Chapter 10 - The Land Office
That night, Samuel and Red Willow entered the abandoned land office after the clerk secretly left the back door unlocked.
They searched records.
There were dozens of property files.
Then Samuel found his.
Inside was a second map.
This one showed the entire valley.
Several ranches were marked.
All were near water sources.
Some had already been transferred.
Others were scheduled for transfer.
Samuel stared.
"This isn't about me."
Red Willow shook his head.
"No."
Samuel traced the marked properties.
"Rourke is buying the entire valley."
Then he saw the final mark.
A railroad route.
The planned railroad would pass directly through the valley.
The water rights would become enormously valuable.
Rourke was preparing years in advance.
But there was something even stranger.
The land consolidation plan had been created before Samuel's father's death.
Before Samuel inherited the ranch.
Someone had planned this for decades.
Samuel found a name at the bottom.
Nathaniel Carter.
His father.
Samuel froze.
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His father had apparently known about the scheme.
And perhaps he had been fighting it long before Samuel understood.
