Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

HE 2791 N854 1925

соруз

JOINT CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD LAND GRANTS

[blocks in formation]

NORTHERN PACIFIC LAND GRANTS

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE JOINT CONGRESSIONAL
COMMITTEE ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE

NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD LAND GRANTS, Washington, D. C., Tuesday, April 14, 1925. The subcommittee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. N. J. Sinnott (chairman) presiding.

The CHAIRMAN. The subcommittee will come to order. You may proceed with your witnesses, Mr. McGowan.

TESTIMONY OF W. M. H. WOODWARD-Resumed

Mr. McGOWAN. Mr. Woodward, when the full committee adjourned Saturday you were discussing your examination of township 6 south, 4 east. Have you concluded your testimony with reference to that township?

Mr. WOODWARD. I believe I had answered all the questions that had been asked.

Mr. McGowAN. Now, take township 1 south, 6 east.

The CHAIRMAN. What State is that?

Mr. WOODWARD. Montana.

Mr. McGowan. Did you make an examination of any of the lands in this township for the purpose of determining whether or not they were mineral in character?

Mr. WOODWARD. I made an examination of the lands which had been classified as mineral in this township.

Mr. McGowAN. Classified by whom?

Mr. WOODWARD. By the board of mineral commissioners.

Mr. McGowAN. And approximately what was the acreage that you examined in this township?

Mr. WOODWARD. Approximately 4,000 acres of odd numbered sec

tions.

Mr. McGowAN. Where is township 1 south, 6 east, located, Mr. Woodward, with reference to any of the towns in Montana-that is, what is the near-by_town?

Mr. WOODWARD. It comes to within some 4 or 5 or 6 miles of Bozeman, Mont., and lies northeast of that town.

Mr. McGoWAN. What did you find upon the lands that you examined in this township with reference to their mineral character, these odd numbered sections that you examined?

Mr. WOODWARD. I found no mineral and no indications of mineral. Mr. McGowAN. Did you find anything there that would justify anybody in classifying that land as mineral?

Mr. WOODWARD. I did not.

Mr. McGowan. What is the topography of that country?

1755

Mr. WOODWARD. It is extremely rugged mountains.

Mr. McGOWAN. Has it any value for any purposes?

Mr. WOODWARD. I am not sufficiently familiar with land conditions in Montana to know whether it has any value whatever or not. My opinion is that it is very little,

Mr. McGowAN. What was on the surface of it?

The CHAIRMAN. Your opinion is what?

Mr. WOODWARD. That the value, if any, is very low. A large proportion of it is barren and some of it has some small growth on it. I hardly think there is any commercial timber.

Mr. McGowAN. Well, from your examination of this tract and what you found there, would you say that the classification of land by the mineral commission was correct or incorrect?

Mr. WOODWARD. I would say that it was incorrect.

Mr. MCGOWAN. Are there any further questions on that before we take up the next township?

The CHAIRMAN. Why is it you only examined 4,000 acres?

Mr. WOODWARD. That was the measure of that township classified by the commission as mineral.

The CHAIRMAN. Four thousand acres were classified as mineral? Mr. WOODWARD. Four thousand as mineral; yes.

Mr. KERR. I don't want to ask him many questions, but I would just like to -so as to make this situation clear: Do you know whether these lands in this township or the lands in the other two townships you mentioned were finally classified by the Secretary in the same way that they were classified by the mineral land commissioners? Mr. WOODWARD. I have never looked up the official approval of the Secretary, but my information is that they were finally classified. Mr. RAKER. Finally classified how?

Mr. WOODWARD. According to the report of the commission. Mr. MCGOWAN. You mean that the Secretary approved the mineral classification, or as the result of some subsequent examination he arrived at some other conclusion?

Mr. KERR. Either way. The Secretary, of course, can either approve or disapprove in whole or in part as he sees fit.

Mr. WOODWARD. I have never looked up the record on that personally.

The CHAIRMAN. What did the report of the commission say as to whether they went on this land or not?

Mr. WOODWARD. As I remember it, they did not make a specific statement as to whether they went on it or not.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, you might tell us your process in examining this land, your method?

Mr. WOODWARD. My process was the same as in the examination of the other townships. I went through this land taking such routes as would give me the largest possible opportunity to observe the area, looking out carefully for any mineral or any indications of mineral, and I made inquiries from persons familiar with the country as to whether any mineral was known to exist there.

Mr. PATTERSON. In view of your question as to what character of report the commission made, and complying with the request of the committee Saturday that we get a number of the reports of the commission, classifications of the commission so that you can see the character of the report, we are planning to get the report in

each case of the townships covered by the examiner, and that will give you specific cases so that you can see in a general way the character of the report.

Mr. MCGOWAN. Have you got any of those reports here?

Mr. PATTERSON. No; instructions have been given to the General Land Office to have those reports collected and submitted to the committee.

The CHAIRMAN. Did they not also send in, in addition to the report, the testimony taken?

Mr. PATTERSON. They were directed with such reports, if you recall, to state the character of the investigation made and to submit all testimony taken.

Mr. RAKER. Did you examine the report to see who made it on this township we are speaking of now?

Mr. WOODWARD. I read the report in the land office at Bozeman, but I don't remember whose name was signed to it.

Mr. RAKER. You read the report before you made the survey?
Mr. WOODWARD. Yes.

Mr. RAKER. Before you made your examination?

Mr. WOODWARD. Yes, sir.

Mr. RAKER. Was this township surveyed or unsurveyed at the time the examination of the commission was made, do you know?

Mr. WOODWARD. I can tell you in a moment [examining papers]. The plat of the survey of that portion of the township was approved April 13, 1904, and the report of the commission was dated January 2, 1897. So that portion of the township was unsurveyed at that time.

Mr. RAKER. Did you look over, as you stated in the other examinations relative to the contests you have testified to, the land that was in the even sections?

Mr. WOODWARD. I went over the entire area as stated.

Mr. RAKER. That would cover in that township something over 8,000 acres?

Mr. WOODWARD. Yes, sir.

Mr. RAKER. What was the character of the land in the even sections as to the description you have given on the odd sections? Mr. WOODWARD. There was no difference.

Mr. RAKER. What is the growth on that township which you examined?

Mr. WOODWARD. There is some small growth in places.

The CHAIRMAN. You mean timber?

Mr. WOODWARD. Much of it is barren or practically so.

Mr. RAKER. A small growth of what?

Mr. WOODWARD. Of timber.

Mr. RAKER. What kind of timber?

Mr. WOODWARD. I don't remember the species. I am not a timber expert.

Mr. RAKER. Was it merchantable timber?

Mr. WOODWARD. I am not an expert on timber.

Mr. RAKER. I mean the trees-put it this way, were the trees of merchantable size?

Mr. WOODWARD. There are portions of it-some of it might possibly get into the merchantable class, and some might not. It was

39564-25-PT 42

examined by others for that purpose, and I don't know whether they considered any of it merchantable or not.

Mr. RAKER. What size of trees were they? That will give us an idea.

Mr. WOODWARD. I don't remember any trees more than a few inches in diameter.

[ocr errors]

Mr. MCGOWAN. Judge, may I make a suggestion? We have another witness who will follow Mr. Woodward, and he will go into that in detail.

Mr. RAKER. All right. What is the brush condition of the land? Mr. WOODWARD. Part of it has some brush on it, but much of it is practically free from brush.

Mr. RAKER. What kind of brush?

Mr. WOODWARD. It is probably, some of it, alpine fir.

Mr. RAKER. What as to vegetation? Was there any grass?

Mr. WOODWARD. There was a little vegetation on it. That was also covered by another man.

Mr. RAKER. What time of the year did you make this examination?

Mr. WOODWARD. In October, 1924.

Mr. RAKER. The early part of October, or late?

Mr. WOODWARD. The latter part.

Mr. RAKER. And what is the elevation of this territory which you examined, township 1 south, 6 east?

Mr. WOODWARD. I can get that approximately from the Geological Survey map. It is shown on the Geological Survey map to vary from approximately 6,000 feet to approximately 9,000 feet.

Mr. RAKER. How does that correspond with the surrounding country of this township, say, north and south for miles, so far as you can see?

Mr. WOODWARD. The Bridger Range, of which this area is a part, continues northerly, but the land breaks off to the south into the valley of the Gallatin River.

Mr. RAKER. Does this same elevation and same character of country, from your observation, extend north a good many miles? Does that range run north and south or east and west?

Mr. WOODWARD. It runs-at that point it runs practically north and south, but toward the north end it bends to the west.

Mr. RAKER. Now, in that direction of the range of mountains, did you observe or could you observe whether or not for a distance north of this township it was the same altitude, the same character of rough country?

Mr. WOODWARD. It was practically the same.

Mr. RAKER. And as to the south?

Mr. WOODWARD. As to the south it goes off into the Gallatin Valley.

Mr. RAKER. How are the slopes east and west?

Mr. WOODWARD. To the west the land borders on the Gallatin Valley, which is level farming land; to the east it is somewhat more rough than in the Gallatin Valley, but it is not as rugged as these mountains.

Mr. RAKER. Well, this township now is approximately at the crest of the mountains?

Mr. WOODWARD. The crest of the mountains goes through it.

« ZurückWeiter »