Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1915-09-23
WINSOR HAS LOST HIS
SCRIP FIGHT AIMED
AT ARIZONA OWNERS
Patents of 1900 Settlers Are
Upheld BY interior Depart
ment Which Approves SeIeC-
ton of About 100000 Acres.

NAoIii4Nd lONi sept. ~. - The
secretary of the interior has signed
a letter relieving from suspension and
approving for patent practically all
selections of Moqui and Navajo scrip
in Arizona. These selections amount
to about 100000 acres The patents
were suspended after speech by
Henry Ashurst, United States senator
in the senate and after protest by
Milford Winsor then chairman Of the
Arizona land commission
Story Of the Case.
The approval for patent of the
scrip land selection will be good
news to many settlers in Pima and
Santa Cruz county as a great many
Of them bought scrip to take up their
lands
The Moqui scrip first came into
prominence in 1909 when w. c.
Breene purchased $4,000 acres from
the Santa Re railroad company for
use in scriping land under the Santa
Cruz reservoir about so miles west
of Tucson. This was a great irriga-
ton project which he had inaugur-
'%1NNA w AAA RbuAAn llt llOOu waters oil
the Santa Cruz river.
Mr.. Greene died in 1911 Just about
the time the scrip lands were to be
patented. His estate was involved i'm
many enterprises and Mrs. Greene |
/ persuaded the Santa Fe railroad to |
/ withdraw these selections and permit |
/ her to sell the Grip. There was no |
] rlyn %
Colonel Randolph General Manning |
and other friends and associates oil
! Mr.. Greene endeavored to market the |
! Grip for Mrs Greene Between Febru- /
airy and October 1912, they sold it to 1
between 300 and 400 people, the great
majority Of them settlers on public
| lands.
Early in 1919, the government ac-
cepted the tavajo lands and issued
100000 acres of scrip, all of which
was placed prior to August 1913. with
between six and seven hundred pur-
chasers. In the meantime the Mooui
selections had all been examined by
he government and approved for
patent
N-'~ 'RAAAAr va A"A" AllE ltE lsldAuIt
passed an act providing for the organi
! zation Of the land commission and
Mr. Winsor, who was boss of the state
Z machine was maid chairman He i'm
nediateiy started to make a nafa for
himself and saw i'm the scrip selcc-
q lions an opportunity to start an osteu-
sible fight against a big corporation.
he Santa Fe railroad In realty he
! was hitting hundreds OF bona fde set
] tlers who had purchased the scrip.
d Winsor addressed a letter to Sen
+ ator Ashurst, another corporation
d batter telling him of the great frauds
being perpetrated in Arizona and sug-
costing that he get busy Ashurst
s did not stop to investigate but took
2 Wilsor's word for it and made a great
T speech in the senate denouncmg the
land thieves in Arizona A few DAYS
D later the secretary of the interior sup
= pended all patents for Moqui and Nav
S ajo selections and Ashurst began re-
b ceiving a flood of kilograms from his
. constituents protesting against his
) course.
S About this time Winsor and his fell
[ | low members of the land commission
e started out over the state in automo-
O biles to get evidence to prove that
n Arizona was a nest of land thieves.
Z, Cy Byrne was particularly busy in the
e I south and Winsor went north where
J. he got the inspiration for his painted
{ | desert speech. The secretary of the
S interior set the case down for hearing
e before Assistant Secretary A. A.
h Jones.
Winsor's position in the matter is
!, best illustrated by an extract from a
It letter which he wrote to an attorney
g for one Of the settlers who protested
# against his course in opposing the pat
8 ents. Wilsor said:
E THE protest of the State Land Com.
e mission is based upon the fact that
It the Navajo and MoQui exchanges have
p developed "a species of public land
n raid in Arizona not exceeded in evil
or extent by the depredations which
K in years past have brought infamy to
y Washington, Oregol and other public
e land states. We seriously object To
e the exchange of Indian lands worth
II at the mast sixty cents per acre fol
IT lands worth from ten to one hundred
.e times that amount Ii your clients
" are engaged in the sort of an eater
b. prise l have described, I trust you
b. viii give some thought to the question
G. Of public policy involved"
IS The hearing was set for June, 1915
rs and Winsor put in a demand to the
Ig auditor for a round trip ticket to New
In York The auditor had to pay it be
cause there was nothing i'm the law
~ to compel the land commissioner tC
state the purpose of their eXpendi
lures. The hearing was attended by
Gibson Taylor and John c. Wright o
u Tucson, b. S. Clark Of Prescott, f. S
. Hildreth and John Page, of Phoenix
and by about q score of settlers anC
+ their attorneys Mr. Taylor made the
g point that no protest had been ileC
= and Winsor then filed the 800 wore
protest which he had prepared al The
}. expense of the taxpayers. In supper