The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1905-11-24

"When | arrived in st. Anthony l
found that arrangements had been made
to take care of only part of the small
sheepmen; others had been left out en-
tirely, and that some of the people hold
ing leases were not live stock owners OF
course I had heard much of this before
leaving Boise, and my object in having
the meeting called was to find out the
true situation. The fact that men were
taking leases who had no stock to Craze
on them, did not alarm me very much
for their is proviso in the lease that no
transfer could be made without the
written consent of the state land board.
explained the understanding and
agreement under which these leases we're
made to those present. This explana-
was coroborated by Mr. johnson, one of
the heaviest sheepmen in the country,
and who had been party to the leasing
of the lands, and it was never denied by
any of the other large woolgrowers"
"After some discussion of the matter
by those present at the meeting motion
was made, which was passed unanimous
ly, and which provided that the lands
should be divided on the basis of the
number of sheep ranged on the lands by
their respective owners during the year
1905. This is to include all the sheep
ranged there this year, whether the
owners were present at the meeting or
not. 1t developed that one or two sheep
men had sold out recently, but they eX-
piained that it was only temporarily, and
it was agreed that when they purchased
again they would be considered in the
lease. | objected to any sheep beir 6
considered that had not previously used
this range, for after figuring upthe num-
Der of sheep that had been using this
range it was found that it averaged mo e
than sheep to the acre, t. ere beng
17SOO0 head of sheep accredited to 9
tract of la, 900 acres thus year. l fec
that | am very familiar with the rar e
conditions of Idaho, and to allow anv
more sheep to Craze on these lands
would have seriously damaged them and
in time rendered them almost value'e S
for grazing purpoaes, and from WI IN
condition the state would be a great
sufferer as we'll as the stool zen them
elves"
81 was requested by The meet'rg by a
unanimous vote of those present to ap-
point committee whc3e duty it should
be to apporCion tie range among the
s. eepmen pro rata according to The
nlmbe of -hecp owned by each N J..
and ranged there this year. l have al
pointed on That lommiutee r. e. Miller
of Jackson. Wyo., chairman of the con-
mittee: James S ddawav of Te:ra, 5La.
and James Webster of RexburG T., o.
Mr.. Miller who is chair nan OF The com
mittee, has been supervisor Of the Teton
forest reserve for Nun Der vi years, /; {
is highly respected by AZ ihe stockmen
of Frenont cGul ". Mr.. SddaNay rep
resented the small flock ml~ters. of
which he is one, and Mr. Webster is at
the head of the Webster Sheep COM
pany, one of the largest owners of sheep
in that part of the state. This commit
tee will meet on November % at ST. An
thony, when the matter will be finally
adjusted"
1T developed during my visit to Ere
mont county that the articles charging
the state land board with improper con-
duct in the granting of these leases, were
written by democratic lawyer at st.
Anthony, and were paid for by demo
cratic sheep owner. There has been a
great deal of misrepresentation in re-
gard to the matter, and it is only fair to
say of G. G. Moore of st. Anthony that
his actions have been misrepresented to
the board, and that to some extent
wrong has been done that gentleman.
"The following resolutions, which were
passed unanimously, should be conclu
sive evidence to every fair minded man
that the state land board from the first
has done its whole duty in selecting and
le.e ng these lands:
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED.
Resolved, that it is the sense of this
meeting that we do heartily indorse the
action Of the state. land board in their
selection of 114,0O0 acres of land for the
state in Fremont county, and believe
that they have acted wisely, judiciously
and for the best interests of the state of