The Homesteaders Who Couldn’t Own Their Land
A delayed federal survey left settlers near Sedro unable to prove title, borrow money or improve their farms—red tape with real human cost.
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.
Register O'Toole of the land office, and Surveyor General Watson are trying to straighten out matters in relation to the survey of a township directly back of Sedro and thus give needy settlers an opportunity to acquire titles to lands they have held down for many years. In this one township there are several hundred men, women and children who are in needy circumstances. In many cases the settlers took up their land twelve years ago and have lived on from year to year hoping and praying that the government would get through the 'ifs,' etc., and issue patents. As matters now are, the settlers cannot borrow a dollar on their land with which to go ahead with improvements.
The matter came to the attention of Register O'Toole recently through a petition headed by E. Bingham of Sedro, and signed by thirty-six other persons, settlers on township 36 north, range 5 east, asking that the acceptance of the official survey be expedited so that the settlers could perfect title and thereby acquire loans. The petition was referred to Surveyor General Watson with a request that he give it his attention and favorable consideration. Mr. Watson made an immediate investigation and learned that the survey of this township was embraced in a contract dated June 1891, awarded to Louis P. Oullette, United States deputy surveyor. The contract was approved by the commissioner of the general land office July 23, 1891.
When Mr. Watson took charge of the surveyor general's office, the field notes on the township had not been turned in, although the contract had been approved nearly three years previous, so that the plat could be made and forwarded to the commissioner for his approval of the survey. By frequent urging Mr. Watson succeeded in getting the deputy to turn in the notes June 29, 1894. When the notes of the survey of the remaining township embraced in the contract were turned in September 7, 1894, Mr. Watson immediately telegraphed the commissioner requesting that an inspection of this contract be ordered at once. However, owing to the fact of there being so many more contracts then awaiting examination, the commissioner replied that at that time it could not be ordered examined.
Register O'Toole, when asked about the case yesterday afternoon, said that he was acquainted with the matter and felt desirous of seeing the settlers get their patents. 'There is much suffering,' he said, 'because the settlers are without means to improve their lands or rights that will allow them to borrow money.'
“There is much suffering, because the settlers are without means to improve their lands or rights that will allow them to borrow money.”
Land title sounds bureaucratic, but it was the difference between a farm and a holding pattern. The same red-tape trap—delayed permits and unrecorded claims—still shapes housing and land access in Washington today.
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