The Leavenworth weekly times., 1879-05-22

AGRlCULTi RALLY sPEahING,
Ellis county is looming up into big propo
tons, and since the first experiments
crop-raising upon " the plains" az this pa
of the Stale was familisriy known in lS7t
Il, the increase in acreage has been lite
ally astounding. The first effort at crop
raising, il must be confessed, was fsilur
, but that wasn't the fault Of the soil, as th
! season was most unpropitious, but ever
: succeeding effort has been crowned with th
very biggest kind of success. The count
was organized in 1867, but as at thst tim
! the noble red man was so numerous an
| troublesome there were very few Induce
ments to
THE IMMIGRANT
to come here, that IL, il he had any psr
ticular desire to live and keep his own han
and consequently, in 1870, three year
after, the population entire Of the county
troops probably included, Was but l 400
five years after, owing to the Indian trouble
the population dwindlnd down to ] 900, bu
after the last named period, the savage ii
the meantime having beeu prOdded out o
this region by the bayonets of the troops
the immigrants, who had found out tn
nature of this glorious region, began Il
O Il Jck in, and last year
AN INCOMPLETE CENSUS
showed $500, while at the present time i
is not far from 6,000-hsving thriblet
within years time. T;e people are com
log in now at a surprising rate, but thsre il
room for ali who want TO come. with plenty
OF good land at fair prices for all Of them
The southeastern portion of the county il
very level, the center portion uIdulatlng
and the western part somewhat inclined &c
be bluffy. About fifteen per cent. Of the
surface OF the county is bottom land, the
average width of the bottoms being one
mile; the timber, which is 10 b. found
principally along the streams, ID
OF GOOD QUALITY
and Of the variety usually found in this
regior. There are efforts towards the cult
Walton of artificial forests being made and
with quite agreeable success, more es-
pecially in Ellis and Big Creek townships.
The Smoky Hill river flows through the
southern part of the county from west to
east, and the Saline through the northern
part, in the same direction; Big Creek,
quite large stream, flows in a southeaster-
ly direction, entering the county at about
the center Of the western line. Victoria
creek, flowing in the same direction, is a
stream Of some size and tributary to Big
Creek. The county is well watered by
NUMEROUS SMALL STREAMS;
springs abound, more particularly in the
northern portion, and the best of we'll water
can be Obtained at depths varying from
twenty to fifty feet. Coal has been discov-
cred in the southeastern part OF the county
but very little has as yet been done toward
the development of the beds. Magnetism
Limestone is found in inexhaustible quan;i-
ties in all parts of the county, which is
very cheap, handsome and durable build
ing material, easily worked and from
which some of the most elegant structures
in this portion OF the State have been
THE KANSAS PACIFIC, ROAD
enters the county inst south of the centre
of the east line and runs in a slightly
norihwesterly direction, the principal points
on the line in the county being Hays and
Ellis The road has done much toward the
filling up of the county; in fact if it had
not been for the K. Z. Western Kansas
would still be the bowling ground of the
red man. We can't do without railroads,
for they have been the pioneers OF civiliz.-
ZION in Kansas. The road does an immense
business from Hays and Ellis, the later
having been ior the past three or four years
the
GREAT SHIPPING POINT FOR TEXAS CATTLE,
at The present time much OF the
5 slipping is done from points farther west
ward. There are now in the county about
20 coo acres under cultivation, and proba-
bly, more, as these figures are simply esti-
mated and not official, but sure it Is that
the increase Of cultivated acreage since the
report made last year is wonderful. The
increase Of cultivated acres curing ISIS
v as more than eight thousand, and the in
crease thus far will be more than double
that. The development of the county dur
.ng the past three years has been ss;onish
.ng, iOE, rs a matter OF fact, the ma ajority OF
ali
THE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COUNTY
date during that period. The county is
NJ naking great progress in the Improvement
Of its public school system, and is organiz-
ing new districts and building new school
houses all the time, many of the districts
laAu EDlIic W
the ornamenta;ion Of their grounds. The
value Of all the school property of the
county ia about S25 600, and church prop
erty $1,000 About $4,000 ia invested in
in the county, and two large
mills are in process of erection, one at
Hays and the other at
ELLIS,
-. E Io
years, the great Texan cattle market of the
West, is twelve miles west Of Hays City,
and is busy, live little town of about five
hundred inhabitants, which is growing and
building up very fast. Thousands and
Thousands Of long-hornes have found their
way cast from this place, and while the
shipments OF this wear will not be as large
as last, stilI they will be immense. The
Texas cattle dead line strikes the State
upon the west here; but although it will not
be moved further westward for two years,
that is, until the meeting of the next Leg
islsture, the bulk OF the cattle drive will
lot come west of Buffalo, probably, that
being a mere convenient point than Ellis.
But notwithstanding this, Ellis will con-
tinue to grow and improve, for she is well
located and will always get her fair share
Of the trade. a newspaper Is 10 be started
here, its pub isher having already received
most substantial encouragement, and there
is no reason why i, shouldn't do well. Ellis
business men are live and energetic, and
neglect no opportunity TO advance the in
teresis OF their own.
THE HAYS LAND OFFICE
The United States land office st Hays,
Capt. B J. +. Hanna, register, and Capt.
VIM. J. Hunter, receiver, is doing an i'm
mense business, and no one who has not
had the opportunity of glancing at the fig
ures would believe any statement made
which would approsch the truth regarding
the number of entries of land made in this
district during the present yesr. The Hays
City Land Distric. is one hundred and six
tv five miles long and si1ty-six miles
wide, including the counties of Ellis, Bush,
Trego, Ness, Cove, Lane, Wallace, Scott,
Wichits and Gr.eiey, together with the
South tier of townships of Rocks, Graham.
Sheridan, Thomas and Sherman counties,
eight hundred thous and acres of land yet
vacant and subject to entry under the va
rious acts of Congress granting lands TO
actual settlers. The following statement
will show the amount of business tram
acted at the office here, from the 1st of ] an
uary to the 18th of May, 1879:
KIND .: :.::::: MAJ: ! J :! II.