The times., 1901-04-28
Home SEEKERS NUMEROUS
A Fresh Tide of immigration to
the West This Spring.

Many New Settlers in Kansas and
oI1ahOma-Trying TO Break Up the
Big Cattle Ranges - The Removal
of the Fences Being Insisted Upon
TOPEKA, Kan. April 27-An unusl.al
and ipfe-eSs...4s feature of the spring
business of the Western railroads is the
movement of immigration into the West
ern States. The home-seekers' excursions
that have become a part of the regular
traffic arrangement of Western lines are
this year the largest Of any year since
the boom days of the early SOS. 1t is
estimated that since February 70, when
the first OF the Northern line excursions
was run, there have passed through the
ST. Paul gateway 30.e00 people bound for
settlement in the West. At Omaha there
has been fully as large an immigration.
while at Kansas City the records show
an exceedingly abundant patronage of the
low rates, and the westbound travel Of
intending settlers is the largest of any
spring in a decade. Down in Oklahoma
the other day an excursion pulled in from
Iowa with LOCO people aboard. nearly
every one representing a prospective fam
lily for the new lands
flood of enquiries for lands in this
State has caused an overhauIing Of the
records, and the State Auditor is prepar-
ing list of school lands that may be
thrown open to settlement if there is a
demand for them. Most of the lands are
at present rented or are used without
renting by the cattlemen. The passage OF
law by the recent legislative session al
| lowing the sale of school land by the
State for $1.25 instead of a minimum OF
an ~T4s 4, 1T,
the interest in this sort Of investment.
The cattlemen of the western counties.
comprising about one-third of the State
find themselves In a predicament owing
to the demand for land by settlers. Fos7
several years. owing to the lack of popu-
latiOn. there has been little attention paid
to the holding of the claims in that Sec
ton. The owners are, in many instances,
Eastern people and corporations taking
the lands through default of the original
settlers who were unable to get enough
crops to pay the debts incurred. The lack
of moisture drove the settlers away, until
there are a dozen counties with less than
1000 people each, half OF them with less
than 500. The cattlemen without leave or
license ran their barbed-wire fences for
miles in every direction until the whole
country was practically included in the
naStuTeS. 4
than 20 per cent of the land fenced in
these pastures was owned by the resi-
dents of the counties or even rented The
actual owners did not know that the land
was fenced in many instances, having
never been West; and as the land was so
nearly valueIess. no agent was appointed.
When one found out the facts and asked
the cattlemen TO take away the fence, the
reply was a laugh, and advice to DO it
yourself" a suit on the matter would
be in the local courts before jury OF
cattlemen. for practically no one else
lived there and would be useless as
matter of damages.
The complaint became so determined
that the Land Department Of the Gov
ernment made an order that the fences
must come down The little catuemen. a
class that is becoming numerous, Joined
with the settlers and Wen One cattIeman
en- the Cfmarron River has a fence twen-
tv miles in one direction and seventy IN
another. Others have three To five town
s6ips fenced in, and the effect on home
Stealing has been TO put a stop TO at
tennis i'm that line. Cattlemen asked for
a years time in which To take down the
fences. but It was refused. and the au-
tboriries have orders to cut the wires il
the fences are not removed at once
The removal of the fences will have
several effects. one of which viii be that
the big cattlemen viii be driven TO other
states OF will be compelled TO break up
their herds into smaller punches. Ii will
give the small esttIemen show They
can now fence up small pastures, which.
as some of the land on the upiands Is
nurchasable for as low as 30 cents an acre,
does not take large capital.
Ii will reopen the country to home
steaders They can get claims without
battling with the g .emen, and under
the more sensible l. 1hods of agriculture
and the larger use of stock and windmill
irrigation they can make success Whers
their forerunners ten years ago failed.