Oregon State Bar Bulletin — JULY 2002
| Oregon Legal Heritage |
This is the story of a man who is a controversial figure
in Douglas County's 150-year history. In his own words in a letter to
his children, he described his life as '75 years in sunshine and
in shadow.'
One cannot write about Binger Hermann without first telling about the
sunshine. Hermann was an honorable man who served his county, state
and country in many different capacities. He first came to Douglas County
as a school teacher at Yoncalla in 1862 and later he taught in Canyonville
in 1864.
Just before the close of the Civil War, Hermann recruited a company
of volunteers under President Lincoln's last call for troops. The war
ended before his company of volunteers was called.
He was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 1866 and entered law practice
in Roseburg.
He was elected to the state legislature representing Douglas County,
and two years later, he was elected state senator for Douglas, Coos
and Curry counties. He also served as deputy collector of internal revenue
for the state of Oregon.
In 1884, he was elected to the United States Congress as the first representative
in Congress for the entire state of Oregon. In that capacity, Hermann
was instrumental in many river and harbor appropriations for Oregon
and for the establishment of lighthouses along the Oregon coast.
He was the author of the Indian Depredation law, which provided payment
for property damage committed by hostile Indians during the Indian Wars.
All of the foregoing accomplishments were during his 'sunshine
years.'
His shadow years began when he was appointed Commissioner of the General
Land Office of the United States in 1897.
The Donation Land Act of 1850 granted 320 acres to all white American
citizens settling in Oregon territory before Dec. 1, 1850, and an additional
320 acres to the wife of a claimant.
When Vice President Theodore Roosevelt assumed the office of president
on the death of President William McKinley, he appointed Ethan Allan
Hitchcock to the office of Secretary of the Interior. Hitchcock and
Hermann immediately butted heads over policy. Roosevelt supported Hermann.
Hitchcock was furious and vowed vengeance. He found it in one J.H. Schneider
of Tucson, Ariz., who claimed that information on land fraud in Oregon
had been sent to Hermann and had been ignored.
Hermann was touring Europe when another letter from Schneider arrived
and Hermann's assistant ordered an investigation. According to records,
Hermann intercepted the agent and stopped the investigation.
Hitchcock was notified and demanded the report on the incident be delivered
to him by Hermann personally. He subsequently requested Hermann's resignation,
but allowed him to remain in office until February 1904. During that
final month, Hitchcock accused Hermann of removing and destroying several
files and letters from the General Land Office concerning certain fraud
investigations.
Hermann stated that the documents removed were personal and had nothing
to do with Hitchcock's investigation. It was the wedge, however, Hitchcock
needed, so on Feb. 18, 1905, Hermann was indicted by a Washington, D.C.
grand jury on a charge that he had conspired to defraud the government
of its public lands in connection with the 'Blue Mountain forest
reserve.' His trial began five years later on Jan. 6, 1910. The
trial ended in a hung jury and the case was dismissed Feb. 14, 1910.
Later, an investigation implicated the U.S. prosecutor in a jury tampering
charge involving the Hermann case. The controversy swirled around Hermann
for nearly a decade after the case was dismissed. In 1918, a letter
to his children entitled 'A Review of 75 years in Sunshine and
in Shadow,' Binger Hermann detailed his life and joys, including
those shadow years.
After his death, in 1932 Harold Ickes, Secretary of Interior under the
Franklin Roosevelt administration, exonerated Hermann of any wrongdoing
and restored the sunshine to Hermann's name.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vi Lewis retired in 1998 after 12 years as an employee of the Douglas
County Museum of History & Natural History in Roseburg. This article
originally appeared May 2, 2002 in the Roseburg News-Review.
© 2002 Vi Lewis