The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-11-21
Ihe DemOcratic Ernud IN Mnine.
THE NEXT NEW STATE.

Inc progress OF SeItlemelG IN the north
west has, during the last four years,
been immense. Into Kansas, Nebraska,
Colorado, Iowa aud Minnesota, the
stream has been continuous and large.
Population has followed the extension
of railways, and the surveyor who marks
| outupOn the unbroken and unOcc upied
| prairie the route of the railway finds
when he makes his first trip over the rails,
a country peopled, with their farms in
actual cultivation. This tide of settle
ment has, however, gone far beyond the
organized state. 1t has been induced by
various circumstances but especially
| mining prospects, to go into Montana
| and Wyoming; but great population
| seeking farms for permanent occupation
has poured into Dakota, not merely in
one locality, but from the extreme
northern line to the Nebraska line. The
| present territorial boundaries of Dakota
| include an area nearly as large as
| that of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio
and more than twice as great as
that of Minnesota. That portion
of the territory west of the Missouri riv-
yer Is mainly Set apart for the Indian
reservations, but all that part east of the
Missouri river is rapidly filling up with
agricultural settlers, pouring In daily
| from all parts of the compass. The pc
culiar advantage of Dakota for settlers
! is that all the land is the property of the
| government; no part of it has been grant
| ed to railroads, but all is open to pur-
chase or for entry under the homestead
| law. The land itself is extremely fertile,
and the eastern half of Dakota is capable
! of producing more breadstuffs and other
articles of food and of merchandise than
any one of the existing states, not axcept-
| ing Minnesota. Another advantage is
| that the settler takes his land unincum-
bered by any mortgage or heavy taxation
resulting from county debts contracted
in aid of railroads. burden which IN
fortunately weighs heavily upon other
western states. The settlers are all well
to do people, who go into the territory
with their horses, COWS, breaking plOws
and money enough to enable them
to begin work as soon as. they
reach their land. They are not
/ gone there to stay, and the settlers
of 1878 and 1879 will have their crops
selling in Chicago in 1880. So large has
become this population and so much of
the land has been put under cultivation
that there are no less than six railways
now constructing in the state, and, reach
| ing westward FROM Minnesota, have pen
etrated far on toward the Missouri river.
The James or Dakota river runs from
north to south through the whole extent
of the new state, and enters the Missouri
river at the southern boundary. The six
railroads cross the state and this river
from east to west. The Milwaukee & st.
| Paul railroad and the Chicago s. North
western railroad will be completed to the
| Dakota river by January next The
| Tasting 81 Dakota, and st. Paul & Sioux
| City, the Southern Minnesota and the
Northern Pacific are all rapidly push
ing westward through Dakota. These
six parallel railways cross the state at
convenient distances, giving Dakota a
system of transportation and facility of
reaching market not surpassed by that of
any state in the Union.
The population of Dakota at this time
can hardly be estimated. The inflow of
population during the last eighteen
months has been very large. One each
| of these six lines of railroad the settle
ments have been rapid and continuous,
as well as along the Missouri and Dako-
Ia rivers. 1t is not in any way extrava-
giant to assume that by the date of the
census next June the population of the
state Will not be less than 100, 900, and
before the expiration of 1880 it may be
| 100000. There is no reason to expect
| that this rate of increase will not con-
tinue for several years to come and until
the population of Dakota shall reach
| 500, 1000, or 100000.
1t Is more than probable, therefore,
that the territorial assembly of Dakota
will, at the coming session, memorabilia
congress to pass an act enabling the
people of Dakota to adopt a state consti-
tuition, that Dakota may be admitted as
| a state into the union. 1t is possible
| that the formal admission may be post
poned until after the presidential cleo
al
| should delay taking such legislative
| steps as will result in admission of the
state of Dakota in January, 1SSI.-Chi-
cago Tribune.