Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1888-01-04

purchased nearly If not quite, whole
township. Forward again went the
track and made a grand stop at Chad
ron, whore they immediately sprung
another fine scheme They intend
ed at first. to locate their town site on
White River, on the farm of a Mrs.
OHM, about three miles west OF the
present town, and where the town at
that time was situated. Their agent
called npon Mrs. O'Linn and asked the
price Of her place, and because she
named a reasonable sum cher farm be-
ing well improved, be held up his
hands in holy horror and left The
company Immediately set to work, To-
Gated town-site ON an alkali fat where
absolutely no water could be obtained,
paid nominal price for the land and
Immediately sold thousands on thons-
ands of dollars worth OF lots to the
throngs Of newcomers who had come
out to northwestern Nebraska, on their
representations alone. Rather than pay
fair price for their location to Mrs.
O'LinD, where pure water could be
found with only little excavating, and
where running stream would flow the
year around, near the town, where set
tiers would have had some slow for
their lives after the road went on, they
located their town where thousands Of
dollars. have been spent to get good
water and as yet have yielded no return,
where the settler was compelled to
rustic, to exc out an existence After
having taken a good long rest at Chad
ron, the town-lot company (same thing
as the railroad con1pany,) decided to
build on, and Immediately began laying
the rails north to Buffalo Gap, where
they carried out, on gigantic scale,
the fleeing of the people. At that point
they purchased tract of land from L.
B. Reno for few hundred dollars, laid
out town-site and sold nearly $4,000
worth Of lots. There their cappers
and steerers got in their fine
work. The town lot company
prior to the sale, had worked up the peo-
pie to a high pitch Of excitement and af-
ter they had them in that condition,
started the sale. Their cappers ran the
prices OF lots away up into the hundreds.
The people grew more excited and bid
over them, and in the end the lots were
knocked down to the luckless inhabitants
at enormous prices. The great amount
of talk made by the company's managers
who, being men high in authority in the
railroad Company, were believed, led tho
gullible public to think that all they said
was gospel truth, and that Buffalo Gap
was destined to become the Omaha Of
the New Northwest. The town lot COM
plny soon forgot their utterances, after
they had gotten all the cash they could,
and once again the road moved on to-
wards Rapid City. At Fairburn they
plated town but only two or three in
diyiduals purchased. AT Hermosa, the
same old Gordon and Chadron trick was
tried, but failed to work, as the people,
profting by the experience of others, re-
fused to be bitten. The company plat
ted town about one mile north of the
old town, and advertised sale of lots.
But the inhabitants of the old town were
cute and refused to nibble the proffered
bait. Finally the company gave local
banker a choice corner lot to build on,
and try and build up the new town, after
which they moved on to Rapid. Mean
time, the population of the old town Of
Battle River desiring to be upon the rail
road, came to Hermosa, one by one, and
purchased lots at the list price named by
the company, which in all conscience was
high enough. In this way they rid
themselves OF the chances taken in a
public auction, as manipulated by the
town-lot company's auctionecr assisted
by his cappers, and bought coolly and
deliberately for a fair price, what under
other circumstances they would possibly
have purchased for three or four times
ais much. Here the people profted by
the experience of Buffalo Gap, and re-
fused to be caught by the Vaccinations
of this wonderfully kind and consider
ate corporation that labored only for the
good OF humanity and the welfare of the
country. At Rapid City the railroad
company was given bonus and large
tract Of land and other rights and privi-
leges, portion of which passed over to
this same town lot company. For all
this what has Rapid received in return?
Anyone who desires can soon sum up
all the advantages derived from the adj
vent of the railroad and its attendant
barnacle, the town lot company. The
railroad laid over at Rapid for year
and then built on to this city. where it
was promised us they would stop 'for a
season" They received from this city
the right of way through it, and forty
acres OF land and after getting firm
grip of it '.the season" was declared up,
and they proceeded to build on out of
the CITY, into the suburbs, where they
stnnnell in a .cnrn-fieid and nntatn match