478 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of the quitdaim deeds for the surface of these claims will never be 

 able to acquire actual title to the land until the mining claims are held 

 to be invalid and the residents enabled to proceed to secure title to 

 their holdings under the town-site laws. Here the town-site boomer 

 misused the mining laws. 



In another instance a large Mve-stock company purchased the 

 majority of the stock grazed in a certain section of the country splen- 

 didly adapted for cattle range, except that Avater was scarce, the 

 only available supply consisting of small lakes or ponds and small 

 springs. This cattle company, in order to establish a complete 

 monopoly of the range, proceeded to put mining locations and mill 

 sites upon all the watering places, with the exception of two or three 

 which were covered by scrip location. No mineral development was, 

 however, attempted on any of these claims. The locations were 

 upon formations containing no mineral showing whatever, and 

 alleged development work consisted of tunneling and trenching for 

 the collection of water and in the building of corrals, tanks, and pipe 

 lines for the handling and watering of the cattle. In this way water 

 holes were secured which gave control of approximately 500,000 

 acres of valuable range. Here the cattlemen misused the mining 

 laws where there was no one to protest or report. 



In another instance a sheepman was occupying and grazing a cer- 

 tain section of range within a national forest in a country mineral- 

 ized to some extent, and in which the water supply was limited. 

 Some old placer diggings existed in a certain canyon within the 

 vicinity of a small spring, which placer diggings had been aban- 

 doned for years, with the exeception of the fact that some Chinamen, 

 when out of anything else to do, would occasionally work the claim 

 for what they could get out of it. The sheepman proceeded to locate 

 a mining claim covering the spring and the old placer diggings, 

 established a shearing or dipping corral, and applied for patent to 

 the ground, claiming as his $500 Avorth of development the work done 

 by persons who had abandoned the claim as not of sufficient mineral 

 value to be worth further consideration, and work done by the China- 

 men mentioned. Here the sheepman attempted to misuse the mining 

 laws. 



Another illustration is a case in which a large power company 

 attempted to procure title to a valuable power site by locating mining 

 claims extending up and down the stream upon which the plant is 

 located. These locations were placer locations and the mineral 

 alleged to exist in the claims was asserted to be lime, and the claims 

 were known as the Limestone Placers. A Government expert made 

 examination of these claims and submitted an adverse report. Here 

 the hydro-electric power company misused the mining law. 



Not far from this last-mentioned case some individuals made appli- 

 cation for the patenting of some placer locations, alleging the exist- 

 ence of valuable minerals. The location happened to be within a 

 national forest, and, under the regulations of the two departments, the 

 Forest Service made an investigation in connection with a repre- 

 sentative of the General Land Office, and the following facts ap- 

 peared: There was no showing of mineral whatever upon the loca- 

 tions except a sort of shale, which the locators alleged had some value 

 for cement making. In the application of the patent the locators 



