Crook County
ourma
0
VOL. VI
PEINEVILLE, CROOK COUNTY, OREGON, DECEMBER 11, 1902.
NO. 52
IRRIGATION AGAIN.
An Enthusiastic Meet
ing Held. ;
Resolutions Adopted.
Crook County Irrigation Abjso-
olation Hold Its Flrot ,
BoshIoq,
Last Saturday a lurgu number of
the nmmlxTH (if the local irriga
tiiin association mot at tlio court
house pursuant to call from the
president. After the usual prelim
inarins a number of resolution
were introduced and passed that
voice the sentiments of the people
of this county and in fact of the
people of the entire arid region of
eastern Oregon. Tho general sen
timoiit expressed by those present
wan ihat the time had arrived for
the general government to atop in
Biid assume control of the reclama
tinn of t)ie arid land of thia coun
try and no longer leave tho people
at the mercy of grasping monoplieH
who would annum to themselves
righU hitherto delegated only to
private citizens. Tho reaolutiona
are a follows:
Whereas: At the laat session of
the National Congress of the
United Mute a law waa passed
appropriating many millions of
dollars for the reclamation of the
semi-arid went, known aa the
National Irrigation Act.
And Whereas, a large number of
the irrigable arid landa of tho state
of Oregon liea within the bounariea
of Crook county,
And Whereas, it in the earnest
desire of this Association to pro
mote in every legitimate manner
the ajieedy reclamation of the arid
lumla of Oregon, -Central Oregon
in particular,
lie it Hereby Resolved, that it in
the unanimous sentiment of thia
Association that all our state laws
be bo auiended that tlie National
Irrigation Act ahull take precedence
in this Blate over all other reclama
tion projects,
And Re It Further llosolved.that
the secretary of this Association is
hereby directed to communicate
with the Secretary of the Interior
tendering the hearty co-operation
of this Association to the depart
ment in all its e fforts to pave the
way for tho erection of irrigation
works under the provisions of the
aaid Government Irrigation Act, in
this section of Oregon
Whereas, aa a result of -the
tion of certain public spirited citi
zens of this state, there is now on
foot and well under way a move
ment to celebrate in a booming
manner, in the city of Portland, in
the year 11)05, the most important
occurence in the history of the
Northwest, viz, its exploration and
discovery, and .....'
Whereas, audi a celebration aa
proposed is directly in line with
the spirit of advancement now evi
dent throughout the entire west
particularly the northwest, and
Whereas, it is plain thai' such li
celebration as proposed would have
an undoubted tendency to attract
in a marked degree tho attention of
both the capitalist and ' hnjutbiiildcr
to the uiiBiirpasscd opportunities
for investment and permanent
settlement in Oregon, and
Whereas, it has been publicly
announced by the committee of
competent gentlemen having the
matter in charge, that an approp
riation from the state of Oregon of
the sum of IoOOjOOO is essential to
the successful accomplishment of
the undertaking.
Be it Resolved, that thia Associ
ation, comprising 500 citizens of
central Oregon do hereby most
heartly endorse the purpose and
apirit of the Lewis and Clark Fair,
and
lie it Further Resolved, that the
secretary of thia Association ia
hereby instructed to forward a cony
of these resolutions to each of our
joint state representative and sou
ators, and urge iiain them that
they both vole and work in the
coming session of the Oregon Legis
lature for an appropriation out of
tho stale funds of the full amount
suggested by the worthy committee
having the matter In charge, viz,
$500,000.
Whereas, a contract has been
entered into between the State
Land Hoard of the State of Oregon,
and the Pilot Ilutte Development
Company, wherein the said State
Land Hoard has applied to the
Interior Department for certain
lauds under the provisions of the
Carey Act in in Crook county, Ore
gon, aggregating near acres,
and ' ' ' t -
vt nercaa, it is tlio unamioug-
sentiment of thia Association that
the price jer acre set by said con
tract for reclamation is far in ex
excess of the amount actually
necessary for such reclamation,
and
Whereas, to the certain know
ledge of many eoplo now living in
the vicinity of said lands, that
during the past 25 years fully 20,
000 cords of wood and tens of
thousands of fence posts, rails and
other limber products have been
marketed, and the further fact that
hundreds of thousands of cords of
wood and other timber products
are yet remaining in the tree on
the lands included in the contract
and surrounded by the lands se
lected and applied for, and
Whereas, owing to the fact of the
Deschutes river dropping into a
deep canyon immediately below
the water frontage of (he proposed
irrigating canal of the Pilot Italic
Development Company and the
further fact that the lands applied
for under tho said contract are
taken in a long, half circle or shoe
string fashion, including on two
sides with the Deschutes canyon
on the oilier, many times more
and than is applied for under the
said contract,'
lie It Resolved, that owing to the
timber contained theron and also
upon tho large scope of country
practically surrounded by the said
selection, the said lands do not
come under the provisions of the
Carey Act, which requires the land
to be strictly arid, and
lie It Further Resolved, that in
selecting the lands in a long half
circle or shoestring fashion is an
ac-Utilise of tho law in Oregon, taking
advantage of tho Carey' Act, and
further, if such state contract be
ratified by the Interior Depart
ment it will result in allowing the
Pilot Ilutte Development Company
to almost completely surround and
corral a large scopo of valuable
irrigable country, containing many
times the amount of land contain
ed in the said selection, and
lie It Further Resolved, that the
secretary of the Crook County Irri
gation Association is hereby direct
ed to convey to tho Secretary of the
Interior Department a copy of
these resolutions and urge by letter
and otherwise upon the Secretary
of the Interior the momentous im
portiuico to the development of the
hundreds of thousands of acres of
valuable irrigabk) arid lands
lying along and adjacent to tlie
Deschutes river in Crook county,
Oregon; that the application for
the said land on the part of the
State Land Board, of the state of
Oregon, and in behalf of the Pilot
Butte Development Company, be
entirely ignored, rejected and set
aside
Adopted' by the Crook County
Irrigation Association, in regular
meeting, at Prinevillc, Oregon, this
tith day of Deceralier, 1102.
M. E. Brlnk, President.
Wm. Holder, Secretary
HICTHCOCK'S REPORT
Frauds in Timber Lo
cations -
Timber is Disappearing
At Present Rate It Is Only
a Question of Time Until
All Ia Gone.
The recently discovered timber
frauds in Oregon are rather widely
exploited in Die annual report of
Secretary Hitchcock, of the Inter
ior Department, and held up as a
forceful argument for the immedi
ate revision of the timber laws.
Although the Secretary citeg facta
and figures heretofore published
in The Oregonian, he is gracious
enough to omit from his official
report the name of the state in
which these frauds were discovered.
His comments, nevertheless, are so
pointed and so explict that they
cannot be mistaken. After seow
ing the phenomenal increase in
Oregon under the Timber ' and
Stone act, in the last quarter, over1
those of tlio proceeding three
months, the Secretary says:
"Should this rate continue dur
ing the entire year in that state, it
would mean the acquisition in
round numbers of 600,000 acres of
timber lands under the Timber
and Stone act, and if the same
activity in that class of entries
were extended to the other public
land states, then before the expira
tion of two years practically every
aero of unappropriated public
timbered landB wonld have been
absorbed and the successful opera
tion of the Reclamation act of June
17 last rendered doubtful, if its
failure lie not absolutely assured,
for the reservation of public tim
bered lands that must of necessity
bo made to assist in conserving the
waters to be impounded by the ir
rigation system to be established
under that act will be defeated or
made so ex)ensive by the pur-.
chaser ot said lands trom private
owners as to greatly delay the
completion of the irrigation sys
tems contemplated by that act.
"The reports of the special agents
of this department in the field
show that, at some of the local
oflices' carloads of cntrymen arrive
at a time, every one of whom
makes entry under tlie Timber
and f?tonc act. The cost of KiO
icres of land under that act, and
the accompanying commission, is
115. Aa many as five members
f a family who, it can be readily
shown, never had . f JUioin their
lives, walk up cheerfully and pay
the price of the land and the com
missions. Under such circum
stances there is only one conclu
sion to be drawn, and that is where
a whole carload of people make
entry under that act, the unanimity
of sentiment and the cash to ex
ploit it must have originated ( in
some other source than themselves.
"In Ml such cases a rigid inquiry
will be instituted, to determine the
bona fides of the entry, and if it be
ascertained that the entry was not
made In good faith, but in the in
terests of some person or persons
other than the cntrymen, the entry
will lie promptly cancelled and
'proper crimnal proceedings insti
tuted against tho cntrymen."
After explaining the other form
of fraud diseovored in Oregon, the
location of so-called mining claims,
under tlie placer mining laws, the
Secretary says:
"If such an entry be made for
sjieculative purposes only, and for
the purpose of acquiring tlie tim
ber within the limits of the loca
tion, the only way by which the
Government can reach the locator
will be by a careful investigation
of tho character of the lands upon
which the location is made, and if,
after such investigation, it be de
termined that the land is' not
mineral in character, and that the
location is made for speculative
purposes, to arrest the' locator as
soon as he begins to cut the timber,
The only defense he can make will
be to show that the land is mineral
in character, and that he is cutting
tlie timber to develop his claim, as
allowed by law. Should he fail in
that, he will have to pay the pen
alty. From the foregoing It will be
seen that the duty of protecting
the public domain from the inroads
of those who seek to dcsiioil it is
an onerous one, and is a matter
that should receive the early and
careful consideration of the Con
gress." The Secretary scathingly criti
cizes the "Leasing bill" now pend
ing in Congress, which was made
the subject of adverse departmental
reports last spring.
"Should that bill become a law,"
said Secretary Hitchcock, "the
public domain in the sixteen states
and territories mentioned therein,
aggregating an area of 525,000,000
acres practically all of the vacant
public domain west of the Miss
issippi, would be subject to lease
at 2 cents per acre for ten years,
with a privilege of renewal for ten
years more. During the last hecal j
year there were made within that
area 53,654 original homestead
entries and 27,004 final homestead
entries, embracing over 12,000,000
acres, and affecting 85,558 persons;
and during the present fiscal year
indications are that more entries
will be made, affecting more jieople
ar.4 embracing a greater acreage.
It is needless to say that such a
bill, if enacted into law, would
place the last acre of desirable
public land out of the reach of the
homeseeker, and defeat the pur
pose of the Government to pre
serve the public domain for homes
for actual settlers.
"It would also defeat the opera
tions of the Reclamation act ap
proved June 17 last, and make
possibb) the formation of a land
monopoly never contemplated by
the public land system, but which,
on the contrary, it is one of tlie
purposes of that system to prevent.
The unlawful fencing of the pub
lic domain by stockmen is handled
with equal severity. After show
ing that last year 153 cases of un
lawful fencing of public lands,
embracing nearly 4,000,000 acres,
were reported to his department,
he said:
"Pressure of all sorts has been
brought to bear on this depart
ment to cause a cessation of the
vigorous policy it has pursued
against these unlawful occupants
of the public domain. It has been
frequently alleged by them that
tlie department has been making
war upon the cattle industry of
the West, and they have written
letters to different breeders of cat
tle in fche Kastern and Middle
Western states, and presented to
them the argument that their occu
pation would suffer if the zeal of
tht Government was not abated;
and these breeders have, in some
instances, written to their .Senators
and Representatives in Congress
who have, in turn, waitten to this
department. , . 1
"It is tho duty of this depart
ment to enforce the laws relative
to the public domain."
He adds that those laws which
"forbid and prohibit" the unlaw
ful occupancy or fencing of the
public domain are being contin
uously and persistently violated.
Under such circumstances a con
scientious executive officer with a
proper conception of the nature of
his oath can pursue but one
course. Oregonian.
NEWS BRIEFLY TOLD
Items of Interest Gath
ered Here and There
3ome Stolen, Others Not
Ou'Unsg From Our Btehanes-
New Notes of the Week
Timely Topics.
The most expensive book in the
world has lately been given by the
ameer of Afghanistan to the shah
It is a Copy of the Koran, bound
in solid gold and set with pearls,
rubies and diamonds. It cost
1400,000.
During the season just closed the
sugar factory at La Grande has
turned out 45,600 sacks of sugar
weighing 100 pounds each. The
factory during the past year has
distributed among employes and
farmers $160,000.
A new road has been surveyed
by Supt Arant, from the Ashland,
Klamath road to Crater Lake, giv
ing a good uniform, easy grade.
This new road will probably . ope n
to travel- next season and will
make, this new National Park even
a more popular resort.
The total delinquent ' tax list of
Benton county contains only 35
names. One of them is a million
aire, another a government official,
and another the great Oregon and
California Railroad, which owes
$1.20.' The showing is re'ally a
remarkable one.
Word comes from the Meadows
on Mill creek, about 25 miles from
The Dalles, that a lot of cattle are
hemmed in by snow, and will
starve if they are not brought out.
The cattle are owned principally
by parties residing about pufur.
Lieutenant Peary, in a lecture
to the National Geological Society
says the north pole can be won.
Why not swipe it and stop tlie
"eternal blazon" (as Shakespear
says) about it.
An editor who run a notes and
querry column reeieved the follow
ing: "What ails my hens? Every
morning I find two or three lying
on their backs, toes curled up,
never to rise again." The editor
replied as follows: "'Your hens are
dead."
This time it is a goose, and it
was killed in Baker City. ' But if
the reports are to be credited, there
is so much gold in and around that
town that it is no wonder that
a goosi should scoop up $5 worth
almost any day.
Co-ed students at Northwestern
University are prohibited from
using the exclamation "Good
heavens." Would the professor
have them say "Bad heavens," or
"Good hades?"
Senator Hill of New York, now
52 years old, has been in politics
35 years, held ollice more than half
that time, has never taken a drink,
smoked a cigar or kissed a woman.
And yet he has presidential aspira
tions. , . . , .h ');','
-"What did Rainier, a foreigner,
ever do for Pugct . Sound?'' asks
the Tacoma News. Not a thing,
and what did Hood do for Port- i
land. Astoria or the Columbia j" lmt reasonable to ho that
river? And who were the Three! Sreat g0(1 wil1 result - the camp
Sisters, anyway, and what was shoul11 the result of his thorough
their reputation? ' inspection of the camp be satisfac-
. j tor y to those in whose interests it
v,eii,rviissianasiopay lor uie;
smart Aleck trick in seising Amor !
ican sealing ships about ten years
ago. Professor Assan of The
Hague, who acted as judge between
the United States and Russia has
awarded the shipowners over $100,-
000 and interest at the rate of 6 per,, producing basis.-Ashwood Proa-
cent. .
His Naughtiness the Prince
Royal of Siam, snubbed the civil
and military sycophants of the
Columbia river city, bat he played
smash with the hearts of the ballet
girls in the Gold Mine perform
ance at Baker's theater the same
afternoon.
Poor old Oom Paul lTruger has
petitioned the British Home Gov
ernment to be permitted to go to
the Transvaal country to die and
be buried beside the body of his
wife. We hope his desire will be
gratified. He was and is a great
man although he was at the head
of a lost cause.
An "old subscriber" tells the
Portland Journal it is no wonder
gambling ia the chief industry of
that city. He relateg how the
town waa named through a gamble.
Two land proprietors, one origin
ally from Boston, the other from
Portland, Maine, each contended
for a name for the embryo city in
honor of his own town. They flip
ped a coin and Portland won.
An unusual case is reported from
The Dalles. Hugh Hagan, a young
man of a pioneer family of that
city, robbed a nickle-m-the-slot
machine of nearly a hundred dol
lars in a cigar store about a month
ago. On indictment and trial in
the cireuit court Judge Bradshaw
instructed the jury that as the
money waa confessedly deposited
in a gambling device the jury
must find that it was in possession
of the reputed owner before they
could convict. The jury failed to
agree. The defense held that it .
was not unlawful to rob a gamb-
ing machine.
The deal which involved $175,-
000 reported to have been made a
week ago, whereby John Garretson
and Gus Lafontine were to become
the owners of the entire holdings
of Chas. Cunningham, has been
called off. The transaction was,
considered closed until Monday
afternoon when Mr. Cunningham
called the whole transaction off.
The deal was to include 19,000
head of sheep and more than 20,000
acres of land in Umatilla and Mor
row counties and was considered
one of the largest transactions ever
made in Umatilla county. East
Oregonian.
R. M. Hall, advertising agent for
the O. R. & N. Co. while in Baker
City the other day, made this state
ment: "The O. R. & N. proposes to
carry on next year, if any thing, a
mere extended and systematic plan
of exploiting the resources of Ore
gon and Vashington than we have
yet pursued. This year we have spent
some $10,000 in telling the people
of the ea? t what there is in the
Pacifie Northwest for home build
ing and investments. Oregon and
Washington offer unrivaled oppor
tunities for tlie homeseekers who
would find an agreeable climate
and sure crops, or a place to estab
lish manufactures and business
enterprises with certain returns
upon the capita invested."
Mr. M. S. Dudley, of Portland
has been making a thorough in
vestigation of the various proper
ties of this camp during the past
week, but he has not given out a
great amount of information as to
what his observations are. He is
a miner of wide experience, and it
ma(e 0lher
mining expert
who have visited the camp have
not hesitated to say that they be
lieved the camp is one of the
richest in the West, but that it
would require deep mining, and a
great deal of capital to place it on
peetor.