The San Francisco call., 1896-02-04
TO GET BACK THE LAND.
Civil Suit Arising Out Of the
Old Redwood King
Frauds.
ACTION BEGAN YESTERDAY
Special Attorney Bergen's Bill to Re-
cover ST 1000, 900 Worth of Hum.
boldt County Land.

AS sequel to the old Redwood King
timber land frauds suit in equity was
brought by the Government yesterday in
the United States Circuit Court to set
aside the 16S patents to timber land claims
in Humboldt County, which King, his
associate, Evans, and their company of
Scotch capitalists secured between Novem-
Der, 1882, and August. 1888.
A bill was filed by Attorney Benjamin
f. Bergen under the title of The United
States of America VS.. The American Lum-
ber Company and the Central Trust Com
pany. Mr.. Bergen, who came to the coast
in 1885 as special agent for the Land De-
partment and who succeeded in prevent
ing the patenting of about $50 claims be-
tween that year and 1890, and worked up
the criminal cases against King, Evans,
Walker and their two sub-agents, or
''rustlers." Beach and Marks, was ap-
pointed special United States a ttorney
last June to prosecute the big action he
has just begun. The land, he says,
amounts to between 26, 900 and q, 900 acres
OF the finest redwood timber, valued at
nearly 81 600, 900.
through the King-Evans-Walker mbina-
ton on the choicest quarter-sections of the
belt. They extended from Trinidad to the
klamath River.
TO do this syndicate was formed Octo-
Der q, 1882, at Edinburgh, Scotland, COM
posed of Charles III. King, now of East
Oakland, David Evans of Eureka, II. C. Put
nam OF Eau Clare, Wis, James D. Walker,
Thomas Nelson, William j. Menzles, J. D.
Lawrle, r. Bruce Johnston. j. Campbell
Pennie, D. Forbes Dallas and others, and
the language of Mr.. Bergen's document
charges these gentlemen with having COM
bined to acquire large tracts of land by
means of fraudulent entries for the tim Der
thereon and for speculative purposes. The
400 and more entries covered about $4,000
acres and the entries were made under the
act of June 3, 1878. For awhile the syndi-
cate was known as the California Redwood
Company, but finally, in July, 1888, it was
incorporated as the American Lumber
Company.
1t was necessary to have the land located
IN an apparently regular manner. King
and Evans were made managing directors,
and Charles E. Beach and Harry G.
Marks, as ssub-agents, contracted to find for
them what locations were needed. Beach
and Marks had an obscure Office in
Eureka, and the men necessary to locate
the land were found. The locations were
duly made, the entries recorded at the
land office there. and "mense convey
ances'' were executed by the locators to
Age ut Evans of the company for consid-
era tion of $50 each.
Beach and Marks were successful rust
lers" and had little trouble in securing
over 400 men. who for $50 each would 20
through the form of making the entries.
1t soon became known among the ire
sponslbles who constitute the floating
population of any place of consequence
that man could make $50 very easily
that all he had to do was to- sign a blank
entry. acknowledge it before notary
public, execute a deed to the company aud
draw his money.
The office had big supply of all the
requisite blank papers on hand f. w.
Bell was the notary public before whom
the locators all went, and there were six
men who. under the pay of the company,
acted as regular witnesses when the entries
were filed in the land office. These six
men were w. P. Mccormick, James Nc
Cormick, James Gregory, o. A. Horner,
George Lewis and William Wright. They
did all the swearing required and Receiver
Roberts accepted everything, apparently,
as matter of course. The deeds to the
company were all drawn up by enc m an
David Cutten), under a contract made
with Evans. AT that time it was not
necessary under the law for the man max
ing the entry to appear personally in the
land Office.
Truly "land Office business was done
by Beach and Marks. They madeas many
as eighty-two entries in one day without
the Registrar and Receiver appearing to
suspect anything. The witnesses were
paid So every time they put down their
name, and the scheme proved highly
lucrative to everybody concerned.
Fhen came the expose. Beach, Marks,
Evans, Walker, King. Joseph Russ and
nj. f.. Roberts, a brother of the Registrar
were all indicted in course of time. Beach
was convicted and sentenced to pay $4,000
fine and to serve three years imprison-
ment. He asked for a new trial, and is
now at large under $25, 600 bonds. Marks
case did not come to trial, and the in
dictments against Evans, Walker, King
and the others were Quashed. As already
stated, Mr.. Bergen prevented $50 patents
from being issued, and now brings suit to
have the 1853 patents secured set aside and
the land thrown open for settlement. He
applications and their accom- panying affi-
davits were false because not made in
good faith.
The Central Trust Company of New York
is made a party respondent because the
American Lumber Company year after
its incorporation bonded its land thus OBJ
tained possession of to the Central Trust
Company for 100000. 1t gave its trust
deed to the Central Trust Company De-
cember 81 1889.
There may be some difficulty in winning
this case because the Government will
have to run up against the prevailing doc
tr1ne OF the Federal courts that patent is
conclusive evidence of the facts that were
supposed to have warranted its issuance
The Government will have to show that
the patents were obtained by fraud.
After the redwood land frauds had been
perpetrated under his. regime Register
Roberts beca me Collector of Customs,