The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-08-27
ANOTHER BLOW
The HOmeSteader Gets Hard
One Saturday

ship IS, range IL, in the 18th hour,
says the News Tribune. Land at
torneys, who are the advisors of
cruisers who have gone with par
ties to the country, which is with
drawn from entry, can find no lang
uage strong enough to express their
indignation at the action of the
authorities at the United States
land Office at Washington. The
Duluth office has no information
other than the telegram, which was
received Saturday, stating that the
land was withdrawn from entry.
One attorney who said he could
not afford to go on record and be
quoted because he sometimes prac-
tees before the land contest court,
said in effect: In this matter the
government is acting in decidedly
bad faith. These lands were adj
vertised as being open to settle
ment and men were invited to set
tie upon them. understand there
was a man for every homestead.
The land office officially closes at 1
O'Clock on Saturday at this season
of the year, and the notice of the
withdrawal, which came by tele-
gram Saturday afternoon was not
officially received and promulgated
until the opening of the Office Mon
day morning, nearly IL hours after
the settlers were on their home
steads. These settlers ought to be
protected and it is up to the con-
gressmen to bring influence enough
to bear on the land department to
make good to the settlers what they
will lose by being deceived.
The settler is generally a poor
man and he goes to his prospective
homestead with about all he pos
sesses in the world. He has paid
the cruiser for locating him, almost
before he goes. If these men who
have gone to those homesteads
northeast of Ely are not permitted
to hold their claims they will lose
what they can lily afford to spare.
Many of them, understand, have
given up good jobs. l know of
one man who went up there who
gave up job that was paying him
500 month. While the land is
very desirable, it is now inacces-
sible and they had to pack in, 60
ing by canoes and making several
portages. Nearly all took cooking
utensils and some took stoves.
Some of these men may be on
these places several weeks, have
their cabins built and lot of clear
ing done before they learn that the
government denies them the right
of enty. They will further lose the
money they might have earned had
they remained at their usual occu-
pations and their expenses in get
ting to the tract they were led to
believe would be open for home
stealing. The whole thing is an
outrage. l do not understand it.
If the settlers want to fight it I
think they can but even then there
will be the long period of uncertain
ty and loss of time, which none of
them can afford.
The only man who is back who
went up to the location of the land
is Samuel A. Barsh, a locator, who,
while in Duluth, stops at the Miller
hotel. He went up with a party
of homesteaders and now will have
to take means to advise them that
the order opening the tract has been
withdrawn. Other 1ocators who
went up with homesteaders are Ed.
Dunnigan, Ole Kjostad, Peter Lee,
Ole Waalle, Ole Sonju and Albert
Nelson.
The locators with crews started
to leave Duluth last Thursday.
Parties left Friday and Saturday.
The plan was to leave Ely Sunday,
to step across the lines and claim
the homestead right after midnight
between Sunday and Monday.
They would begin to cut the brush
and get logs together to build a
cabin and at daylight they would
have posted at each corner of the
claim on a tree, the signed state
ment that settlement was made at
an hour indicated, which would be
on August % at very few minutes
after midnight.
The notice of the restoration of
the land was published in the MIN
Err for ten weeks and was an official
notice by the government.