Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-09-16
BYGpz1WE9zRxCH D.7xRRELL.,

IN the county.
Because am held to the dead level Of
history in these narratives and not per.
m1tted to indulge in the temptations to
flights of romance that constantly pre-.
sent themselves, am here forced to call
attention to trait in the character of
Osant that was in a great measure re.
spensible for the Missouri land thefts.
In his sojournings at the Lindsay
home Grant conceived strong personal
liking for his host, and after he was
elected president he appointed his
friend Lindsay pension agent at st,
Louis. To this trust Lindsay proved
recreant and was soon found $4,000
short in his accounts. This brought
about his removal from that office, but il
did not deter Grant from appointing him
registrar of the Ironton land office in
1877, just before his second term expired.
thereby indicating the bulldog con.
stancy with which the great military
genius chung to his old friendships
whether the objects of them were wor-
thy or not.
Robert L. Lindsay the son, inherited
many of the traits Of his father, the
keenness of mind, geniality of manner
and, unfortunately, the shifty standard
OF morals. The younger Lindsay was
educated in the law and had he conferred
his energies on the practice Of that pro.
fession along honorable lines he would
have attained place OF prominence
among lawyers. Instead he turned from
the law to real estate, and early in his
career began the development of the
most gigantic steal Of the century. 1t
is around this swindle, with Robert L.
Lindsay as the pivotal character that
this hit of history turns.
This steal has passed into criminal
history under the title Of the Missouri
Land League. The % men who were
convicted for this crime were the
pioneers in the science Of government
land stealing on wholesale basis.
In my dealings with criminals | have
always been disposed to throw heavier
mantle Of charity around the eyil-doer
who, by birth, environment and lack of
opportunity for better things. has fol-
lowed criminal paths, than around the
well-bred, luxuriously nurtured thief
whose wrong-doing is contrary to. and
not because of, early training~or neces
sity. Such crimes as these gigantic land
grabs, therefore, appeal to me as being
of peculiarly vicious kind, and the
prosecution of the culprits believe to
call for efforts of extraordinary earnest
ness on the part Of the government.
Land grabbing, as exemplified in the
Missouri case, was composite crime. of
which forgery, perjury, larceny, arson
and murder were the components. In
calculable wrong was done to the own
ers Of millions Of acres of land, to say
nothing of the moral wrong of the crime
itself, by the unsettling of titles to the
farms of southeast Missouri.
Naturally one of the richest spots
In the countryside valleys fertile and
the mountains of solid mineral of in.
estimable value-the work of the land
grafters of the '70s was blight on
the land for generation.
II there ever was spot in nature
untitled for theater of crime, 1t is
the Arcadia valley in southeast Mis-.
souri,. Its soil is rich, it's streams
clear as crystal, its air hazy blue, and
its people peaceful Yet here was the
scene of a score Of crimes Of violence
growing out of the one big plot to
steal land from the government and
sell 1t by irregular titles to people
who could i'll afford to lose their saw.
ings.
To this day in Arcadia valley there
Is pointed out to the traveller q tree
from whose gaunt limbs II men have
been hanged between the civil war
and the time entered the valley
in the hunt for land grafters These
tragedies were all the grewsome fruit
OF the one big crime. The victims
were men whose crime was knowing
too much about the operations of the
land Understanding too much some
times by accident and sometimes
through their own misguided efforts.
In the land of "moonshine" stills
knowing too much has been a capital
SihSAoo Wy ucdLLu dL me
hands of self-constituted judges and
executioners. So 1t was in Arcadia
valley and throughout southwest
ern Missouri following the civil war,
the tabooed subject being land frauds
instead Of the making of white corn
whisky.
From this readers must not infer
that Robert L. Lindsay and the other
principal thieves were in conspiracy
to commit murder; but they were in
conspiracy that led to murder as an
incident. Young Lindsay was SUI
preme In the district and his word was
law. even when it meant the commits
sion Of crimes of violence to protect
the land conspirators in their nefarious
plans.
A large number of supernumeraries
were necessary, men who little by
little were dragged into the crime
vortex for meager pay, and, once in
volved, were driven to desperate