Federal Land Claims Struck Down in Seattle
Secretary Noble rejects a group of homestead applications in the Seattle district, potentially halting a syndicate's attempt to hoard thousands of acres.
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.
WASHINGTON CITY, Feb. 10.—Secretary Noble today rendered an interesting decision in the case of Levi Jerome, Samuel Hutchins, Arthur Samuels, S. F. Horton, J. O. Abbott, C. W. Smith, Otto Schulz and John C. Corwin. These had made applications to enter homesteads in the Seattle district that were included in the school indemnity provided in the act of 1853, but which they claimed was annulled by the act of February 22, 1889. Their application was refused, and an appeal of the case went to Secretary Noble, who has just approved the decision. The secretary holds that the act of 1889 does not restrict the grant for school purposes. The lands were only reserved when territorial governments existed, and outright grants were not annulled. It is said that this decision interferes with a syndicate which was trying to get possession of all the lieu lands which had been selected in the west part of the state, on the coast, amounting to many thousand acres. The names of the settlers, it is charged, were those of straw men.
“The names of the settlers, it is charged, were those of straw men.”
The struggle over 'lieu lands' and corporate speculation mirrors the modern-day battle against institutional investors who hoard property at the expense of individual residents. This story highlights how legal technicalities regarding land designation have been exploited for profit in the Pacific Northwest for over a century.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.