, 1877-10-23
The Mode Of Operations nn1 the
1sainiflcatfons Of Their
SYSTEM.
Thirteen Court Houses Burned for the
Purpose Of Destroying
Records.
The Koynl rrodigaltty of Names Indulged
In by Mr.. j. r. Ham.
Fiendlsh Rork Of frain.Nretkers sn Tho 0bta &
Mississippi Road.


Mississippi Road.
THE TEXAS LAND swINDLE.
Karsas CITY journal n Commerce.
Kansas Clty Inns been the headquarters or
PRINCIPAL point Of operation Of one of the most
gigantic land suinies ever pcrpetrate.1, siyaing
In money value and extent the great whisky
frauds. Not only Inns the Government suffered,
but innocent parties in all parts Of the country
hare been caught in tie mcshes skillfntty laid
By the consummatu actors. Three wclt-known
citizens Of Kansas City were chief actors III i.iu
AFFAIR.". r. Ham, Edward l.. Stevens, and
George ". Miller. The scheme originated with
J. Il. Han, and man named Thomas Tutlts,
living ut Austin, Tex. Some thirteen years ago
Han. sold out hss saloon III Kansas City, since
which time It has been generally known that he
laa been dahblng in Texas lands.
Tufiis and fam first btgan their operations
BY examining tho Oil records Of various coun-
tics, and where the titles were Invested in par
tics who ind not tccn hcar,l from for somo
time they would ptrsoslatc the absent owner.
Tho next step was to secure conlcticratcs Mt tl{-
fcrent points 10 represent Themselves IS the ttss-
Ing parties New orleans und iuliai,apolIs were
tho chief points, although many minor places
have sl11cc furnished the quota nf Texas land
owners.' Another plan for securing titles to
the land WIS to tnakc duplicate copies Of deeds,
Issue fraudulent scrip for The purchase OF land,
ami even deal In counterfeit money, to mako
bonn 3dc purchases. Tic scheme grew on apacc,
other parties were brought into tho gang, until
finally not less an sixty parties living IN some
thirteen different States were directly aud in1t-
rcctly Interested in The profits Of the steal.
Among them were Edward t.. Stevens mud
Ucpreo ". Miller. steyrns' connc,,Iun with
tho concern date. back about four ycars, Mt
WHICH timc' and Tor mouths thereafter,
he WIS connected with tho Narrow
Gauge Railroad III an official capacity. It Is not
Know at lust what timo Miller BEGAN to act viii,
liam Indeed. but little could be learned Of
Ills dotngs, further than that he acted as banker
Tor t,3 tto concern, and. hsiug good pen'nan,
sary. \ gambler by professi1n, Miller il crc,l-
ted with having sotnc f9, nh ,lcnostt In tho
Mastsn Hank. and one titno otonorcd a draft from
linn. sent from Texas, for s2o,M0 to enable
seee sS sF steyens s. aead i esee VIII e s s ay
wishes Of his wito and friends, who cautioned
lin against having any dealings With Ham, WIN,
u seems, f!rsa induced him to trade l.is Narrow
Gauge an1 Wyandotto tins Company stock for
HUN acres OF Texas lands. After tllis,
hc seemed to hare become infatuated
With tho inoucy-nlakttE HchenIe, and
acted III fnia c3nsort With the others,
aud was known In Tcxae M a Kansas City
lawyer; The better to enaelc then, to carry. oil
tilclr ptan Of oncrations, Ham ah1 his confcdcr.
atch lla ! isado duplicate tooics of tho notarlal
an' other seals, aud lad obtained tho signatures
ot lna,y officials. liam evGn went 20 far o. to
Kan:as civ IInnE torms aud perfect d rapics q q
deeds necessary to his use. a journal reporter
Inns u1amtned documents printed BY Hmm that
nre exact cnplcs OF the ORIGINALS. Ham aud
aliases, Ham having 10 tess tlsoa Thirty, and
StcScns tkilfteesi. OuF Fcatlct. MI! TO doubt be
surprised to learn ti1at our Ham was known
elsewhere as j. I. hates. =: u. Harry, +. T.
Dalton; J. y. F1fsl, ": u; u!bbs, J. 1. !iami!-
10Y, Jonn D. tiail. !. H. jiuRi!es, =. Ha''lfl,
Iuhn u HuAbon. O!and9 kelycr. IDnn
l. Martin: Jamcs II. Martlsl, q. J. Smith,
b. +. Williams. and some twelve 0tlIcr
nanaes. stcyens' a!!ases wesc It. {: nrown, II.
4. Edwards. Loreaz tlaocrnlacllcr. c. d. Lucae,
Jonn n: MetcGr, Heargo IL. slf,inns, ueorgo ".
Smith. e. II: Thompson: a''a some eight others.
a iaFos1to plan ot t!am's WINS to rccor't deed
III tils owti name, ], H. liam, atitl aftcEward tho
document would turn up a. belonging to J. u.
q J: +. Hamilton. lhts was donc hy writing
the tettcf 80 that slight curve With the pen
would alter y to u, und, With the nllliioii Ut
mtomm ,a1 10 % Ms oM" ,:t,a name' eompeto Sh*nEo
Kansas City between Innocent partics, result
ing from changes Of this Kind.
reporter OF tho Journal was shIwn deed
to large amount Of Texas tands originally
recorded q belonging 70 man namcd Jaincs
q. Kendall, in Bcltop, Tex. who has becn miss
ing sInce lstV. 10 gtye clear understanding
Of the uanller III which tho lltinE waa worked,
VIC herewith Kye tho details Of th's sfng!c trans-
Ham copied tho records aud examined tho
land In question, and then sent full tasctihtlon
Of ths propstty t9 confederate 1,. Il, sutsr part
warranty deed property hlled ont IN tho blanks
q! hana fnr that pirpose, all attcsted aud bear
lnS thr seals and forged signatures Of various
officials. In this way the tile to the property
would seen1 to bo perfectly sounl. James X
llam conveyed the titlo by y lew strokes Of tho
pen to J. It. Hamilton, mud he would have It re-
curdcd and aell Or dispose Of It to tho Lest a1-
vintage. TlIs exact mo<lus opetanat Ut obtain
Jug title 10 Government lands u not exactly
known, further than that alt thu papvrs thereto
claiming TO be original patents ffom the tioyrro-
lnent Ase forgeries. A large amount OF land
has been conycyet! under tnany aliases 10 yari.
Gus parties, 0f course this thing could .,us
10 on always. People In Tcxas teranlc sus-