Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1906-01-04
OBJ THE 4IAND FRAUDS"
Some Things the Old Settlers DID
Back in the '7O'S.

.
A. M. Crary in the Harrington
Times tells some interesting early
history thus; The recent "iand
iraudsn which have occupied 90 much
space in al the daily newspapers
lately have no doubt brought to mind
many incidents that took place 10
Dickinson county in an OArly day, and
although they were not Perpesrased
on 90 great . scale as those carried ON
within the past few years, they were
no doubt considered BY many inter-
ested ones almost % much Of . wAnton
destruction Of the public domain as
those brought TO light BY Secretary
Hitchcock In his annual report OF
1905, in which hs charges settlers on
the public lands with the aPPropria-
tion Of timber and stone to their own
use, and which was taken from lands
not their own. and from which they
claimed no right or title.
The greater portion Of the home
stealing Of lands In this section OF
the state was done along In the early
7O's-in 1871 and 2. Within what
was then called the "railrcad limits"
soldiers who could produce ar. honor
able discharge. were, by act OF con-
eress, authorized to homestead 100
acres of land in any Of the seven sec
tions"-sll the "odd sections" for
twenty miles on either side OF the
Union Pacific and the N. X. & i.
roads being given to these corpora-
tions to induce them to build their
roads through the state-but others
who had no army record could home
stead but 80 acres within the Same
prescribed territory. This naturally
brought to Kansas from most Of the
|
eastern states large influx Of popu'
latiou, the majority Of which had
scarcely anything left after paying
the fees for preempting their land q
the land office at junction City and
/, Salina, and erecting their little cabins
I fit only, in the majority Of cases, u
shelter them from storms 80 common
a in those days.
, The winter Of 1879 and s, therefore
\, found thousands Of "poor homestead
!. ers" in Dickinson, as well as in man
other counties OF central Kansas, wit
little il any fuel on hand, and n
money to purchase 1t with. Reiel
ring, now to south Dickinson wheI
~ it was our good fortune to cast OF
lot, it became that fall, matter
J. necessity for settlers Of this class
:, resolve themselves into ''foragtr
:. parties" such as many had been a
:. customed to do while soldering II
- Uncle Sam, and In making the
"daily rounds" they discovered q se
ton or two OF what was then know
aS'"AgriCultural College lands" We
Mt timbered and apparently invitir
.s such worthy, distressed mortals
4. we were to relieve 1t Of its tremen'
4. GUS burden. OF course the land itse
ID did not belong, properly speaking,
y. these settlers upon the public domai
1e but feeling that the ends might Pc
N sibly Justify the means, daily al
"a sometimes nightly incursions we
made upon these college lands" ar
along towards night II you had stot
ct over on the divide between Turkt
SIS and Lyons creek you would have SEE
a. long trains Of wagons drawn
Is Is horses or OK teams, and these drive
: by happy hearted settlers wlndln
Is their way homewsrd. feeling that
was a just and righteous act the
we're doing BY providing for the con
forts Of those depending upon then
g 1t may be that many of these lat
g 90 called, timber thieves have equal
10 as good an excuse for making incu
NJ sious upon the public domain as tho
as poor but honest homesteaders hi
10 when providing for the wants 81
70 necessities Of their wives and It'll
aS ones. Don't judge them too hsrshl
n please, until you have investigAt
this matter fully, and know Of q O.
tainty that they are bad men who a
thieves at heart, and are not driv
by necessity to the simple act
"ioraging of the Ipublie domala."