The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1907-05-09
INDIANA PEOPLE IN WEsTERpo
CANADA.
What Shall We po2-I've Got 70 eulla
cranaries.

What Shall We Do7-l'vo Got % eulla
cranaries.
A letter written to Canadian Gov.
ernment agent from Upton. Indiana,
10 but one of many similar that are In
the hands Of the Canadian government
agents whose privilege it Is to offer
one hundred and sixty acres of land
free. and low railway fares. But here
10 q copy Of the letter.:
"Tipton, Ind, Nov. 20, 1906.
AT your earnest solicitation party
Of US from Upton left May Is for
Western Canada. Our interviews with
you and careful study Of your litss.
ature led W to expect great things Of
your country when We should arrive
there. and We were not disappointed.
We went prepared to make q careful
examination Of the country and it, 70.
sources. and We did 90. At early dawn
the second morning out Of Upton 10
awoke in . new world. Az far a. the
eye could reach was an apparently
limitless expanse Of new sown wheat
and prairie grasses. The vivid green
Of tho wheat just beginning to stool
out. and the inky blackness Of the
soil contrasted in way beautiful to
see. An hour or two later we steamed
into Winnipeg. Here We found q mum.
ber Of surprises. A hundred thousand
souls well housed, with every con.
venience that goes to make q modern
up-to-dats city-banks. hotels. news.
papers. stores. electric light. street
railways. sewerage, waterworks, %.
phalt pavements. everything. With
eyes and ears open We travelled for
two thousand miles through Manitoba,
Saskatchewan and Alberta, going out
over the Canadian Pacific railway. via
Calgary to Edmonton, and returning
to Winnipeg over the Canadian North.
ern railway. In the meantime We
made several side trips and stopped
OF at number Of points where We
made drives into the surrounding
country. On every hand were evi.
dences Of prosperity. The growing
wheat. oats. rye. fax, barley. not lit
tie patches. but great fields. many o.
them q square mile In extent, the
three. I'VE and sometimes seven.horso
teams laying over an inky black rib
bon Of yellow stubble, generally in fur
rows straight as gun barrels and %
right angles from the roads stretching
into the distance, contrasted strangely
with our little fields at home. The
towns both large and small were dou.
bly, conspicuous, made 20. first By
their newness and second by the tow.
ering elevators necessary to hold the
immense crops of wheat grown in the
immediate neighborhood.
The newness. the thrift, the hustle.
the sound Of saw and hammer, the
tents housing owners of buildings IN
various stages Of completion, the piles
Of household effects and agricultural
implements at the railway stations
waiting to be hauled out to the
Claims" the occasional steam pillow
turning its twenty or thirty acres .
day, the sod house. the unpainte1
house Of wood, the up-to-date modern
residence with large red barn by, al
these were seen everywhere We went
an earnest of prosperity and wealth 70
be. We talked with men and visite6
their places that four years ago was
unbroken prairie. Their houses,
barns. implements and live stock were
the equal Of anything In Upton Coun.
ty. and why not. when they were rails.
ing i've. ten and twenty, yes. in one
instance. forty thousand bushels OF
wheat q year. The fact that such
large yields Of wheat are raised 20
easily and SO surely Impressed 10
very favorably. And when we saw
men who four or i've years ago com.
menced there with two or three thou.
sand dollars. and were now az well
fixed and making money much easier
and many times faster than lots OF
our acquaintances on Indiana farms
fifty years cleared and valued at four
times as much, we decided to invest.
So we bought In partnership q little
over two thousand acres. some Of II
improved and in wheat.
1OlOAO ACdNAu6 1uulduA NO &6E000
that il the opportunities were as great
as they were represented to be, that
We would buy. and own in partner.
ship body of land, and leave one Of
our number to look after and operats
1t. This We accordingly did.
Just before time to thresh I 70
ceived letter from him. What shall
we do?" said he; I've got to build
granaries. There's SO much wheat
that the railways are just swamped.
We can't get cars and the elevators
are all full. never saw anything
like IT," In reply we wrote, Good for
you. Go ahead and build; your story
sounds better than the letters we used
to get from our friends in Kansas
when they bewailed the fact that tho
hard wheat had been destroyed by the
chinch bugs and the corn by hot
winds, and that they must sell the
stock for means to live on. Yes, build
by all means" And he did, and our
wheat put in by a renter made twen-