The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-01-29
HERMIT Wins 4 FORTUNE ].
poverty.Stricken, He Obtains Title
to Rich Iron Lands.
OTHERS WILL SHARE MILLIONS

preme Court on the Hsif-Breed sious
Scrip Case Makes Four New Million
aires-Ru1ing Of the Minnesota Ccurh
Amrmed-Long-Pepdi Lawsuit Endi
Duluth, Minn.-The Supreme Court
Of the United States, acting as fairy
sodmother, has handed down q dect
sion which raised a man from abjec,
poverty to unexpected wealth. Tns
case was that familiar through thu
country as the Section 80 case" ana
on the dockets of the courts as 'Tht
Midway Land Co. versus Frank WI
Eaton, ct al" It involved the title 70
an iron mine, the value Of which Is es
timated at from ten to fifteen millions
Closely connected with its litigation
have been former Senator Charles A.
Towne, Of Minnesota; Judge 8. IL
Moer. of New York: Mr.. A. n. Miller
the controlling spirit in the company
which built the Savoy Hotel, and Al
fred Merritt, the man who discovered
the famous Mesaba Iron Range.
Section 80 is the Vermilion Range
about 100 miles from Duluth, and the
title to it dates from Aurilla STRAIN
nee Moreau, q half breed Sioux squawa-
who claimed 1t under an act passed by
Congress in 1854, which gave to every
Sioux scrip in lieu of rights In the
Sioux reservation In Minnesota,
This scrip allowed Its Indian posses
sor to locate lands to the extent OF
32O acres upon any unappropriated ter
ritory surveyed or unsurveyed OF the
United States, provided that Il the
lands so claimed were upon unsurVeyedS
territory certain improvements must
be made before any patent would be
issued. No transfer or conveyance OF
the scrip would be considered valid.
In order to overcome this restriction
white men in the Northwest obtained
from the Indians power Of attorney
to locate the land and at the same time {
transfer 1t.
Frank w. Eaton. prospector and
explorer Of timber lands. obtained the
scrip Of Auralia STRAIN and a power OF
attorney to locate, while the power to
transfer was given to his friend, Leon
idas Merritt.
He fixed upon Section 30'' with q;
vein Of iron outcropping across 1t, and
then had 1t conveyed to him by Mers
ritt. 4.
Another prospector, Thomas F.Hyde,
laid claim to the section and squatted
on it. ~, g sss5.: ~
Another claimant was Frank Hlcks,
who obtained his interest as did
Eaton, by the location r;of Valentine
scrip, and 1t was from him that the
Midway Land Co.. the plaintiff In the
action just decided. ohtn med title. !.
In 1884 contest was commenced
against Eaton In the Duluth Land
Office on the ground that the entry OF {
the land by him was fraudulent.
The Land Office at Duluth affirmed
Eaton's- title, but on appeal the Cen
eral Land Office and ultimately the
Secretary Of the Interior reversed this
decision and held against him. He
still upheld his claim. and the Midway
Land Co., owned and controlled by A.
N. Miller, of New York, brought suit !
in the courts Of Minnesota The case,
came up for trial at Duluth, Judge s. .
n. Moer being upon the bench. Eaton
was awarded a decision. Walter
Ayres, Of Duluth, for the Midway Land
Co., appealed to the Supreme Court OF !
Minnesota, and the lower court waa
affirmed.
Eaton lived as a hermit, nearly pen
niless, out on Pike Lake, a small body
of water. about twelve miles from Du
luth. Now he Is the possessor Of q
property worth at its least valuation
S10,0O0,000. The latest decision brings
not only to Eaton and to Harris, but
to Towne as well, fortune. -