Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1902-10-03

NSNN>N w h en- he left
GEN. c. P. EAGAN. Washington q
was by no means a wealthy man, and
I his reduced pay as "A retired officer came
as an added worry. Despite the fact
that his honorable record as soldier
/ during the civil war and later as an
/ Indian fighter was destroyed in day.
he did not lose heart He Travelled
/ through Mexico and at last located at
/ Guaymas, a port on the Gulf of Califor-
MIA. near where he had heard there were
valuable coal deposits.
, Eagan looked over the field and what
( he saw impressed him. He returned TO
the United States and told some friends
about what he had seen in Old Mexico.
The men he saw and told about the coal
fields were Alylrza Hayward and
Charles d. Lane. both of San Francis
CO. As soon as they heard what he had
found about the coal fields they de
cided 10 investigate the matter aud help
him in the enterprise If things turned
out to be as rosy as he thought they
We're.
These men to whom Eagan appealed
and who are milllonaires sent experts
TO Mexico to investigate his find. 1t
did not take the latter long to decide
that General Eagan had stumbled upon
bonanza. The experts said that there
was as much coal there as In the State
of Pennsylvania; that it could be much
ooetI min tban coal
that transportation facilities could be
provided without too great expense, and
that, taking everything together, Cen
eral Eagan had certainly struck It
rich'
General Eagan's capitalistie friends
told him to go back to Mexico and do
those things which it was necessary for
him to do in order to control that coal,
with feeling of absolute certainty that
he would be financially backed to any
extent that the enterprise demanded.
At about the same time that General
Eagan had this assurance and started
back, William G. Greene, a one-time
Arizona prospector, and now the OPP
orator of the copper fields at Canans
also heard about those coal fields down
in Mexico and started to get the right
to work them. Mr.. Greene is man
of great determination, and the fact
that he is known as the Copper King
of Arizona" shows that he is also prob
ably a man of enterprise and fertile re-
source. In speculation he Is said to be
one of the cleverest men that ever
turned deal in mining stocks, and he
has a good reputation as fighter.
/ The fields were located in Sonora, and
General Eagan, on his return, and Mr..
I Greene reached there at about the same
1 time. Here was trouble brewing Each
claimed priority of discovery, and with
every passing day the apparent rich
ness of the finds increased, so that each
was most eager to sustain his claim.
Eagan claimed right to the land un
der a purchase from the county Of
Sonora. Greene based a claim upon the
fact that he had bought the interests of
| Carlos Johnson, the actual owner. john
son was the original owner of the land
under the Spanish grant.
Eagan rushed machinery down by
carloads. SO did Greene. In all the
holding includes something like 2.500,-
900 acres-a vast domain. General
Eagan's ownership of this would make
him one of the greatest landed proprie-
tors in the world. The territory which
both men claimed so eagerly embraces
practically all the good coal land in the
section. and so compromise and division
was quite impossible.
Greene and his machinery got there
first When the ex-Commissary Gen
eral arrived with his he found the land
pre-empted and operations under way
This was dlsconcerting. General Eagan
carried the matter to the courts. The
courts in the vicinity at once declared
that Greene was a trespasser and or
dered him off the land. Then Eagan
took possession.
BY this time Greene had had some
opportunity for lawyers work, and Just
as Eagan was about to begin opera
lions he was served with a notice to
yacate and charged with being a tres
passer. Greene had gone to another
court.
Both sides then had machinery on
the ground and had engaged laborers.
The fight in the courts was in deadly
earnest, for both had spent large sums
of money and were feeling more and
more certain every day of the value OF
the land. Greene had spent $4,000. and
had commenced to survey for a railroad
to run from Naco, Arlz., to la Cannea.
and thence to San Marcial. where the
land is situated. He had also surveyed
another line running to the Pacific
coast, distance of 800 miles.
General Eagan then went to Guaymas
and secured the backing of the local
judge, the project of the district and
the president of the town, Matters at
once became serious for Greene. Two
OF his experts and all their employees