Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-22

Yer to determine whether a
certain state Of facts constitutes a crime
or not, but in my years of duty as
United States prosecuting attorney for
Colorado there We're cases that came
under my notice. where, to the unbiased
judgment, 1t was a toss-up.
Thus remarked Mr.. Henry Johnson Of
Colorado, now in Washington.
There was the case of-well, call him
Pendeton-who gets out of the peniten-
tiary next month, ] believe continued
Mr. Johnson, growing reminiscent. Pen
dleton was one Of the smoothest real
estate men that ever sold building lots
in a prairie dog village to eastern in
vestors. And when he started his phan-
tom city down on the plainS-but I'm
getting ahead Of my story: Pendleton
came west in the height of the Denver
real estate boom some years ago, put
finding, after careful investigation, that
the boom had degenerated into real
estate men swapping lots among them
selves, he turned his talents TO other
lines of land deals.
AT that time eastern Colorado Was
still a vast range, inhabited only by
cattle, cowboys and coyotes. You could
travel a week without seeing anything
hut an occasional dugout, or meeting
anything but wandering COWBOY IN
order to promote settlement, however.
the legislature had cut the huge terri
tory up into a score of embryo coun-
ties, whose offices might be had from
the governor for the asking But see,
ing that their emoluments consisted
only of fees and there weren't a dozen
settlers to the county, the rush for the
positions of clerks, sheriffs. etc, was
not startling. In fact. after few
years. the legislature, seeing they could
not attract immigration by any such
silly plan, abolished most of the coun-
ties IL had erected, that's off the story.
however. Pendleton, however. dived
l. J,s,, of. ~
offices. and one day applied to GOV
Adams for the position of county clerk
of Morton county. one of the half-pofn
counties that didn't have settlement
in it as big as whistling station.
Years before, in the days of the IN
dian, there had been a hourishing army
post known as Fort Morton, within It's
borders But in Pendleton's time it had
long been turned back to coyotes and
prairie dogs. 1t was still government
reservation, though, and adjoining II
was a section of railroad land AFTER
getting his appointment as county clerk.
Pendleton bought some cheap military
scrip in Denver and located section
of worthless land adjoining the
abandoned post. Then, for few Genus
an acre. he got several hundred acres
from the railroad company. He thus
had a neatly compact body or l,ooo
acres Of about as worthless wilderness
as ever helped to make Sahara desert
and it hadn't cost him more than
$500.
Next Pendleton got rural free de-
livery run to the old army post by al
leging he would post dozen letters a
day and showing his good faith by pur-
chasing a hundred dollars worth of
stamps in advance. His mail came in
from UP on the Union Pacific line, nearly
twenty miles north!
He then had many volumes of blank
books for county records printed ana
also many thousands of blank deeds,
after which, engaging a clever young
stenographer. who was also a notary
public, at a good salary. he moved down
to the abandoned army post BOOKS,
deeds, stenographer and all. There. in
stalling himself as county clerk. he plat
ted and filed an ornate map of Morton
City, with outlying suburban divisions
under the catchy names of Maple
Heights, Englewood Oaklands and such.
On the map Morton City had about ten
thousand lots, with broad streets and
avenues-the business streets being
named severely-First. Second, etc, while
the residential avenues were designated
Pacific, Pennsylvania. Atlantic and other
fanciful titles; Morton City was charm
ing residential and business town-on
that map! But its population consisted
entirely OF about ten thousand prairie
dogs, with their concomitant owls and