acres, and the State Land Agent probably 25,000 acres more, while some 30,000 acres were required to amend the basis of other selections that had previously been made under the Napoleon Davis and George W. Davis regimes, wherein the basis proved defective. In other words, the State had given certificates and deeds to tracts where the basis was bad, and these had fallen into the hands of innocent purchasers, making it incumbent upon the State to cure the titles.
When I first began dealing in State lands, I paid $25 to each person for his right in making application for 320 acres. As I became more accustomed to the business, however, and learned more about the methods of those who had made a study of the subject, I gradually lowered the price, until finally I could obtain all the "dummies" I wanted for a glass of beer. It became the custom of the ring to extend little courtesies to the various members by "borrowing" these applications—which were signed and acknowledged before a notary in blank—so that whenever one ran short, and had a hurry order for a piece of land, all that ​was necessary was to fill in the description of land, and the task was completed.
The system adopted by the ring to secure applicants for these indemnity lands, or any school section, for that matter, was rather unique. We would go to some saloon around town, and after treating all hands a few times, would get them to sign up a bunch of applications and assignments in blank, and it was no material difference whether they signed their correct names or not, so long as a signature of some sort was in evidence. We would then take the papers to a convenient notary public, who would affix his jurat without the necessity of the applicant being present. The ruling rate for acknowledgments of this character was fifty cents, but once in a while we would come across a thin-skinned notary who would demand $2.50 as a balm to his conscience. They were quite rare, however.
At the expiration of the two years, certificates of purchase were issued on the lands selected in the interest of "the gang." and handed over to whomsoever appeared upon record as attorney or agent for the applicant. As assignments had previously been procured, in the manner designated, all that was necessary was to fill in the description of the land to correspond with that embraced in the State certificate. It was an easy matter for us to transfer the title at some later date to whomsoever we chose, who in turn could surrender the documents to the Clerk of the Land Board, and by paying up the balance due the State on the land, would receive a deed in his own name as if he were the original purchaser. It will thus be seen that one person could secure deeds to thousands of acres, or such quantities of land as he had assignments for.
Of the 40,000 acres of mineral sections that I had adjudicated, 12,000 acres were rejected by the General Land Office, and as my certificates were about to be cancelled by the School Board, I engaged the law firm of Baron & Ward, of Portland, to represent me at the proceedings, with a view of securing such action that would permit me to substitute base from the Cascade Forest Reserve. My petition was turned down upon the ground that as I was the attorney for the different applicants, and had adjudicated upon the mineral lands myself, it was my place to find new base outside the Cascade Reserve. It was also alleged that all selections in lieu of the Cascade Reserve were fixed at $2.50 an acre, while the selections in question were under the old law at $1.25 an acre.
As my attorneys failed to accomplish results, I called upon "Old Pard" Mays to see if he had any suggestions to offer. He advised me that under the circumstances I should employ someone with sufficient influence with Governor Lord to induce him to sign the list, and recommended Joseph Simon, of Portland—afterwards elected United States Senator from Oregon—as a proper person for the undertaking. Taking his advice, I called upon Mr. Simon, to whom I explained the situation fully, showing how my selections were about to be canceled, and that inasmuch as the State was entitled to fully 100,000 acres of available base in the Cascade Forest Reserve, it was no more than right for the Governor to permit me to amend the selections with base from that source.
My actions must have impressed Mr. Simon with the idea that I was seeking to secure his services more on account of his influence with Governor Lord than anything else, as he promptly declined to interest himself in the matter, notwithstanding that I offered him a fee of $2,500 if he would secure the approval of the 12,000 acres embraced in my. selections. Subsequently the State Land Board, recognizing the justice of my claim, approved the selections upon their merits, after I had personally filed a supplemental petition, without the aid of any attorney, but the episode is significant as revealing the character of the man. Rather than participate in any transaction involving the slightest semblance of moral turpitude, Mr. Simon preferred to forfeit a fat fee, and in view of my experience with others along similar lines, I felt that here was one lawyer remindful of an oasis in the desert.
Pending one of these wrangles, in which Governor Pennoyer had refused absolutely to recede from the ruling of the Land Board, I resolved to overcome his stubbornness by resorting to some clever subterfuge, and the scheme worked like a charm. Realizing that the Governor, while exceedingly firm in his convictions, and austere in manner, was a man of deep sympathies, I concluded that the best way to secure his favorable action was by playing upon this chord of his nature rather than attempt to appeal to the cold equities of the case. He was in a position to waive aside all consideration of equity, and interpret the regulations of the Land Board pretty much as he saw fit, but when it came to a question of sentiment, I knew that the rugged old fellow had a soft spot in his heart that might be touched by some shaft of pathos.
Actuated by this instinct, I sought the North End precincts of Portland, and was fortunate in securing the co-operation of a cheap variety actor, who entered heartily into the scheme. Arraying this individual in an old dilapidated pair of overalls and ragged jumper, with a straw hat that had seen better days, and everything else to correspond, by the aid of some lamp black and other stage-like processes, I soon had him in shape to carry my plans into execution. Equipped with dinner pail and a look of the utmost despair and abject misery, and bearing the appearance of a typical woodchopper, my actor friend stationed himself at the foot of Montgomery street, near the Governor's sawmill, and calmly awaited developments. It was the custom of Governor Pennoyer to devote considerable attention to his lumbering interests whenever he was away from the seat of State government in Salem, and upon such occasion was in the habit of remaining at his sawmill until about 5 o'clock when he would proceed homeward.
In a voice husky with well-feigned emotion, and with tears taking their pathetic course down his weatherbeaten countenance, the pseudo woodchopper upon intercepting the Governor, proceeded to unfold a tale that would have moved a graven image.
"Behold in me a victim of bitter fate!" he pleaded. "I am the owner of an humble homestead claim in a heavily-timbered tract that has appealed to the covetous eyes of the merciless landgrabber. See before you the father of nine motherless children, weeping out in the woods all alone for their devoted father, of whose tender care they are bereft in order that the immutable laws of a great government might be satisfied. By the force of cruel circumstances, I am obliged to remain away from them weeks at a time in order to earn my daily bread and keep the hungry wolf from the lonely doors of my loved ones. I am told that all this can be overcome through your Excellency, and that by relinquishing my homestead filing, I shall be permitted to make a State lieu selection of the tract, and thus avoid the necessity of compliance with the harsh measures incident to residence thereon."
Evidently Governor Pennoyer was touched deeply by this pathetic appeal, as after listening to the assumed woodchopper's harrowing tale of woe, he patted him sympathetically upon the shoulder and assured him that he would do all in his power to relieve conditions. As a matter of fact, the land in question was still vacant, unappropriated land belonging to the Government, but as soon as I ascertained that the Governor was disposed to make exception to the strict ruling of the State Land Board in this particular case, I lost no time in taking the alleged woodchopper to the Oregon City Land Office and having him make ​homestead entry of the piece desired. We then proceeded to Salem, where the claim was relinquished, and immediately thereafter selected as indemnity land.
The selection list is made out in triplicate form on large sheets of paper, capable of embracing several thousand acres, and it was the practice for the attorney for each applicant to attend to this feature by designating the land to be selected, together with its basis, after which the Clerk of the Land Board would secure the Governor's signature to the list and then transmit it to the local Land Office of the district where the tract was situated. The facts connected with the Governor's promise to the supposed woodchopper being presented to him, he promptly attached his signature to the list containing this single selection of 160 acres. Thereupon the entire land ring brigade got busy, and when the list left the hands of the Clerk of the State Land Board, it represented an application for more than 16.000 acres. This scoop more than repaid us for the trouble and expense we had undergone in promoting the creation of the reserve.
The principal grounds upon which the Board based its objections to signing the selection list, was because some member of the ring would cause a selection to be made covering a large tract of timber in a township that had just been surveyed, in which there were settlers who desired to make homestead filings. When a new township is thus thrown open to entry, it is always an easy matter to get the selection list into the hands of the Register of the Land Office ahead of the homesteaders, as we generally had the list mailed the day before, which would bring it to the attention of the Land Office officials on the morning that filings were receivable, thus giving the State a huge preference. The homesteader as a rule would thereupon appeal to the State Land Board for redress, which he generally got, and the selection list would have to be amended. These contests often resulted in the Board declining to sign any more lists until such time as some scheme of the character indicated was worked upon them. Under the law. settlers upon lands in an unsurveyed township have ninety days in which to file their claims at the local United States Land Office. Oftentimes we were able to bluff them out on account of possessing the State title, but as a general thing, whenever there was any interference of this sort, the Governor protected the settler as much as possible in his holdings.
During the term in office of T. W. Davenport, there was no dissatisfaction, as Mr. Davenport favored one no more than the other. He was of a different type to those preceding him in the State Land Office, being courteous and obliging to all. and strictly honest and on the square in doing his duty as an officer of the State, notwithstanding the many inducements held out to him by members of the School Land Ring.
During the administration of Geo. W. Davis, there was a deficit in the School Land fund amounting to something like $31,000. The supposition is that Davis, who was on very friendly terms with Rader. issued certificates of purchase to several thousand acres of indemnity land without receiving any money thereon, the understanding being, that when Rader made sale of the land, he was to divide the profits with Davis, at which time the latter would credit the school fund the amount due on the purchase price. In the meantime. Rader. in company with four Eastern capitalists. went into the timber in Clatsop County for the purpose of examining a tract of land. About two weeks later the entire party was found dead in camp, the supposition being that they fell victims to the poisonous effects of eating canned goods. As no record had been kept in the State Land Office showing to whom certificates of purchase were issued, and as Rader had possession of the papers, Davis had no way of getting hold of them. For obvious reasons, he was afraid to expose the deficiency alluded to, consequently he manipulated the cash entries in such manner that for three or four years it was not discovered. Upon its exposure, however. Davis absconded, and has never been punished.
The State began an action against E. P. McCornack and George G. Bingham, of Salem, to recover $5,000, the amount of surety as bondsmen for the ​defaulter, but lost the suit by reason of the statute of limitations having run against the claim. George W. Davis was removed from office on August 1, 1895, and W. H. Odell appointed to fill the vacancy.
During the latter's administration of affairs—covering a period from the date of his commission until January 1, 1900—there were comparatively few transactions connected with indemnity lands, as by this time the basis had practically become exhausted, and what little was left was handled exclusively by the State Land Agent. The ring, however, continued to deal in the 16th and 36th sections, whenever opportunity offered, as the latter class of lands remained at $2.50 an acre. This condition of affairs continued until sometime in 1898. when we all awoke to a realization that we were not half so smart as we thought we were. It appears that there were still some 44,000 acres of unsold surveyed State school sections within the limits of the Cascade Forest Reserve, which had been established September 28, 1893. After the passage of the lieu land Act of June 4, 1897, it was thought that the State had no power to make selections using as base the unsold surveyed portions of the 16th and 36th sections embraced in a forest reserve. So firmly was this idea fixed in the minds of the State officers in fact, that at the instance of T. W. Davenport, State Land Agent, United States Senator George W. McBride (former Secretary of State for Oregon) had introduced a bill in Congress granting the State such a privilege.
It was at this juncture that F. A. Hyde and John A. Benson, the California operators who have long enjoyed a complete monopoly of indemnity land business in that State, and who are now on trial in Washington, D. C, for their part in fraudulent land transactions, conceived the idea of invading Oregon in search of pastures new. In 1898 Hyde came to Portland personally, accompanied by one Joost H. Schneider, a sort of "Man Friday" for the California schemer, whom he sent to Salem to do a little missionary work. One day Schneider appeared at the State Land office in Salem with an innocent-appearing application, calling for the purchase of a half-section of school land in the Cascade Forest Reserve. Meeting with no opposition to its filing, and having received the deed from the State, Schneider took his departure, but in a few days returned, armed with a sufficient number of similar applications to cover 44,000 acres, or practically every foot of vacant State school land left in the reserve.
As may be surmised, there was general commotion in the State Land Office when the full force of this contemplated raid dawned upon the State authorities. G. G. Brown, at that time a deputy under Odell, and at present Clerk of the State Land Board, was in the office when this incident occurred, and objected to filing such a large number of applications calling for such a vast quantity of school land, and summoned Mr. Davenport into consultation with him upon the subject. The latter likewise demurred to such a proceeding, but Hyde's agent was not to be denied, citing the filing of the single application heretofore referred to as a precedent to sustain his contentions, and insisted that, inasmuch as the lands were for sale, and the applications in proper form, they should be accepted and deeds issued accordingly. He accentuated this request by tendering the full purchase price of the lands, and demanded the deeds on pain of a suit against the State in case of refusal. Under these circumstances, the applications were accepted and deeds issued, conveying to the firm of San Francisco grabbers an immense domain, for which the State received $1.25 an acre, or approximately $50,000. It developed afterwards that Hyde and Benson, through Schneider, had secured "dummies"' in Portland and vicinity to make the filings, and this feature of the proceedings is embodied in one of the counts in the indictment against them charging them with conspiracy to defraud the United States of its public lands, it being alleged that the base thus fraudulently obtained was used in the selection of other tracts belonging to the Government, under the Act of June 4, 1897, as the lands purchased from the State at the time indicated were later conveyed to the Government in exchange for other lands.
​To say that the Oregon school land ring was sore when it found out the artistic manner in which it had been done up, would be putting it mildly. They saw in the transaction the dissipation of a bright dream of wealth, because the lands were purchased from the State at $1.25 an acre and converted immediately into forest reserve scrip, which then had a market value of at least $5.50 an acre, making the net profits of these frenzied financiers fully $150,000 from this one deal alone.
On January 1, 1900. M. L. Chamberlain succeeded General Odell as Clerk of the State Land Office, his appointment dating from the time that T. T. Geer was inaugurated as Governor. F. I. Dunbar was Secretary of State and Charles S. Moore. State Treasurer during the Geer administration, and L. B. Geer, the Governor's half-brother, was named as State Land Agent to succeed T. W. Davenport.
During the period that Odell served as Clerk of the Land Office, although he had been afforded no opportunity for participating in any of the deals of the ring, he had not been idle, and in one way or another had discovered that there were splendid chances for making considerable money through State indemnity base. Actuated by this idea, he lost no time in inducing Governor Geer to appoint him an assistant to the State Land Agent, clothing him with full authority to deal in this commodity. General Odell was given desk room in the office of State Land Agent L. B. Geer, and the two entered into the "base" business with a vengeance. Intrenched behind a show of official recognition, Odell advertised extensively that he had an unlimited quantity of base for sale at $1.50 an acre. Desirous of selecting a tract of timber land containing 640 acres, and learning that State Land Agent L. B. Geer had several thousand acres of available school indemnity base, I applied to him accordingly, and was assured by Mr. Geer that he would furnish the base at the price indicated. I to pay the State for the land embraced in the selection. In conformity with this arrangement, I paid State Land Agent Geer $960, taking his receipt therefor, and filed my applications with Clerk M. L. Chamberlain, at the same time depositing with the latter the twenty per cent requisite on the purchase price of the land. In a few days the certificates were sent to me, indicating that the selections had been approved by the local United States Land Office.
It was soon apparent that the business being conducted by State Land Agent Geer and General Odell was well-named. Never before in the history of the State had such base methods been adopted as those resorted to by this pair. It was a case of where "base met base," and, as usual, the public got the worst of it. Inasmuch as I had put in several years dealing in State basis, and was well posted regarding the quantity of indemnity to which the State was still entitled, it puzzled me to imagine how I could have overlooked the basis designated by Geer in the selection of my land. However, as he was the Agent of the State, and with Odell had made a careful search of the records, I felt no apprehension on the subject, and besides reasoned that on account of his official position, in case the selection failed to pass muster in the General Land Office, it would be amended.
They appeared at the Land Office on the date set for the hearing, and after listening to the perjured testimony being introduced to show that their holdings were mineral in character, immediately entered a vigorous protest with the Commissioner of the General Land Office, which resulted in knocking the adjudicating business into smithereens, but not, however, before the State had selected some 73.000 acres based upon this fraudulent mineral base, and had given deeds to the purchasers. Had Odell and L. B. Geer omitted the tracts that had been sold previously by the State to settlers and stockmen, there is no telling how much they would have gotten away with, as their agents were working overtime for the ten cents an acre commission, and everything was grist that came to their mill.
Shortly after L. B. Geer was appointed State Land Agent, he was allowed additional clerks to assist in determining the quantity of base the State was entitled to. This information he used for his own personal benefit, and as General Odell had been given a desk in his office, all those making inquiry concerning indemnity selections were referred to him, and he would thereupon supply the base, exacting a fee of $150 an acre for his services. Thousands of dollars were thus paid to Odell for information that required but a moment to furnish, and which should have been given by the State Land Agent, as the State had gone to the expense of having the search of the records made that revealed the existence of this base. As a matter of fact, the two were working hand in glove, and the whole thing was a sort of "wheel within a wheel" proposition.
While Odell and Geer were thus holding a monopoly on the disposition of all State base, I learned of two sections of school land located in the mineral belt of Southern Oregon, and called upon Governor Geer for authority to adjudicate them as mineral. The Governor informed me that I would have to see L. B. Geer, as he was attending to that branch of the business. The latter passed me back to the Governor, who in turn referred me to Odell, w-ho told me in plain English, that as he had undertaken to adjudicate the mineral character of the various school sections east of the Cascade Range, he did not propose to permit me to interfere with his prerogative.
Returning to the Governor once more, I assured him that the two sections T had under consideration did not conflict with any sacred territory and that if he would grant me the privilege of doing the work, I would willingly deposit the requisite fifty cents per acre and have the selections made, with the understanding that the certificates of purchase were not to be issued until the basis was approved by the Land Department; and if I failed to satisfy the demands of the Government in this respect, that the amount of my deposit should be refunded. Governor Geer pulled in his horns at this suggestion, and resorted to his threadbare method of referring me to the State Land Agent, which was equivalent to sending me upon an endless chain journey.
and I had to give it up as a bad job. It was then that I felt that I was undergoing my first experience of being shut out of the State Land Office entirely, so far as any further dealing in State indemnity basis was concerned. The combination of Governor, State Land Agent and "King Pin" Odell was too much for me, and I was obliged to submit to the inevitable.
Odell and the State Land Agent continued to do a flourishing business in the matter of making selections based upon alleged mineral land, and secured the issuance of certificates of purchase to something like 70,000 acres of this character, besides about 20,000 acres that were selected upon other base.
In due course of time, every acre thus selected by them was rejected by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, but in the meantime the firm of Odell & Geer had received pay for the basis, which was the main point with them. In each instance the State was given 90 days in which to file an amended list, and Odell would take advantage of this by rigging up some sort of an appeal that answered the purpose of delaying further proceedings, and preventing the actual cancellation of the selections. The purchaser, or holder of certificate, to the suspended selection was kept in entire ignorance of the situation, and was permitted to know nothing about the sword that was hanging over his title, unless, perchance, he found it out through the local United States Land Office. This condition of things did not deter the pair from keeping right along with their bunco game, however, and as M. L. Chamberlain, Chief Clerk of the Land Office ​was merely a figurehead, so far as knowledge of his duties went, this sort of thing was kept up all through the administration of Governor Geer, and there was no attempt at suppression of the evils until George E. Chamberlain was elected Governor.
Ciovernor Chamberlain had held office but a few months when he saw that matters were very much in need of adjustment in the State Land Office, and on April 1 of that year, appointed George G. Brown as Clerk of the State Land Board, and on September 30 following, named Oswald West as State Land Agent. The latter was not only a young man of strict integrity, but was also well qualified, through long connection with the Ladd & Bush bank, of Salem, to introduce business principles in the conduct of affairs in connection with his duties.
West soon familiarized himself with conditions, and learning that thousands of acres of indemnity selections with defective base, which had been sold by the State to innocent purchasers, were subject to cancellation by reason of these irregularities, he proceeded to take steps to protect those who had bought the lands in good faith from the State. As there were no authentic records in the Land Office to show the exact situation, the newly-appointed Land Agent made a complete abstract exhibiting the status of affairs, from which it was ascertained that the State was still entitled to about 8,000 acres of indemnity from the United States. This base was worth $5 an acre in the open market, but instead of disposing of it in that manner, West used it, so far as it went, in amending the basis of those selections where it was demonstrated the applicants had acted in good faith.
When West reported his findings to Governor Chamberlain, showing how Odell and Geer had selected 73,500 acres on mineral base, out of which only about 1,000 acres had been clear listed by the General Land Office, and that 13,500 acres of their selections on other base had likewise been rejected, he was directed to set an investigation on foot for the purpose of finding out the exact status of these selections, with the result that the State reimbursed those who bad made purchases in good faith through the instrumentality of Odell and Geer to the extent of $142,000. The General Land Office having rejected the 87,000 acres of mineral and other indemnity selections made by them, with the exception of the 1,000 acres indicated, the State has made repayment on 78,000 acres, leaving an area of 8,000 acres yet to be repaid on. The amount refunded applied only to the purchase price of the lands, and does not represent any portion of the commissions charged by the firm as a bonus for inserting the base, all of which the applicants lost in consequence of their dealings with the two rogues.
Of the Kelliher certificates, the holders of about 30,000 acres were permitted to repurchase the land at $2.50 an acre. This concession was made in consideration of their being to a certain extent innocent purchasers. Certificates covering about 30,000 acres held by Kelliher personally were cancelled and his money repaid him. as a result of the State Supreme Court having decided in his favor upon the criminal charge, as he had been vindicated to a certain extent, the proof showing that Turner had procured the "dummy" applications, although Kelliher had advanced the money necessary in making the payments. Chamberlain's action in getting rid of Kelliher in this fashion was a clever business stroke, as the lands held by him were considered the cream of those he had acquired fraudulently, and will at some future date be advertised by the State and sold to the highest bidder, which will easily net the State more than $100,000 by the transaction, even at the low price of $4 an acre, as the amount refunded to Kelliher did not exceed $15,000.
Indemnity selections amounting to 100,000 acres have been made during Governor Chamberlain's administration, and have sold for an average price of $7 an acre. The State has about 100,000 acres of forest reserve base on hand and available for selection. Its price is $8.50 an acre at the present time. Governor Chamberlain has undoubtedly accomplished more genuine benefits to the school fund of Oregon than any of his predecessors, so far as the sale of State school lands is concerned, as he has increased the price of sections in newly-surveyed townships from the old rate of $2.50 an acre to $17 an acre by offering them to the highest bidder, which naturally provokes competition.
From 1903 to 1908, the State Land Board of Oregon had cancelled certificates covering 250,000 acres. Many of these were held by persons who had made fraudulent purchases and were afraid to make further payments for fear of prosecution. Much of it then became available as base for indemnity selections.
When it was found that the applications were bogus, and not made in good faith, the selections were cancelled forthwith by the State Land Board, and the amounts paid thereon as the purchase price w-ere declared forfeited to the State and turned into the school fund. Fully 250,000 acres were found in this condition, the applicants therefor having become alarmed on account of investigations by the Government in connection with the Blue Mountain Forest Reserve frauds, and were afraid to disclose their identity. Had they done so it would have enabled the Federal authorities to locate the holders of the bogus certificates, as the records of the State Land Office at Salem did not indicate who these persons were, and the Government was exceedingly anxious to find this out. As nearly all the 250,000 acres alluded to consisted of school sections in the Blue Mountain Forest Reserve, it reverted to the State, and was afterwards disposed of as base by the latter, at a net profit of $5 an acre, making the State gainer by the operation to the extent of fully $1,250,000.
was only temporarily withdrawn, and that the base was not available for selection purposes. When the Register of The Dalles Land Office refused to file the list, Mays insisted that he should, and finally persuaded him to do so, whereupon the State issued certificates of purchase on all the tracts embraced in these selections. They were likewise cancelled by order of Governor Chamberlain, and the amounts deposited thereon covered into the State treasury.
So much has been said concerning- my indictment on February 3, 1905, by the Marion County grand jury, that I feel it incumbent upon me to give a brief history of the facts incident thereto. In January of that year, shortly after my conviction in the 11-7 case, I was engaged by residents of California to acquire title to 6,400 acres of State school sections in Klamath County, Oregon. On account of the trouble in which I was already involved with the Government, and realizing that Governor Chamberlain would not tolerate any crooked work in the State Land Office, I determined to obey the laws as well as possible, and with that object in view, and in order to be what I then considered on the safe side, I secured the applicants for the ten half sections in Salem, where it would be an easy matter for the authorities to find out that I was not using any fictitious person in making the applications.
My contract with these applicants contemplated furnishing them the money with which to obtain certificates of purchase, they in turn to assign to me a nine-tenths undivided interest in the lands. In addition, I was to pay them $20 cash, ​which, with their interest in the land, was considered as making the price of their right equivalent to $100 for each 320-acre tract applied for by them. This I regarded as exorbitant, as the land itself was of comparatively small intrinsic value, having already been applied for several times and permitted to revert to the State on that account. It was certainly far above the prevailing market rate for this class of "dummies."
Upon presenting the ten applications to G. G. Brown, Clerk of the Land board, together with draft for $2,000. I requested him to apply $200 to each application as a portion of the purchase price. He thereupon notified me that he had received instructions from the State Land Board to the effect that all the applicants would be required to make personal appearance at his office in order to take the necessary affidavit and deposit the money. Not wishing to trust the applicants with that much cash, I obtained ten cashier's certificates from the Ladd & Bush bank in Salem, for $200 each, and made payable to Clerk Brown, and handing one of these to each applicant, told him to present this to Brown at the time of tendering the application.
Calling in the afternoon for my certificates, I was informed that a special meeting of the Board was in session for the purpose of considering the subject of my applications. Upon being thus advised, I immediately repaired to the Governor's chambers, where I found the full Board assembled. Besides Governor Chamberlain, there were present Secretary of State Dunbar, State Treasurer Moore and Attorney-General Crawford. No sooner had T put in an appearance than Governor Chamberlain proceeded to denounce me in round terms for my audacity in coming under the very dome of the capitol building, as he expressed it in vigorous language, and attempting to fraudulently obtain title to 6,400 acres of State School land, by inducing ten persons to commit perjury in doing so. It required no second glance to see that the Governor was decidedly angry, and it was utterly impossible for me to get in a word edgeways in my own defense, as he jumped all over me. declaring that he was aware that I then had in my possession blank assignments already signed and acknowledged, conveying the land to me, and that it was his intention not only to forfeit the money I had deposited as part payment, but also to prosecute me to the full extent of the law for my part in the matter.
I endeavored to explain that I was unaware that I had violated any law, and that it was never my intention to do so, but the Governor refused to listen to anything I had to say, giving me to understand that the less I said under the circumstances the better it would be for me.
After giving the subject careful consideration, however, the Board concluded that affairs were not so bad as their imagination had first pictured, as I was a few days later notified by Clerk Brown that the $2,000 would be refunded upon presentation of orders on him from each of the ten applicants. This I succeeded in doing after considerable difficulty, as all the applicants held me up to the tune of from $10 to $20 each before they would let go. which amount, added to what I had already paid them for their rights, brought me out loser to the extent of from $30 to $50 on each application.
This transaction was later made the basis of three indictments by the Marion County grand jury, under which I am now out on bonds to appear for trial at some future date.