The Long Road to the Coal Seam
After seventeen years of court battles, a prospector finally secures title to a coal-rich property.
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.
After seventeen years of litigation in the federal courts, A. I. Smith, of Port Townsend, has won a suit entitling him to a deed for a piece of property near this city valued at $75,000. The property consists of 320 acres of coal lands, partly developed. In 1870 a man named Cavendish formed a syndicate and borrowed $15,000 from Smith to develop the property. A prospective tunnel was sunk, tapping a large vein of coal, when the syndicate failed. Smith brought suit to recover the amount of the loan or to acquire a title to the land which his money was used to develop. The United States circuit court in San Francisco has just given a verdict in Smith's favor, awarding him title to the property. The land in question is on Coal Creek, about two miles from town. The coal is of excellent quality and some day the mine will no doubt be opened up. The settlement of the litigation has ended in a way that will make such a result possible.
“The settlement of the litigation has ended in a way that will make such a result possible.”
Resource extraction and long-running property disputes remain a hallmark of Washington's landscape. The story of holding onto coal land for nearly two decades highlights the immense patience required for frontier speculation.
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