Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1874-02-19
Ellis WORTH, ELLSWORTH Co., Kansas
February 4th. 1874.

te0ruSfy ftu. loit.
Messrs Eds. Republican: You have
our thanks for past favors. Now
We ask you to publish this one let
ter and then we will stop a while
There have been many letters writ
ten to me asking many questions
which l will try to answer. One is,
Is Kansas a good place for a young
man to get employment and make
money? l have not seen a man
since / came here that couldn't find
work if he wanted to work, but /
cannot advise a young man to come
here with the express purpose OF
making money by labor. But l
can tell you how to come, come
with a determination to make your
selfa home. If you have not much
money you can work some, what
will keep you and improve your farm
and in a few years you will have a
farm that will surpass any farm in
Holmes Co. ,. Are there any claims
handy to You that are not taken!
There are 8 or 10 good claims with
in three miles Of US, and about .
miles south ofus there are thousands
upon thousands of acres Of as nice
land as can be found in any coun-
try. 3. What are horses worth
Heavy horses are not plenty. You
can buy them for from $75 to $3.50.
Ponies are very plenty. You can
buy them from $50 to $50. Chree
of them make a good plow team.
There are many cattle worked
here. They make good team for
breaking sod. You can buy them
for from $50 to $50 dollars per yoke.
The Texan cattle are very fast walk.
ers. Others wish to know about
the game. There were a few buffa-
10 killed near us last summer but
they are very scarce. There are q
good many antelopes but it takes q
sharp hunter to get one. They are
very shy animal and always stop
on some elevated portion of land
where they can see great distance
We shot one since We came here.
They weigh from eighty to one hun
dred pounds dressed. There are
thousands of rabbits, in fact there
are too many. We have to wrap
our fruit trees to SAFE them. There
are plenty of wild chickens and
quail. / have answered all ques
tions.
l read a piece in a Dec, No. oi
the REPUBLICAN, headed a 'Norther OF
the plains concerning Prof. L. P
Cooke and others, credited to the
Kansas Times. 1t states that the
party came to Ellsworth. l have
enquired of all the leading men oi
Ellsworth and can find no one that
knows anything about that { North
er on the Plains). We had snow
about that time ten inches deep and
no storm. The snow did not drift
any, in fact We have had a remark
able pleasant winter, the thermome
ter has not been down to zero this
winter. We have had some days
that would be uncomfortable to be
out but not cold enough to freeze 6
man. There is a class of men here
that do not want the country settled
Men that are very extensively en-
gagged in stock growing. We blame
them for writing such pieces to de.
ter emigrants from coming here.
But they are in the minority and
the people are still coming and they
are still more and more crowded.
This country is bound to settle and
those that want homes can do bet
ter now than one year hence.
Now l am going to try to give
you brief history of our prairie
dogs. They are the most harmless
little animal that lives, think -
They live in little communities.
They call them dog towns here,
There are two towns within IL
miles of our place. They are about
one third larger than the Norway
rat. They are brown color, very
sociable, have paths beat from one
borough to another, have their place
to bury their dead. l have been
told by men that have seen them
perform that solemn duty, that it is
conducted with great solemnity.
The whole town attends the funeral.
have often went by their town and
always found them watching.
could stand at a respectable distance
and view them but when 1 would
approach too close they would bark
and jump into their ho.es. L have
never seen one outside their borough.
often found them gathered in
groups as if holding sociable con-
versation. A young lady writer
from Millersburg asked me to give
her an imaginary view of the
prairies in summer. l must confess
that she has asked more than / am
able to perform. l have often wish
ed to be able to draw a piece of
writing that would make it all
visible to the minds eye. 1 would
send it all over the eastern hills.
But am not the man to draw that
picture. l will do the best / can.
You may fancy yourself standing in
that 40 acre field of A. Wolgamot's s
and it so extended that you could
not see any end to it. Then imag-
inc that extensive field covered with
a heavy crop of green grass and dec
GRATED with beautiful flowers of
every shade and color. There are
the most beautiful flowers here that
have ever seen. There Is one
plant that I often heard of and
wished to see. 1t is the sensitive
plant. The main stock of that
plant grows about one foot high
and has from 6 to II branches shot
from it about 3 feet long lying on
top of the surrounding grass and
covered from center to circumfer-
ence with the most beautiful flower
that ever saw. The flower is per,
fectly round and feels like the fin
est fur. 1t is rich pink color and
when you shout or clap your hands
together near to it it will gently fold
its leaves. Then stand still few
moments and it will spread them
out again and the oitencr that is re
peated the longer it will keep its
leaves folded. Whether it is the
pressure of'the air, or possesses ami
matinn I ON nOt ,,ronoro,1 70 tail