The Minneapolis journal., 1906-07-21
Texas Is Forging to the Front
with Strides that Are Simply
Marvellous to Those Ignorant Of
Her Possibilities.
HER PROSPERITY SOLELY &
DUE TO HER FERTILE SOIL
Lands that Once Brought Only so
Gents an Acre Now Readily
Bring as Many Dollars Pass
ing Of Big Ranches. &
eY hEReERr vANpERHooF..


Probably few people In the Northern
terested in Texas have the faintest con-
ception Of the changes that have been
brought about In that Empire state, with
a rapidity which is truly amazing. Twen
ty or twenty fye years ago the re-
sources Of the state were. wholly un-
developed. The majority Of the people re-
allied as little Of the true value Of land
as did tho early Indians of our Northern
territory or the Atlantic seaboard. The
seate domain land was in many instances
given away, absolutely free. to induce
settlers to come, or railways to extend
their lines IN order to open pI3 up eNs new
awarded to persons who had claims
against the state for services of many
kinds. Educational institutions received
ment. It was as If the lavish hand had
an inexhaustible supply to draw from,
and therefore there was no need OF re-
stricting the gifts. ">i y
Oftentimes the boundaries Of parcels
of land thus given away by the state
! or purchased by incoming settlers. were
very vaguely defined, but this caused no
uneasiness at the time, for there seemed
to be plenty OF land for all It was ae aef
strongly in the direction of Texas that
people began to. realize, the value Of
| their acres, and the necessity OF having
| their boundaries clearly defined. Every
one knows the revolution which the in
| PRODUCTION of wire fencing made through.
Texas, and of the strife and almost end.
less disputes over boundary lines which
and the people. as a whole, came out OF
it with a better conception Of the value
of their land than they had ever had
then, the almost iirnitless wealth which
lay within their grasp: II by some magic
they could have caught a glimpse Of the
vast changes the future held If they
the outlying districts by the railroads
the introduction of new products, the
working Of the, mineral, wealth lying
wholly unsuspected beneath the surface
their land possessions with the greed of
| miserS. = " zslsss$s, 81. 81 =. d, 9 55s--l.s:
Vast Stretches Of Land. ,s,>..
| Travellers from Texas brought back
tales of the boundless stretches OF land
lying. round about the towns or small
used, or, perhaps the feeding ground Of
immense herds Of cattle It almost over
whelmed the Eastern or Northern farmer
| to hear Of ranches consisting OF thou-
sands and thousands Of acres, where the
herds were counted in the hundreds To-
day the traveller returns with quite dlf-
ferent story. = .t.g..s;-s ~ - -.
A short time ago was talking with
the train, He had just been through
northern Texas, the Panhandle region.
visited Fort Worth and Dallas. and he
1 was most enthusiastic over the changes
which the last decade or more had
brought a"''' ''sF ,'F:rE- i'' 1$-Fs y. S*}
TT was perfectly amazing to me to see
the way that country was developed. The
enormous ranches are fast disappearing
and In their place are the smaller hold
| ~rso nr.o
raising on a smaller scale. It makes me
Disguised with myself to think that
was such a fool as to leave that countr!
fifteen years ago without s'itd mones
brought his fist vigorously. down Non the
car window sill. what do you toink
could have bought any number Of acre:
for 80 cents an acre that today couit t
it will be worth $780," 80 y =T.:E4 { = =
I laughingly replied that it would. be {
good thing to invest in real estate II on
could be sure of such a growth in value
) His answer came promptly:
"a man won't make, a mistake # III
buys land in Texas. The whole state I'll
marching forward with giant strides, an,
before the world is half awake to it
! power Texas will be in the first rank a
to wealth, productiveness. variety g
crops, Industries, and educational faeili
territory ~. y : ... -.
We continued our conversation TO
{ more than an hour, and he told me. 9
the sights he had seen as he went fror
{ place to place. Great was his admira
! tion for the fast. growing city of Dalla:
i There is a city with a great future,
l he said. From small town it has de
4 veloped into beautiful city with a
the attractions Of the older cities of tn
: North and East. 1t is the center Of
I most wonderfully fertile region, and :
z feels all the strong life of the countr
i about it. I tell you the people frol
the older states don't half realize wha
q Dallas and many other Texan cities al
doing. II they did, more of the peop
Z would be investing in property, even
they have no intention of going South
: live. q, t2r ~t, r.. ID Z : -. - +,
Opportunities for Investment.
+ "Just compare the amount Of intere
one could get from money well investe
81 in citv house lots in one of these prOgre: