Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/34



26 MRS. R. S. SHACKLEFORD

As early as 1852 the place called The Dalles was occupied as a townsite for purposes of trade and traffic and has been so occupied ever since. In 1855 the county of Wasco, which was organized January 11, 1854, caused the site to be sur- veyed into lots, blocks and streets and record thereof made. "In January 26, 1857, Dalles City was made a corporation with boundaries including said townsite and on April 18, 1860, entered at the U. S. Land Office at Oregon City the fractional northwest quarter of section three in township one, contain- ing 112 acres, and including the land so occupied as a town- site under the townsite law of May 23, 1844 (5 stat, 667; 10 stat., 306), in trust for the several use and benefit of the occupants thereof according to their respective interests and now claimed to be the owner thereof accordingly." Besides these two claims there were others which had to be settled.

Three suits were commenced in September, 1877. That one numbered 390 was : Dalles City vs. The Missionary Society of the M. E. Church ; No. 391 : James K. Kelly, Aaron E. Wait and Phebe Humason v. the same; No. 392: James K. Kelly and Aaron E. Wait v. the same.

As already stated, the three suits were begun in September, 1877, in the State Circuit Court of The Dalles in Wasco County. To quote from Judge Deady's decision, from which most of the following information was gathered : "The summons was served by publication, and on September 12 the defendant appeared and had the cause removed to the U. S. Circuit Court, District of Oregon, where they were all three entered on January 30, 1878. On October 15, 1879, the three causes were heard together."

The history of the claims prior to this must be explained and is as follows : When the claims came up the Commissioner of the General Land Office authorized the surveyor general to "hear and determine the conflicting claims of the Missionary Society, Bigelow, and Dalles City to the premises. On Febru- ary 16, 1860, the parties appeared before him and soon after "he directed a deputy surveyor to make a survey of the prem- ises (1) as claimed by the Society; (2) as actually occupied