112 



THE COMMISSION OP INQUIRY, 



County. 



7 



Muskegon... 

 Newaygo... 



Lake 



Benzie 



Kalkaska 



Emmet .... 

 Cheboygan. 

 Crawlord... 

 .Roscommon 

 Missaukee.. . 

 Clare 



Area. 



Sold. 



Value. 



Timber. 



Land. 



Total. 



Loss to 



State. 



1,600 



3,760 



7,387 



240 



480 



461 



5,407 



200 



1,360 



200 



360 



$1 ,988 



7,240 



6,147 



594 



690 



669 



10,499 



810 



2,470 



310 



360 



86,859 

 9,182 



24,963 

 2,048 

 5,640 

 3,693 



61,590 

 4,280 



31,598 

 5,600 

 3,157 



S5,600 



36,840 



29,778 



1,200 



640 



1,141 



13,117 



200 



1,840 



840 



720 



812,469 



46,022 



54,741 



3,248 



6,280 



4,834 



74,707 



4,480 



33,438 



6,440 



3,877 



• '1 



810,471 



38,782 



48,459 



I 2,654 



t5,590 



14,165 



64,208 



3,670 



30,968 



6,130 



3,517 



21 ,455 



831,777 



8158,610 



891,916 



8250,526 



8218,749 



"Most of the land examined was not sold to actual settlers, bnt to 

 people who are either in the timber business or to persons regularly 

 engaged in land traffic and who evidently purchased them for specula- 

 tive purposes. Everywhere certain persons or cliques of persons appear 

 either personally or through agents as the purchasers of State lands. 

 Thus all the lands examined, showed that less than 5% were sold to 

 actual settlers, the remainder being sold to timber dealers and land 

 speculators, many of them not even residents of the Stat.e. 



The homestead law, as far as our examinations extended, in its actual 

 operation, has not led to homesteads but has generally been used to 

 secure timber or land and timber, for speculation. Thus, of the cases 

 examined, with the possible exception of one township in Newaygo 

 county, less then 10% were taken with the evident idea of establishing 

 of a home, but were apparently taken for the timber values only," and 

 in many cases the settlers have so expressed themselves to us, as for 

 instance, Archie Moore, who homesteaded the W I/2 of the N W % of 

 34-354, and who told Mr. Wilson that he placed no value on the land 

 but was offering the timber for |1,000. 



How far this law often failed in its purpose, is well illustrated in the 

 following : 



Homestead deed was granted George B. Brown, July 6, 1904, for the 

 N E 14 of the S W 14 of 18-23-7. This place was sold by Brown for 

 the timber value and is deserted at pi*esent. 



. Lewis F. Pitz, deed November 13, 1902, N W % of 10-24-7. No clear- 

 ing was ever made on this homestead and the only building was a 

 small hut about ten feet square, and it can be clearly seen that the 

 law was never Complied with on this homestead. This hut did not 

 even have a place to stick a stovepipe through. Lumbering operations 

 were begun about two years ago and for the accommodation of the lumber- 

 men other buildings have been erected, but at the time that the home- 

 stead was granted, the only building was the hut mentioned. 



Homestead of John G. McNabb, N 1/2 of S 1/2 of 15-23-7. Deed 

 granted November 11, 1904, and McNabb immediately after (Dec. 5, 

 1904), sold the homestead to sawmill men for |900. Apparently he 

 used a shanty which had remained from the time that the original 



