The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1884-03-06


KEH81s H0ADs, cuaATE. LAND.
oAoPS. cATTLE, RANCHES, So
sciETT,'&c
BY II. JOHNSON.
~ IT. EA1zKEn. KAN.
March ad, 1854.
EDITOR SALINA JoURNAL.-Ail the
nsitlers who move into Contral and
ad Western Kansas nov may be
thrown into two oiasses. Flrst, those
who have conaidsEabls money and
property, bat who vish to get q
wider and larger possession. Second,
thOss who have little or nothing, and
see no chance to get . solid foOthOld
East, but hope to procure q cheap
home and an independent living In
the new country. Under the hEst
class may also Be included the stock
men who come pretty full handed to
set up princely ranches. At this age
Of Kansas, I presume there h little Of
the Transport" element e0mes here,
and few for political purposes. In
stitutions here are shout q solid and
sterling a. In any other country.
Three things combine 70 render the
country delightful to settlers. The
dry Light aiE, TIE good roads and the
me scenery. To the damp uaIarial
distticts of the afississippl Valley the
aiF q Kanaaa b most refreshing. To
the former inhahitant Of Illinois. Mis-
souEi and Indiana, Who have been
accustomed g heavy FOads, spring and
fsIl, and extremely rongh, frozen
onss &c thre1gh the winter, the
smoOth springy, plank-Ilke highways
~ Kansas are . luxury. kept q horse
sud bagy fn an TlllnoIs livery stable
one "Vlntsrv (SsYsn msnths), and
never drove cut bur fHses. Then, to
have = sweep 81 vision oYerths undu-
dulallne iands Of Kansas for four, SIX,
- Zen nllss, With The timber ffinges,
ond IlsinRs. hill ana valley paint
in4s, - thine Of bauis nOWhszs 70.
nd = psf1sctly = shEouEhout
8s West, TIE esnfFs q which we call
Al fhIs, 81 The nay, e the
rleE1fc8 and adVaal1eea count no
iliio = n. l1alzlnr up tie sam toial,
f where 70 nltch our
tents and stay.
6NEF THIRD GEAR
In January, 1881, the Interior De-
partmsnt declared the Sfxtssn square
miles Of which IT. Harker reservation
was composed, open to ssttlsment. In
4 very short time every government
quarter in It was taken up and a house
put upon It. The government ap-
praised Its lands atp2.50 toS60O an acre
coupled with settlement, while the
railroad appraised its lands somewhat
higher, on the terms Of 9 to IL years.
When I reached Ellsworth, July,
1881, the poorest quarter Of the whole
Reserve" was not taken, and only
that one, but Il waS soon taken. Very
little railroad land was sold and q
whole school section IN the limits lay
open, The school section wss covered
by ali the Fort buildings, and the law
yers and agents sgreed that this land |
could not be taken without further
orders from headquarters However,
August eth, 1881, the government sold
It's improvements for removal or othe. |
erwise, and having bought q settlers
claim on that part covered by the
dwelling houses and also having
bought the houses Of the government,
I forthwith brought into market this
school section IN the ordinary way
and purchased It.
Then the railroad had square sec
Iions for sale all around. Houses from
he fort were removed to Ellsworth,
Iour miles, or straight lines across the
a fence, corral nor hardly /
! doOr. yard enclosed ali through the
Under the impression that q town
would spring up here, The land de-
,artment promised me q depot and
ofice) or that the land
you'd soon all be gObbled up. In less
han eighteen months all the railroad
ands In five miles was bought up,
md men began TO fence In four to tWen-
y mile jobs. The fences are mostly
hree wires-pOsts two rods apart. It
iOsts S12 a mile to put it mp, and the
shole cost Il about 20 cents \ rod.
There ls little land that has changed
lands, but It issafe to say, none could
low be bought for less than double
,Figinal cost-All this In two years.
NO CONFIDENCE IN CROPS.
The first year or two here had no
In the crops, being nsed to
lear the old settlers curse sod break.
1g and cropping, swearing IL was all
D stock. But a thorough trial last
ear, convinced me that corn, oats,
ye, wheat, mlllet, sorghum and
lost garden vegetables, would pay
reil ON most il not all lands, even
nus far Wsst and that crops even for
iockInsu, pay right along with their
.0ek, and TO farmers who have no
ioek, the prices pay as we'll here e. In
be old States. Forty sorss Of corn,
acres Of sorghum, 20 acres Of rye
I'd q reasonable lot Of hay with the
ufalo grass 10 open weather, and all
I which feed raissd on the place,
,st me lsss than 500, and vas found
a0ugh 20 winter so hsad Of cattle,
a horsa and other little stock.
low VIII that compare with the e.
snse Of WinteEing stock through
.llnois and Missouri In 1851 ] put
no crops. In 1889, had 20 little
,uhdsncs In crops that I would
slther farm OF rent. In less I found
general crop to pay well in con-
seton with stock and IN Is54I ex-