Correspondence Relating to Oil Scandals, 1921

Relating to the Oil Scandals, 1921-1928: Contains correspondence and documents relating to the scandals over deals Fall made involving the Teapot Dome Oil Reserves in Wyoming and the Elk Hills Oil Reserves in California.

Teapot Dome and Elk Hills Reserve Litigation: Contains defense memoranda, notes, court documents and correspondence regarding charges of conspiracy and bribery against Fall in the matter of oil leases at the reserves.

Personal Correspondence: Fall's personal correspondence includes papers relating to Tres Ritos Ranch (Three Rivers), and correspondence of Mark B. Thompson, Las Cruces lawyer and Fall's close friend Tres Ritos Ranch (Three Rivers).

Patrick Coghlan, owner of most of the lower Tres Ritos Valley near Tularosa, borrowed money from Numa Reymond, a Las Cruces financier, which resulted in eventual foreclosure. Fall and two partners, whom Fall later bought out, purchased the foreclosure judgment. Fall established himself at Three Rivers in 1906. In 1913 Fall consolidated his holdings with those of his son-in-law Mahlon T. Everhart and formed the Tres Ritos Cattle and Land Company (hereafter referred to as TRCLC). Harry F. Sinclair subsequently purchased a one-third interest in TRCLC. In 1921 Fall borrowed $100,000 from Edward L. Doheny to purchase adjacent land newly offered for sale which controlled TRCLC's water supply. TRCLC eventually encompassed 90,000 acres and figured prominently in the Senate investigations of the 1920's.

Mark Thompson was a Las Cruces lawyer and close personal friend of Albert Fall. Thompson was one of the attorneys who represented Fall during the oil scandal litigations.

Mexican Affairs, 1912-1923: Contains papers relating to Mexican Affairs, 1912-1923. Albert B. Fall was one of the first two U.S. Senators from NM and served in the Senate from March 27, 1912, to March 4, 1921. In 1918 he was appointed to the Committee on Foreign Relations and served as Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee to Investigate Mexican Affairs.

Includes documents by Henry Ossian Flipper. Fall employed Flipper as an interpreter and translator for the Senate Subcommittee, and later appointed him as his special assistant in the Interior Department. Flipper, the first black graduate from West Point (1877), was dishonorably discharged from the Army, reputedly due to racial prejudice. For many years, Fall unsuccessfully attempted to have Flipper reinstated. In 1976 the Army changed Flipper's dismissal to an honorable discharge. He received a full executive pardon in 1999.

Department of the Interior, 1914-1923: Contains papers relating to activities of the Department of the Interior, Fall's activities as Secretary of the Interior, and domestic and foreign affairs, 1914-1923. Also contains papers relating to patronage and favors.

Clarence C. Chase Papers: Contains the Clarence C. Chase papers. Chase was Fall's son-in-law, and Collector of Customs in El Paso in the early 1920s.

Newspaper Clippings: Contains newspaper clippings, pamphlets and clippings from the Congressional Record. Also contains scrapbooks of newspaper clippings regarding Mexico, oil scandals, and sugar.

Federal Court Proceedings: Contains subpoenas, transcripts and briefs pertaining to three different federal criminal court cases involving Fall. Also contains records of a federal suit against Mammoth Oil Company. This series is divided into three subseries.

U. S. v. Albert B. Fall, et al, contains subpoenas and court transcripts in the federal criminal cases against Fall, Edward L. Doheny (Sr. and Jr.) and Harry F. Sinclair for conspiracy to defraud and accepting/offering a bribe. Includes court transcripts in the federal criminal case against Doheny and Fall. In 1922 Harry F. Sinclair was Chairman of the Board of Directors and the largest stockholder of Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation. He was also the controlling stockholder of the Mammoth Oil Company, incorporated February 28, 1922, which held the oil and gas lease to Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3, Wyoming, aka Teapot Dome.

U. S. v. Pan American Petroleum Co., contains court transcripts and printed briefs in U.S. v. Pan American Petroleum, contesting the naval leases.

U. S. v. Mammoth Oil Co., contains court documents in the Mammoth Oil Company federal court litigations. In late 1922 the Board of Directors of Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation authorized an exchange with Harry F. Sinclair of its common stock for Mammoth Oil Company stock owned by Harry Sinclair, and giving Sinclair Consolidated an option to make another such exchange. In 1924 the U.S. Government sued Mammoth Oil Company, Sinclair Crude Oil Purchasing Company, & Sinclair Pipe Line Company, respecting the validity of 1922 and 1923 contracts between the U.S. Government &Mammoth Oil Company.