ANTI-CONSERVATION ACTIVITY 187 



Benson was said to have accumulated a large fortune in his career, 

 and, at any rate, it seems that some member of this party had abun- 

 dant means, for the heavy bonds required were promptly furnished, 

 and every step of the ensuing case was fought stubbornly. The gov- 

 ernment wanted the defendants removed to the District of Columbia 

 for trial, but the motion for removal was carried to the Supreme 

 Court of the United States, where removal was ordered only after a 

 year's delay. ''^ This case was finally terminated in 1908 by the con- 

 viction of Hyde and one of the other men. The investigation led also 

 to the dismissal of four employees in the Land Office, and several 

 employees in the Bureau of Forestry."® 



More fruitful of results than the prosecution of Benson and his 

 party, was the indictment, shortly afterward, of S. A. D. Puter, 

 United States Commissioner Marie Ware, and several others — two of 

 them women.^° Detective William J. Burns was given charge of the 

 secret service work,^^ and Francis J. Heney took charge of the prose- 

 cution. United States Attorney John S. Hall being removed and 

 afterward convicted of complicity in the frauds. Confessions were 

 secured from several of the persons, notably from Puter, confessions 

 which involved men occupying high offices. 



According to these confessions, hundreds of fraudulent entries and 

 final proofs were made before this dishonest commissioner. It was part 

 of the scheme that the United States attorney should allay any sus- 

 picion that might be aroused at Washington, or, if necessary, bring 

 suit in such a way as to make failure inevitable ;^^ and when certain 

 claims required particular dispatch, one of the congressmen or sena- 

 tors at Washington was to be bribed to see the Commissioner of the 

 Land Office, Binger Hermann, and secure desired concessions. In this 

 connection. Senator Mitchell was specifically mentioned, Puter alleg- 

 ing that he had paid him $2000 to secure the issue of certain patents.*' 



58 Report, Sec. of Int., 1904, 23. 



^9 Report, Land Office; 1908, 25-27; 1915, 34: H. Report 566; 62 Cong. 2 sess.: 

 H. Report 1367; 62 Cong. 3 sess.: Cong. Rec, Mar, 3, 1913, 4823-4825: Outlook, 

 Nov. 23, 1912, 665: "Land Decisions," 28, 285; 31, 28; 33, 639; 37, 164; 40, 219, 

 284; 43, 176. 



60 Report, Sec. of Int., 1904, 24. 



«-^ Report, Sec. of Int., 1903, 12-14. 



«2 Puter and Stevens, "Looters of the Public Domain," 136-140. 



«3 Ibid., 64, 65. 



