The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1900-08-29
THE WESTERN LAND FEVER.
Land Office Receiver at Rosebnrg, Ore,
Writes of It.

writes OF 1t.
In view of the fact that a great
many from mere are taking up lano
il Oregon, the following from a
reliable source, appearing IN the
Oregonian, of Portland, is deemed
worthy of reproduction:
RosEBURG, Or, Aug. 10-These
are busy days at the Roseburg Land
Office. Filings under the timber
act and the homestead law are many,
and it is no unusual sight to find the
local hotels full of strange faces, and
| of All early morning to see the stair
way and corridors leading to the
United States Land Office crowded
with men and women, all waiting.
sometimes for several hours, their
turn to file or to make proof and paw
ment for 100 acres of the finest tim.
Der in the world.
This activity in the timber line is
caused largely by the lieu selections
filed by the Northern Pacific Rail-
road Company, which under a recent
act OF a generous Congress is per-
mitted to select any vacant Govern
ment land in this state in place of
that lost by it in the Mount Rainier
National Park Reserve of Washing
ton. Since December last this COM
pany has had the woods of this dis
tr!ct full of bands of timber cruisers,
and already during the present year
has selected over 100000, 900 acres
| nF Tho hast bo,, loYI
The people of Oregon, realizing at
last the opportunity to secure a
'quarter section of timber and the
last chance to avail themselves of
their timber right, have taken many
acres of this land; but it is by the
people from the East, who live in
states once densely timbered, that
most of this filing is done. They see
the timber disappear there, and.
knowing its value, come to the
Coast, cruise the woods for the land,
make the fling and return to their
] homes, again to cross the continent
/ TO make their final proof and pay
ment for the land They know what
timber is, what it has been, and it's
| future value.
This impetus given to the timber
business has caused mary locators
to come here from Michigan, Mime
sofa, Wisconsin and other numbering
states, who have opened offices in
many of the Valley towns and are
deep in correspondence with their
people East in regard to the great
ness of Oregon timber. making Sc
lecticns and locating them upon
choice qurater sections for a fee of
from $50 to $3.50. These locators
seem to be for the most part honest
in their dealings, and few complaints
have reached this Office in regard to
fraud in the locations. This was
not the case few years back, when
the last timber craze swept over the
country. Many rascals were in the
business then and the intending
| purchaser for $500 of fine tim
bered claim often found it bare of
/ trees.
Then the big lumber companies
OF those states have their men ali
over the state cruising, surveying
and selecting vacant lands, locating
it with Cascade forest reserve scrip,
with state selections, and in other
ways securing large, compact bodies
OF timber. Their purchasers are
also IN the field selecting and buying
tracts OF the best timber, located to
the best possible advantage with re-
gard to streams, railroads and other
means OF transportation, so as to
bring it early into market All this
is to protect their future business
when the lumber shall have been ex-
hausted in the East. This period,
many of them contend, is already in
sight. They will come west to en-
gage in the manufacture of lumber
and to make fortunes from Oregon
forests here in the future as they
have in the past. Meanwhile our
Oregonian dreams complacently On.
Another class of timber men is the
Eastern firm which sends men West
to cruise the lands located by in
dividuals, who buys their land at a
fair price as soon as final proof is
made, and who secure large tracts
in this way to speculate upon and
resell to other Fasteners. So it
may be seen that if one is not to be
left in the scramble for timber lands
he must make a lively hustle for it.
Where is the best timber land locat-
ed? This is the question constantly
asked by new corners and by COR