The Delta independent., 1910-12-23
Further Details of Land
Fraud As Given Out
BY General Land on

Lue SoueTdl lduQ ONCE CONCERNING
the alleged conspiracy of the use of
the mails for the furtherance of a
scheme to defraud, for which seven
Colorado men wree indicted by the
federal grand jury in Denver the
latter part of last month.
The seven men are charged with
promoting a reclamation scheme in
The Montrose district of Colorado
for which they had no possible
water supply. The indictments were
found on evidence primarily secured
land office. At the time of the in
dictments little information was Civ
en- out by the memb bers of the federal
grand jury in Denver, and not until
those indicted or the details of the
scheme given to the public.
The men indicted are: ]. Albert
Wright, president of the Riverside
Land and Irrigation Co, secretary of
the Riverside Colonization Co., and
The Whitewater Irrigation and Land
company.
Frank White, Secretary and treas
urer of the Riverside Land and Irri-
cation Co., treasurer of the White
water Irrigation and Land Co., and
treasurer of the Grand mesa Invest
ment Co.
John Gould, former president of
the Riverside Land and Irrigation
Co., and now director of the com
pany.
Corydon A. Woody, formerly pres
ident of the Riverside Colonization
Co., and former vice-president of
the Riverside Land and Irrigation
company.
Homer A. Gibson, president of tn
Whitewater Irrigation and Land Co.,
and president of the Grand Mesa In
vestment Co.
Robert w. Rose, dierctor of the
Riverside Land and Irrigation Co.
and agent of the Riverside Coloniza'
ton Co; and Sam N. Baker, secre:
tary of the Grand Mesa Investment
Company.
The seven defendants are each
under 500 bail.
The specific allegation against
these men is that they procured so
citizens to make entry on the desert
lands in the Montrose district, on
the representation that the sew
eral organizations would construct
an irrigation enterprise which would
water the lands. 1t is charged that
the corporation had no water supply
for the irrigation of the lands; that
the proposed irrigation project was
impracticable, if not impossible, and
the entries were not made for the
use and benefit of the entrymne,
hut for the use and benefit of the
Riverside Land and Irrigation Co.
1t is charged that before the en-
tries were made. the entrymen
were required to contract with the
Aforesaid company, to deed to the
company, when patent was secured,
ali of the land except ten or twenty
acres of the $50 acres embraced in
each entry, in return for whcih the
company was to furnish them their
water supply.
March /, 1910. special agents sub
mitted adverse reports against these
entries, the total values of which
entries was estimated at 100000.
June lst. the general land office di-
rected the chief of field division to
lay before the chief postoffice in
spector for the district of Colorado.
the matter of the fraudulent Use of
the rails in the case, to request
that fraud order be procured
against the company, If warranted.
and that the parties responsible
therefor be criminally prosecuted
for using the mails to defraud. The
indictments are the result.
The irrigation project was to take
water from the North Fork of the
Gunnison.
Affidavits show that the company
has no water and that whatever
might be secuerd would have to be
carried by ditch seventy miles over
shaley land. and that the whole
scheme was wildly and flagrantly
fraudulent" The report says:
met spade full of earth has
ever been removed for the construc-
ton of any canal of this company.
From our investigation the only
source of revenue the company has