Tree Crime

Reinhart Doepping owned a farm south of Deepriver. January 1909 found him working in Henry Nolte's woods north and east of present-day Big Maple Lake. He was cutting and hauling trees — with Henry's permission, so that was all well and good; but in hauling the felled trees out to the road, he had to pass through Louis Wojahn's little ten-acre parcel, and on that wooded parcel he spotted a couple of fine trees that he decided he simply couldn't live without. In fact, he coveted his neighbor's ash, and his walnut. And he cut them down and hauled them away.

Louis noticed the two trees missing from among all the others. He may have already known about Reinhart's logging on the Nolte land, or he soon found out; but Reinhart was the natural suspect.

Louis went to Crown Point to see a Deputy Prosecutor, M.J. Smith. So well did he make his case that he was able to come back to Ainsworth with a deputy sheriff and a search warrant.

The Gazette explained the cracking of the case thus:

At the Doepping home they found two black walnut logs, cut from the identified tree, and at the Weiler sawmill they found the other one and the ash tree.

"Cut from the identified tree"? All I can say is, wow, did these people know their trees, or what?

Of course Louis pursued the matter in court. Reinhart pled guilty and ended up having to pay Louis $50, as well as $17 in costs. I don't know whether he was allowed to keep the wood.

I also don't know why I thought this story was fit to be included in this blog.


Source: "Pays For His Folly." Hobart Gazette 26 Feb. 1909.