Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-06-30
sl.5o PER AsNuM.

80
was evident and by sunset not a vest
age was left-all was swept away.
Not enough to feed a pig was left.
The old soldier is applauded for his
deeds of valor, courage, heroism and
endurance, but never were men In
the curse of events more worthy Of
the highest admiration, than the old
settlers of Lincoln county who re-
manned at their posts during and
after their experiences with the grass
hoppers, In the COS and 7O's, yea,
then, all the settled portions of South
Dakota had their billiards as we'll a.
the pests known as grasshoppers, but
the raid they made on the crops In
Lincoln county in 1876 was the eli
max of all. This was almost beyond
endurance, but courage OF the first
order never gave way and after years
of endurance against such odds the
old settler finds his reward in a hap
Ply, prosperous home and their child
ren and children's children have grad
uated from some Of the best educa-
Ulollul llloUlpuulOIo WIOtlld Tx oUoO0.
In early days, up to 1881, / was over
almost every portion of the county
and it was cross lots then. About a
year ago l journeyed over quite a bit
of the county but l missed the olden
time land marks and / had to 60
square corners At times ! was about
lost. l found instead of cross lots, all
fenced, instead of sod shanties, hay
and straw stables, houses and castles
from 81, 900 to 81, 900 and barns from
$500 to $4,000, handsome and pictur-
esque groves of timber and all other
things proportionately corresponding
and %denotiGg prosperity and progress
and ! found good citizens everywhere.
/ have not time to note but few OF
those whom l met and Mr., Joe Mil
lett was among the first. He has a
tine house, barn, grove and land ga
lore with a willow tree of large but
not uncomfortable size. The most
interesting three hours spent any
where was with Mr.. A. j. Wimple, a
grower of corn, alfalfa, potatoes, fruit,
and anything from a practical to a
theoretical standpoint he was posted
on and 0 0 convinced me that l did
not know any more about farming
than Horace Greeley did. | got ideas
for storing grain for seeding purposes
against the elements, rodents, etc,
that / never thought OF before and
much good may result by consulting
him. Further along l brought up at
the John Keynes home where some
q or 30 years ago l stopped and found
that he had a young grove Of 40 acres
of sapl.ngs two to four inches in d.
ameter and eight to twelve feet high
at that time. He now informs me
that he had within the two years past
sawed and disposed of upward Of two
hundred Thousand feet of lumber
from said grove Of thirty or thirty
five years growth.
With a short recapitClation / must
close. Glance back with me As years
and we see a vast waste Of country,
not a living soul within the boundary
and no wealth visible. Now behold,
a population within our county boun-
daries Of thirteen Thousand and q to-
tai valuation Of twenty-five and .
half million dollars. Let us ask what
has wrought all this change and the
answer is the pioneer homesteader
and husbandman, the tiller OF the
soil whom l can properly compare and
eulogize as did Daniel Webster pay
tribute to Americas greatest fnan-
cier, Alexander II. Hamilton, when
appointed the first Secretary of the
Treasury Of our nation at the time
when there was no treasury. "He
smote the rock of finances and abund-
ance gushed forth" You sought and
settled upon the vast expanse as you
found it, wild and unsubdued, but
you applied the instruments Of cul-
ture and behold abundance came
forth-vegetables, fruit, wheat, oats,
barley and corn. Mr.. Wimple, whom
l consider a scientific and practical
farmer, told me he had grown an acre
OF corn that produced 12O bushels,
thus going to show that nature pro-
vides means and will respond bounti-
fully when Intelligent effort is proper
ly applied. I saw his matchless seed
corn from which a realized sS5 for
one bushel. Is this not a triumph?
Now for the big timber-we are not
Californians and cannot boast of trees
1000 years old, ''big up, out and
around, /" but l cite you to a trump"
as to time and size. only three and =
half blocks distant, less than M
fourth of a mile, standing in the yard
OF Mrs. Bacon, giant like. two cotton
wood trees measuring respectively
twelve and thirteen feet stump high
and will make 8 or 10 cords of wood.
These trees were set out In the spring
OF 1870 by J. Q. Fitzgerald. A man
was here with , wagon load Of seed
iings from the Missouri river, he
hailed from Union county and these
trees are from that lot.
Now with q parting word, let your
motto ever be, Coward and Up
ward" Good will to mankind"
but I cannot close without q senti-