The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1908-02-27


to the annual meetings Of the congress.
and provided for the publication and
distribution OF pamphlets and litera-
ture covering the methods and results
OF such farming. They provided for
an afiiliated membership which Is to
include annual members, who Will be
expected to pay an annual membership
fee Of one dollar, and life memberships
which will require payment OF ten
dollars. Any OF the affiliated members
who come into the organization under
these terms will be fully accredited to
any sessions of the congress-, and will
receive all the circulars and pamphlets
printed covering the work Of dry farm
ing. This literature will be a valuable
reference for any farmer who Is work.
ing in the northwest, and will help
the Dakotas to the extent Of thousands
OF dollars annually, as has been shown
by the application Of the methods to
the dryer sections of western Nebraska
and eastern Colorado. State Engineer
Samuel II. Lea, Of Pierre. is one OF the
members OF the executive committee
Of the national organization, and Will
supply anyone who desires to secure
this literature with all the necessary
information as to the methods of be-
coming members OF the organization
or securing the literature.
The movement which has been in
augurated by the newspapers Of Pierre
and many Of the newspapers OF Stanley
county for the preservation of what
is known as the old Black Hills trail,
which passes through this region, does
not meet with the approval Of the
thomesteaders who have taken lands
along the old trail. Those who want
the trail preserved even went SO far
as to write the war department at
Washington for the purpose OF ascer-
tanning IL Il was not a trail legally
established by Col Fred Grant in
1876. No record Of the trail was
found on the records OF the war de-
partment. The homesteaders who are
opposing the preservation Of the trail
declare that none of those behind the
movement have land which is diagon-
ally traversed by the old trail, or they
would "sing another song" The home
steaders whose land is traversed by
the old trail further declare that IL 1t
was preserved they would be compell-
ed to move some of their buildings,
which in many cases now are con-
structed directly over the trail, and
this would put them to considerable
expense. OF the several thousand
the trail between Fort Pierre and
Rapid City, not one favors the project
Of preserving the old trail.
The county division question prom
tsss to keep several Of the counties west
OF the river stirred during the coming
year. Up in Butte county the town Of
Lennon wants to carve a county seat
out OF the southeast corner OF Butte,
in which as the only railroad town
they expect to be the county seat, even
II they do have their existence with
the state line as one Of their strets.
The people Of Meadow, a new inland
town about 80 miles south Of Lennon,
in a mass meeting have declar ed
against any county division scheme for
the present year, and take the position
that II is better to wait until some
thing more definite is known as to de-
velopment. Grand River, west of
Lennon, takes practically the same
view of the situation. About Camp
Crook they are in favor OF division
If the county is cut into three parts,
with one Of them the "Jog," the
line between ranges nine and ten, with
the rest of the county cut through the
center east and west, making another
new county in the northeast corner of
the state, and leave the southwest part
Of the present county remaining as
Butte. With these diverse views, II
will be hard TO make much progress.
The report Of the bureau Of vital sta
tistics OF the state on naturalizations
for 1907 shows that 1887 foreign ars
took out their papers Of intention of
becoming citizens. Most Of these came
from northern Europe. the Scandi-
navian countries leading with $50;
Germans were next in the list with
363, and German Russians numbered
1876. The British subjects to ask for
citizenship numbered 15. The rest
were from Austria and southern Eu-
rope. Two hundred and fifty-six final
citizen certificates were taken out for
the year, and as In the applications
the Scandinavian countries held the
lead, Norway, Sweden and Denmark
all showing good lists, with England
and Germany showing about the same
number.
The liquor license question seems to
have stopped several Of the efforts OF
townships west of the river TO get civil
organizations. While The county COM
missioners granted petitions asking for
the privilege OF organization. when II
came to voting upon the question OK
organization itself the license issue was
made the important one, and the vot-
ers refused TO sanction such a move
for the explicit purpose Of shutting out
any chance of a saloon getting a foot
hold. With the townships out on the
frontier taking such position on the
liquor license, the generally accepted
eastern view that every man in the
vyaaf is addicted to the habit will hava