Evening star., 1940-04-27

sS~so s~>AASo AAAS yVO W AuU VA Ato
rough edges"
He smiled ut her. I'm leaving
out the fiubdub about how beautiful
and accomplished you are. The point
Is to get lots Of names into the paper
Folks get kick out Of seeing their
names In print. And butter up the
paragraph = little II you can"
Questions Land Grant.
What about this land grant feudi
Do I have to take sides?"
mo you can sit on top of the fence
and ignore 1t. That's what q good
many editors would do"
Tell me about the land grants.
Is there . right side and . wrong
side to it?"
II think 50. You know most of
the bare facts. don't your"
Il know that the Kink of Spain
gave = big grant to Don Jose Gand-
ara, and that after Mexico was
free from Spain the government
through Armijo gave 4 large part
Of the Gandara to Don Antonio
Aguilar. Just of1hand should
think the Gandara claimants were
In the right, since Don Jose's title
preceded that Of Don Antonio. But
my uncle was on the other side,
and 50 are you"
Its = complicated story. The
Gandara grant was an agricultural
one, but Don Jose used it only for
grazing. He never took UP resi-
dence on 1t, though some of his
vaqueros probably built huts where
they could live while herding cattle. ("
Did he have to live on it to
make his title good?"
Eyes. The fact is that he had all
the land he needed and was not in
terested in this great tract. After
1t was given to him he did not want
1t. This is proved by what followed.
The governor later carved slices
out of the grant and gave them to
other settlers, with no protest from
Gandara. Later, when Don Jose
succeeded Megares as governor and
captain general OF the province, he
officially endorsed grants out of the
tract, not as from him personally
but as from the crown. This seems
to me conclusive evidence that he
had abandoned his claim. His heirs
took the same view, for they made
no effort to hold any part of the
grants. Purchasers did not even
consider the Gandara grant as q
cloud on the title when they bought
from Aguilar's sons. When Russ
Mosely went down to Mexico City
and for a son got a quit claim deed
from the Gandaras, the general
opinion was that he was buying q
dead horse, but he has gone into
court with documents-forged ones
in my opinion-and is pushing to
oust those in possession"
The Sheriff Arrives
"Is the Hat r ranch on the old
grant?"
Not the original ranch, but q
large part of the range is in it,"
Rufe Jelks and a heavy-set man
with cold dubious eyes walked back
through the building to the rear
room.
Silcott nodded to the man. Miss
Eliot, this is Sheriff Lawson" he
said. He added, ironically, Il sup
pose the sheriff has come to find
out who destroyed your property
last night so he can arrest them"
"As = matter of fact came to
investigate the killing of Buck
Sneve," he said bluntly.
Il reckon you know the story as
well as I do. Lawson" Silcott re-
piled. "Prentiss and q bunch OF
Hat T men attacked me and in
self-defence I was forced to shoot
Sneve"
mot quite the way I heard the
story, Jim," the sheriff answered.
How did you hear 1t, Mr. Lawson?'
Anne asked.
The sheriff loked the girl over
before he answered. He was sur
prised at the question. He did not
see how she came into this business
Il heard that Jim here lay in
wait for Prentiss and attacked him.
Anne Tells Facts.
well, you'll be glad to know that
isn't true" Anne told him. II was
there from the start. They began
shooting at Mr.. Silcott while he was
crossing the street. He ran into the
doorway Of an old adobe house to
escape. They kept firing at him
and the man who was killed called
to the others that they had got
him and ran forward. 1t was after
this man fired again from the mid
die Of the road that he was hit"
Where were you standing, Miss
Elliott" the sheriff asked.
Beside the stage coach. In front
of the ofnce. I could see what
happened"
You'd be surprised, miss how diff
ferently folks see the same thing"
Lawson said smoothly. Some who
saw this difficulty tell me Silcott
started It,"
Would they be Jud prentiss and
the Hat T hands?" Rufe asked.
Lawson turned his cold hard eyes
on Jelks. 'You in on this, Rufe?"
JelkS addresser his answer to Anne.
'The sheriff is . mite friendly to
Russ Mosely. who nominated and
elected him. You can't blame a
politician for that"
The ofilcer flushed angrily. That's
not true. But I aim to get to the
bottom Of this thing"
Sheriff Is Irate.
Jim put q hand on the arm OF
his friend. "Ill do the talking If
you don't mind, Rufe. The sheriff
is quite right. You're not in on
this" To Lawson he said, That's
all I ask, sir. Dig up the facts. The
fuss started 1T the Trails End and
hour earlier. Prentiss and four of
the Hat T riders were running on
TnSE nrroxy THAT senra ~ -,