After Puter's escape from Secret Service Agent Burns in Boston on the night of March 26th, 1906, C. A. Smith sought to make himself "solid" with the Government by disclaiming any connection with the "King of the Land Fraud Ring." In an interview with a Minneapolis newspaper the next day, he declared that he had bought lands from Puter in good faith without knowing anything about the fraudulent character of the titles. If any question exists as to the close relationship between Smith and Puter in regard to the fraudulent entries in Township 14 South, Ranges 2-3-4 East, full particulars of which are furnished in a preceding chapter, this letter of introduction given Puter by Smith to a prominent attorney of Washington, D. C., will probably have a tendency to remove all such doubt.
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