A FEW YEARS after Oregon became a state, some of its leaders participated in what might actually have been the biggest non-Indian-related land-grab swindle in U.S. history. It resulted in more than 1.5 million acres of the best Oregon land — land that belonged to all Americans — getting essentially stolen by a few small gangs of well-connected thieves.

It happened a few years after the Civil War. At that time, Oregon was mostly public land, or so the government claimed. But, of course, that “public land” was still in the process of being hijacked from the Indian tribes, which were still fighting to try to hang onto it.... (Central Oregon; 1860s) (For text and pictures, see URLOFWEBPAGEURLOFWEBPAGEURLOFWEBPAGE)