Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-06-04
Confined From Page one.l

ON Page One.)
they often secured lands worth as many
thousands. Naturally, the search for
vacancies" was lively.
But Often-very often-the land they
thus secured, though legally "unappro-
priated," would be occupied by happy
and contented settlers, who had labored
for years to build up their homes, only
to discover that their titles were worth
less, and to receive peremptory notice to
quit. Thus came about the bitter aud
not unjustifiable hatred felt by the to l.
Ing settlers toward the shrewd ard sell
dom merciful spectators who so oft n
turned them forth destitute and holIe-
less from their fruitless labors. The lis
tory of the State teens with their "a
tagonism. Mr. Land-Shark seldo N
showed his face on locations" from
which he should have to eject the un-
fortunate victims of a monstrously
saries do the work. There was lead in
every cabin nodded into balls for him
many of his brothers had enriched the
grass with their blood. The fault Of it
all lay far back.
When the State was young, she felt the
need of attracting newcomers, and of re-
warding those pioneers already within
her borders. Year after year she issued
land scr1p-Headright Bounties, Veter-
an Donations, Confederates; and to rail-
IOduss 4IlEdLlOu companies, COlOulth, ana
tillers of the soil galore. All required of
the grantee was that he or 1t should
have the scrip properly surveyed upon
the public domain by the county or dis
trict surveyor, and the land thus appro-
priated became the property of him or
it, or his or its heirs and assigns, for
ever.
In those days-and here is where the
trouble began-the States domain was
practically inexhaustible, and the old
surveyors, with princely-yes, even West
ern American-Hberality, gave good
measure and overlooking. Often the
tovial man Of metes and bounds would
dispense altogether with the tripod and
chain. Mounted on pony that could
cover something near a ''vara" at a step.
with pocket compass TO direct his
course, he would trOt out q survey by
counting the beat Of his pony's hoofs.
mark his corners and write out his field
notes with the complacency produced by
an act Of duty well performed. Some
times-and who could blame the sur
veyor when the pony was feeling his
oats" he might step a little higher and
farther, and in that case the beneficiary
OF the scrip might get a. thousand or
two more acres in his survey than the
scrip called for. But look at the bound
less leagues the State had to spare
However, no one ever had 10 complain
Of the pony under stepping. Nearly
every old survey in the State contained
an excess Of land.
In later years. when the State be-
came more populous, and land values
increased, this careless work entailed
a period Of riotous land grabbing, and
no little bloodsAed. The land-sharks
voraciously attacked these excuses IA
the old surveys, and filed upon such
portions with new scrip as unapprOpri-
ated public domain. Wherever the
n "a old IVA
vague, and the corners were not to be
clearly established, the land office
would recognize the newer locations as
valid, and issue title to the locators
Here was the greatest hardship to be
found These old surveys, taken from
the pick OF the land, were already
nearly all occupied by unsuspecting
and peaceful settlers, and thus theiI
titles were demolished, and the choice
was placed before them either 10 buy
their land over at a double price or 10
vacate 1t, with their families and per
sonal belongings, Immediately. Land
locators sprang up by hundreds The
country was held up and searched f0r
vacancies at the point Of compass
Hundreds OF thousands Of dollars
worth Of splendid acres were wrested
from their innocent purchasers and
holders. There began a vast hegirA OF
eYicted settlers IN tattersd wagons; go
ing nowhere, cursing injustice, stunned
purposeless, homeless, hopeless Thei'
children began to look up to them toi
bread, and cry.
1t was in consequence Of these con-
ditions that Hamilton and Avery had
filed upon a strip Of land about mile
wide and three miles long. comprising
about two thousand acres, 1t being the
excess over complement of the Elias
Denny three-league survey on Chi
quito River, IN one Of the Middle
Western counties This 1000 acre BODY
of land was asserted by them 10 BIG
vacant land, and improperly considered
q part OF the Denny survey. They based
this assertion and their claim upon the
land upon the demonstrated facts that
the beginning corner Of the Denny survey
was plainly identified: that its field notes
called to run west 5760 varas, and then
called for Chiquito River; thence 1t ran
south, with the meanders-and so on