The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-13
ARCHBISHOP IRELAND,S TITLE TO
INDEMNITY LANDS DISPUTED
BY CLAIMANTS.
MANITOBA GRANT INVOLVED.
1T IS CONTENDED THE ST. PAUL
PRELATE ACTED ONLY AS
AGENT.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY.
Bona Eide Settlers Apparently Those
Who Are Interested In the Case
of the Archbishop.

Special to the Globe.
ORTONVILLE, Mimi, Jan. 12-More
than 200 adverse claimants to railway
indemnity lands were in the city today
to attend the hearing before Clerk Of
Court French and to protest against the
claim of Archbishop Ireland to these
lands. The contention appears to be
on the part of the archbishop that he
bought the right to these lands from
the st. Paul & Pacific railway, now
the Manitoba, and that congress in 1887
passed an act confirming his title. The
settlers contend that Archbishop Ire
land only acted as agent for the rail-
way company, and that when the gen.
eral land office decided against the COM
pany it disposed of the archbishop's
title as well, and the lands became
subject to the homestead law. Acting
upon this assumption actual settlers.
as we'll as many adverse claimants.
have proceeded to file and all are now
here to protest against the archbishop's s
claims being allowed. Should the
claims of the archbishop prevail MANY
farms occupied and cropped for the
past twelve or fifteen years would be
lost to those who supposed they were
safe in their title
some years ago, as is we'll known.
Archbishop Ireland engaged success
1ully IN establishing colonies in various
counties of Western Minnesota. In
pursuance of this work the archbishop.
IN 1880 entered into an agreement with
the St Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba
hallway company, by which he was
given the exclusive right and privilege
to place settlers upon, to SELL or pur-
chase about 10000 acres of the in:
Gemnity lands pertaining to said COM
panys main line land grant living in
the counties of Big Stone and~Tray-
erse, Minnesota
proceeding under that agreement he
located a number of settlers upon por-
tlons of the land covered by and de-
scr1bed IN the agreement between him
sen and the company The company
failed to acquire full title to the lands
during the life time of the agreement
which. by it's terms, was limited TO-
Dec. 81, 1881, In 1886 Archbishop Ire
land entered into a. new agreement
with the railway company, purchasing
outright from the company, at a stipu-
lated figure, all it's rights and claims
to $4,000 acres included in the first con-
tract. The archbishop reserved to him
self the power to deal directly. as the
o.
settlers to be placed upon them in the
progress of the work of colonization.
Nearly all these lands were thus dis
posed of in almost every case to actual
settlers who have lived upon them con-
tinuously and who, in most instances.
have improved them at no small ex-
pense
In 1889 some Of the lands embraced
in the archbishop's contract with the
company were conveyed by the gov
ernment to a grantee, and thereupon
the company conveyed to Archbishop
Ireland such tracts as he then selected.
These lands were in turn conveyed by
the archbishop to the settlers In 1896
however, the land department at
Washington decided that the railway
company would receive no further
grant of land in Big Stone or Traverse
county, and the railway company thus
became unable to give the archbishop
full title to the lands. Fortunately for
Archbishop Ireland and his settlers.
on March 8, 1887, congress enacted a
law providing for the adjustment OF
railway land grants, one of the pro-
visions Of which was for the protection
of persons who had purchased from
railroad companies lands embraced
within the limits of their grants and
supposed to be parts of such grants.
which were found upon the adjust