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Show 746 HISTORY OF PUBLIC LAND LAW DEVELOPMENT The Twenties: On the Mixing of Oil and Politics John Ise has briefly recorded the chaotic frenzy which generally prevailed in the oil reserves after the passage of the Mineral Leasing Act in 1920. Advance men-scouts -had already prospected the most likely areas, and claimants by the droves were ready to file applications once the bill was signed by the President. Applications began to pour in by telegraph and, within a year, 5,000 applications for permits had been filed with the Land Office. In some areas there were miraculous "discoveries" which coincided with the passage of the act. By the end of June 1924, over 32,000 applications were received, but out of all this activity, only about 45 leases were actually issued.338 Teapot Dome. All this was eclipsed by the bizarre politics of the period. We have previously discussed the four Naval Petroleum Reserves in California, Wyoming, and Alaska, which were established in 1912, 1915, and 1923 to insure an adequate supply of oil for the future needs of a navy which was beginning to convert its battleships from coal to oil.339 Naval oil shale reserves were also established in Utah and Colorado in 1916. We have noted the role which the naval reserves played in the failure to obtain congressional legislation on oil and gas leasing on the public domain until 1920.340 The reserves were destined also to highlight the brief administration of President Harding in the Teapot Dome scandal, which involved Reserves No. 1 and 2 in California and No. 3 (Teapot) in Wyoming. "Teapot" is from an unusual rock formation which dominated the reserve near Casper, Wyoming. Within 6 months after the passage of the Mineral Leasing Act Congress gave the Sec- 888 Ise, The United States Oil Policy 352-54 (1926). **• See Part 2, "Pickett Act." 340 See Part 2, "Relief Legislation." retary of the Navy extensive jurisdicition over the reserves.341 He was authorized to take possession and to develop the reserves at his discretion. This included authority to execute contracts or leases and to "use, store, exchange or sell" the oil and gas royalties therefrom. In 1921, Albert B. Fall, a former Senator from New Mexico, was appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Harding. His position on the Leasing Act has already been observed in his statement deploring the role of government in business.342 His later involvement in the reserves clearly substantiated the early suspicion of conservationists like Gif-ford Pinchot that Fall was basically opposed to their program. Shortly after his appointment, Mr. Fall persuaded the Secretary of the Navy, Edwin Denby, to relinquish control of the administration of the reserves to the Interior Department. This was effected by a secret and unpublished Presidential order making the transfer.343 The conservationists had already been outraged by Fall's early proposal to transfer Pinchot's beloved Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture to the Interior Department. And, when rumors began to leak out that Teapot was being leased to Fall's friends, a frontal attack on Fall's administration of the Department was launched. Prodded by Senator LaFol-lette, Congress authorized an investigation344 which revealed a strong possibility that Fall, who had since resigned, had accepted bribes to execute petroleum leases on the reserves. After a period of embarrassing but characteristic silence, President Coolidge finally bypassed his own Justice Department and appointed Owen J. Roberts (later Associate Justice of the Supreme Court for 15 years) and Atlee Pomeroy, both of whom were in no way associated 84141 Stat. 812, 813 (1920). ""See Part 2, n. 314. 418 The order was probably invalid. See United States v. Pan-American Petroleum Co., 55 F.2d 753, 769 (9th Cir. 1932) cert. den. 287 U.S. 612 (1932). 844 Joint Resolution, 43 Stat. 5 (1924). |