likely that they would ever be applied for. the State profited greatly by the exchange, and as usual the Government got the worst of it. During the two years that I was engaged in the business of adjudicating these mineral lands, I succeeded in having about 40,000 acres so returned, while W. T. Rader got through about 30.000 acres in the same way.
There was such a demand for school land base at that time that every available acre was exhausted, and those engaged in the business were put to their wit's end to supply more lieu. The "School Land Ring," composed of McCornack, D'Arcy, Rader, Jones and myself, finally conceived the idea of establishing an immense forest reserve in the Cascade range of mountains, upon the theory that the State would be entitled to indemnity for all the unsurveyed school sections within the limits of the proposed reserve. Acting upon this belief, a fund of about $1400 was subscribed by those interested, which was to be devoted to the expenses incident to preliminary steps. We had an elaborate map made of the country that was proposed to be withdrawn, indicating that its boundaries extended along the Cascade range from one end of the State to the other, and embraced a strip about 30 or 40 miles in width. This map indicated that there were fully 195,000 acres of unsurveyed school sections within the proposed reserve, for which the State would be entitled to indemnity.
We then engaged the services of Will G. Steel, of Portland, giving him the map and all other data at our command, and started him back to Washington for the purpose of promoting the establishment of the reserve. He was successful in the undertaking, and we soon had the satisfaction of knowing that the now famous Cascade Poorest Reserve was upon a firm basis. Our attorney in Washington kept us apprised of the situation, and we were notified fully ten days in advance that it was President Cleveland's intention to sign the proclamation creating the reserve. We took advantage of this information to procure enough "dummy" applications to cover every available school section within the reserve, and these we were prepared to file with the Clerk of the Land Board as soon as we received word that the President had signed the proclamation. Upon receipt of this intelligence by wire, the Clerk of the Land Board submitted a selection list of a few hundred acres to Governor Pennoyer as a "feeler," but he had been laying for us, and refused absolutely to sign the list, at the same time notifying Clerk Davis not to receive or file a single application for any tract based upon Cascade Forest Reserve indemnity, and stating further that it was his intention to have a bill introduced before the next Legislature raising the price of all school indemnity lands to $10 an acre.
The vigorous stand taken by the executive was a body blow to the school land ring, for we had figured upon making an enormous "killing" in connection with the sale of the 195.000 acres of base existing within the limits of the proposed reserve, there being a profit of from $1.50 to $2.50 an acre thereon. However, we did not lose all hope, but concluded to wait a few months until the Legislature met. when we could resort to the same methods that had so often proven successful upon former occasions—work the "third house" for all it was worth in the effort to prevent any change in the price of school indemnity lands.
Pennoyer's term as Governor expired in January. 1895, and in his final message to the Legislature, he made a strong plea for his pet measure. The school land ring attended the session of lawmakers in a body, and exerted every effort to defeat any bill affecting prices of these lands to our detriment. Several measures were introduced, raising the price all the way from $5 to $10 an acre, but the ring succeeded in holding the price down to $2.50 an acre, provided for in a bill introduced by the late John D. Daly, Surveyor-General for Oregon at the time of his death recently.
It was at this session that the office of State Land Agent was created. The reorganized State Land Board consisted of Governor William P. Lord. Secretary of State H. R. Kincaid and State Treasurer Philip Metschan. Sr. Ex-State Senator T. W. Davenport, of Silverton, (father of Homer Davenport, the notedPage 322
