The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1911-05-25
FROM COLORADO.
Arapahoe, Colo. April %, 1911

10 MS trlendS, II not only helps them
to keep track of the individual, but
perhaps teaches them what people in
n~eighboring states are doing. Chey-
enne county, Colo, is about 900 miles
from Brookings county. 1t is at the
extreme east central edge of Colo.
Almost in line with Kansas City and
Denver; but closer to Denver than
which are often put TO me. What
can you raise out there or do you
raise anything? How much rain do
you get, or does it rain any? What
kind of climate do you have? What
is the price of land? Can a person
get a homestead there now? What
do people live in? Are there any
rattle snakes? Are there any church
es? I'll try and answer these ques-
tons in their turn. The money crop
is principally wheat, ane seed, and
broom corn, This is what we ship
out. For feed We raise milo-madze,
kaffir corn, and corn. We have no
wild grass to cut for hay, so we SOW
millet, cane. and kaffir corn. The
foliage from milo maize and kaffir
corn is pretty good even after they
have gone to seed, also the stalks Of
broom corn are fed up, and the seed
makes good chicken or horse feed. Be
to nov for hay, don't think we have
no grass. The whole prairie sea is
a mat of buffalo grass, a grass that
is said to be next to blue grass for
~fattening stock. This last winter,
range horses were not caught up and
fed until the middle Of February and
some cattle had but very little feed
until that time. Not much oats, bar
lev, fax and such grains are raised
here. as they require more moisture
than we usually have during their
season. The wheat we raise is prac-
tiCaIly all fall Wheat
1t is hard 10 say how much rain
we get, as seasons vary. However
we get nearly enough, or at least we
did last year, had it come at the right
intervals and in smaller quantities.
One night during the last of July it
rained 8 inches, in that case so much
runs off and is wasted.
The climate here is mild, although
we are subject to sudden changes, as
our altitude is high; but the changes
are not to the extremes.
The price Of land varies directly as
to the distance from the r. R. and,
of course, the lay of the land must
be taken into consideration. Land
near town. say two or three miles SO
to SIS, back ten to fifteen miles s.
to $40 per acre.
No one cannot get a homestead here
any longer by simply filing upon it.
He must buy someone's relinquish-
ment or contest him. The land was
all taken up before | arrived here
last spring. | had to buy a relin-
uuishment before | filed on my claim.
Perhaps, some of you did not know
one could get 800 acres for a home
stead. This is not only true in Colo.
but in several of our western states.
The law regarding this, passed in
the spring of 1909.
The people of this country live in
Just whatever their pocket-books af-
ford. In many cases that is not very
high living in fact some of it is under
the ground. There was a dug-out on
my claim when I came here. Some
live in sod shanties: some in adobe
houses: and many others in frame
houses of all shapes and sizes.
Yes, there are rattle snakes here.
This answers a lady's question. |
have six or seven rattles which I
have taken from rattlers. Just the
| other dav as | was walking across
the prairie without any supposed
weapon when | met one. Apparently
the snake did not see M until | was
ONLY five or six feet from him. He
suddenly coiled himself ready to
| strike and I instantly varied my
course. 1t is a poor citizen who will
pass one of these poisonous reptiles
without taking his life. If I should
have left him and had gone home for
a club or gun, He would have found
a den, before | could have got back
to him. took off one shoe and with
five throws | had him bruised and
stunned so that | was able to hnlsh
him with the shoe holding it in my
hand. One of my Brookings friends
has told me that he would like to
come out and try some bachelors
bread which I had told him about, for
his sake I will say it would not do for
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