There has always been a great scramble for hay land especially in the northern part of the county, where the valuable hay lands lie in small valleys surrounded by rough pasture lands. Anyone resorting to litigation to determine a boundary line was at once confronted with the necessity of spending a large sum on surveyor's fees ; it being necessary in many instances to survey an entire township in order to surely determine the location of a single quarter section. Accordingly, trial by battle was occasionally resorted to, but even this ancient method produced no satisfactory results. Finally, the United States government, recognizing the urgent necessity, began making resurveys and have now succeeded in finishing a considerable portion of this territory.

In the year 1910, C. J. Devasher, an eccentric character from the south, measured off his newly acquired section homestead in the northeastern part of the county and announced that it included Les. Ballenger's ranch buildings. He further proceeded to build his residence close to Mr. Ballenger's and gave Mr. Ballenger to understand that he could move off if he did not like it. Upon complaint and hearing before the Insanity Board, Dr. Devasher was found to be insane and committed and sent to the State Hospital for the insane. Within three weeks he was discharged and was back home continuing the fight for what he believed to be his legal rights. After several rounds in court and out, Mr. Devasher discovered that he had made

a big mistake in measuring off his claim and that it neither included hay land, the Ballenger buildings nor anything else of any particular value. He accordingly gave up the fight in disgust.