The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1868-02-14
BUTLER COUNTY.
Advantages to Immigrants, Tim
Der, Streams, Stock Raising,
County Seat, Etc.
ELDoRADo, BUTLER Co., Kan,

ELDoRADO, BUTLER CO., Kan,
February /, 1865.
EDITOR EMPoRIA NEWS: In compli-
ance with request that our county should
be represented in your migration paper,
to be issued the 18th inst, l herewith
tender you such information as has come
under my immediate observation as a
resident of ten years in this county. In
endeavoring to be as brief as possible
that your many readers may not be
worried by perusal of long article,
| Gas we are taught that brevity is the soul
! of Wit, many things may escape my at
| tcntion.
| If should endeayor to give detail
ed account of the many advantages we
possess over other portions of our State,
1 would have a theme which would fur
nish matter enough to keep you busy
| for considerable length OF time. But
wishing to confine myself to facts, will
not endeavor to delude any one in the
vain hope of making fortune in a few
years, but rather to inform those who
como to Kansas that they must expect
to "cat bread by the sweat of the
! brow"
Cur county is in its infancy and grow
| ing daily in importance. Eleven years
ago it was the home of the Indian, buff
| talo, wolf, &c, but as immigration
works miracles, these have been driven
back to seek an asylum i'll the distant
west. 1t has been but sparcely settled
up to the year 1850, but since then, NUM-
bers have been induced to come to its
fertile soil, having been attracted thither
BY its adaptibility TO agriculture and
stock raising.
The county seat, up to August %, '67,
twas located at Chelsea. By order of the
/ County ROard a vote was taken upon
the permanent location, and Eldorado
was chosen by large majority. Where
the county seat is now located, great
interest is taken to build up city. l
think it is the finest point for town i'll
the west. 1t will be a central point as
: soon as our railroads are built. They
must make Eldorada the point from
Fort Scott to Santa Fe, also, the stage
route from Council Grove to Texas can
not AVOID it. a town has been survey
ed, and a number of respectable build.
ingS are in course of erection. 1mmc-
diately east of the town about quarter
of mile is n mill now being put up.
which will add materially to the pro-
gress of building, fencing, &c. We have
here the finest timber in the State, con-
sisting of black walnut, blackberry,
hickory, oak, ash, and sycamore. These
timbers are not dotted here and there
like they are i'll other portions of Kan
sas, but are scattered prOfusely on every
stream, furnishing material for the hus-
bandman to exercise his skill.
The prices of land, Cotton land) well
timbered, varies some are offered al
- TO Ian
unimprOyed can be bought from 81 %
to 81 80 per acre, although there is any
quantity of land that can be bought fol
}, 81 70 to So per acre, with some timber
and thousands of acres open for entry,
both upland and bottom. Spectators
have been induced to invest in land and
stock, as they are far-seeing men, and
anticipate the richness of this county
looming up in the distance.
The inhabitants of the county number
at this time, abOnt 200, being an intelii-
5 gent class from the various parts of the
United States and Europe. Our farm.
j., ing interests have been to an extent ne
elected on account of the adaptation Of
F; the climate and grasses to stock raising
7 although we arc self-sustaining people
raising enough corn, oats, wheat, anC
i other small grain for home consumption
: Eighty bushels Of corn has been raised
> lflIS ScdSOfl IL Tic tCTc3 aHO oS uISh u
6 forty bushels of wheat, and two hundred
c gallons of molasses, and other things il
: proportion, giving a good showing fo
j the productiveness of the soil. Stool
j raising is attracting considerable atten
i ton, and the county is well adapted Il
5 the same, better most likely, than an,
q in the State.
: Our schools have been sadly neglecte,
; on account of the small number O: chill
dren, but as immigration comes in
school houses have been erected-iI
d nine school districts. AS for churches
we use the school houses, as is the prim
L tive style in new countries; but never
: theless, the same religious sentiment pre-
: walls here as in more thickly settled
e countries.
G We have fine indications of coal, bu
Il no developments, as the wood has fur
!, nished the demand for fuel.
1 Our streams are unequalled. Tn
e main Walnut, taking its rise SOM
d twenty-three miles northeast of Eldora
|, do, and running in a serpentine cours
through the county empties into tn,
: Arkansas river, some one hundred mile
: below the county seat. White Waite
comes in on the northwest, emptyin!
into the Walnut some fifteen miles from
: Eldorado. West Branch comes from
u the northwest, and is about twenty-fiy
D miles in length, and empties into tn.
: Walnut at Eldorado. The Little Wal
n nut, heading in the county, east, ais.
u empties into main Walnut; DurackiI
T Greek, and Four Mile Greek, on tn
:, west, Pond. Bemis, Thorman, and Col
|, Greeks and their tributaries, also empt
I into the main Walnut. Ali of thes
a streams have an abundance of timbe
0 and never failing water. The bottom
u land Is very rich, black, loamy col
about ten feet deep, and on any O
the bottoms good wells can be made b
digging from twenty TO twenty-ffv
II feet deep.
We have an industrious and thrivin
I people, which has been shown by thei
$ works. In the first settlement our coun
= ty pioneers had to undergo all of the i'll
le attending the settlement of new couu
try, but by diligence and perseverance
those obstacles have in a measure bee
removed, and all seem to be prosper
Is ing.
u We need more mills, (saw and grist
N mechanics of all kinds, school teacher
G. preachers of the gospel; also laborin
N men of all classes.
About one mile from the county sea
there is to be found the most beantif;
A. stone, for building purposes, which ca
N be quarried without much difficulty, an
e. is used now to great advantage In th
of erection of chimneys, &c.
nt All that is wanting to test the vera'
ct ity of this letter is for persons to com
to Butler and see for themselves III