Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-11-02
TEXAS LAND fever
STILL IS UNDATED.
The Big Ranches Are Fast Be-
ing Cut Up to Make
Small Farms.
UNLOADING IS NOW ON
Farmers from Iowa and Other North
ern States Are flushing to Get in
Position to Act as Sag
Holders"

From the Philadelphia North American.
HesterRers are having another virul-
ent attack OF land fever. a couple OF
years ago it was Oklahoma to which
the homeseeker was steered. Then it
was Canada. Now it is Texas. If a
third Of the farmers from Iowa, Ne
braska, Kansas and Missouri who have
gone down there this fall remain, it
won't be long until Texas is among the
doubtful political states.
This is no spontaneous outburst, but
the result of the business methods of
the land agents. In the last two years
practically all of the big ranches in
the Texas Panhandle have been bought
by land companies. These have ar
ranged with the railroads to run ex-
cursion rains from as Iar east as In
dianapolis at half fare.
Their eastern agents gather UP the
farmers who will come, and these are
all punched at Kansas City, Wichita or
FL Reno, and there Westerners who
know the land thoroughly and can talk
a mummy into a purchase take charge.
Amarillo, Tex, is the center OF the
big land boom. Two years ago it was
a cattle shipping point, the center Of
the gigantic LIN ranch, with several
hundred inhabitants. Today it has
5000, and nightly people have to sleep
on the streets for lack of accolnmoda-
tions.
Original Price, 20 Cents Per Acre.
The old ranch was twenty-seven miles
wide and sixty long, and was all I'M
der fence. There were 1900 sections,
or nearly no, 900 acres. The company
bought the lane originally for - cents
an acre.
The land boom in the Panhandle be-
gan when the company that owned the
ranch divided il up into sections and
began Offering it at from 81, 500 TO So 500
n section. A fourth of the land is yet
unsold, but the company has gathered
in So, geo, GEO for the land disposed OF.
It's sale value is now from $40 10 $50
an acre.
There ere other big ranches in the
Panhandle. out in the Big Pasture, as
they call it. These are all being cut
up and offered to the hungry land
seekers.
There has been rain enough this
summer, however, to make some OF
these lakes present the appearance OF
permanent institutions, and the land
agent employs them right handily in
clinching his propositions. The Pan
handle contains about $4,000 square
miles, and practically all of it has beer
sold several times in the last three
years.
The final unloading is now on. Take
q farmer from Illinois and Iowa, ano
he finds it difficult to make more thar
s per on his $125-an~acre land al
home. a quarter section Will readily
sell for 100000, and with that sum ht
gets from 1000 to 1000 acres in Texas
or land enough for all Of the boys anc
some left To make q new home on.
One Des Moines firm has options or
10000 acres in three counties. The
firm has agreed to build $50 miles Of
railroad through the counties and tc
plant $4,000 settlers there within
eighteen months. 1t looks now as
though it would have no difficulty il
making good.
1000 Families Represented.
1t recently ran a special train o.
Iowa farmers, men who represented l.
Geo families in their section. In q land