The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1884-08-28
BIG LAND GIlNBBEliS,
THO COW MEN AND uHoLs sam.
How Zig Cattle Companies have G"hh,sd
upthe Fable Domain in'cstign.
tons that Produced ~urprls-
Ing Developments, Etc,

wAsuINGToy, Aug, -, Sometime
since the Commissioner -! the General
Land Onlcc ordered the survey of GER
tain public land, iu Colorado aud Ne
braskn, with ,ac Wow uf bringing suit
at the noNt torn 81 court against the eat
tie companies that have Illegally fenced
In large tracts OF .and Ia those states, \
special uvrNt who has been Nupvrln-
tending the survey In Colorado, in n
report IotEt Commissioner, says; Eight
eases have len found against the Prai-
rie Cattle Company, composed OF Scotch
men. I'm examination has been made
OF tracts containing respectively
100 square miles, twenty-five
square miles, sixteen square
miles, and scVenty-liyc square miles
and the agent Is AT present examining Il
tract containing over lOu square miles.
All of these are under the control of the
Prairie Cattle company, and, the agent
SAYS, are Illegally fenced In. Officials IN
the land office say the practice of lille.
gallv fencing large t.n'tS of lAud ana
making fraudulent entries, Ia, been
greater the past year than ever before.
They claim that between J,WH,uOO and
600, 600 u. acres are now NY gGl,y fenced
and that several millions acres are
fraudulcntlY entered. Complaints from
settlers are being received daily by
agents and ~ the land office here. set
tiers say the cnttlcmcn UIe driving them
away and taking from them lands
which they have settled upon. one of
the land officials said tina, il the practice
Ii continued, the cattlcmCn VIII have
entire control of the best public land in
the United States within twenty years.
Relative to tho fraudulent entries OF
land an agent in New Mexico Informs
the General Land Office Commissioner
h.t Of hn ri4a "a Thar IRFFitlrN
per cent. are fraudulent, and another
agent in Dakota, writing upon the same
subject, SAYS that 20 per cent. of the
entries are fraudulent in that Territory.
A table was completed yesterday for
the forthcoming annual report OF the
Land Commissioner, which shows the
number of fraudulent entries that have
been Investigated during the past year
and approximately the number OF ille-
galiy fenced acres in the various states
and Territories tn he rs follows: Arkan-
sas, seventy fraudulent entries: Dakota,
400; Colorado, so, and 2,aO,OOJ acres He
gally fenced; California, l3J; New Mex
leo, 81, and 100000 illegally fenced;
Minnesota, 81; Washington Territory,
100; Idaho. %; Nebraska, 10,
and 100000 acres illegally
fenced; Montana, n; Wyoming, 10;
and 100000 acres; Alabama, l53; Wiscon-
sin, 10; Florida, Il; Oregon, 81; Kansas,
1872; and 100000 acres; Nevada, 10000.
acres.
Besides the cases embraced in the fore
going table, there are about 1000 entries
in which action has been suspended UNI
til an examination can he made by
special agent. These entries Will aver
age about $50 acres of land each. Acting
Commissioner Harrison says that there
is no doubt that there are thousands OF
other fraudulent entries, but that the
Office can only investigate those which
are brought to its attention by settlers
and others. Among the eases of UNI
authorized fencing specially reported to
the Land office by agents are those OF
the Prairie Cattle company, tScotch)
embracing upwards of l,0OO,00O acres;
Arkansas Valley company, l,OOOOOO; ii.
ii. Metcalf, 100000; John w. Prowers,
Routchler ~ Lamb, 10000; J.
w. Frank, 10000; Garnett ~ Lang
ford, 10000; T.. G. Lane, $4,000;
Tewisy Bros, 10000; Nroman
& McFife, $4,000; Beatty Bros, 10000;
Chick, Brown IL Co., 10000; and the Rcy-
nolds cattle company $1,000 acres, all III
Colorado; Brighton ranch, l25,0OO; Coe "
Garter, 10000; j. W. Wilson, $4,000; Ken
nebeck ranch, 10000; j. w. RUsler, 10000
acres in Nebraska. VIM. Humphreys,
5000, and Nelson IL Son, 10000 acres in
Nevada. Entire counties are reported
as being fenced in in Kansas. In Wy
oming more than one hundred large
cattle companies are reported as having
fenced in on public lands. Some of
these companies are reported to be En-
slsh aud others Scotch. Referring To
the practice OF large companies making
fraudulent entries on land illegally
fenced, Major Mckenzie Of the Land
Office said: "These entries are made
along streams that run through the land.
The cattlemen will employ men to herd
their stock and then will give $50 or 800
to each one to make an entry Of 100
acres. When he has secured his
patents, it is understood that he
must transfer it to the party
who advanced the money. Many Of the
cattle dealers will not employ men UNI
less they will agree to make entries. a
common fraud in New Mexico, Arizona,
California, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana,
Utah and Nevada is practiced by means
of the desert land act. That act provides
that in selecting $40 acres of desert land,
p cents per acre shall be paid down and
that the persons entering land shall be
allowed three years in which to pay for
The remainder. Instead Of taking des-
ert land the practice Is to
take the very best land. Parties
hold it and get the use Of it for three
years for comparatiV ely nothing and tor
as much longer as the title is in dispute
Complaints from settlers come from
nearly all the Western States and Terri
tories and some Of the complaints ac-
cuse the Government land agents OF
collision with the land grabbers.