The Arkansaw traveler., 1889-05-04
WEST PLAINS, MO.


 of the Ozark range. is the capital of Howell On the Kansas City. sprIngneld q Memphis railway Gulf rOute), between the two latter cities. Like the ancient city of the Hebrew kings. it is "beautiful for situation" and ls the one central, commanding, advancing com merctal town of . tributary country tooo square miles In extent: . country abounding In numberless clear. hard and soft water springs. clear. rapid streams. splendid forests Of hard and soft wood timber. rich and rarely productive valleys. beautiful and fertile pral. ries. charming intervales. wild. picturesque bluns. clIRs. gorges. giens and canyons. and over all the influence of . genial. equable, health-inspiring climate. alike free from the rigors of the high north and the depressing heat and humidity of the lower south.
 within this broad range of country are scores of pretty valleys covered with we ll-cul. ttvated cotton, corn and wheat fields that would be the envy of many . famous farm district in the older states. The slopes, too, abound in hne farms and the delightful little prairies arc as fertile and fair as . Bel gian garden. The valleys are almost unrivaled for corn. wheat and cotton. The slopes are very fertile. and produce every thing grown in tho latitude. The hills. though generally more or lees rocky and seemingly sterile. have yet quite productive mulatto and chocolate col. ored soils, and are among the finest fruit pro ducing lands In the Union. Indeed. % we'll suited arc these hill and blun lands to all the fruits of the latitude that . company of we'll. known practical Missouri horticulturists have purchased 9.Soo acres of this class of lands along the Gulf railway. near west Plains. where they arc putting out the largest orchard in the United States. They have already in bearing about loO.ooO peach and apple trees and Q good area of small fruits, and arc carrying their plan for great model commercial orchard to . splendid issue. Pure spring water. perfect and abundant natural shelter. superior native and domestic grasses, and climate 60 mild as to admit of ten and eleven months continuous pasture. are among the things that make this beautiful and healthful region very near an ideal stock coun- try. The finest sand and limestones arc abundant and easily quArried. Lands are cheaper by comparison than In any portion of the west. Good hill lands for fruit raising are quoted at e to 6 per acre, wild. Improved slope and valley lands are worth from elo to $50 per acre. according to soil and improve ments. and are cheap by comparison with any other good lands in the southwest. Tn the midst of this broad tributary country Is the bright and growing city. with . thoroughly cos mopolitan population representing g every state in the Union. It has something more than a picturesque location to be proud of. for 1t em. braces scores of elegant tree-embowered homes. two wide-swake newspapers. seven churches. two banks. two nouring mills. two nl uaflla Fnn nd shops, carriage. wagon and broom factories. a beautiful ssoooo court house. an elegant slo,. o0o school house and a location which almost any of the larger towns of the west might envy. It has heavy trade in cotton, grain and live stock and in the season. thousands of loads of baled cotton are hauled from the little valleys along the tributaries of the White river in Arkansaw. forty, seventy and one hundred miles away. and delivered at the West Plains station for shipment to Memphis and St. Louis. This solid and attractive little city has grown from a hamlet to its present proportions since the completion of tho Calf road and largely owes to that splendid system its commercial importance. It has other lines in prospect and Is destined to become 8 town Of 5.ol0 people in the near future. It needs a dozen new mills and factories. and 200 new men with means. skill and courage to operate them. The tributary country presents good openings for 900 new farmers. fruit growers and stockmen, and Is a long way richer In promise to them than any of the newer prairie states. If the reader would know more of this inviting region, he Is kindly referred to Messrs. Canterbury & Davidson, thorough going and honorable land dealers of this city. who know this country like an open book. am delight ed with this portion of southwest Missouri and greatly wonder why 1t is not better known