The provision of law that no scrip could be transferred was evaded by the same means as those employed in handling Chippeway half-breed scrip. Two powers of attorney with the necessary affidavits worked a transfer, which the courts sustained. Sioux half-breed scrip which could be located on unsurveyed lands was soon in request, and served the purposes of the well-informed. A batch of it went to California to be located on forest and mineral lands. A moiety was used for the acquisition of town sites in Minnesota in advance of surveys. Another use involving some elasticity of conscience was the acquisition of pine timber without the inconvenience of taking the lands with it. A plan of “floating” scrip was worked out and prosecuted so habitually by men of good report that no dishonor attached to it. The holder of scrip under power of attorney would locate a piece, cut off the pine, and then discover that he had not dealt wisely for his half-breed principal. He would then obtain a cancellation of his location, place his scrip on another piece, and repeat the process until the surveys were made. As late as 1872 the commissioner of public lands issued a circular condemning this practice in vigorous terms. Soon after the unexampled development of the iron mines in the “triangle” in the middle of the eighties, Sioux half-breed scrip was used to obtain title to lands still unsurveyed in that region, likely to be found iron-bearing. Mr. Vilas, Secretary of the Interior, and his successor decided, in cases referred to them, that this scrip could not pass title, the powers of attorney being but a means to evade the law declaring the scrip to be non-transferable. A long series of litigations followed, concluded by the Supreme Court decision of 1902 (183 U. S. 619), holding those powers of attorney to work a valid conveyance. The title to many millions worth of mining property was thus quieted. It may here be noted that in 1855 the Winnebagoes, discontented with their homes in the Long Prairie reservation, were glad to exchange it for one of eighteen miles square, south and east of Mankato, whither they removed in the same year. The new reservation being less than one fourth the area of the old, a large addition was made to white man’s country. * * * * * Of all the developments in the time of Governor Gorman none equaled in importance the phenomenal increase of population. The census of 1850 showed a total of 6077 souls in the nine counties of the territory, 4577 of them in three counties. Pending the negotiation, amendment, and ratification of the Sioux treaties of 1851 the accessions were small.