owner had "made oath ... that he had never parted with the original, and never gave anyone power to use his name in any other location." That is, the company saw the reported GLO duplication of the scrip as a fraudulent action. But by February 19, 1889, reports had arrived in Wallace of a case involving disputed Sioux half-breed scrip. The Department of Interior (DOI) denied a Montana land claim because the scrip had been used for the benefit of persons other than the mixed-blood it had been issued to initially. This decision more closely followed the apparent intent of the original legislation, but was actually a reversal of long-standing GLO practice. For decades, the GLO had allowed land dealers to buy the scrip from the mixed-bloods for a pittance and then claim large expanses of valuable public land for white use. One group of speculators made substantial profits from at least 15,000 acres (6,070 ha) of land in Minnesota, Nevada and California. Newspaper reports suggested that this DOI decision might affect land claims in several places across the West. In Wallace, the news of the case led many townspeople—on the night of Tuesday, February 19, 1889—to participate in "lot jumping," that is, peremptorily marking the space as their own. Newspapers across the United States carried news of the small western town's real estate upheaval. The New York Times wrote: "Many persons heretofore considered rich are no longer so, while poor persons have jumped into comfortable circumstances." Some existing owners guarded their own lots in order to retain their right of ownership. Local historian Judge Richard Magnuson wrote, "By 2 a.m., everything was located and the rush subsided." William R. Wallace reacted to the jumping with an angry letter, partially quoted above to describe what the company considered improper action by the GLO. The letter closed, "The higher courts will ere long decide the validity of the claimants." With this letter and several others, Wallace took the stance of an aggrieved party in relation to the GLO's handling of the Sioux scrip. It has been documented that the under-staffed and poorly-run GLO was indeed involved in corrupt dealings at that time. Continuing their aggressive stance, the Wallace Townsite Company filed 13 legal suits, demanding $1,000 from citizens it claimed had illegally jumped their properties. Several years passed before all the disputes were fully resolved. Fortunately, land holders who had legitimately