impression personally, to the end that she would make the filings. I would probably have done this, but as Mays lost his temper, flew into a rage, and made a great many uncomplimentary remarks about the girl that I did not like, I concluded not to say anything more to her upon the subject.
It might be stated here, that although I succeeded in getting Marie to accept seven filings altogether, there were but six of these that were put through to patent, as the officials of the Roseburg Land Office discovered a discrepancy in the seventh, or what is known as the "Abbott Claim," and as we neglected to make the correction within the time set by law, this entry went by the board.
The names used to secure the six claims which finally went to patent, were as follows: Robert G. Tupman, Robert Simpson, Frank H. Heme, William H. Watkins, Samuel L. Carson and James Warwick.
About the time of making final proofs, T called on Mays and requested that he put up his one-half of the expenses, or $450, informing him that I had succeeded in securing but 6 claims, and that I had put up exactly $900 to date.
I asked him at the same time to whom the lands should be deeded, as we did not care to be known in the transaction.
Mays thought it would be a good plan to leave the name of the grantee blank for the time being, and also the date, but to have the instrument witnessed and acknowledged. Upon my suggestion, however, he consented to have the lands embraced in the transaction transferred to Emma L. Watson, to be held by her in trust, and as for his share of the expenses, he said that he would advance sufficient to cover the expediting of the patents, and that we could have a general settlement of the account later on.
I then called upon Mrs. Watson and informed her that Mays and I had purchased 6 homestead claims in Lane County; that their first cost amounted to $900, and that, if she saw fit to advance the money, I would have the claims deeded to her, to be held in trust, and at the time of making a sale, would allow her a quarter interest in the net profits. Mrs. Watson agreed to accept my proposition, and gave me a check for $900, and as soon as Marie Ware had received the final certificates from the Roseburg Land Office, showing that the proofs of the six entries had been accepted, I paid her the money, after which, she filled out the deeds in the name of Emma L. Watson and I turned them over to the latter, and advised her not to record them until such time as I might suggest at a later date.
About a month after the claims had been deeded to Mrs. Watson, I met Clyde D. Lloyd on the street in Portland, and became engaged with him in conversation concerning timber lands. He was a friend of McKinley's from Wisconsin, and had been associated with him in several timber land deals. In the course of our conversation, Lloyd mentioned the fact that he had purchased three homestead claims of scrip lands in Township 24-1 from McKinley, paying for the same at the rate of $500 per quarter section, and he wanted to know about how long it took for patents to issue after final proof was made.
I realized at once, as soon as he mentioned that the claims were in "24-1," that they were among those that had been taken up by me and in which Mays and I were interested, as the six claims which Marie had put through for me were the only ones in that township that had been proven up on. In reply to my inquiry as to whether or not he had recorded the deeds, Lloyd answered in the negative, saying that McKinley had requested him to withhold them from record for awhile.
I went directly to Mrs. Watson and requested that she send her deeds to Eugene without delay and have them recorded, also intimating to her that I thought there was some sharp practice on foot. Acting upon my advice, she complied immediately with my instructions.
Some months later I met McKinley, who had returned from the East, and asked him what he meant by selling my lands to Clyde D. Lloyd. He answered that he had not intended to sell the lands to Lloyd, but that he simply wanted to
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