The Land Grab That Stalled at Metaline
A speculator tried to claim the Metaline townsite by scrip, but found the ground already occupied. The fight moved to the surrounding land—and residents began pushing for a government townsite instead.
S. H. Anechell and associates, who attempted to scrip the Metaline townsite, having found that they were unable to scrip the townsite on account of it being squatted upon, are now scripping the unoccupied land surrounding the townsite. The movement for a government townsite is well under way and will doubtless soon be perfected.
“unable to scrip the townsite on account of it being squatted upon”
Scrip, squatting and government townsites sound like frontier arcana, but they are an early version of a familiar Pend Oreille County argument: who has the right to claim land, and who decides what a town becomes. Metaline’s scramble over occupied ground still rhymes with modern fights over public land, local control and speculation.
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