Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-09-12
ROBERTS COUNTY.
Actual Settlers in the County Loud in
Their Complaints Against Dir. Hall.
Farmers Forced to Pay Lease Privileges or
Lose Their ImprOvements----D Land
Held as Watered Land.
MIAMI, TEX, sept. 9, 1859.

/ To the Gazette.
The actual settlers in Roberts county
are considerably worked up over the ao-
ton of Laud Commissioner Hall and Mr..
James Mckenzie, general manager of
| the Cresweu ranch and cattle company,
an institution Incorporated under the
laws OF Scotland and Ireland, with its
! head Office at Edinburg, Scotland. MIR.
Mckenzie has leased some two hundred
sections OF the best school lands in the
county. On many of these sections there
are parties settled with view of making
it their permanent home. All of them
have little farms and growing crops on
| these lands, and intend buying the same
just as soon as they can dispose of enough
of their little earnings farm produCe) 20
make the first payment. Some of
them, however, are ready now to buy.
Others win be ready in the course of
few weeks. A short time since q repre-
sentative, I suppose, of this ScOtch-lrish
corporation, went to Mr.. b. f. Dudney,
Mr. G. NJ. Gardner, Mr.. E.W. Coles and
Mr.. Wortney Young, who are among the
best citizens of the Panhandle, and told
them that they must either pay Mr.. Nc
KenZie 500 for his lease OF take the
wire from around their little farms, roll
it up and get OFF. They not being able nor
willing to pay him this bonus are making
preparations TO leave the state. In fact,
Mr.. Cole aud Mr.. Young who had few
head of cattle, have already left and
have pitched their tents in Oklahoma.
Mr. Dudney and Mr.. Gardner will leave
soon if they don Z get relief.
Another instance OF this tyranny is in
the northwest corner of this county
where Mr.. Frank Sawyer, a good citI-
zen, settled on q section of school land
during the reign OF the land board and
made his application under the rules Of
that notable body, and sent it with his
first payment to Austin, describing 1t az
dry land, which in fact it is This same
Scotch outfit protested against it being
awarded to Mr.. Sawyer, claiming it to
be watered land, which the land board
in its wisdom had decided not to sell.
The land board disregarding the solemn
oath of Mr.. Sawyer, ana placing con-
idence in the Scotch Irish corporation and
its representatives rejected Mr.. Sawyer g
application Mr.. Sawyer, however,
still lived on the hand and improved It
until last spring, when Mr.. } II Newly
moved in from Young county, of tins
state, and bought Mr.. Sawyer ; improve
ments, paying him $500 for them. The
land had never been classified until some
two months ago, when State Agent
Hoffer came through this county and
classified it. He first classified this sec
tiOn as watered land, and Mr.. Newly,
knowing it to be an erroneous classifica-
ton, got the county surveyor to survey
it out, which he did, and found it 70 be
dry land. Then Mr.. HOfTer corrected
n o1o RI ha
office, and the classification was
there approved and a copy sent TO the
county clerk of this county and recorded
in his office. Meanwhile our county sur
yeyor was corresponding with State
Agent Hoffer to get this land classified.
Here 1 inclose you letter, under date OF
August %, 1899, in regard to this same
section:
CLAUDE, TEX, Aug. %, 1889.
M. J. G.. English, Surveyor Roberts County,
DEAR s1R-Your appreciated favor of the 18th
inst. duly received.
I have sent in a classification Of section 2,
block D, II and G. n. R'y Co. as dry grazing
at 81 per acre.
This section is leased by Mr.. Mckenzie. and
if Nj. Newly places his house and makes his
residence on hall section 2, and gets the written
permission of the lessee to Hie on section 2, he
would have the right, under the law, to file on
both sections. Whenever can be OF any sssls-
lance to you let me know Very truly yours,
JoaN HOFFER, State Agent.
You will see from this letter that Mr..
Hotter says before Mr.. Newly can buy
he must get Mr.. Mckenzie 5 written con-
sent. Thus the matter stands. Mr..
Newly has $500 worth of improvements
besides a growing crop on the land and
will not be permitted to buy it without
sending over to Edinburg, Scotland, and
getting the written consent Of a Scotch
0F he mill he
compelled to pay the bonus or lose his
improvements Mr.. Newly il q poor
man and has already paid all he is able
to pay for the right to buy.
Another instance is where Mr.. Herman
Gesler settled on the north half of an
other section and made valuable i'm
Drovements, and Just as sOOu as he could
get money enough to make his payment
he sent it with his application to Austin
and Mr. Hall writes him that Mr..
Jonas Mckenzie has leased for five years
and unless he can prove that he was an
actual settler on the land before Mr.. Nc
Kenzie had his lease recorded he cannot
buy. also inclose you Acting COmmis-
sioner r. G. Shelley s letter, which viii
speak for itself:
AUSTIN, TEX, Sept. 3, 1889.
J. K. Little, Esq, Miami, Tex:
DEAR SIR have 70 notify you that Herman
Ge1Sier'S application to buy norm e Sectlcn Zlb-
block y. certificate $3.50, Houston and Texas
Central railroad company. Roberts county, Is
suspended for the reason IL is dry grazing land
and leased TO James Mckenzie for five years,
and unless the applicant can prove that he was
actual settler on the land before the lessee fled
his lease contract in the county clerks Office for
record he cannot bny II. Respectfully,
r. Z. SHELLEY.
Chief Clerk Acting Commissioner.
Mr. Geisler, not being able to pay a
lawyer to work the matter up for him,
will be forced to leave and abandon his
or pay Mr.. Mckenzie IS
bonus of S1OO Mr.. Mckenzie now has
about al the school lands III Roberts and
Ochiltree counties leased and settlement
Is barred for i've years to come. l wish
to further state that Mr.. Mckenzie al
ready has a lease on this same section
applied for by Mr.. Geisler, which lease
expires next year, and why be should
get a five years lease on the same land
over sixteen months before his former
lease expires no one here is able to tell.
J. K. LITTLE.