The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-10-07
IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.


According TO the estimates of the Registers Of
the land Offices, fully l.0C00)0 acres of Govern
ment lands are still unoccupied in Missouri. In
the Ironton district the vacant lands lie mainly
in Howell Q2j, 900 acres, Texas (22j,OO0 acres
Oregon, Shannon Ripley and Phelps counties
These lands 100000 acres in all are timbered
billy and poor Large bodies of free land
Of a kind better suited to grazing than TO
agriculture, footing up over 100000 acres,
are found IN the counties OF Crawford
Miller, Pulaski, Camden, Hickory, St Clair,
Benton Laclede, Dallas, Polk, and Cedar
which comprise the Boonville district. Some
twenty counties in the southwest corner of the
State make up the Springfield district. or
these Stone, Christian, fancy, Douglas, and
Ozark, only. contain any large areas of Federal
land. The prairie lands of this section are
hausted. The remaining woodlands are rolling
and sometimes rough, but the soil is good.
State lands to the extent of $4,000 acres are vet
unsold, as are, also, several thousand acres of
The United States owns about 400, 600 acres
of land in Arkansas, all open To homesteaders.
OF this some 100000 acres are in the Harrison
district, which includes Boone, Benton, Baxter,
Carroll, Fulton, Izard Madison, Marion, New
ton, Searcy, Stone and Washington counties.
None of these counties contains less than 100, 0O0
while Benton has nearly 100000 acres. These
lands all timbered. and are, in the main,
billy, although there are large areas of rich val
ley lands. In the Camden district, Nevada,
Hempstead and Ashley counties have vacant
prairie lands. Polk, Pike, OIL tgomery, Hot
Springs, Garland, Clark, and Howard counties
are timbered, and contain 10000 acres
Gus valleys. Unoccupied lands also exist in the
southern parts of Miller. Lafayette. and Column
bia Counties. The Dardanelle district: COM
prisng Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan,
| Sebastian, Montgomery, and Saline Counties,
with 40, 900 to So 900 acres of vacant land each
and Pope, Yell, Scott and Perry, with about
900 acres each, ia made up of alternate
mountains and lowlnnds, the latter being ex-
| tremely fertile. II is n timbered region. The
| remaining Government lands in the State. some
| 100000 acres, nearly all OF which is available
| are in the Little Rock district, and are divided
| between prairie and timber. Beginning thirty
\ miles east of Little Rock and extend
| ing west ninety TO one hundred miles, with an
| average width of twenty-seven miles is the
principal prairie of the State. Much Of IL is un-
occupied About !, ,00J acres of State lands
are undisposed of, and of these lands nearly
100000 acres are free to settlers who improve
them.
Kansas is not without attractions for the
| homesteader. In the Topeka, Concordia, and
Independence distr cts at the east no lands Of
| consequence remain unoccupied ottawa,
| Saline, Lincoln Ellsworth, Russell, Davis,
and Chase counties, in the saina dis.
| trct, contain isolated quarter-sections Of
rough land. Graham and Norton counties,
1 in the kirwin district, have about 3D.
| 600 of medium lands. The Oberlin
| district at the northwest, contains 1900, 90
acres Of vacant land, chiefly in Thomas. Chey-
! enne, Sherman and Rawlins counties. IL is
mostly prairie, with mixed loan and sand
| soil which yields fairly. In the Wichita dis
| trict, Reno, Butler, Barber, kingman and
| Harper counties contain some 10000 acres Of
available land. Rice, .Pawnee, Edwards, Bur
| ton. Stafford, Pratt, and part of Ho.dgeman
counties form the Larned district, and exclus-
i've of the Usage Indian reservation of 100000
acres, contain only odd quarters OF in
different land. At the southwest is the
Garden Ciy district, made up of the
counties of Ford. Seward, Finney, Ham
ilton, Comanche and part of Hodgeman,
which contains over 100000 acres of vacant
land Back from the Arkansas Valley which
Is from one to five miles wide and very fer
tile, this section IA n great rolling table land,
without timber, The soil is fair. teing sandy
loan with light clay subsoil resting on lime
stone. Irrigation Is largely practced, and is
essential, rule to successful farming
North of the last-nained district Is the Wa
keeney, or Western land district, which com
prises all of the State not included In the
above descriptions, and contains nearly 1000
0J0 acres OF land open TO free settlement This
region is all prairie, and too dry for cult