Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1889-10-23
THOSE MINERAL LANDS.
The Board of Trade Proposes
To Have Something to
Say About Them.
A Strong Request Forwarded
To Secretary Noble To
Stay Action.

From Saturdays Daily.
In accordance with the call OF Presiden
Mantle q well attended meeting OF tn
board OF trade and others was held at tn
boards rooms last night for the purpos
OF taking steps to prevent wrongful issu
ance OF patents to mineral lands to tn
Northern Pacific Railroad company. Ttt
meeting was called to order by Mr.. MantI
who stated object OF the same and thel
made a partial review OF the work done b,
the mineral land convention held at Hell
ena and the results which accrued from tn,
same. He said that the proofs, maps amt
other evidence submitted to the genera
land Office by the convention at that time
had the effect Of causing an order to be
issued by the general land Office striking
out q number OF townships included In the
railroad company's grant because OF the
mineral bearing character OF the lands em.
braced within their limits. The rule then
enforced by the general land Office, Mr..
Mantle said, had been relax'd and
the Northern Pacific company en-
couraged to continue in it's
claims for patents to all lands
embraced in it's grant, or else instructions
had been issued which made the company
more aggressive, because applications made
by parties in Deer Lodge county for patents
to mineral lands had been adversed by the
company, So serious had matters become
that 1t was deemed necessary to call to-
gether again the mineral land convention,
for IL the railroad company could success
fully adverse applications for patents to
lands in alternate townships in Deer Lodge
county it could do the same in Silver Bow
and other counties. 1t Was absolutely
necessary that something should be done
by the people. At the former meeting OF
the convention the Northern Pacific had
6isclaimed any intention OF laying claim to
any mineral lands within it's grant from the
government, but subsequent events went
to show that the company had changed it's
tactics. The speaker then read the tele-
gram received from Thomas G. Merrill,
now at Washington as the agent OF the con-
vsntion, and which was published in The
MINER Thursday morning.
o. B. O'BGnnon Of Deer Lodge, who came
up as @ delegate from that county, was
called upon by Mr.. Mantle to make a state.
ment OF the situation Of matters as they
now existed. Mr.. O'Bannon said that he
was not prepared to say what had become
OF the evidence, protests and maps sent to
Washington by the committee appointed
by the land convention for that purpose.
He had, however, watched progress OF
eventsc closely, and understood that q line
OF policy had boon adopted by the general
land Office and the interior department at
that time to prevent the Northern Pacific
from making fraudulent entries OF mineral
lands. Since then q change had been made
in the general land office and interior de-
partment, and as more or lessE ieal.
ousies always existed between outgoing
and incoming officers, rules made by
the former were generally ignored by the
latter. The speaker was of the opinion
that II proper presentation OF facts were
made to the present secretary OF the in
terror that he would do justice to the
people OF the territory and would see that
the railroad woulG receive only just such
lands as it was entitled to under its grant
from the government. The history OF the
Central Pacific land grants was then re.
viewed, and Mr.. O'Bannon said that
when that road began to make f1nal proofs
10 vas called upon TO the same
proof OF the non-mineral bearing charac-
ter OF it's lands as were settlers who made
proof under any OF the existing land avs.
Now the railroads claimed exemptionsfrom
such rulings. 8. M. Stockslager, ex.com-
missioner OF the general land Office, had
informed the speaker during the day that
when the general land Office announced
that railroad companies were amenable to
the same rulings as settlers the Central
Pacific company appealed to the secretary
OF the interior and he ruled that a. the
time the company made its selections the
lands so selected were not mineral lands,
and az rulings Of the general land office
were not retroactive orders were issued
that patents should DO granted to, the
company to all OF its lands. The cases OF
the Northern Pacific company and the peo-
pie Of Montana u., were e,on s=nS,Ag Nss'
sented to Mr.. Noble he would
be liable to make the same ruling in refer.
snce to the Northern Pacific and order
patents issued to lands embraced within
ito grant. After defining his position in the
present contest, the speaker repeated what
Mr.. Mantle said in reference to the railroad
eompany's p~retentions at the time the land
convention met at Helena, and it's present
attitude In reference to the same PROPOSE
tIon. While the convention was in session,
he said, representatives OF the railroad
COMPANY tried to make light OF the conven-
tion's labors and said it's alarm was un-
necessary and groundless. Notwithstand-
ing this, in the fall OF the year the company
paid taxes upon every inch OF surface
ground it owned in Deer Lodge county,
which a conclusive evidence that the
company intended to hold b ground, and
az II to give still stronger proof in support
OF that 8upposition the company was now
aA%ersing applications for patents to some
OF the mines in Gro Elmo district.
The speaker then referred to designa-
tions of ground as made to the g. L.. U. by
deputy mineral surveyors, and SAID tnat
Notwithstanding the claims oil the railroad
company to the contrary, the general lane
Office did not recognize such designations;
In support Of this statement ne cited
the cases OF the settlers in Deer Lodge
valley. All the lands in that valley lac
been returned by surveyors as non-minerai
and vet everv settler who acquired title
to an acre OF ground had to make special
proofs OF the non-mineral character OF the
land upon which he was making final proof.
The Northern Pacific, in face OF this,
claimed that the returns OF the surveyors
were absolutely correct and insisted that
thoy should stand. Inc reason JOE 1nls
insistance was that in the spring OF 1873
or 1874 q contract had been let to J; M.
Page to survey the lands west OF Walker.
Vile. After this contract had been awarded
orders had been issued by the interior de-
partment that all money set aside for sur
yyeys in Montana vac to be expended in
surveying only the non-mineral lands Of
the territory. Page began his survey and
when he had completed his contracts and
vent to Helena to make bis returns he
learned that under the orders OF the de-
partment he would not receive q cent for
the work he had done. To avoid this he
returned all the lands embraced in his sur
yey as mountainous timber land. Under
this classification he was able to avoid the
danger OF working for nothing and also did
n great wrong to the pc bple, Tor he knew
that much OF the land he so classihe ! was
mineral land in very sense OF the
term. The railroad now commended
that Pages returns were conclus'
i've. no matter what the real nature
of the lands was. Although Page had run
his lines across mines; had seen men work
ine at windlasses; had spoken to men at
work In shafts and in some instances even
had run lines squarely across shafts, still he
had returned the land az non-mineral.