St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-09-24
1aligped persons Through vour columns

maligned persons through your columns
OF these serious charges. About year
in advance of the completion of the
Northern Pacific to the Missouri, about
April l, 1872, certain parties made
''squatters' claims" upon the land on
which Bismarck was afterwards To-
Gated, and among these squatters was
Oscar Swanson. whom found occupy
ing 160 acres, who had his shanty near
where the Northern Pacific round house
now stands. / bought out Mr.. Swan
sons claim and took transfer of his
right, and about May Is of that year |
took possession, and at once proceeded
to have the town site of EdwintOn nOw
Bismarck) surveyed and plated, and
this included other lands adjacent. l
then sold and bargained lots to
various parties, some of whom, after
buying lots of me. attempted to
jump the town site, and a long
and bitter litigation ensued, which
ended to the discontinue of the pre-
emptors, but during this a great deal of
bad blood was engendered, and bitter,
vindictive feelings against me person
ally, so much so that l was prosecuted
upon various trumped-up charges, and
even attempts to aSSaSSlnate me were
not wanting, and many of these swOre
that should not have a lot in town.
While waiting for the establishment of
county and the opening of the register
of deeds office, some of the miScreantS
broke into my Office and distracted
therefrOm the transfer to me of Swan
sons claim. with view to make it APP
pear that had no right to sign the plat
as proprietor. About year ago l
found Swanson, and he made quit
claim deed to the same premises,
referring in it to the transfer of
May 13, 1872, and as a reconfirmatiOn
of that transfer. This deed, which
would cut off Swanson from setting
up any claim by virtue Of his occupancy,
is the one the Tribune'S correspondent
says the register of deeds properly
refuses to record" OH the ground that
it will cloud the title to certain prop
! erty; and this notwithstanding that
the deed has been filed in his office
| for nearly eleven months, and he was
| paid his fees for recording at the time
of filing. At the end of the litigation
in the United States land office, the
corporate authorities of the town were
allowed to enter the land sin trust for
the several occupants according to their
respective interests" and after all had
been decided by the authorities to tho e
who had Improvements on the lots, the
major portion of whom had made con-
tracts with me for their lots, there re-
manned about 100 lots to which | laid
claim as the "original occupant" and
| for which l rendered proof of my
right and also rendered payment for the
amount assessed for expenses in max
ing the entry and for deeds, but my
| application was arbitrarily refused, al
though the tender was acknowledged
in writing. A short time after this L
transferred these lots to G. ID. Hughes,
| and afterwards he sold them to Irving
A. DunSmOOr, who, l believe, has the
| equitable right to them, notwithstand-
ing the fact that the corporate authori-
ties transferred them to other parties,
who purchased with full notice of
record of the rights of hughes to these
lots. The refusal of the register of
deeds to record an instrument properly
executed and for which he has been
paid his fees, on the ground of what he
believes will be its effect, is only in
keeping with the former acts of the con-
spiracy that has made Bismarck a
stencil in the noStrilS of honest people
for years. GEORGE SWEET.
Minneapolis, Sept. "a, 1888.