Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-03
RECOVER MANY ACRES
ALLEGED EXTENSIVE LAND
FRAUDS IN THE WEST.
Discoveries of the Geological Survey
and Representatives Of the
Forest Service.


mining claims in the forest reserves are
being uncovered by the Interior Depart
ment. the geological survey working on
the cases in conjunction with the forest
service.
The two principal cases cover about 3O0,
600 acres of land in the Plumas reserve in
case one of the claimants has emulated
Col. Crocketts coon and has come down
without waiting for the shooting. Relin-
quishments have been entered on &c, 600
acres fraudulently claimed, and the fraudu-
lent character Of from $4,000 to $50 900
acres more has been established by the
government biologists.
The principal case is that of H. H. Yard,
formerly of Philadelphia, who went west in
1902 and from then till 1905 industriously
acquired land in the forest reserves till he
and his associates had filed on $4,000 acres
under the guise of mineral claims.
The law in the case provides that an asso-
citation Of eight or more persons CAM file
claims on 100 acres of land that has mineral
on it, and that they may file on as many
adjacent tracts as they choose. The cost Of
the land as mineral land, If the entry is
finally approved and the patent issued, is
$3.50 an acre. But the claim can rest If
500 worth of work year is done on it and
the final payment may never be made. In
the case of genuine mineral lands, some
times the claimant will file and strip the
land of all It's mineral and then walk OF
without ever perfecting his claim.
Charge Against Yard.
But 1t is charged that what Yard and his
associates were after was not the mineral
that the land did not contain, but the tim
Der on 1t, which was luxuriant and valu-
able. They filed and filed and kept on
filing, and accumulated enough land to give
1ola
cific railroad right Of way across the re-
serve. This right of way, of course, could
have been obtained from the government
anyhow, but by filing mineral claims all
over the right Of way private parties were
prevented from stepping in and holding up
the railroad for condemnation proceedings
and damages.
Poseibly it was originally the intention
Of Yard and his associates simply to pro-
tect the right Of way, but the thing was
SO easy and the timber SO valuable that
they kept on till they had filed claims over
a tract where the timber was worth. at
very low estimate, over 100000 before
the railroad arrived and where, after the
railroad came, it would be worth several
times that much
Heretofore the Secretary Of the Interior
has not been In the habit Of attacking the
validity of any claim filed till the patent
was ready. to issue. But he recently de-
cided, and 1t was an important decision,
that he had right to question the char
pursuance of this scheme he first had the
foresters examine the land for mineral in
dications and signs>,o the work that Yard
had done on his claims.
The foresters were not biologists, but it
did not require much examination to show
that There probably was not 10 cents worth
of mineral an acre in the average of the
entire tract. 1t is true there were some
small placer claims that were being worked
by private parties in perfectly legitimate
way. There is no law against a mining
claim being located in forest reserve If
the mineral is really there. But Yard had
not bothered about the small owners. He
had blanketed all of their claims with his
filings. 1t is said that If there was any
reason why he did not want to antagonist
them, he sometimes gave them a quit
claim deed. but il" there was reason, he
fought them in the courts. Meantime he
did no work himself. but simply went on
acquiring land for the timber there was
on 1t.
There was nothing found however. and
when the case was put up TO Yard, he
promptly Tle.i rci;siGu shments on about 3d.
GOO acres and later on 1000 acres more.
Very little of this was land that had been
examined by the exploring party so there
are about 66.OOO acres Of the tract already
recovered. The contention against the
claims to the land examined will be made
at a hearing in April and if necessary the
rest of the filings will be examined.
Much Land Recovered.
sent out with the forestry officials they
went carefully over about 5000 acres of the
land that Yard had filed on. His associates,
1t is claimed, were all fgureheads. One of
them was his coachman. and they all as
signed their rights to him. The exploring
party did not find either mineral or work
on the lands examined. They took the for
nation of the country and panned the
creeks where there was any water. In fact,
they made the examination not as though
they were trying to disprove Yards claim.
but as though they were after minerals
themselves and wanted to establish their
rights
The other c-se in hand was that Of w.
P. Hammon. who filed the same sort of
claims to about 20,to1 acres. : His object
was not the timber, but the water power,
and so far as his claims have been ex-
amined they have proved baseless.
Attempts of the same kind are being con-
tinually uncovered in the other reserves,
and this is one reason why the President
is so anxious to get an effective law cover
ing the withdrawal of coal. oil and similar
valuable lands from entry and reserve them
for lease under the supervision of the gen.
eral government,