Apparently this is the 36th year of the - ScholarsArchive at Oregon ...

mitted for probate. The court accepted the witnesses' testimony that
there had been a will witnessed by two or more persons, and Brown's
property passed to one of two brothers who were among those who claimed
to have seen the lost will.
When Sam Strom returned from the Kiondike, he learned that his
friend., Brown, had died in his house and was buried in his front yard.
Mr. Strom continued to maintain his house on the Sauk River although
in the meantime he married, raised a family, and had a ysarlong
residence in Darring-ton. He visited his homestead on the Sauk several.
times each year at which time he made needed repairs on the house and
generally kept the house and grounds in good condition.
On one of these trips while making repairs on one of the room of
the house, he noticed a loose board and upon investigation, later
stated he found a sheet of paper on which was written a statement about
as follows: "I, John Brown, am alone, sick and dying, and hereby will
to my friend, Sam Strom, my gun and homestead, providing that I am given
a Christian burial.'
Mr. Strom proceeded to carry out the provisions of the alleged will.
He asked me to witness the removal of Mr. Brown's body from the grave on
his Sauk River property. The local packer provided the transportation
to Darrington where the remains were shipped to a funeral home in
Arlington. Mr. Strom then arranged for a funeral and burial in the
Arlington cemetary.
Later, his attorney arranged for a date when the will he found
would be presented to the Snohomish County Court in gverett, On the
appointed day, necessary witnesses, of which I was one, were assembled
in the court room where the attorney attempted to have the will accepted
for probate. Unfortunately for Mr. Strom, the judge refused to have the
will recognized because there were no witnes8es.
There was nothing for Mr. Strom to do but give up his efforts to
obtain Mr. Brown's property on the Sauk.
There were four individuals involved in the successful effort to
circumvent John Brown's wish for the disposition of his property on the
Sauk River. There were two brothers; one was killed in a saloon brawl
in Granite Falls--the other was involved in a shooting incident in which
his adversary lost his arm. For his part in the shooting affair, he was
hauled into court, convicted, and served five years in the penitentiary.
The third person, a packer, was killed in a snow slide at Monte Cristo.
The fourth, Jim Bedal, suffered a stroke and was a helpless invalid until
he died about 15 years later.
Thus, retribution was visited upon the four persons involved in the
alleged plot that later resulted in a tragedy for all of them.
In June, 1918, I was instructed to go to Portland to pick up four
pack mules from the Mt. Hood National. Forest. Arriving at the Mt. Hood
office to find out where the animals were located, I found no one seemed
to have the information, After staying in Portland for a couple days, I
learned that the mules were at the Zig Zag Ranger Station. I talked to
the packer, Dee Wright, who advised that there were three bay and one
white mule, that it would, probably be best not to try to ride any of the
bay mules as one of them, named Dy'namite, was pretty wild. It was advised,
however, that the white mule was gentle and had been broken to