Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-24
NEBRASKA LAND SALES
Real Estate Boom in Western
Part of the State
Is APPARENTLY PERMANENT
Probably Mostly Due to Increased
Rainfall.
CROPS HAVE BEEN EXCELLENT
Other Causes Have Contributed to the
immigration Of Settlers
From the East.
Special Correspondence of The Star.

Special Correspondence Of The Star.
LINCOLN, Neb., June 20, 1906.
Politics as a topic for discussion has al
ways occupied important place in Ne
braska, especially at this season of the
year, but the chief subject of comment in
all parts of the state at this time Is the
remarkable land boom now on in the west
ern section, and politics has been pushed to
a subordinate position in its claim to the
attention of the citizens. There have been
big booms in real estate before this, par
ticularly In the early days of this COM
monwealth, but the present activity In land
sales in the western section is unprece-
denied in the history of the state and the
most favorable aspect of the boom is that
it bears the marks of permanency.
The Stars correspondent has just made a
trip through the section in which the great
est activity In real estate is noted-the
portion traversed by the Burlington and
Missouri railroad-and the signs Of prosper
ity are observed on every hand. There are
several reasons to turn homeseekers' at
tention to western Nebraska. One cause of
the boom is attributed to the effect OF the
kinkaid homestead law, which became eff
fective June %. 1904. allowing man to
homestead $40 acres instead of 160 Another
cause is the systematic and extensive adver-
induce residents of eastern states to emf
CRATE to Nebraska. But still another and
perhaps the most potent cause of the re-
cent and rapidly growing land boom Is due
to the increased rainfall over the western
section and the consequent splendid crops
that have been harvested in the section
during the last few years.
Purchases Mostly for Settlement.
or course, some of the activity is due to
persons who are buying land for purposes
Of speculation but most of the sales are
to those who desire to establish homes in
the comparatively new country and engage
in farming or stock raising, the opportuni-
ties for both Industries being especially
abundant On the railroad sidings at nearly
all the small western towns may be noticed
many emigrant cars containing the mousse
hold effects and farming machinery or east
ernerS who have purchaser MONIES IN the
west Greatly increased business activity
is noted in the towns themselves Towns
that ten years ago and less langulsheo III
the monotonous succession or crop lallures
and hard times have been awakened ana
are now bustling little centers of business
All the store buildings and dwelling houses
that for years were unoccupled are now
filed with stocks of goods and families ana
newcomers are clamorng for more houses,
the carnenters being unable to erect dwell
ings or stores fast enough for the Influx OF
new residents. In one small town III tile
southwestern part of the state the pase-
ment of one of the churches had to be utll-
ized as q dwelling for one family owing to
the scarcity of houses. Many real estate
agencies have sprung into existence ana all
seem to be doing a thriving business
The change in the western part OF Ne Ne
braska In the last ten or fifteen years mas
been remarkable. When the Burlington
system built its railroad through to Denver
in the early eighties the corporation ex-
nended thousands and thousands or dollars
a. -+oJ,T icIlfr,
country adjacent to the line. The unde-
veloped country then experienced great
boom and thousands of homeseekers from
eastern states focked to the western part
of Nebraska to settle on the wild govern
ment land and get rich quick. Many OF
the emigrants doubtless expected 10 sue
coed with the expenditure of but little
labor These were disappointed. The clt-
mate then did not seem adapted to farm
ing the rainfall was meager and the coun-
try appeared to be suitable only for cattle
raising. Homesteads were mortgaged, ana
the settlers loaded up what they had left
and departed in prairie sehooners pack
to ''wife's folks.
The Strenuous Times.
But many of the early settlers of the west
ern counties held On to their land and
earnestly strived to make farming profit
able. Then came the disastrous drouths
In the late eighties and the early nineties,
when the residents of the section We're una
BILE to obtain even the necessities of lie,
and aid was furnished by their more pros
porous friends in the east. In the winter
of 1SO4-5 many carloads of clothing, meat,
flour and other food. as well as feed for
cattle and horses, were sent to the west
ern part of Nebraska and publicly dis
tributed among the needy inhabitants.
These contributions were commonly desig-
mated as aid.
AS one old resident farmer stated the
situation the other day, the people who
had Ian hare
away, and the owners simply had to re-
main in the country because they couldn
let 60
But since those trying years, and espe-
cially In the last five. there has been a
steady increase of rainfall, the country has
been gradually acquiring an energetic and
determined class of farmers, and today the
western portion of Nebraska is prosperous
and fourishing. The farmers have money
in the bank, neat and prosperous looking
homes good sized herds Of cattle and
horses, and they are reaping the reward
for their perseverance and effort.
The wave Of prosperity has also struck
the northwestern section of Kansas, and
towns that were once abandoned have been
revived and are now busting little centers
OF trade. The average price of unimproved
land In western Nebraska Is about $40 an
acre, and the price Is steadily advancing,
while some farms have been sold recently
land is on In earnest. and the prospects
are that the price OF farm land will con-
tinue TO increase within the next five years.
The western country has arrived"
Prosperity of Nebraska.
| According to the last census the popula-
| ton OF Nebraska is 1,o66.3o0, or forty-six
| acres for every man. woman and child in
It, or fourteen persons TO the square mile,
as contrasted with seventeen in Kansas.
forty in Iowa, forty-fiye In Missouri and
eighty-five in Illinois. The name Ne
| Fbrasisa is combination of Indian words,
meaning Water Valley. suggested by the
/ presence of O 4S5 miles of streams and more
| than 100 lakeIets. The state has estab-
| lished herself as third In the production
| of corn, fourth In production OF wheat,
| fourth in production of oats, fourth In
| production of cattle. fourth In production
| of hogs, seventh in production of horses,
| tenth among dairy states and third among
| meat-packing states. The manufacture OF