cartoonist), was named as State Land Agent. He was one of the early settlers of Oregon, had occupied many prominent positions of trust, was known as a man of strict integrity, and as one of the most upright in the State. No sooner had he entered upon the duties of his office, than he proceeded to make selections of land in lieu of the school sections embraced in the newly-created Cascade Forest Reserve. There was a provision in the Daly law that all land in lieu of sections 16 and 36 should be withdrawn from sale for a period of two years, and by a singular oversight, the Legislature failed to make any appropriation for meeting the expenses of the Land Board. This left the Land Agent without any salary or traveling expenses necessary in perfecting title to State indemnity selections.
This fact did not deter Mr. Davenport from performing his duties, however. The educational interests of the State were at stake, and as neither the Governor, Secretary of State nor any other official had the power to reimburse him for any outlay, Davenport conceived an idea of his own on the subject. He secured the adoption of a rule by the State Land Board to the effect that those making State indemnity selections should forward their applications to the Land Agent, designating the tract desired, accompanied by a fee of fifty cents an acre, together with $2 on each quarter section as fees at the United States Land Office, it being stipulated that the Agent should make the selection and at the expiration of two years, the time fixed by law, the applicant should have a preference right to purchase the land.
Pursuant to this decision by the State Board, a printed circular of instructions was issued, and sent broadcast throughout the State, notifying those interested of the conditions. The scheme succeeded beyond all expectation, and applications for indemnity lands kept pouring in from all directions. There was soon sufficient funds on hand to meet whatever expense attached to making the selections, besides enough to pay the salary of the Land Agent, the intention of the latter being to have the next Legislature make an appropriation reimbursing him for his expenditures, and providing for the disposition of the funds in his hands.
Although the action of the State Land Board in thus making provision for correcting the omissions of the Legislature was surrounded with the best of intentions, it soon became apparent that it likewise created a golden opportunity for the school land ring to take advantage of its salient features. This was accomplished by process of "dummy" applications for desirable tracts of timber in different portions of the State, these selections being filed with the Land Agent, who would hold them in abeyance until the expiration of the two years, when the selections could be approved. As the Daly law had doubled the price of State School lands, it might be inferred that there was not much in it for the ring, but it must be considered that in the meantime there had been a great increase in the value of Oregon timber lands, and this more than compensated us for the difference.
Approximately, the ring selected 40,000 acres, and the State Land Agent probably 25,000 acres more, while some 30,000 acres were required to amend the basis of other selections that had previously been made under the Napoleon Davis and George W. Davis regimes, wherein the basis proved defective. In other words, the State had given certificates and deeds to tracts where the basis was bad, and these had fallen into the hands of innocent purchasers, making it incumbent upon the State to cure the titles.
When I first began dealing in State lands, I paid $25 to each person for his right in making application for 320 acres. As I became more accustomed to the business, however, and learned more about the methods of those who had made a study of the subject, I gradually lowered the price, until finally I could obtain all the "dummies" I wanted for a glass of beer. It became the custom of the ring to extend little courtesies to the various members by "borrowing" these applications—which were signed and acknowledged before a notary in blank—so that whenever one ran short, and had a hurry order for a piece of land, all that Page 324
