The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-05-10
Complete Information About
Kansas School Holdings.
They Are Situated in Sc DIFF
ferent Counties.
MR.. COLE is BESIEGED.
Many People Ask State Auditor
For Information.
There Are 10000 Acres Suit
able For Wheat Raising.

Iner6 IS school land to be bought OF
homesteaded in fifty-six counties in the
state Of Kansas. In ten of these the
amount IS trifing. Forty counties west
of the sixth principal meridian have the
bulk of it,
This is a summary of the research
that has been made by State Auditor
Cole and the figures and statistics
herewith given tell all there is that can
be told in a statistical way about where
the land it to be found and what it is
good for.
The state is willing to dispose of all
that are left of the historic sections
sixteen and thirty-six'' or lands grant
ed in lieu thereof.
Lands granted in lieu Of is a legal
term used to designate such lands as
have been later set apart by congress
to take the place OF sections 16 and &c.
which, in some instances, were settled
such settlers not being disturbed in their
possession of the lands. A commission
was appointed and selected other vacant
lands Tor school purposes IhlS ac-
counts for the fact that other sections
than 16 and SO are school lands This
change is noted more generally IN the
northwest part of the state
The principal derived from the sale
of sections 16 and SO, or lands granted in
lieu thereof, goes into the permanent
school fund of the state, which creates
a permanent sinking fund This fund
can be used for no purpose except the
purchase Of state, county, city town
ship or school district bonds, the inter
est upon which Is distributed to the
school districts semi -annually,in proper
ton to the number of children of school
age within the state.
Ever since it has been known that q
tabulation of the available school lands
was being made, the auditors office has
been besieged with prospective settlers
and purchasers There is no buster man
these days in the State house than A.
Gibson, the land clerk. He is continu-
ally entertaining callers. A great many
think they can get land around Topeka
or Lawrence. In the big stack OF let
ters the applicants almost all want close
to towns There is very little land to
be had this side of the sixth principal
meridian none at all around here.
Whatever is this side of that line is in
the south. The most promising terri
tory is in the northwest and the early
applicants are largely headed that way
OF the eleven counties that report
small lots of school lands this side OF
the short grass country, but three have
over a thousand acres The rest VIII
not average a quarter section apiece.
These counties are Anderson, Butler,
Chase, ,CoWley, Chautauqua, Coffey, ELK,
Greenwood, Morris. Marion and Potta-
watomie.
These school lands are to be kept sep
arate and distinct from the estimated
million acres of government land in the
state that is not yet patented
In the whole $40, 600 acres, land that IS
good for raising wheat is specifically put
down at a total Of 10000 acres. There
are other spots, no doubt. Cove county
has 20 900 acres Of such land, good for
grazing and wheat; 1900 acres are leas-
ed and 49, 900 are Unbiased. Sheridan
county has 5000 acres of farming and
wheat land in the lot. All of this is IN
der lease. Pawnee county has 500 acres
of leased and 1000 acres Of Unbiased
land and 1t is marked with a star for
ssgood wheat, grass and grazing
The remaining counties are scheduled
as follows:
Grass and grazing-Hodgema Logan,
Lane, and Thomas.
Grazing-Anderson Butler. Barber,
Chase, Cheyenne, Clark. Cowley, Chau-
tauqua, COffey, COmanche. Ellis, Elk,
Ford, Finney, Gray, Graham, Grant,
Greeley. Greenwood, Hamilton, Harvey,
Haskell, Kearny,, Kiowa, Lincoln, Nor
ris, Meade. Morton, Marion, Ness, OF
taWa, Osborne, PottaWatOmie, Pratt,
Phillips Rocks, Rice, Rush, Stevens,
Stafford, Smith, Scott, Sherman, Stan
ton Trego. Wallace and Wichita.
All the lands are under lease in Bar
Der. Clark, Chautauqua, Elk, Logan and
Pratt counties. Comanche, KiOWa and
Trego are pretty well leased up also
On the other hand there are no lands
leased in Grant Greeley and Morton
counties Very little is leased in Ham
ilton, Haskell, Kearny, and Ness In the
counties where there are large blocks of
land available, and the majority of
this still unleased. are the following:
Cheyenne. Ford, Finney, Gray, Lane,
Meade, Rocks. Stevens, Scott, Wallace,
Wichita.
Since there have been such wonderful
developments in beet sugar culture in
Colorado, Ford and Finney have taken
this up and are creating a special attsn-
ton to their land on this account. Fin
ney leads all the counties in the aggre-
gate of available school lands.
The difference that obtains in the Sc
curing these school lands with regard to
their being leased is that leased lands it |
takes a year to buy and then they are
subject to the leaseholds- Unbiased lands |
can be bought and occupied at once. /
A trifie less than half of the total acre |
age is leased; 321 997 acres are leased, |
34S, 100 acres are unleased.
The subjoined table shows the location /
and amount of land, its probable value |
and r,haracter-