Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1901-08-17
Territory Owes Its Prosperity and
Rapid Growth to Home
stead Law.
HER SMALL FARMS MAKE WEALTH
In Ten Years IN Uninhabited Country
HAS Gathered to Itself n Popuia-
ton of 400, o0o-Has 5000, 900
Acres Left for Settlers.

was maze tnat OF all the MetnOuS lOr
acquiring the public domain the home
stead law was the only one which car
ried out the purpose OF the government
honestly and fully. Under the provi-
sions OF hat law the land grabber finds
no opportunity and speculation Is re-
duced to the minimum. The results
have been significant and marvellous,
for in ten years an uninhabited country
has gathered to itself nearly 1000 0
people, taxable property to the value
OF $3.50. 600, 900 and its annual production
of the treasures OF the earth now APP
proximates SIS, 900, 900 in value.
When Oklahoma is admitted to the
union, as Il probably we'll be during
the coming session OF congress-, II
should be known as "the homestead
state" No other commonwealth IA
claim this title, and TO the homestead
character of her settlement will Okla
homa owe her admission, for by no 9TH
er method could she have obtained so
quickly the population, wealth and sta
bility now necessary to secure recogni-
ton from congress.
To the south of Oklahoma lies the
great state of Texas, with its big
ranches, vast tracts of land under
fence, with no annual output but n few
cattle. With its landlordism due to the
ownership Of thousands of acres Of fer
tile cotton and corn lands by men who
will not sell to the homeseeker, but who
exact OF the tenants a rental or tribute
equal to "all the traffic will bear" 1t
was with some idea OF the evils OF land
absorption that congress tried the X
pertinent of forcing the division of a
new n fertile territory into small
farms. The results have been so emf
nently satisfactory that the defeat of
IN proposition which may be made to
congress to allow the control OF great
areas of the public domain to pass un-
der other and single control may be
reckoned In advance.
rather n Big Patch.
When Oklahoma was organized as a
territory there were about 25, 900, 900
acres OF land within the boundaries as
established. Over 1000, 900 acres was
reserved from settlement for Indian
and other purposes. In ten years home
steaders have filed upon 1000, 900 acres.
That is to say, $4,000 single men or
heads of families have used their right
to appropriate 100 acres of the public
domain. Nearly all Of this land is now
patented to the owners. They have
compiled with the requirements, the
principal one being residence.
The parties who filed on the land or
~iginally are not In many instances the
same who have secured the final deeds.
On the whole, the population Of the ter
ritory nay be said to have changed
several times during the past decade.
However this may be, the result has
been the same In the end. Actual res
idence and improvement of the prop
erty was q requisite to securing title,
and If n settler ~relinquished his
rights another purchased or appro-
priated them and so carried out the
nnF - nf NHtNh Ia ANsa aA
municipalities results rather han in
dividuals, being impersonal.
Every men who takes up a home
stead and complies with the law builds
a house of greater or less pretensions.
To build this house takes labor and
material. A sufficient amount of Gull
aviation must then be given the land
to prove good intentions. To cultivate
land horses n implements are neces-
;sary, these being barns, fences and all
the other appurtenances Of a farm. The
result Is a home. IL may be a poor one
and generally is at first, but It is an
important unit in the community new
ertheless. If there is no family in this
home at first one is not long in coming,
for of the farm 1t was evidently written
that 1t Is not good for man to dwell
alone.
Room for Pent-Up Energies.
n lSN VI VIC ohlttIlOlIlt IOlIlfSIoHllS
have been held, and ever title has been
secured without observing the spirit as
well as the letter of the homestead
law, but In the very fact that on these
$4,000 homestead claims n in the
towns dependent upon them for bust
ness. now live 400, 900 people, lies the
proof that a great majority Of the set
Elements have been honest, have been
the making Of the people who accom-
nllahQd them. and that in nk1n bnf,n
several hundred thousand people have
found an outlet for energies cramped
i'm older communities.
' Oklahoma, by virtue Of the very
manner In which 1t has been settled
WAS a refuge for people Of limited
means. The rich had no need to brave
the ~hardships of sod farming. Those
who were well enough off where they
were saw no inducement to leave a
sure thing for a questionable venture
in an unknown land, which ten years
ago possessed a not entirely enviable
reputation, to say the least. For this
reason the $3.50, 00O, 900 In tangible
property now possessed by the people
Of this territory is newly created
wealth, and this amount Toes not in
clude the value of many thousands of
acres of lands, the title to which has
not passed from the government.
These homesteaders have built towns
and railroads. opened banks and coal
mines. created great mercantile bust
nesses of all descriptions. In short thew
have built up a prosperous common
wealth now demanding of congress the
rights pertaining thereto. or the AGO.
900 people In the territory 100, 900 are
children enrolled In the public schools.
These children are living testimony to
the permanence of population and the
,ure foundation Of the family unit.
Will Add Another loo. 900.
The opening of the Kiowa reserve
will d 100, 900 in population to Okla
homa before statehood can be accom-
oished, even at the best. 1t will add
10000 farms to the taxpaying property.
The 5000 farms which have been allot-
ed to the Indians are exempt from tax
alton for twenty-five years to come,
but the people Of Oklahoma have cheer
fully undertaken the burden this will
impose becaus of the greater area and
wealth thus added to the territory,
thus adding to the force of their claim
for statehood.
The opening Of the reservation and
the rush thereto has diverted public
attention from the great demand which
still prevails for LAND In Oklahoma
proper. In 1900 over 5000 applications
for homesteads were filed upon land in
the western part of the territory. This
IS probably as many as will finally ma
terialize in the reservation just opened,
and yet this western Oklahoma coun-
try has been obtainable all the time. In
earlier days 1t was classed as uninhab-
liable, but the line Of settlement has
pushed rapidly westward year by year
n the waving wheat has rolled across
the plain nearly to the Texas line. He
is a bold prophet who dares say now
that this or that section of the United
States is to be forever uninhabitable.
Five Million Acres Left.
There are now thirty-three counties In
Oklahoma, and in sixteen OF these coun- |
ties every foot OF and is occupied by Sci
tiers. There are still 100000 acres of