Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1886-10-07

| State very productive farming lands may
| yet be found. They are almost uniformly tim
| bered. In the Detroit district, which COM
| prises the counties Of Alpena, Cheboygan,
| Montmorency, Otsego and Presque Isle, some
$4,000 acres remain unentered. chiefly In Mont
| morency and Presque Isle counties. About an
equal area remains vacant in the Reed City
district, which comprises all that portion OF the
State bordering on Lake Michigan The vacant
lands OF this district are pine plains, with usu-
ally a sandy soil. They include 5000 acres on
Bois Blanc Island. Emmett County possesses
the largest area. Scattering bodies OF land OF
good quality also found in the East Saginaw
district, which comprises all that portion OF
Michigan south Of the Straits OF Mackinac not
included in the above-named districts. The
Marquette district covers the entire peninsula,
a very large portion OF which is still open TO
settlers
Besides the lands named Michigan has, scat
tered through all her counties, 10000 acres OF
State land. designated as swamp, but including
all kinds Of land, 2S5,00 acres Of school, and
l25, 900 acres of college land.
| The southern portion of Wisconsin offers no
opportunities worth mentioning to the home
steader. A few remote or undesirable quarter
district at the west, and III the Menasha district
Throughout the Eau Claire district, which in
| oludes townships IS to 40 north, and ranges !
east to ii west, are scattering tracts OF vacant
land Of good quality and available location the
largest areas being In Chippewa County. Farther
west and north lies the Falls of the st. Croix
district, in which, in townships 80 to 40, ranges
! IL to 20 west are found immense bodies Of un-
light and sandy. In the more eastern
ranges it is heavier and richer. The lighter
soil under proper treatment makes good
farms. The timber is pine and hardwood mix
ed. There remains about 100 0OO acres OF land
subject to entry in the Wnusau district. It is
mainly hardwood land, and lies chiefly in the
border counties north md east of Wausau. To
the north the lands grow broken and less de-
| sirable. The largest bodies OF public land yet
vacant in Wisconsin are found in the bayfield,
district which comprises the exit eme northwest
| ern portion of the State-a section OF no especial
charms for the farmer as a whole but several
small areas of very excellent farming land
Wisconsin holds about leo, 900 acres OF unsold
| school lands, and SOC, 100 acres of swamp land.
These lands can be bought for 50 cents to S125
per acre.
Minnesota still contains about 100000 acres
| of Government land. In the Worthington and
| Tracy districts, which include strip sixty
| miles wide off the entire southern end Of the
State, there are no unoccupied lands. A third
| belt thirty miles wide, Immediately north of
the two described, forms the Redwood Falls
| District, in the extreme western portion OF
which few remote bodies of good prairie land
| are yet subject to entry. There is no vacant
! land in the Benson District, and not more than
( 1000 acres yet remain untaken in Grant and
| Wilkins Counties in tho Fergus Falls district.
The Crookston district embraces about 200, 900
| acres i'll Kittson, Marshall, Polk, Norman, Clay,
Becker, ana Beltrami, and part of Otter Tail
counties. In Becker County is 100000 acres
| OF hardwood land. In Beltrami County the
vacant area is timbered with pine, and in
Kittson and Marshall it is brush prairie.
| Throughout the district the soil Is q black
| vegetable loan, with n sandy subsoil. Between
| the counties of Isanti and Mile Lacs, and
part of Pine, Kanabec, Sherburn, and Aitkin in
| the Taylors Falls district. 1t is timbered and
fertile. Nearly $500 900 acres, a part Of which
| is as yet unsurveyod, are open to settlement in
| the Duluth district in the counties of Cook,
Lake, st. Louis, and Carlton, and parts Of
Aitkin and Itaska, Only about one-fourth of
this area is available for settlement, the re-
mainder being mineral in character, and COW
cred with forests OF pine; The st; Cloud dis
trict comprises parts of Itaska and Aitkin, all
| of Cass, and portions Of the counties south,
aud contains some 100000 acres OF land open
to free entry. About one-third OF this area is
good agricultural land.
The State owns about 800 900 acres of educa-
HanH1 eDa eli iEtnFaF ttr
Neither has the State any land. The northern
and northwestern counties hold considerable
| tracts of school land.
Except in the southeast Government lands are
found in greater or lesser areas throughout Ne
| braska. South Of the Platte River and east OF
the counties of Hamilton, Clay and Nuckols
there is practically no remaining free land.
West of this, in Phelps and kearney Counties.
| in the Bloomington district nre small areas OF
unoccupied sandhills.
In the McCook district-which includes the
western two-thirds of Frontier and all OF Red
| Willow, Hayes Hitchcock, Chase and Dundy
Counties-about $4,000 acres OF fair farming
territory are yet vacant.
North of the last-named section is the North
Platte district, comprising the counties OF
Cheyenne, 9th, Lincoln, half of Dawson and
Custer, and the unolganized territory north Of
the last four counties. Twothirds Of this en-
tire district is open to homestead settlement.
It is q good grazing settlement, and available
for farming purposes. Tho rainfall Is scant.
The counties Of Sioux and Cherry form the
Valentine district, which presents varied
landscape Of sandhills, prairies, tableland, and
valleys. Half of the entire district Is avail
able for agriculture. At the west the soil is
u rich loess. The middle section is not desr-
able. Four-hfths OF the district, or about $780,,
900 acres, is open TO homesteaders. Tim
g. fnts anf aNd Ifnu kyA No
ligh di istrict, in which Keya Paha, Brown. Holt,
Wheeler, Doono, anu Ioup Counties anvld "a
vast area for settlement. Its soil Is medium,
and the section is not without attractions. Ex-
tending south Of the counties last named to the
Platte River is the Grand Island district.
in which there is considerable land for free en-
try. 1t is fair farming country.
Sections l6 and SO Of each township In the
State, or one-eighteenth of its entire area, were
reserved for school purposes. OF this, ], ,250 00O
acres are yet unsold,
Between $4,000, 900 and 10, ,0OO 010 acres Of land
suitable for agriculture are now open to settle
ment in Dakota, nine -tenths of which are situa-
ted at the north. Twenty-six million acres
more are tied up in Indian reservations. The
lands in the southeastern portion, comprising
the Yankton, Mitchell, and Watertown dis
trcts, have all been taken except some iso-
lated and inferior tracts. In the Huron dis
trict small areas Of vacant land are found In
Hand, Hyde, sully, Fauik, and Potter ooun.
land, about half of which is good farming
land. The remainder is rough. The Fargo
district is also pretty fd well exhausted nnt; q, o.
Dickeyi- and LaMoure, the eastern part
Of Stutman and Foster and the west
ern part OF Griggs some considerable areas re-
main subject to settlement. Scattered through
tho Grand Forks district, in the northeastern
corner of Dakota, are few unoccupied tracts
but except in Cavalier County and the town
ships bordering it upon the east, the areas are
small and are not regarded as desirable. Three
quarters of million acres OF vacant land invite
settlement in Edmunds Walworth, MCPHERSON
Campbell, and the south tier of townships In
Emmons, Dckey, and Mcintosh Counties which
together form the Aberdeen district. This is
the famous Jim River Valley" section. The
lands remaining vacant are prairie, and are
rated as average in quality. They are ocea
sionally broken by barren hills. Benson, Dc
Smet, McHenry, seven townships Of Cavalier
Rolette Bothineau, and half OF Wynne
County form the Devils Lake district
which embraces 6,OOO 900 acres, about one-third
OF which has been taken up, leaving 4,500.OOt
acres open for settlement Half Of this area IL
arabic land. The remainder is mountainous
stretching across the Missouri River from the
western lines Of the Devils Lake and Fargo
districts, and extending north from line
drawn east and west twelve miles south of the
south lines OF Hottinger County, is the great
Bismarck district, in which are about 1200O, ,0Ot
acres Of vncant government lands Much o
this area is still unsurveyed. The settlements
are along the line Of the Missouri Pacific Road
and ON the Mississippi River, but others ore
springing up throughout the district Every
: county offers free homes, in some places
within n short distance of railroad facilities
J The lands are of varying degrees Of excellence
. but the great bulk of them are accounted good
The counties OF Butte, Delano, Lawrence, SEQ
] hey, Pennington, Ziebach Custer. Washington
Fall River and Shannon, in the southwest cor
, , ner OF the Territory, form the Deadwood dis
! except Lawrence have extensive areas Of avail
! able government land OF fair quality for farm
> ing. Considerable areas at the northeast anC
, soatheast are unsuryeyed and very little Lane