Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-11-27
IT IS UNTRUE
Captain Carnes Tells Iowa Women
to "Cheer Up.
LAND AGENT TALKS ABOUT CLAIMS
In a Letter the creston Attorney
Who Engineered the Western Land
Deals for Soldiers Widows Reas-
sures Them.

sures Them.
The Ottumwa women who may have
been worrying because of the tele-
graphic reports of recent date regard
ing their claims on lands in the west,
which it is said are fraudulent, have
cause to be thankful today for more
than some others who have not faced
trouble as they have during past few
days. Captain George w. Carnes, of
Creston, who engineered the entire
deal and took several parties of WON.
en- to the western country, including
the Ottumwa party, has written the
following letter, which explains itself
and will be of interest to many OF
tumwans:
"Creston, Iowa.
"All of this hubbub is without foun-
dation SO far as regards the soldiers
widows declaratory statements, filed
by the Iowa women. OF course,
there has been large amount of
frauds perpetrated in regard to these
filings. In my opinion, the Illinois
delegation who went out on the same
train with us have been led to believe
that they could file on their homestead
claim and sell out their interest. At
least, that is what these women said
and they also said they had received
part payment This was fraudulent
and as l told our people at that time
it was nothing short of perjury. No
body questions the right of widows
of honorably discharged eX-soldiers
who had ninety days or more service
in the war of the rebellion to file their
declaratory statement and claim of
100 acres of government land as
homestead, as provided by acts of con-
gress under section 2209 of the re-
vised statutes of the United States.
In their declaratory statement they
are required to take an oath that they
do not take this land for the sale,
transfer or REIMBURSEMENT, but that
they take it for their own individual
use and benefit and neither their agent
nor attorney have any interest in the
matter whatever, further than to file
their declaratory statement. They
must swear that they take it for their
own benefit and cultivation and not
for the benefit of any other person.
Now, all those ladies made
their filings with this under
standing, having had, so l am inform
ed, the power of attorney read over to
them carefully, and do not know of
any of these women who even want to
sell their claims after they secure
deed.
Now the land department has held
that in the arid grazing districts, the
grazing of stock will be held as sufti-
cient cultivation. These women are all
using their lands now for that purpose
in good faith with the government.
The honorable commissioner of the
general land Office has further held
that where the lands are being cult
waited in good faith the widow of an
ex-soldier is exempt from residence on
such land Now those women whom
/ have met and talked
with are acting in good faith with the
government as the law provides they
must do; and all this newspaper talk
of land frauds in Nebraska has moth
ing whatever to do with their case,
unless they have been trying to sell
out to some one, contrary to law and
in open violation of their oath. None
of the people who l know anything
about have had anything to do with
cattlemen, cattle barons, companies,
syndicates or corporations, but the
men who have been made their agents
have, without exception, been honor
able, respectable citizens of the state
of Wyoming.
81 see by the newspapers hundreds
and hundreds of claims have been
fraudulently filed on in Nebraska by
wealthy cattle companies, under an
agreement made with the women or
their agents to sell their interest in
such homestead and did sell and re-
ceive SITS in cash on such sale, SO says
the Inter Ocean of November "a. This
was in violation of the law and the
oath they had subscribed to.
.In my opinion each one of those
women will secure deed to their
homestead land as the law provides
they may if they keep good faith with
the government. Another matter in
relation to the. filings made by the
women is, that not one filing
has been made on lands that were
| fenced up or that was used and held
by cattle companies or by any other
person All the land filed on by these
women was selected, surveyed and
| filed on by myself, or by some re-
\ SDOlSlUlS lQdu wiz DuSsSSotSu ebho nv
agent for that purpose; while the gi-
gantic frauds which the papers men
ton has been perpetrated where large
cattle owners had immense tracts of
land fenced up and when ordered by
the governments agent to remove the
fences, that such lands might be en-
tered as homestead under the law, by
honest homestead parties they have
| La ND in or in
stances being aided by the govern
ment's agent to secure such filings in
order to defeat the object of the home
stead law and to maintain their fences
on government lands. No, those
women who have made their
filings in honesty and in good faith
should not have their names coupled
with the vast army of fraudulent en-
tries in Nebraska.
| George w. Carnes."
L