New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-05
THE NEW STATES
vi.
AMONG THE FARMERS
v.rExrowN, A CITY BEAUTIFUL FOX
SITUATION.
vi.

Young MEN GROWING UP TO WEALTH Thh
CAPITAL auEsrIoN-scHooL LANps7soah'
THING ON RUsrLERs AND BooMs'
coeyrssM; 1889 BY tho Netc York Tribune
r,nox STAY CORRESPONDENT THE Tribunal
Waurtown, South Dakota, April u
First and last saving only for the h''ie s'p
=. .onntrv called the Black Hills, where Nature
80 minded 70 stow away in the earth
--,s dssI Of everything she has, South DAko''
.rs.u,,ural region, and it is from thIs
,,,n, ~ view that her wealth and resources nusV
t,dod II will interest many, l am sure W
I..rn the cold, hard facts about what mas O..n
-. no the people who, coming here WIN
r-.c,,cally pothing have drawn night ou' u U"I
18th IN wheat and corn and iaX euos'"".i"-
tor,upe IL is a widespread impression en,' ~
eseners constitute the larger part ol
nopulation. and it is quite true tha' NC
MANY citizens here Of German and o'"n'.
6ir,b They are good citizens. TOO un"u1
10, thar oommon-sense, industry anu pa
Ipside utally it may be mentonei U'''
vote the Republican ticket. But theS '-o
a small minority OF the people by Iar INC
mar. cam originally from States east VI Wv
aIheben:es and thousands from Ne"-i orN anu
N.r.rrclsn5 Al least four-ffths Of the men IN
Dakota are under forty years OF age 0rsy h"AS
are rarely 70 be seen.
IN, Journey Of about 800 mills through the
Territorr, have found only ten men WIG caine
here. until within the last three year, "ne u
manufactures began 70 be established, poSse@So
Of more than $500, and nine-tenths Oi Ine
u,ssent population brought with them less than
s,oo The farmers especially, who settled
d,wn under the homestead laws were deploraoly
NOR when they took up their claims. THOUSANDS
=, than are now, ten years later, lending money
I. goes without saying that there have oteh
countless failures. Anybody can laiL 4ne
rraetical question is: What can be done IN the
nav Of success, and what is required to do 1t?
Tbss. Western States are divided into square
miles. Each square mile is called section. one
fourth of a section, l 80 acres, IS holnesUeau'
livery foot Of available soil In South Dakot' 10
owned by somebody now, and TO get lsrm you
must buy it. II can be had at from - 10 soo
an acre, the difference in price referring not 10
the character of the SOIL but to its distance from
towns and railroads. One is assured wherever
one goes, and in all sincerity, no doubt that the
lands lying just there, fifty miles either way arc
the best in the State, but the probable lac' Is
that il is all equally good. The SOIL Is ol"cN
Dig till YOU touch bottom and you turn nothine
up but black vegetable mould, that can never
wash down 70 the clay. Seen from distance
newly broken surrounded by the green praires'
il looks as if heavy coating Of black paint uAo
bee spread all over the ground
Il requires from $500 TO $500 to establish
ones self on homestead People have done
it on 500, but they were men OF more ui"n
ordinary resolution. A house Il live IN must
be built, and a barr for grain and cattle. pa4f
OF horses and oxen, ploughs and other implements
must be had, and $500 is as little as one can
get along with, unless he has uncommon eII'
and pluck From thoroughly wild hnds scArceH
apvthing can be realized the first year, but with
the second season start toward recovering
the investment can easily be made Farmer
living few mills from Watertown, who eStat-
bsbed himself on his homestead in lS1" with a
cash capital Of go. produced l,jO0 bushels OF
wheat the next season. His second crop Was
1000 bushels, and in So he gathered in $500
bushels He owns ESQ acres to-day bought
and paid for He owns sixteen horses, thirty
cattle. twenty-four sheep, and he has modest
fortune Of $4,000 earning him 10 per cent
interest This is an unusual record, or, more
accurately speaking, il is the record OF an un-
usually prudent and thrifty man. DE dld not
start out in gabled mansion, but in a sod
shack he began with yoke Of oxen, anu
waited for his uotting horses until recently.
Driving over the prairie yesterday came across
an old man sowing his wheat. II Is no onene
70 introduce yourself out here-th people are
socisble / stopped him when he got to the
end Of his row, and asked MIN how long he'd
been in Dakota
year
Il were born in Vermont, but l kim here
from Wisconsin
How much land do you own"
- Jest one square mile
a" How much did you own in Wisconsin,
Two lots in buryln patch"
How much wheat did you raise last year27
Air you buyin' wheat?7
NO, but I'd like TO know IL you don't mind
telling
"'Tain't no secret I raised crap Of $500
bushels
whatn you sell your farm for'"
Air you buyin property
No, but
20, l got my price. Anybody who pays me
SIS, 900 down kan hev my farm
How much money did you have when you
came here?'
Il he'd my things % set up house-keepin' with
and $50 in money which borried l didn't sell
my lots in the buryin -groun'.'
These are not solitary cases. They are two of
many They do not occur frequently as the
instances Of men who come and start in with
Q spread, securing more land than they can
utilize running in debt for their equipment and
finally winding up In loss and disappointment.
But they do occur often enough 70 give the
State a solid, thrifty population 20 fill 1t with
nice, comfortable homes, and to make il the mine
Of golden chances Even yet, You drive into
the interior, you can see men living in covered
wagons upon their claims too poor TO build
themselves q house. but with IS or 100
scp>x ,io,.L.a -, o,l eou,p Tbay will hsya fha