The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1906-05-31
SOUTH DAKOTA LAND
sTEADY ADVANCE IN PRICE OF
FARMS BRINGS WEALTH.
People Are joyful and Prosperous
Farmers Make Money and Invest 1t
In Land and Get Ricll-Some Dak-
ta Land Open to Homestead.

Land, land, more land This is
the cry of thousands of people who
ere swarming into South Dakota
Ehey come from every point of the
compass, but mainly from the central
and eastern states. All kinds and con-
ditions of men seek here an opportu-
nity of bettering their fortune by in
westment in lands and most of them
find it, Some Of them are hard HAND
ed. practical farmers, who have sold
put their holdings in other states at
big prices, and are here to reinvest
their money in cheaper farms with
che purpose Of tilling them until the
rise in values gives them excuse for
another profitable speculation. Others
Rre investors pure and simple, people
who have idle capital and can find
no better or surer safety deposit box
than the soil of South Dakota, moth
ing that will yield them the same big
Income in the form of yearly rental
and steady increase in valuation.
Tradesmen, mechanics, professional
men and plain workers are also here.
all eager to find openings, and the
competent ones invariably do so. BUT,
whatever their vocation or means, the
dHlDlLlOn VI iii Is TIE SdIIlS. lRcy
want Land and they want lots Of 1t.
The few who don't have this ambi-
tion TO begin with quickly acquire it
after a few days in the state. They
can't help tits in the air.
It's not surprising" said one res
idcfIt, because all our wealth is based
on land. Those who are not making
money by what some economists call
"unearned increment" get 1t by min
istering to the needs of those who till
the soil, and the result in the end is
the same. The man who buys South
Dakota land, or the one who tills it. or
he who sells goods to either Of them
will get wealthy, and that's all there is
to it, ,.
South Dakota is certainly a wonder
ful country, and those who make their
homes here have ample excuse for
their enthusiasm which is based on
the golden rewards which have. at
tended their efforts. They came here
poor and when land was cheap and
untitled. They have seen the popula-
tion increase by leaps and bounds, the
prairies gradually brought under cul-
fivation, and made to yield bonanza
crops, and the comforts and luxuries
of modern civilization secured, is IT
any wonder they are proud and en-
thusiastic? Some unthinking strang-
ers, thunderstruck by this universal
spirit, call it egotism, but few days
of inspection makes them quickly
change their minds. On a railway
train I recently met Chicago drum
mer, who Is on his tenth year In TINS
territory, he said:
r a hac YYaa South
Dakota points was considerably put
ont by what 1 thought was the bun
combe. or egotism of the residents.
Their tales were Of the Munchausen
order, to my way Of thinking. Now
I'm fully as garrulous and confident
in this kind of talk as any of them. l
simply can't help it. I've seen the
wonderful wealth of the state, have
seen il increase at a rate which made
INV head dizzy, and must admit that
the stories one hears are, as a rule,
well founded. Ever read the Arabian
Nights? Yes. Well, of course you
remember the yarn about Aladdin and
his wonderful lamp? Say, that was a
great story. wasn't it? Well, sir, take
INV word for it, Mr.. Aladdin never did
ANYTHING half so magical as the
change which has been wrought In
south Dakota within the last twenty
lfiye years. His deeds were cheap ana
fakey. Here we have profitable
reality"
II is the custom in South Dakota to
refer to the times when land was
cheap" It's cheap today, considering
its enormous productive capacity and
the steady manner in which values
keep on advancing. Like all compar-
atiyely new countries, the matter OF
values is largely one of location. IN
communities where the population Is
large and Of desirable class the farms
are well titled and churches, schools,
banks, ETC., reasonably numerous,
aands are naturaliy held at higher
prices than in neighborhoods less ia
Wored by the progress OF civilizatlon.
All the lands in those western sections
Of the state are just as rich and just
as susceptible Of profitable improve
nnent as the eastern. They are merely
awaiting the coming Of the settlers.
Once under the plow, there will be no
question about the future.
Az 7 have already said, the onward
march of civilization in South Dakota
is a rapid one. The railway unioads
= few families on the bare prairie,
with nothing in view but broad ex-
nanse of blue sky and an undulating
stretch of grass covered land. Tents
or sod houses go up, the sod Is broken,
and seed sown. The yield is encourag-
Inr and the hardy pioneers keep at
work. gradually subduing the wild
lands. intent on transforming 1t into
: presentable farm Some day he
wakes up to a reaiization that he is an
empire builder. His tent or sod house,
nke that of his neighbors. has grown
into a comfortable. well furnished
heme. ms farm is fenced and highly
productive;. instead Of the primitive
hoe and scythe he has modern agricul-
furai machines, and around him have
--~,,,>s, villa ces and even cities, teeming