Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-08-06

zion - ADVANCE MOI 81
Marked.
( One cannot travel far in the short
| grass country without getting some
! new ideas regarding the real source of
| the much discussed land hunger" says
/ the special correspondent of the New
! York Post, writing from Norton, Kan.
The thousands of registrations in the
Nebraska and South Dakota ''rushes"
have been less the result of an eager
ness of actual settlers for homes than
of cattlemen for grazing land. Then
there is the spirit of speculation-the
hope of getting Il ten thousand dollar
claim for nothing-which animates a
large portion of the land seekers.
To understand the real land hunger
one should travel overland in the open
country that lies east OF the mountains
in Kansas. Nebraska and South Da-
kOta Back thirty miles from the rail-
way, on the high divides where the
raising Of crops is out of the question,
one may see scores OF little piles of
earth or broken bits of sod wall. Then
there are scattered lunches of trees,
worn down by winds and harassed by
III III IL llitN. Iltlt anu lllclt II Il SIt1l
square cut out Of the buffalo grass
sod, where Russian thiStles and sun
flowers hold sway. Vagrant grass,
called by the natives "goback." be
cause it has gone back from the break
ing up process that was given by the
settlers years ago, is seen. All of
these tell of efforts 10 make farms.
Settlers have taken the land, tried to
make homes, failed and quit. In their
places have come the cattlemen, who
occupy the sites Of the old homes of
settlers. The ranchmen go at the
business with far more intelligence
than did the farmers and settlers.
One ranch of northwest Kansas has
100000 acres. of which probably not
more than One-third is owned in clear
title. All of the remainder is owned by
the government or by eastern invest
Ors. Included in the land are about
400 quarter sections of 100 acres each
held by tax titles. lands that have been
neglected by the people who loaned
money on real estate mortgages. The
whole body of land, some of it fenced
and some of it open plain, is used by
the ranchman's herds and tiOcks as if
it We're his own. No one else wants it
or cares what becomes of it. In Ne
braSka are other ranches mana aged in
the same way. and the rush for the
disposition Of $40 acre tracts under the
order for the recent opening in that
state was largely of cowboys employed
by ranchmPn eager to obtain land for
range. Hundreds of such entries are
made, the cattlcmen paying all the OK
penses and putting the cowboys on the
places in sod houses to hold them for
title. But it seldom wins. for the cow
boy who Will stay in one place five
years in order to obtain Il claim Will
take one for himself and not for an
employer.
Settlers are doing well i'll the eX-
IRENE western plains region, as they
have learned how 10 produce the right
kind of crops and how to secure Il
steady income. They refuse to be fro
zen ont by the cattlcmcn. for they have
cattle of their own and insist on their
rights rs citizens They compel the
cattlemcn TO take down fences from
government lands and pasture their
own herds where they please. This
season they have had more rain than
in years before. and they viii produce
good crops Of barley. alfalfa. Faffir
corn and hay, with here and there
wheat and corn. But their chief reli-
ance is in stock, and The herds Of sleek
white faces that grow fat on the open
range tell of their intelligent effort in
this direction. Some of these settlers
are taking land in the midst of great
ranches and calling on the government |
to protect them. which it is doing gen
crously. Others are buying out par
TALLY improved places. Then there are !
scattered through the west families
that have lived there for fifteen years, |
the few who remained when the boom /
of the eighties collapsed.
What of the future: Is there an Op- /
pOrtunity for the eastern investor who /
has Il mortgage on some of this far |
western land 10 recOUp himself or must /
he suffer permanent loss: 1t is GER |
tain that he need not in most cases |
lose everything. He viii usually find, |
after a little investigation, that he is |
either in Il position TO appeal TO set |
tiers or 10 Cattlemcn. The latter are |
in the market for good lands /
and are willing 10 pay Il reasonable /
price TO add new range to their own /
under good title. Only recently i large /.
section of range west of here was pur-
chased by Il local cattIeman. He had |
been trying for months TO get il. \
few weeks ago n quiet old man went
out into the midst Of a big cattle ranch
and found seven quarter sections lying
along a creek. The ranchman had in
tended To buy them, but neglected it.
The quiet old man was offered the land
for $4,000 md paid it in cash-oyer IS
N acre. He i renting. the land at a
good income and VIII one OF these days .
compel the ranchman 10 pay him big
profit on his investment. And this was
within twenty five miles Of the Colo
ado line.
The whole short grass country VIII
De divided into smaller ranches and
arger farms. The combination Of cat
le raising and crop production de
hands IL. The cattle industry Is max
2g strides that viii compel Il readjust-