Federal Crackdown on Washington Territory Land Grabs
General Land Office Commissioner launches a sweeping investigation into corrupt land entries.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Commissioner McFarland of the General Land Office is continuing the vigorous crusade inaugurated against what are known as land cruisers. It appears from the report of the special agents that thirteen entries of public land in Washington Territory were held for cancellation yesterday. The Commissioner says all parties in these cases appear to have combined in the commission of fraud, the combination even extending to the notary who witnessed the papers. All the entries after confirmation were transferred to one individual.
“The Commissioner says all parties in these cases appear to have combined in the commission of frauds, the combination even extending to the notary who witnessed the papers.”
This reflects the era of the 'Great Barbecue,' where federal land was systematically plundered by speculators. Today, the scale of public land ownership in Washington remains a battleground, though the corruption has shifted from fraudulent land entries to the struggle over public versus private access and the preservation of the urban-wildland interface.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.