Transcription:
Cal. Niles, December 30, 1900 Mr. Robert Underwood Johnson, My Dear Sir:- your recent letter asking about the condition
of the supposed Armstrong forest and our duties as trustees was duly received, but I could not at once reply, because, although
I presumed as you did that the death of Colonel Armstrong ended the whole matter, I still thought it necessary to ascertain
the facts. I was in Santa Rosa a few days ago (the county seat of Sonoma), and there examined the history of the redwood
land in question. I found that in 1892 a deed was recorded transferring this valuable land to the five trustees. This, with
several other transfers, made it seem as if something tangible, not before known to me, had occurred, creating or tending
to create, a trust which bound us and to teich we were bound. I then went to Cloverdale, saw the Armstrong family and, returning
to Santa Rosa, verified the truth of their statements by having the records searched. Briefly, the story is this;Colonel
Armstrong secured several transfers from his wife and others, which were really in the nature of quit-claim deeds, preliminary
to a final deed from himself His own signature A only missed going on one of these deeds by a slight illness of his illegible
As it stands, a successful contemt on the part of the widow (who was his second wife)ivho had limited her own interest 04405