The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-04-03
UNQE SAINTS Boss 5QUATTER
He Was An Old California Million
aire Named Jesse D. Carr =:
rHE land frauds in Oregon and Wash
Senator John II. mitchell and hi,

Il he lafld frauds IN oregon ana NdSh-
ington, for which United States
Senator John II. Mitchell and his
! partner, Judge Tanner. have been in
dicted, recall some peculiar dealings in
government lands in California. John
H Benson was accused of similar
| frauds in northern California and his
/ case IS still pending in the federal
courts. But the man who made a
fortune out of government lands by
/ illegal methods and was never pun
! lshed was the late Jesse d. Carr, the
millionaire cattle raiser of Modoc and
Klamath counties, California.
Carr died last year at the age of 80
! but even to the last he retained that
! Nlgor of mind which made him the
| most pertinaciOUs fighter that Uncle
| sam ever encountered on the coast He
/ was the greatest squatter this country
| has ever seen
He bought about 10000 acres of land
| IN Modoc county and then he fenced i'm
! $4,000 acres of adjoining government
/ land, giving him $1,000 acres of range
! He expended $4,000 on this fence
Which was 100 miles long and the long
est and costliest in the world.
| 1t was stone wall surmounted by
! three lines of barb wire and guaran-
! teed to keep out all strange horned
| cattle from the Carr preserves. It not
| only enclosed this great stretch of gov
eminent land which should have been
/ a free range for any settlers cattle
| but it actually inclOsed all the springs
/ and water holes, so that the land that
/ was left unfenced was worthless to
| the small StOckmen.
| Naturally the small stock growers
made d great cutlery. but Carr
| laughed at them. To give a technical
| excuse for his act he left one water
! hole open on one side, but this opening
! was in such a place that stock would
/ have persisted of thirst before they
| could driven around
| barbed wire trOcha of the cattle mil
| Honaire. 1t was a beautifully devised
| scheme for one man to get the benefit
! Of principality of fine grazing.
| Carr imported costly bulls and i'm
! proved the strain of all his stock,
| while the common cattle without a
| pedigree ranged outside and barely
kept their bones from coming through
their skins by browsing on tree buds
and leaves. Complaints were sent to
congress and suits were brought and
| carried to the United States supreme
court. but for twenty-five years the
! remoteness of the place and the power
OF Cars pull and wealth made his
position secure. He came out of every
| legal battle firm in the saddle, until he
| actually began to think he owned the
! land he had grabbed.
Finally in 1900 suit brought in the
| federal courts of California was de
| cided against Carr and United States
! down the fence. He went up to Modoc
county and on his return it was re-
| ported that he had actually demolished
| the trOcha.
But in a few months reports came
from MOdOC that the fence was still
standing and Mr.. Funks. after his term
as United States marshal. became the
manager of the Jesse D. Carr Land &,
| Live Stock company, corporation in
/ which the old millionaire was pra cti-
-1,o1o
denied that any process had ever been
given him to- serve and denounced the
report as malicious,
1 Whatever may be the facts, another
suit was begun at once in the Oregon
courts, and on July 16 Judge BettinGer
of the United States circuit court rem
dered a decision that Jesse d. Carr
had no legal title to the 81 $50 acres
of land in southern Oregon and north
ern California which he had fenced
in and held for 50 many years.
Old Carr frOthed at the mouth when
this decision was given. and cynicaIly
declared that the government had no
right to tear down his fence. which had
= cost $4,000. as he had only enclosed
! the water holes on land that ne had
bought outright. The government land.
he declared. was worth less without
water, hence it would be of no value
! to outside stOckmen. even if unfenCed.
| But the government officers paid no
attention to Carr In August. 1901,
= Deputy United States Marshal s. f
! Moore went up to MOdOC and klamath
counties and ripped holes in Cars
fence that would have made the old
lland-Era bber snort to see. Big open
iHgs in the trOcha were made for a
| distance of four townships. and the
! small stock growers rejOiCed. for at
last they were to have a fair chance
! to use the grass and water that the
/ big company had monOpolized
p old Jesse Carr was a type of many
| California milliOnaires who have grown
rich through the opportunities that
| come TO the Shrewd and bold in a new
country. His first big rise was in the
| old Star route mail contracts.
/ Carr for years was one of the largest
| of these contractors, drawing down as
much as $Soo.Ooo a year for the service.
| II was his wagons that carried the
government mail between Virginia
e CITY. New, and Boise Ida. Every
driver carried a small arsenal for pro-
lection against Indians, who seemed
J to delight to fiji mail contractors full
70 of lead and rip up the sacks of let
. tiers.
T 1t Was while inspecting his Star
A route lines that he was attracted by
the cattle ranges Of Modoc and KIa-
math counties. then one great wilder
ness, with many fine mountain mead
o. ows and many virgin forests Of sugar
f pine. He had his pick of the good
S land and then cupidity suggested the
70 DullullB OF the great DdfDeu wire llO-
cha which converted Carr into the
| champion land gTabber Of his age
I Old Carr died last year. full of years.
but with no evident change of heart
in regard to government right over
land. In his last days he was blind.
owing TO a cataract, but mentally he
was vigorous. He left a large fortune
to his heirs and the reputation of the
best cattIeman in California, bar only
old Henry Miller, who OWNS more acres
and more cattle than Carr. and who
is still alive, managing his huge ers-
tate.
as Carr. but he has had the shrewd-
ness to buy the thousands of acres over
which his herds Craze and to dis
possess the small farmers and stock
I rancherS by means that the law cannot
reach.-New York Sun.