Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-11-30
Dakota's Claims.
PHILADELPHIA Dress.

utldlltallcP III Il. )OHdn
80 you think | have strayed a long
way from home and must feel some
what lost ~ he said. after hearty greet
ing. Not a bit of it. I'm like an In
dian who was found wandering around
in the woods unable to find his camp.
Some one asked him, 'Injun lost ?''Ugh
no! he grunted. slapping himself on
the breast. 'lniunhere.. Wigwam LOST
I'm here, and it would lie hard to lose
me in II half of the world. You
must remember that we are used to
long distances in Dakota. Our terri
tory is SO big that it is almost Il trans
continental from anywhere else. From
Philadelphia to Boston would he a
mere step across the street to see a
neighbor. 1t is as far from Pembina
on our northern, to Yankton, on our
southern border, a from New York to
Raleigh n. G., or from Washington to
Ontario, Canada. by the routes we
have to travel Il MAJ going from the
northwestern corner Of the territory
to attend court. or the legislature, at
Yankton, has as long a tripas from st.
Paul to New York. or from Philadel-
phia to Mobile. AS for feeling far
from home, u sweet old song declares
'tis home where'er the heart u.s. and l
have paraphased it into. 'tis home wher-
e'er my hats hung up On the princi-
pie Of the song a genuine Dakotaian is
at home wherever there is work to be
done for his territory, and that is just
what ! am in Philadelphia for now.
We have by far the largest and most
important territory in all the union.
Laid down upon a map Of the United
States, Dakota would cover every foot
Of land and water from the st. Law
renee and st. Johns tothe S~usquehanna
and Schuylkill. With her $4,000 square
miles she is IS large as all six New En-
gland states, New York, New Jersey
and half Of Pennsylvania, with Della
wares three little peach orchards and
two toy senators thrown in. She is
10000 square miles greater than Great
Britain. with the Isle of Man and Mrs.
Langtry's Jersey to boot. She is near
ly us large as Pennsylvania. Ohio, lndi-
ana. and Illinois all put together, and,
spread out in the proper shape would
almost cover the entire region bounded
by the great lakes on the north, the
Ohio on the south, the Mississippi on
the west and the Alleghanies on the
east.
We have in Dakota 1900 miles of
railroadi in operation. and hundreds of
miles in process Of construction. We
have at least 100 thriving cities and
towns scattered broadcast overthe pas
turing places OF yesterdays buffalo
and antelope: We have over $50 daily
and weekly newspapers which com
pare favorably with any iii the older
regions. We Have as handsome church.
es and schools as can be found in anv
OF your smaller cities. and we have a
population unsurpassed on earth in in
tellgefice, energy. enterprise. public
spirit and hospitality, 1t shut seven
years and three months since Custer
and his battalion were massucred bv
the Sioux just over western border and
only three years ago savage war par
ties raided over much territory and
killed settlers and prospectors between
the Missouri river and the Black Hills.
ct to-day we number over a thirlo of a
million souls. and il the present grand
rush forward is unchecked it is but a
few moons until we shall have our full
million. We have the vastest TERRITORY
in all this new world republic, the
richest and most varied in it's resources
the most populot.s, productive and
prosperous now, and the fullest of glor-
iolls promise for the future. !fall this
does not entitle us to be put, political
ly and religiously. on ali equality With
Carolina and Floridanegrues and truck
patches, can't imagine what would