Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1905-12-14
LAND FRAUDS
NOW EXPOSED
Eastern Men are DuPes Of Puter.
Mckinley Crowd In big
Land SWinale.

The Puter- McKinl y crowd are ii
volved in additional land swindles. an(
although Governmental convictions fc
fraudulent transactions covering thei
operations are staring them in the face
it would appear that their past ex
perience merely tended to sharpen thei
appetites for other crimes in connection
with the public domain.
Their latest escapade relates not only
to the issuance OF fraudulent state lane
certificates, wherein the gang is knowr
to have profted to the extent of many
thousands of dollars, but concerns also
the floating OF vast quantities of Oh
mining stock upon susceptible East
ern public.
The arrest in Portland last Friday
night of young man named George E.
Hibbard, on a charge of being impli.
Gated with the bogus land operators,
develops the fact that the accused was
merely used as catspaw by the sharp.
ers, who we're aware of his excellent
social and commercial relations in
Grand Rapids, Micn., and who was
rightfully believed to be able 10 control
large amount of capita Il ereabouts.
During the Fall OF 1903. so the story
goes, an oil excitement prevailed in
Jefferson county, Washington, in the
course of which Horace G. Mckinley
and an attorney Of Seattle named Ernest
G. Rognon are SAID TO have covered up
about 40 900 acres OF fine timber land
in that locality by process of placer
mining claims. Their plan in this re
spect involved the ancient method OF
eight persons forming an association
and by each taking up claim of 20
acres under the Federal placer mining
laws, converting the territory thus tenn
porarily acquired into a mammoth pc
troleum oil scheme. They formed sepa-
rate companies, cordingly, and ISSUE
thousands of shares of stock upon these
worthless securities.
1t is claimed Mckinley and bis crowd
cleaned up about $4,000 by this pro-
cess alone, the bulk of which came
from Minneapolis and Chicago investors.
Two other companies were formed In
addition to the one under Hibbaid's
management, and an attempt was made
to secure patents to all the lands on the
strength of the slight development work
performed on the lO, ,0OO acres contained
in the holdings of the Pacific Land &
Oil Company, but the scheme failed.
The following dispatch was received
from La Crosse, Wis:
La Crosse, Wis, Dec. Sin an effort
to prosecute timber land operators who
he claims have swindled him out OF
Oregon lands to the value of 100000,
Hiram Goddard, wealthy lumberman
and farmer of this city, today swore out
q warrant for the arrest of six men.
Named in the warrant are S. A. D. |
Puter, convicted of conspiracy to de-
fraud the Government at the time of the |
land-fraud cases in the "eleven.seven"
t)wnship in Oregon; II. II. Diggs,
George Hibbard, Kay Mckay, John
Doe and Richard Roe. Word has been
received here that George Hubbard is
already under arrest IN Portland.
Goddard is said to have purchased from
the men named in the complaint GER
Iificates for 1000 acres of timber land in |
Oregon. The certificates, he says,
proved to be forgeries.
Many investors in Wisconsin and |
especially in the vicinity of
are said to have been caught
N the same manner.
State Land Agent Oswald West has
dismissed proceedings against Hibbsrd |
here, being salts fled that he is the dupe |
Of the land swindlers. He has furnish |