Show I V l He Was An Old California Million Millionaire Millionaire o aire Named Jesse s D b Carr I p pT T T HE land frauds in Oregon and Wash j THE I ington for or which United States Senator Senat r John H Mitchell Mitche l and his partner Judge Tanner have been in recall some peculiar dealings in government lands in California John H Benson Bemon was accused of similar frauds in northern California and his ease case is still sun pending in the federal courts But the man who made a fortune out of government lands by illegal methods and was never never punished pun punished punished was the late Jesse D Carr the millionaire cattle raiser of Modoc and Klamath counties California Carr Cart died last year Jear at the age of 30 90 but even to the last lust he lie retained that vigor of mind which made mUJe him hini the most pertinacious fighter that Uncle Sam ever encountered on the const coast He Be was the greatest squatter this country has ever c ev r seen He bought about acres ares of or land hand in Modoc county and then he fenced in acres of adjoIning government land giving him acres of or range He expended this fence which was miles long and the long longest lOngest est cst and costliest in the world It was a stone wall surmounted by bJ three lines of barbwire barb wire and guaran guaranteed guaranteed guaranteed teed to keep out all strange horned cattle from the Can Carr preserves It not only enclosed this great stretch of gov government government land la ld which should have been beena a free range for any settlers cattle but it actually all aU the springs and water holes so that the land that was left unfenced was worthless to the small stockmen I J Naturally the small stock tock growers I made a great outcry but Carr laughed at nt them To give a technical excuse for fot his act he left heft l one water waterhole waterhole waterhole hole open on one side but this opening was in such sueh a place that stock would have ha e perished of thirst before they could be driven around the great barbed wire Avire trocha of or the cattle mil millionaire It was a beautifully I devised scheme for one man to get the benefit of a principality of fine grazing Carr imported costly bulls buBs and tind im irn improved Improved proved the strain of all au his stock while the common cattle without a pedigree ranged outside and barely bare kept their bones benes from coming through their skins by b browsing on tree buds and leaves Complaints were sent to congress and suits were brought and carried to the United States supreme court but for years the remoteness of the place and the power of Cams Carrs pull and wealth made his position secure He came out of every ever legal battle firm in the saddle until he actually began to think he owned the theland theland theland land he lie had grabbed Finally in 1900 a suit brought in the federal courts of California was de decided decided against Carr Cart and United States Marshal arshal Funks was ordered to tear teardown teardown teardown down the fence He went up UI to Modoc county and anti on his return it was re reported reported reported ported that he Ito had actually demolished the trocha But in iii a it few months reports came from Modoc that the fence was still standing and Mr Funks after his term termas as United States marshal became bec me the manager of the Jesse D Carr Land Live Stock Stoel company a corporation corpor in which the old millionaire was practically rally cally the whole thing Funks recently denied that any an process had ever eer been given him to t serve and denounced the report as malicious Whatever may be the facts another suit was begun at once in the Oregon l courts and on July Jul 16 Judge Bettinger of the United States circuit court ren rca rendered rendered dered a decision that Jesse Tesse D Carr had no legal title to the acres of land in southern Oregon and north northern northern ern em California which he h fenced in and held for so 59 many years eart Old Carr frothed at the mouth when this decision was given g ven and n cynically declared that the government had no right to tear down his fence which had cost is q he had only on I enclosed the water holes on land that he had bought outright The government land he declared was worth less without water hence ht it would be of no value to outside stockmen even if unfenced But the government officers paid no attention to Carr arr In III August 1901 lOl Deputy United States Marshal l S F FMoore FMoore Moore went up to Modoc and J lamath Klamath counties and ripped holes in Carrs arrs fence that would have made the old snort to see Ie Big open Ollen openings ings in the tro trocha ha were made for a distance of four townships township anti and the small stock growers rejoiced for at last they the were to have hae a fair chance to use the grass and water that the big company had monopolized Old Jesse JeMe ra mm Carr r was a type of many man California millionaires who have hac grown rich through the opportunities that come to the shrewd and bold in a ew country His first big rise rite was in the theold theold theold old Star route mail contracts Carr for years was one of the largest of or these contractors drawing down as much as a n year Jear for the service It was his wagons that carried the time government mail muil between Virginia City Cit Nov Ne and Hobo Boke Ida Every Ever driver carried a l small arsenal for pro protection 1 10 against R Indians who lio seemed to delight to fill 1111 mail full fullor of or lead head and an rip up the sacks sack of let letters terM tees It was 8 while inspecting his Star route lines Jines that he was w s attracted by hy bythe hythe bythe the cattle ranges ra of Modoc and Kin Klamath math counties then one great wilder wilderness ness flees with many fine mountain mead meadows meadows meadOWS and many virgin forests of or sugar sugarpine sugarpine pine He Ht had his pick of the good goodland goo goodland l land and then cupidity suggested the I building of the great barbed wire tro trocha trocha cha which converted Carr Cart into the champion land hand grabber rabber of his age Old Oid Carr Cart died last year full of years but with no evident change of heart healt in regard to government right over overland overland overland land In his hb lust last days he was blind owing oving to a u cataract but mentally he I was vigorous He FIe left a large Jarge fortune to his heirs and the reputation of the best cattleman in California bur bar only old Henry Miller who owns more acres a reH and nd more cattle than Carr and M who ho hoIK is IK still alive managing his huge es o estate otate tate Miller has many man of the same ideas an as Carr but he has hns had the shrewd shrewdness i ness ese to buy bu the thousands of acres over oer which his hie herds graze and amid to dis diK dispossess possess the small farmers and stock ranchers by b means that the law cannot reach New York Sun |