The Estancia news. [volume] (Estancia, Torrance County, N.M.) 1904-1912, 1908-12-18
INCREASE IN POPULATION
ENORMOUS, SAYS CURRY
Manu- People Find Homes in the Sunshine Territory During Past
Two Years. Eastern States Provide Large Part
OF immigration

in June, 1908, showed more than
5000 votes, as against about 800
votes cast at the primary of the
same party in June, 1906. The
population of Roosevelt county,
now roughly estimated at 40, 900,
has grown from about 800 in 1903,
when the county was created.
Reports to the territorial bu-
reau Of immigration from the
immigration departments of the
transcontinental railroads enter
ing New Mexico are of interest.
The Rock Island system during
the twelve months sold 4,799
round trip homeseekers' tickets
to points on its lines in New Mex
leo as against 2,218 such tickets
during the previous year. Mr.. C.
B. Schmidt, industrial commits
sioner of this system, estimates
that 2, 600 additional homeseekers
tickets were sold to New Mexico
points from points on the Frisco
System and that probably 1000
additional homeseekers were car
ried on other classes of tickets,
a total of almost 5000 for this
one system. How much of this
total has remained, the report
does not undertake to say, but
Mr., Schmidt considers a very
large proportion of it to have been
permanently located. Mr.. G.. L.
Seagraves, industrial commits
sioner Of the Santa Fe system,
while not supplied with accurate
figures, states that his system
also approximately doubled the
number of homeseekers tickets
sold to noints on the Santa Fe in
Ne ci3o over those sold
during the previous year.
While the territorial bureau of
immigration has no means Of
reaching accurate analysis of
this immigration, visits to prac-
tically every district attracting
homeseekers and careful investi-
cation show that the immigrants
are almost entirely American
born, drawn largely from the
settled farming districts of Ne
braska and Kansas from Okla
homa and Texas, and to a certain
extent from the farming states
east of the Mississippi, Several
of the gulf states have contri-
buted to the immigration, Louisi-
ana in particular having sent a
considerable number. Texas has
been the greatest single contri-
butor among the states, but, in
spite of the heavy movement
from Texas to the eastern tier of
counties, it still seems probable
that a majority of the total for
the year has been from the
northern and central states. This
is particularly true as to northern,
central and northwest New Mex
leo, where practically all immi-
grafton has come from the mid
die west. The proportion Of for
eign immigration is so small al
to be uninportant.
The : growing correspondence
Of che territorial bureau of i'm
migration and the significant de-
mand Of railroad systems, real
estate dealers, and land agencies
for literature dealing with New
Mexico indicate conclusively
that interest in lands, both irri-
gated and unirrigated, is just
now nearing its climax; and with
favorable conditions during the
coming two years the rate of
Immigration may be expected to
far outstrip the record of the
past two years, particularly in
the irrigated districts, where thu
opening of government projects
is not only reclaiming large areas