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Chapter II

Stephen A. Douglas Puter meets Franklin Pierce Mays, and the pair form a mutual admiration society, which ripens into a business relationship of many years' standing. He also comes in contact with Willard N. Jones, and subsequent events indicate that there was all kinds of pleasure and profit in the association of the Triumvirate. Describes some of their crooked transactions in connection with the public domain, and also tells how Ex-Surveyor-General Meldrum refused to be buncoed. Operations of Puter and Jones result in a criminal proceeding of a "hold-up" character, and marks the Land-Fraud King's first appearance as a defendant.

DURING the Fall of 1890, Franklin Pierce Mays was United States Attorney for the district of Oregon. I first met him at the U. S. Surveyor-General's office, which was then located in the present postoffice building and on the floor above Mr. Mays' office. As I was frequently in the Surveyor-General's office examining the field notes of different townships, and was brought into contact there with Mr. Mays on numerous occasions, he was acquainted, of course, with the nature of my business, and he came to me personally with the expressed desire of making my acquaintance. I was glad, indeed, for the opportunity, as I had learned previously that Mr. Mays was somewhat of a land speculator himself, and being United States District Attorney, I considered him a good man to stand in with.

Mays said he had learned of my being in the timber land business, and after we, had discussed the situation for some time in a general way, he expressed a desire to get hold of some first-class timber land. I promised to keep him in . mind, and offered to advise him of the first good chance. Shortly after this I secured some fine timber lands in Lane County, Oregon, for him, and also located him on an extra good school section in Tillamook County, Oregon, being Section 36, Township 3 North, Range 7 West. Mays then wanted to introduce me to a man by the name of Savery, stating that he was a special agent of the General Land Office, was stationed at the Oregon City Land Office, and had full charge of the Government lands within the confines of that district. He suggested to me that Mr. Savery would be the right kind of a man to stand in with, and that I had better locate him on some good timbered school section. As in the case of meeting Mr. Mays, I was glad to learn of this opportunity to make a new friend, more particularly on account of the gentleman's position and the influence he might wield in my behalf, and I was frank to inform Mr. Mays that the pleasure would be all mine, and that I would gladly meet his friend at their convenience. Some time later when calling on Mr. Mays in his office, he introduced me to Special Agent R. G. Savery, Jr., and I located him on just such land as he was desirous of securing.

From my first acquaintance with Mr. Mays and up to the time of my conviction, I consulted him in regard to a large majority of the deals in which I was interested, in many of which he became identified with me, both in State and Government lands, besides acting as my attorney from the beginning.

During the Summer of 1891, my first acquaintance with Willard N. Jones began. Our initial meeting was also in the United States Surveyor-General's office in Portland, which seemed to have been fated as the trysting place of men who have since assisted in making land fraud history in Oregon. Jones was then a civil engineer by occupation, and his business brought him frequently to the Surveyor-General's office. He learned that I was in the timber business,Page 22