Chapter IV
DURING 1899 and 1900, my partner, Horace G. McKinley, and myself had been doing considerable speculating in timber lands in Oregon, and because of our extensive operations, had occasion to visit frequently the Roseburg and Oregon City Land Offices. It came to our notice that a great many unperfected homestead entries within the Cascade Forest Reserve were being proven up on, and it occurred to us, because of our knowledge of the fact that a large majority of the homesteaders were not bona-fide settlers and had not complied with the law in any particular, and further, because of our knowledge that the lands being proved up on were of comparatively small value, that there must be some good reason for this abnormal rush in the line of securing titles to such lands, we decided to make an investigation. It resulted in the discovery that these tracts, immediately after final proofs were made, were being transferred to lumber syndicates, for the purpose of creating "base" to be used in selecting other and better lands in lieu thereof.
Under the provisions of the second section of the Act of Congress of June 4, 1897, it was specified "that in cases in which a tract covered by an unperfected claim, or by a patent, which is included within the limits of a public forest reservation, the settler or owner thereof may, if he desire to do so, relinquish the tract to the Government, and may select in lieu thereof a tract of vacant land open to settlement, not exceeding in area the tract covered by his claim or patent." The provisions of this Act entitled the owner of any perfected title within a forest reserve to relinquish his right thereto, through deed to the Government, and to select in lieu thereof, the same number of acres of any unoccupied, surveyed lands, within the United States.
During 1900, the survey of Township 11 South, Range 7 East, Willamette Meridian, was approved, and the lands therein were opened to entry. This township, being within the Cascade Forest Reserve, afforded all who owned lands therein an opportunity to exchange their holdings with the Government and to select, in lieu thereof, any tract of vacant surveyed public land in the United States, of the same area. Those who did not wish to make a trade of this sort, had the option of selling their holdings at a fluctuating market value for tracts of this kind, ranging all the way from $5 to $7.50 per acre. The purchaser, of course was vested with the same right granted to the original owner, relative to exchange with the Government, and these lands were used as the basis in making other selections, and became popularly, though erroneously known as "scrip."
When McKinley and I learned that Township "11-7" was in the market, and realizing that it was situated near the summit of the Cascade Mountains, at an elevation where the prospects of Governmental inquiry concerning entries were exceedingly remote, we concluded to make a lot of homestead filings there, under the pretense that it was being done by settlers who had long been residents of the township, and who were about to take advantage of the law that permitted
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