The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1855-06-01
KANSAS CORRESPONDENTS.

KANSAS CORRESPONDENTS.
DoxIPHAn CrrY, X. T., May al, '55.
DEAR JOURNAL:
Having received number Of letters from
persons who / suppose are readers Of the
Journal, relative to this territory, and not
having the time to give them all a separate
answer, I shall avail myself of the. license
which you have given me, to answer some
of their questions. n r7T <-sr
How do emgrants generally like the coun.
try! Well! that is question hard to answer;
the majority, believe, are well pleased with
it. the land is as good as any in the United
States, but, as has often been stated, there
is great scarcity of timber.
Are there any claims yet vacant! There
are great many vacant prairie claims, az
good land as ever crow few over, but
very few timber claims; there are thousands
of claims now vacant which are far better
than prairie lands in Missouri, which are
worth $40 to Is per acre, and closer to
timber than the Mo. lands.
Are there any chances to buy good claims
at reasonable prices! There are a great
many valuable claims made by poor men
who will not have the means TO enter them,
and who viii! sell them exceedingly low. l
see claims sold every day for SIS, $50
and 800, by men who need money badly,
while others who have means, value claims.
not perhaps as good, at sl2oo, and $500.
When the lands come to be entered there
will be many sold for song, because men
have not the cash to enter them with
When the lands are surveyed there will be a
great number of good vacant claims. The
squatters are all at least one half mile apart,
and some over that, and will allow no one to
build under that distance until the lines are
run. The lines will be run in a month or
six weeks, probably not under two months.
Is the country in the vicinity of Doniphan
well adopted to agriculture! There is as fine
a country around Doniphan as ] ever saw.
The lands bordering on independence. Rock
and Deer creeks cannot be beat, either for
beauty or richness. Wolf river, fourteen
miles back, has fine body of timber, and
every foot Of the land bordering on it will
be cultivated. Stranger, nine miles back has
fine land and timber. Grasshopper, Moscheto
and number of smaller streams have fine
land and some timber. There is a peculiari.
lty about the lands bordering on the creeks
and rivers: there is q strip of land from a
quarter of a mile to a mile wide, extending
from its source to the mouth, and perfectly
level. This is the richest land ever saw.
The timber grows along the edge Of this
level prairie bordering on the creek or river;
back of il are the bluffs. The lands on the
bluffs are good, but not as good as the bottom
prairie. As the creeks are all fed BY springs
the bottom is not unhealthy. We have q
large number of wealthy farmers around
Doniphan, and there is plenty Of room foI
more. Will the government first offer the
public lands at auction, before entries can
be made! No, that is, not the lands up here.
There are some lands ia the Southern par,
of Kansas Territory, which will have to be
sold at auction. Will government land
warrants be received in lieu Of money from
the purchaser. and what do land warrants
sell for in Kansas Territoryi lam of the
opinion that land warrants cannot be laid in
Kansas; there are none in the market.
What does real estate sell for in your city!
We are selling lots at q very small price to
those who design improving them immediate
~, and do not care about selling at all to
those who do not. Good lots, to the former
are cold for $50.
It is hard to tell where the territorial Leg
islature will convene. The Governor will
call it at Pawnee, but it is the general i'm.
preston that they will meet there. organize,
and adjourn to some other point, as all its
members are opposed to the Governor.
Provisions are scarce. Flour sells at Sc
per 100 lbs; bacon 7@S cents per pound;
corn meal 81 per bushel. Those are the
three articles we live on. But the prospect
looks fair for overcrops this season. On &C
count of the scarcity Of breadstufs, there
was much larger quantity of wheat sown
last fall than ever before, in Missouri. And
the rain which we have had for few days
past, has brought it out finely. We had al.
most begun to despair, until a few days past,
for it had been exceedingly dry. We are
Teasing on the finest strawberries-oh hush!
they grow all over the prairies. We have
variety of wild fruit, such as currants,
gooseberries, plums, &c. Kansas produces
the finest plume ever saw. They are about