Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-03-26

between A. P. Flanagan and w. Fl
Bullard for the possession Of forty
acre tract short distance from town
and In the vicinity Of the coal mines.
A brief history of this trsct will with.
out doubt be Of interest to old-timers.
On May 20, 1880, IL was entered by A.
+. Flanagan under q pre-emption
filing, and January S, 1881, w. w.
Garland also laid claim to it by tim
ber-culture filing. In the contest re-
sulting Flanagan was worsted on the
ground Of neglect. This was the deci.
sion OF the local officers, but on appeal
TO the commissioner the decision was
reversed, II being held that the neglect
charged was excusable. A further ap-
peal was taken TO the secretary. who
reversed the commissioners decision
and gave Garland possession. This
decision reached here January 10,
1883. and on that day III. II. Gerrish
filed notice Of contest against Car
lands timber-culture entry. Three
days later Flanagan appeared With an
application to contest Garland, but it
was rejected by the local officers and
on successive appeals to the commits
sioner and secretary rejection was con-
firmed by each OF them on the ground
Of priority rights in Gerrish. The
hearing of the contest between Car
land and Gerrish was to have been
had on May l6. 1883, but on that occs-
sion Garland failed to appear and de-
fend his claim and Gerrish was permit
ted to make a homestead entry of the
land. A period Of inactivity then en-
sued, lastiug until April 5th, 1884, when
Flanagan again appeared with mo-
ton for review of the case, which the
secretary allowed, and hearing was
had before the local officers, resulting
in favor Of Flanagan and this finding
was confirmed by the commissioner.
The next action was taken on Nov. 10.
1885, when the commissioner or
dered the cancellation Of the Gerrish
entry, but subsequently Nov. 24th)
this order was suspended to allow Ger
rish the privilege of proceeding un-
der certain rules Of practice estab-
lIshed by the department, II so desired,
but he did not avail himself, and on
January II. 1886. the order OF cancella-
tion was confirmed. Meanwhile Sept.
IL, 1851 Flanagan had filed his re-
lInquishment as pre-emptor and at
the same time filed on the same land
by making coal entry, but neither Of
these papers were taken Of record. On
Sept. Is, 1885, w. H. Bullard first ap-
pears In the case rs fling coal entry
ON the land. which was disallowed
because Gerrish's claim had not then
been extinguished. On Nov. 20, 1885,
Bullard again made coal fling which
was allowed. January %, 1886, Flan-
agan again offered his coal filing,
which was this time accepted and he
and Bullard thereby became contest
ants. Sept. %, 1856, Bullard published
a notice of his intention to make t1nal
proof, and Oct. 7. 1856. Flanagan did
the same. A hearing had Nov. s,
1885, before the local officers, resulted
iu Flanagan's favor. From this deci-
sion Bullard appealed and the last de-
cision In this tangled case is the one
noted at the beginning of this article.
in which Commissioner Stockslager
reyerses the decision of the local off,
GERS and permits Bullard to prove up.
How many more twists and turns II
will take before the coveted patent is
reached, It ia hard to say. Mr.. Flans-
gan has been notoriously persistea,
and has worn out two antagonists,
only to be downed by a third. Car
land and Gerrish, who figured In the
earlier stages Of the litigation, had .
stormy and checkered career here and
are now far from the scenes OF their
former triumphs and misfortunes.