Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-03
MAY BE ACQUIRED BY NOME.
The Land Formerly Occupied as a Mill.
tary Reservation.

Cary RESERVATION.
"The city of Nome, Alaska, will get an
acceptable Christmas present, think" said
George M. Esterly, one Of the wealthy
mine owners Of Alaska to a representative
Of The Star at the Riggs. I'm 1899, before
there was any town on the present site, the
government erected some buildings for
military reservation. In 1900 the site was
formally made military reservation. Nome
was founded in 1889 and incorporated in
1901. In the latter year the reservation was
abandoned for a larger reservation on the
Nome river four miles east. The principal
reason for this was that as the town grew
saloons sprung up on all sides Of the bar
racks and gave the authorities great deal
Of trouble. The city reservation comprised
three acres and had buildings on it costing
$4,000. Half a million dollars have been
expended On the new reservation. After the
abandonment the Secretary of War turned
the property over to the Secretary of the
Interior to be advertised and sold under the
law of 1884 No action was taken at once
and Adam Johnson, formerly treasury
employee in this city and later deputy United
States marshal at Nome, we'll known in
Washington. concluded to make himself
committee of one to take care of the prop
erty. He moved over from the hotel with
his family and has since lived there without
molestation. He had ceased to hold the
office Of deputy and moved in as private
citizen on his own motion getting his rent
free taxing care OF property.
Nome has sought to find a way to secure
the property for city use without paying
too much for it, but apparently could fin0
no law under which to act, and the author
tiles here at Washington could make nc
suggestion. Accidentally, in looking up
some matters at the Congressional Library,
Mr.. Hoggett city attorney Of Nome, found
a law, passed In 1893, obscure clause in
the sundry civil appropriation bill, enacted
the last day Of the session, which provided
that the President Of the United States
might. by proclamation, withhold from sale
and grant to any Incorporated town any
military reservation under twenty acres
within the corporate limits Of that town.
The existence OF this law seemed to be
surprise to every body, and as 1t was passed
long before Nome was in existence no one
there knew Of it. We have asked the Pres-
dent to issue such a proclamation and have
been advised that the matter has been re-
ferred to the Secretary Of the Interior. We
hope to be able to telegraph Nome of her
good fortune in day or two.
I'm addition to the homestead law which
we are seeking, we would like a law recog-
nizing squatter sovereignty to some extent.
Alaska has received little attention from
this government, and hundreds of acres
have been occupied, some of them for
twenty years, by hardy pioneers who have
improved the land they occupy and have
helped to develop the country. We would
like to see them confirmed In their title
to limited extent under fair conditions.
think If the United States would give
them title to about twenty acres it would
make permanent farms of many Of the
lands and help materially In settling the
country. This tract could include the
ground on which the home is situated and
be given to those who had occupied and
cultivated the ground for certain number
of years We are all very anxious to see
wealth viii thereby be added to the I'm ted
States.