The Minneapolis journal., 1905-09-25
How Towns Spring Up in a
Night in Oklahoma and In
dian Ter ritory and Prairies
Become Farms.
FORTUNES QUICKLY MADE
BY LANDS APPRECIATION
Farmers Are All Prosperous,
Are Flush With Money, and
Their Trade Is Rapidly Build
ing Up the Adjacent Cities.
BY HERBERT vANDERHOOF.

F- BY HERBEHV SANDERHOOF.
Special Correspondence. .-.E
CUSTER CITY, Ok, Sept. 19.-This is
one of the Oklahoma towns that is going
to be heard from. 1t is not county seat,
neither is it the largest town in the coun-
ty OF Custer, but 1t is perfectly safe and |
accurate to say that there is no other town
In the county that has brighter prospects |
for the future, or whose citizens are more !
wide awake to the magnificent opportu |
mites that confront them, and are work !
ing harder to take advantage of them.
The geographical position of Custer |
City unerringly indicates that In the |
not distant future the hopes and ambi |
tlons Of Its citizens are going to be full |
filled, and that this is destined to be the !
center OF great trade, as well distrib- |
utlng and receiving point 1t has al !
ready, in measure, achieved both dis |
tinctions, but the city, as we'll as the vast |
stretch of country tributary to it, whose |
trade by natural laws will flow to this |
center, is practically in It's infancy.
Custer City and the county of Custer |
are situated in the central western part |
OF Oklahoma, a section that has not been
developed with the rapidity of the north |
ern and eastern portions, but in which the
development of the past few years has
been of the most prosperous and stable
character. There is no assignable reason
Jagged behind other parts in its settle
ment, as the soil, climate, and every other
consideration that proves alluring to set
tiers are here in the same proportion that
they are in every other part of the terri
tory. 1t may be that in the early days of
the settlements there were not the same
railway facilities here that now exist,
but if this was the difficulty, it has been
long since removed, and the railway serv-
UP to date character.
Trade with Indian Territory.
There is another reason that is going to
operate to the advantage of this city, and
that is the development of the Indian ter
ritory. This promises, in a very short
time, to rival the phenomenal progress
that has been made within the past six
teen years in Oklahoma, which, in its
time, has broken every colonizationre record
I'll the history of the world. The north
west corner of Indian territory juts up in
a peculiar fashion into Oklahoma, not SO
far from Custer county as to put it out
of its sphere of influence. and already a
considerable trade has developed with the
territory-a trade that exhibits every
symptom of a healthy growth.
There are other good towns in this
county. Arapahoe is the county seat,
while other thriving centers are Wealth
I s,
Thomas. All are veritable hives of indus
try, all are growing like weeds, and are
flush with money. And why shouldn't
they be? The farmers, on whom the pros
perity Of this country, after ALL depends,
" have been reveling for some years in
enormous crops and big prices. Their
profits have been so great that every line
Of effort in the surrounding country has
felt the benefit of their afluence. And the
farmers have not been stinting them
, selves, by any means. They have been
putting up new houses and farm build
ings, and that has kept the building
trades busy at good wages, while 1t has
created an active market for all kinds of
building material and hardware. They
have been buying the most modern pat
terms of farm machinery, and that has
given this branch of business some years
of fatness. Nor have the farmers been
any ways chary of indulging in many of
the luxuries of life, and that has stimu-
lated all the various lines of trade and
created a general feeling of contentment
on the part Of the mercantile community
Manufacturing Industries.
There Is mighty little homestead land
to be had in this section of Oklahoma
The county owns 290 quarter sections, OF
rather the school fund owns 1t, and this
is leased out to farmers. Cotton, corn
products of the farms, and the crops are
as certain as the cycle of the seasons
Manufacturing industries are taking root
the principal ones being Touring mills anc
cotton gins. Among the undeveloped re-
sources of this section may be mentioned
cement and building stone deposits
which in time are destined to be mos
productive and lucrative industries, fur
nishing employment to large sums o
fto1 do Nf q ri
It is not alone by farming that many o
the early settlers and investors have beel
made rich. There are some thousands O
men-and women, too-who have beel
rendered independent by their small in
vestments in town lots in Oklahoma
towns. Towns spring up In Oklahoma in
single night, as if by magic, and continu
to grow until they develop into thriv
ing, prosperous cities Of several thou
sand population. More money has bee
made by investments in town sites an
town lots in Oklahoma in the past tel
years than in any state or territory In tn
United States, or any other country, TO
that matter. There is not single IN
stance in the records of Oklahoma his
tory in which the original purchasers G
town lots have not been able to dispose G
their, holdings at good profits, If they S
wished.
Great Profits From Land.
The profits have come, however, fro1
holding on. Take the town of Lawto
as an example. When this town site wa
offered to the public in 1901 there was nc
building in sight, and yet $400, 900 in lot
were sold on the basis of $50 each. Sine
that time some of these same lots HAY
sold for as high as $4,000, and their valr
Is still soaring. Shawnee was settled c
the same plan, and the lots were sold 1
the same price, $50. These same lots t
day are quoted at from $4,000 to $15, 90
and are eagerly snapped up at those fl