was necessary was to fill in the description of land, and the task was completed.
The system adopted by the ring to secure applicants for these indemnity lands, or any school section, for that matter, was rather unique. We would go to some saloon around town, and after treating all hands a few times, would get them to sign up a bunch of applications and assignments in blank, and it was no material difference whether they signed their correct names or not, so long as a signature of some sort was in evidence. We would then take the papers to a convenient notary public, who would affix his jurat without the necessity of the applicant being present. The ruling rate for acknowledgments of this character was fifty cents, but once in a while we would come across a thin-skinned notary who would demand $2.50 as a balm to his conscience. They were quite rare, however.
At the expiration of the two years, certificates of purchase were issued on the lands selected in the interest of "the gang." and handed over to whomsoever appeared upon record as attorney or agent for the applicant. As assignments had previously been procured, in the manner designated, all that was necessary was to fill in the description of the land to correspond with that embraced in the State certificate. It was an easy matter for us to transfer the title at some later date to whomsoever we chose, who in turn could surrender the documents to the Clerk of the Land Board, and by paying up the balance due the State on the land, would receive a deed in his own name as if he were the original purchaser. It will thus be seen that one person could secure deeds to thousands of acres, or such quantities of land as he had assignments for.
Of the 40,000 acres of mineral sections that I had adjudicated, 12,000 acres were rejected by the General Land Office, and as my certificates were about to be cancelled by the School Board, I engaged the law firm of Baron & Ward, of Portland, to represent me at the proceedings, with a view of securing such action that would permit me to substitute base from the Cascade Forest Reserve. My petition was turned down upon the ground that as I was the attorney for the different applicants, and had adjudicated upon the mineral lands myself, it was my place to find new base outside the Cascade Reserve. It was also alleged that all selections in lieu of the Cascade Reserve were fixed at $2.50 an acre, while the selections in question were under the old law at $1.25 an acre.
As my attorneys failed to accomplish results, I called upon "Old Pard" Mays to see if he had any suggestions to offer. He advised me that under the circumstances I should employ someone with sufficient influence with Governor Lord to induce him to sign the list, and recommended Joseph Simon, of Portland—afterwards elected United States Senator from Oregon—as a proper person for the undertaking. Taking his advice, I called upon Mr. Simon, to whom I explained the situation fully, showing how my selections were about to be canceled, and that inasmuch as the State was entitled to fully 100,000 acres of available base in the Cascade Forest Reserve, it was no more than right for the Governor to permit me to amend the selections with base from that source.
My actions must have impressed Mr. Simon with the idea that I was seeking to secure his services more on account of his influence with Governor Lord than anything else, as he promptly declined to interest himself in the matter, notwithstanding that I offered him a fee of $2,500 if he would secure the approval of the 12,000 acres embraced in my. selections. Subsequently the State Land Board, recognizing the justice of my claim, approved the selections upon their merits, after I had personally filed a supplemental petition, without the aid of any attorney, but the episode is significant as revealing the character of the man. Rather than participate in any transaction involving the slightest semblance of moral turpitude, Mr. Simon preferred to forfeit a fat fee, and in view of my experience with others along similar lines, I felt that here was one lawyer remindful of an oasis in the desert.
During the five years' administration of George W. Davis as Clerk of the Land Board, many controversies arose between the various members of the gangPage 325
