Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1902-02-20
Was a Witness in Government H.
auiry About Reservation
Sale.
Quite a Scandal Has Grown Out sDf
the Sale Of the Reservation
Lands.
Alleged That Bidders We're in COL
Iusion in Scheme to Get
Land Cheap.

Something of a scandal has grown
out of the sale OF the Ft. Stevenson
reservation to Cincinnati parties, an
account Of which the Alert published
at the time. All the local bidders,
the old timers and ranchmen were
frozen out by capitalists, and to make
them feel good the successful bidder
paid their expenses OF attending the
sale at Bismarck.
1t seems that one of the parties who
is mixed up in the deal is the ''pro-
mOter" of North Dakota fame, T. r.
G. Crowell of Fargo who has been
''promoting" numerous beet sugar
factories throughout the country and
who had this town worked up to a
point where we expected to get big
beet sugar plant most any day. The
government is Investigating the FIT.
Stevenson deal on complaints OF GER
tain parties and Crowell was an inn
portant witness in the inquiry. The
Bismarck Tribune says that e. E
Secor and other unsuccessful bidders
at the sale charge Crowell with having
led them to believe that they could
get all the land they wanted after the
sale if they would refrain from bid
ding. This Crowell denies, and says
that the successful bidder. Mr.. Black |
would not be a party to such a trans |
action. Crowell stated on the stand
that he had gone over the Ft. Steven
son reservation before the sale and
had familiarized himself with the |
country and had done so with a view
of establishing beet sugar factory |
on the reservation. He told his |
friend, A. Won Steinwehr Of Fargo |
about his project and was advised to-
90 to Cincinnati to look up capital for |
the machinery. The beet sugar propo-
sition was made to Mr.. Black who af-
terwards bought the land for syndi-
cate Of Cincinnati men. If the fac
tory had been put upon the reserva-
tion Crowell stated that he would
make stake, as much as $4,000. He
denied entering into collusion with
any of the other bidders to run up the |
land if an agreement was not made to |
let them have parts of it at ten per |
cent. advance.
There were several witnesses as to
the value of the lands. Register Nc
Gillivray stated that his syndicate |
had bought lands west of the Missouri
of the Northern Pacific company at |
$l.25 an acre, on eight years time at
per cent. interest, One-sixth down. He |
thought his lands were now worth 81 |
an acre more than the Ft. Stevenson
lands. Capt. Baker estimated the val
ue of the lands at s1.75 an acre. Some |
of the old settlers near the reserva-
tion had agreed among themselves not
to bid for lands that each wanted for
ranching purposes, but the Cincinnati
crowd had out bid them all for the
tracts desired. Crowell had been Civ
en- the money to pay the three settlers
who felt sore because they had not Sc
cured the lands they wanted.
One of the bidders, e. z. Secor Of |
Ohio is said to have offered to pay the
government double the price received
for the land from Black and his as
sociates. The government is trying
to unearth job in the deal if there |
has been one and the entire sale may |
be set aside.