Oregon authorities declared their intention to apprehend him and his partner Horace G. McKinley anywhere in the world, and sent photographs through U. S. diplomatic channels.

[12] In 1906, while incarcerated, Puter co-wrote the book Looters of the Public Domain with Horace Stevens, a former General Land Office clerk.

[2][3][10] In the detailed tell-all, Puter both confessed to and accused others of their role in the scandal, and in it were portraits of his co-conspirators and copies of documents confirming their criminal acts.

[13] President Theodore Roosevelt pardoned Puter after he had served 18 months of his sentence so that he could turn state's evidence.

[12] His testimony led to the indictment of Mitchell, Hermann and John N. Williamson, who made up three-fourths of Oregon's congressional delegation, as well as a number of other prominent Oregonians and federal officials.

[17] Several years later, in what was described in an International News Service item as "the final echo of the Oregon land fraud cases," four of the eight co-defendants entered guilty pleas.

He was survived by his wife, Sarah, and two daughters, Vivian McEwen and Gladys Jones, and his body was interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Colma, California.