Stephen A. Douglas Puter

Stephen A. Douglas Puter
Stephen A. Douglas Puter from the March 27, 1906 edition of the Morning Oregonian
Born	(1857-01-06)January 6, 1857 Trinity County, California
Died	Unknown
Occupation	Criminal and author
Known for	Kingpin in Oregon land fraud scandal who received Presidential pardon

Stephen A. Douglas Puter (January 6, 1857 – ?) was a criminal and author from the U.S. state of Oregon. After being convicted of land fraud, he lived as a fugitive for several months before capture, wrote a book after conviction, received a Presidential pardon, and later was convicted of mail fraud.

Puter was born on January 6, 1857 in Trinity County, California, and moved with his family to Humboldt County, California two years later. As a young man, he worked as a surveyor and a logger. He left California in 1888 and moved to Portland, Oregon.

Early in the 20th century, Puter was instrumental in carrying out the Oregon land fraud scandal, which transferred tens of thousands of acres of federal lands given to the Oregon and California Railroad to private hands, ultimately benefiting large timber companies and some Oregon politicians, including U.S. Senators John H. Mitchell and Binger Hermann, who was later exonerated. Puter was considered the of the scandal. In 1902, he took his family to Berkeley, California. He was indicted early in 1905; allegations besides the land schemes included bribing then-Senator Mitchell $2,000.

Puter fled Oregon before being sentenced as had two of the other defendants. While they fled to China on a steamship, Puter was in an armed confrontation with two U.S. Secret Service officers in Boston, Massachusetts in March and was subsequently a fugitive for several months before being captured in late May 1906 by the Alameda, California police who also discovered weapons in his rented room. After his capture and return to Oregon he served two years in the Multnomah County Jail.