Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-11-01
TEXAS LAND fever
STILL IS UNDATED
The Big Ranches Are Fast Be-
ing Cut Up to Make
Small Farms.
UNLOADING is NOW ON
arrncr from Iowa and Other North
crn States Arc Hustline to Get in
Position to Act as Gag
Holoers.'
UNLOADING is NOW ON

From the Philadelphia North American.
Mestelners are having another virul-
ent attack of land fever. a couple OF
years ago it was oklahoma to which
the homeseeker was steered. Then il
was Canada. Now it is Texas. If u
third OF the armer from Iowa. Ne
braska. Kansas and Missouri who have
zone down there this fall remain. it
Won't be long until Texas is among the
doubtful political states.
This is no spontaneous outburst, bu:
the result of the business methods of
the land agents. In the last two years
practically all of the big ,anches in
the Texas Panhandle have been bought
by land companies. These have ar
ranged with the railroads to run eX-
cursion trains from as Tar asst as In
~dianapolis ut nalf fare.
Their eastern agents gather up the
farmers who will come. and these are
all brlciled at Kansas City. Wichita or
FL Reno, and there westerners who
know the land thoroughly and can talk
II mummy into u purchase take charge.
Amarillo, Tex, is Ihe center OF the
big land boom. Two years ago it was
y cattle Shipping point. the center OF
the gigantic La ranch. with several
hundred inhabitants. Today it has
S,00o, and nightly people have To sleep
on the streets for lack of accommodate
tons.
Original Price, 20 Cents Per Acre.
The old ranch was twenty-seven miles
wide and sixty long, and was all UNI
der fence. There We're loo sections,
or nearly 10000 acres. The
bought the and originally for % cents
an acre.
The land boom in the Panhandle be-
gan when the company that owned the
ranch divided it up into sections and
began offering it at from 81, 800 to s. 800
a section. \ fourth of the land is yet
unsold. out the company has gathered
in Sc. GOO. geo for the land disposed of.
Its sale value is now from SO to $50
an acre.
There are 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
however. to make some OF
these lakes present the appearance OF
permanent institutions. and the lanC
agent employs them right handily il
clinching his propositions. The Pan
handle contains about $4,000 scuar,
sold several times in the last tire,
years.
The final unloading is now on. TAX.
a farmer from Illinois and Iowa, anc
he finds it difficult to make more thai
6 per cent. on his $125-an-acre land a
home. A quarter section will readil,
sell for 100000, and with tina sum h,
gets from 1000 to 1000 acres in Texas
or land enough for all of the boys AN
some left to make Il new home on.
One Des Moines firm has options OF
100000 acres in three counties. TIL
. firm has agreed to build $50 miles o
railroad through the counties and t
plant 5000 settlers there With
eighteen months. 1t looks now a
though it would have no difficulty i
making good.
1000 Families Represented.
1t recently ran a special train @
Iowa farmers. men who represented /.
900 families in their section. in q land