The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-10-12
LANDS FOR THE STATE.
Contest Over a School Section De-
cided in Favor of the COM
monwsalth.
Half a Section Near Great Fails
Valued at Thousands of Dol
lars Involved.
The Case Has Bsen Before the Lsnd Or
Tn. C,so Mas Nsen Before the Land OF.
doe sinco 1SS8-CoAl Entry ON
School LaRd.

The Helena Land ofdce ysssersay re-
esiyed from Washington a decision. made
By First Assistant Secretary Sims, OF me
interior department. which makes the pub
lilo school fund Of the state richer by Sao.-
600 than IL was before. In 1889 Paris Glib
son and other gentlemen living At Great
Falls, fled q placer claim on a half OF sec
zion Sc, In township q. N. Il. 3 +. After
Gibson had made NE entry. and while the
matter was pending in the local land Office,
the seto,nsy-general Of The state entered a
protest against tho allowance Of the entry
on the ground that tho land involved
passed to tho state when II was admit
ted into tho union for school pur-
oseA IL being section 81. Ihis
protest OF the attorney general. however.
was ignored by the local officers, but The
local officers rejected Gihson's application.
deciding thai tho land under consideration
vas chiefly valuable o. . quarry OF stone,
At only for building purposes, and there
for not subject to entry under the mineral
laws. Tho applicant appealed from this
Assistant Secretary Sims. in his decision,
says: Il concur in the finding OF yous
OAAoO taosp uAAoA ~ AOPoAs
United States surveyor the land IL not sub.
iect 10 entry as mineral land. think the
entry should have been cancelled for the
farther reason that il passed TO The state on
it's I'D Omission to the union. Your Judgment
10 therefore affirmed"
Tho settlement Of the ownership of this
land was received with a great deal OF sat-
isfaction BY the state officers who have in
terested themselves In the matter. The
question has been pending a long timc. and
decisions involving other land have come
while q ruling affecting this land has
to be impossible to get. About a
month ago Miss Ella Knowles, of the attor-
pey generals office. went down 10 Wash
her mission being to find out the
status of the case and also that OF tho claim
of T.. E. Collins. Of Great Falls, for section
sixteen, also school land. and in the same
vicinity as the Gibson claim. After a good
many inquiries Miss Knowles ran across
the papers in the case in charge Of a clerk.
and found they were marked not 10 be
taken up until there WIS q decision In the
Bardcn case. After q good deal of trouble
she succeeded in convincing tho proper
oHicial that the Gibson case had not the re-
motest Sc IN blan CO to the Barden case. and the
school land case WIS advanced a stage. As
she had been rent down to Washington to
get y decision on the matter she kept At
work pushing she papers from division TO
division until finally she got Thorn before
First Assistant Secretary bims. In the
work she had to make a presentation OF the
states claim to six law heads of divisions.
The first three were inferior chiefs. but the
last three IRE very close to Secretary Smith.
After the inferior chiefs she presented the
case to Judge Best; then to Judge Hall.
assistant attorney general for tho interior
After two weeks spent In that way Miss
Knowles had the satisfaction of knowing
that the decision was in her favor. She is
very enthusiastic In her praise Of the man
ner In which she was treated at the depart
mont, saying yesterday that oil the officers
were as courteous and accommodating as
they oould possibly be. The decision In
ceived.
The Helena land Office also received yes
terday a letter from the commissions of
tho general land office in relation to a coal
entry BY Cbas. E. Buley for forty acres
in sea. 36. t. 10. n. r. Q. The land is stu
Last March Buley filed notice of entry, but
the state protested against the entry. In
support of the protest stidavits made BY
Geo. M. Watson. Chas. Ashworth. Frank
Lewis. Elgin E. Jones and J. I. Arlington
we've filed. These nffidavits say that the
Qiester portion of tho land Buley desires
to enter is situated in the valley OF Aiming
ton. near the town of that name; that tho
portion OF the forty acres in the valley is
bottom land of nc value for coal mining
and that no indications of coal
have ever been found upon that portion of
the claim. They also say that ten acres OF
the forty 10 mountainous md broken and
that there are ind! cations of coa! on five OF
six acres of 1t. The commissions orders
that a hearing be held to determine tho
cha, acter Of the land, and whether Bailey
made the entty for his own uss and benefit.
Against the Railroad.
Aug. II. 1899, VIM. ]. Sweeney applied at
the Helena lani office for a patent for the
Waterbury, Bullshead, Wild Bill, Blue
Cloud. Fridav and Glencoe claims. in Sec
ton ID. about twelves miles west of Helena.
The claims being on q section selected by
the Northe' n Pacific railroad, a hearing was
had to determine the character of tho land.
The applicant offered testimony showing
the existence of patented lode claims on
the same section, Immediately adjoining