The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1894-12-01
STORY or HIS OPERATIONS.
1t Is Believed the Frauds VIII Reach
S1,000,OOO.


The story of Pierce's audacious oper-
ations at Yankton is told in tho follow
ing special telegram to the Minneapo-
lis Tribune:
Yankton. S. D., Nov. 22.-The expos-
ure of the gigantic forgeries of John II.
M. Pierce and his flight to Mexico
closely followed by the arrival of Eng
lish capitalists here has created a SEN
sation in money circles of New York.
Pierce, Wright & Co. have been paying
interest for five years on forged bonds
which were sold to eastern capitalists.
The firm of Pierce, Wright & Co, so far
as anything to the contrary is known,
is composed wholly of j. T. NJ. Pierce.
G.. N. Wright having withdrawn several
years ago, and the company being an
unknown quantity. The firm has ex-
listed at London, Eng. at Yankton, at
Spokane and at Holyoke, Col, and has
done business in all those places. The
principal office of issue has been at
Yankton, which has also been Mr..
Pierce's place of residence. The London
office was the place where his various
issues of fraudulent paper We're nego-
tiated and turned into cash. Mr. Pierce
has dealt largely in school district
L
been generally of a fictitious character.
being manufactured by the wholesale
and forged on fictitious signatures at
tached together with seals, notifications
and other paraphernalia of deceit He
seems to have formed a ready market
for his bogus paper, probably through
the good standing of his London house.
Who is responsible for the various
aaf Of 10. %,
lecture. Perhaps Mr.. Pierce did some
of it or all of it or none of it. That it
was done there exists the evidence of
the fraudulent papers. In his school
bonds issues, he has covered in South
Dakota the counties of Yankton, Bon
Homme, Hutchinson, Turner, Clay and
Union, so far as is known. The bust
ness has been going on many years
The last school bond to come to light
is dated December 1, 1893 1t purports
to be the bond of independent school
district No. 2, Bon Homme county. 1t
was for the sum of $4,000, payable to
]. p. Crennan, who died several years
before it was issued. The signatures
are forged. 1t is guaranteed by Pierce's
London house. This paper was sold to
English parties and has recently been
made the subject of investigation by T.
Millinson, of Texas, an Enslishman.
This is given as a sample of his work.
MAY REACH A MILLION.
The aggregate amount of the fraud
| ulent school bonds and tax certificates
is not known but it is very large, and
there are in addition numerous fraudu-
! lent mortgages which have been palmed
off upon unsuspecting Englishmen. 1t
| is the opinion of a gentlman in a posi-
ton to know something about the bust
ness that Mr.. Pierce has fioated from
100000 to $1,000, 900 worth of this man
ufactured paper. He has built extern
sively in Yankton, some of the most sub
| stantial improvements Of the city being
the result of his investments. He has
| lived extensively, maintaining an es-
tablishment here and one in London.
He has put $4,000 into the grade and
right of way of the Yankton & Nor
folk railroad. though there is a belief
that the money for the railroad work