The Saint Paul globe., 1904-06-18
UNCLE SAM TO SELL
AGRICULTURAL LAND
Public Auction of 1900 Red
Lake Tracts at Thief River
Falls Next Week

Although Uncle Sam is popularity
supposed to be beggaring himself by
giving away his public domain with an
all too lavish hand. he has a few iso-
lated tracts aggregating SOC, ,000, ,Oo0
acres left. w. A. Richards. comuois-
sioner of the general land Office, was in
st. Paul yesterday, and he talked of
the situation.
Commissioners Richards, who comes
TO Minnesota to supervise the. sale of
the Chippewa ceded lands at Thief
River Falls, left for that point last
night While in the city he was the
guest of Judge Willis Van Devanter.
Of the United States circuit court. at
the Aberdeen. The commissioner is a
former governor of Wyoming. from
which state Judge Van Devanter also
comes.
The United States public land do
main is being reduced at the rate Of
three or four million acres each year, I"
said the commissioner of the general
land office, "but there is no immediate
prospect of the supply being exhaust
ed. There is in round numbers a to-
tai OF 60O,OOO,000 acres yet to be dis
posed OF, and while the policy of the
government is to dispose of the land
somewhat more carefully than has
Oeen done in the past, there is little
danger OF the entire area being taken
Tor a good many years to come. 1t is
expected that the irrigation plans now
being developed by the national gov
ernment viii also add quite large ex-
tent OF valuable land to the total area.
listed as government land"
Sale of Red Lake Lands Monday
Gov. Richards will inaugurate the
sale of the Red lake lands at Thief
River Falls on Monday There are
256,000 acres of agricultural lands to
be sold, and the provisions of the sale
the Steenerson bill, passed at the last
session Of congress.
We are going to auction the Red
lake lands" said the commissioner
The lands will be sold at a minimum
price of $4 per acre, and each pur-
chaser must meet the requirements Of
an ordinary homesteader@that he
must be a.citizen of the United States
and must not have exhausted his
homestead right. One-fifth of the pur-
chase price is to be paid in cash. and
the land Will go to the highest bidder.
Col. N. j. O'Brien, special agent of the
general land Office. with headquarters
at Denver, has been assigned to act
as auctioneer, and from\ reports re-
SCANCu we 0Ap6Cl 1dTS0
l will have charge of the sale for a
number of days at it's start, and the
officers of the Crookston land office
will werk under my direction. Later a
special agent will be the representa-
tive of the. general land Office during
the sale.
Will Sell 1900 Tracts
f'There are approximately 1900
tracts of $50 acres each, and we shall
offer sixty tracts the first day, eighty
the second, and shall continue the sale
until the bulk of the lands is taken.
Effort viii be made to give every quail
flied bidder a chance, and the provi-
sion which prohibits a purchaser se-
curing more than one quarter section
will be strictly enforced.
II have been in Minnesota several
times said Commissioners Richards,
ito attend the sales of Chippewa pine.
but this is the first agricultural land
disposed of by the government at auc-
tion. We hope the experiment will
work to advantage, and have every
reason to expect it will'
Richards was governor of Wyoming
from 1895 to 1899, and was assistant
commissioner of the general land Office
for four years, until in February. 1908,
he was made commissioner. While not
old in years, he is said to have had a
wealth of experience in public affairs.