THREE NOTABLE MEN 263 



sight, chaos reigned, and claim-jumping was 

 much in fashion. A petition signed by one 

 hundred and thirty men was sent to Ogilvie 

 asking him to survey the Bonanza Creek. 

 This he did in mid-winter when the ther- 

 mometer was practically useless, the tempera- 

 ture being so low. 



*'For this valuable and risky work he made 

 no charge either directly or indirectly. He 

 was warned that he might be shot if he inter- 

 fered with the claim jumpers, but he was a 

 fearless man and went on with his work as 

 if it was an every-day pastime. 



"The quarreling men became convinced of 

 his honesty and efficiency and his decisions 

 were accepted without demur. There were 

 no homicides, although in one case he sur- 

 veyed a temporary host off his jumped claim. 



"He could have made a fortune if he had so 

 desired, as he had a host of chances to get the 

 very cream of the golden field, but he would 

 neither profit himself by the expert knowl- 

 edge that he obtained through his work, nor 

 give his friends a single tip which might have 

 made them rich. 



"What wonder when a Governor — or chief- 

 commissioner, as the executive was titled — 

 was needed in the turbulent times of 1898, that 



