I believe in Idaho Wyatt was testing a law that required the person claiming some land for a mineral claim to actually be there. The idea was you could not claim land under another person's name, like your wife or son or daughter.
Thus Wyatt was challenging the titles of some he believed were relatives or friends of another owner. He was doing this by paperwork and not physically taking over the property.
about Wyatt. He was attempting to fleece J. Y. Patterson out of $2,500 in the early 1900s in Los Angeles. Los Angeles police arrest Wyatt and, I believe, two other guys for a "bunco" scam. Wyatt was... more
I do not believe Wyatt's intentions were to test any law. The victims of Wyatt's claim-jumping scheme had to file law suits against him. By the time the court got around to separating the wheat from... more