The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-09-09
How the Big Railroad Systems
Build Up New Country by
Shooting Ahead Of Population
and Taking Peopleto See It.
FRISCO SYSTEMS PLAN
FOR AIDING H0MESEEKERS
Perils and Privations of the Old
Time Pioneers and the Easy
Time Provided for New Ones
Picturesquely Contrasted.
BY w. ID. EATON.

y. Sterllng morton USED to tell of the |
days when he with few other fortul-
tously gathered young men with their
young families moved out across the
Iowa prairies to the right bank of the
Missouri and settled In the rich region
that lies around the present town of
Nebraska City. They We're pioneers In
the real sense, pilgrims of hope. build
ers of empire, and to their vision the vast
flower clad plains of the West were not
vacant, but covered with a future of
prosperity, populous and content The
WEAKNESS of waiting was an accepted part
of their lot, and every condition of civil
lied living had to be created where they
sat, out of such materials as nature had
provided to their hands. They were
The pioneers 80. .-... u
or nations yet to be ..s ~
The first low wash of waves where soon
snail roll human sea. y -:
There were no surveys. Each Of then,
wanted to squat" OF 100 acres that by
cultivation and Improvement could be
made his own. But to avoid the lapping
OF claims was puzzling problem. until
Morton finally pointed out that il thew
built their shacks half mile apart. each
would necessarily stand in the middle of
quarter section. ,'f7." .... e.,
And so they did it. -.
Waiting for the Cars.
The nearest railway terminal was
away back in the east. They had made
their several journeys by OK hauled
wagons and on foot. The Indians were
too near and too sociable for comfort,
The goal to which their days pressed
forward was set at the time when the
engines would bring neighbors from be-
yond the two big rivers.
I'VE used tO pathpr in .1,oof,..
and talk about the railroad coming, until
we could almost hear the rattle of the
cars he said, land many were worn out
In the waiting, but at last it came"
Railways used to wait until country
was pretty we'll occupied before they
would so much as look it over. The
! first of them to penetrate open country
had to be subsidized by government or
| otherwise, in grants of credit or grants
| OF land. Then came a great light. It
! was found that where a railway went
population would follow with rush, and
| the W1ndsWept solitudes of one year be-
come the home of thriving thousands in
| the next. The old order changed by re-
yersing itself. The railways themselves
| took up pioneering. Instead of waiting
! for a country to be settled they took set
Element to the country and created traf-
| nc for themselves at a rate and in vol
ume that made the old ways look petty.
This was business, the very best business
| the railways ever, did, and,it was done
! because 1t paid, and paid enormously. =.
- The modern deyelopHlent,, Of that de-
!; partment Of railway management which
deals with land and the seekers after
land Is a very remarkable example of
what can be done by thoroughness and
/ fair dealing. Take the attitude of the
| Frisco System toward colonizing or fill
| {Yac ~
| not, only IN the growth and value of the
| corporation, but the vastly more impor-
tant and far reaching significance it has
and will continue to have in the making
of history in that wide. and opulent re-
gion. 49, s,''. -. .
/ The Way of the Present.
A few years ago the Frisco lines shot
out into new territory in Oklahoma, In
dian territory, and Texas, and by making
it accessible soon made it populous. This
last was not accomplished by merely
building the lines and giving easy access
to the land. The matter was taken NJ
and organized into system under which
nothing was overlooked that could aid {
man. who might want to found a new
home under freer conditions.
The work begins by "a, thorough ex-
animation Of the land all along the line
for miles on either hand. This is done
under the direction of the Frisco Immi
| grafton association. Careful and intelli
gent men collect all that is to be know
upon the subject and this information Il
forwarded to the central office in st
Louis, whence it radiates to other Of
j fees in the North and East, whose bust
ness it is to impart it ;, to prospective
homeseekers, SO that these latter ma.
know before they; start just about wha
1t is they are going out to see. 1t is s.
, arranged that If an inquiry for informa
ton reaches any one Of the Frisco agents
. or Mr.. S. A. Hughes, the general immi
! grafton agent, at St. Louis, Mo-, it is for
! warded at once to the agent nearest tn
address of the inquirer, who PERSONAL
!, communicates with him, and gives hir
, the fullest possible knowledge of tn
subject of his inquiry, practically at frs
, hand. $3.50
Then, twice each month, the compan
, sells cheap rate excursion tickets to- tn
| Southwest, and on these dates 1t gather
the people at Kansas City and St. Loui
:; or other important points, and theme
u carries them on tour of the Southwes
> usually accompanied by. careful aQ
:, capable man, who takes them to an
u through the special kind of country thu
interestssthem most, and sees to it tia
:, they get every scrap of information the
= can possibly want concerning the Ian
:. the climate, and whatever else Wou
. touch upon the question Of living Their
u This is pioneering de luxe. Men S
to it in Pullman cars, and go through
without ever once getting out OF sig]
of human habitation, or out OF touch Wi
IT telegraph and telephone facilities, or I'll
4 daily papers, They don't have to e.
pertinent with new country. All Il