Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-16
SELLING A MILLION ACRES
How One Man Sold Great Tract Of
Land in Six Months.

Land in Six Months.
Andrew d. Davidson, better known
in about II languages as "The Col
onel." From the boots up to his head
he is not very far from the ground,
but he gets into O. Pullman Sideways
a broad guage man whichever way
lyou look at him. ets
Ten years ago the colonel, says a
writer In Business, was a banker hold
ing hard won title, as strong right
arm man in the commercial arena.
Born on an Ontario bush farm, broad
ened in the Wisconsin pineries, dis
ciplined on Minnesota railroad. in
spired by successful demonstration
Of the agricultural propensities Of cut
over timber lands, he went to Chicago
to ferret out big Job.
He didn't belong to the class which
sits in the stove corner waiting for
opportunity to bruise It's knuckles on
the oak veneer. He opened the door
and went out after things. He looked
around for something wrong to set to
rights and he found It. Chicago. the
primary market Of the worlds wealth,
was neglecting great big selling op-
portunity.
Chicago was the centre Of the most
active wealth producing area In the
world, with only little more than
the bottom half of the circle under
development. The colonel didn't stop
to make criticisms; he was too much
Of constructive genius for that. He
started to set wrongs to rights.
Other men before him should have
seen that empty sentiment and an Inn
aginary line drawn across the conti-
nent were all that separated the pri-
mary wheat market of the world from
vast and and prolific source Of sup
ply. But he wasn't strong on senti-
ment II It affected business. and he
had his own ideas about imaginary
lines.
What the colonel did see was a
many million acre tract Of the richest
wheat land in the world idling away
It's time because nobody had sense
enough to make It work for o. living.
He had found his big job. F $50
The colonels idle rich acres lay on
the Canadian side Of the 4sth paral-
lel-the Saskatchewan Valley, to be
exact. The colonel didn't exactly dis
cover the valley. 1t was q thousand
or so miles long and a few hundred
wide-hardly a negligible quantity in
the coun.ry's topography. but neg
lected nevertheless And out of the
other fellows neglect, came David
sons opportunity, It was q valley of
vast potentialities. an era Of almost
unlimited fertility. an empire lying
fallow without man or beast to liyen It
But the colonel soon changed all
that. The colonel's task was to over
come prejudice, dispel Ignorance and
force quick action. He had to move
thousands Of men and millions Of
money from the comfortable homes
and interest producing channels In
their own country to a new land and
new conditions. ItswasAas bis Job. but
he did II. iSlg 20
Davidson tackled hill Job In q big
way from the start. He created the
first and one of the greatest land-sell-
ing organizations that have canvassed
the United States. Every detail Of his
plan was the finished work Of q mas
ter mind. He started the great Amer
lean invasion Of Canada. -
Here Is the story Of the record sale.
It was early In June, 1902, that Col.
Davidson found himself In control Of
1900, 900 acres Of the Saskatchewan
Valley. He had Just returned to Chi
cago from Toronto where he had COM
pleted his deal, when he met at lunch
with a half-dozen friends, all Of them
bankers. Davidson suggested that
these men should go with him and see
for themselves that the land Of the
Saskatchewan Valley was good.
Within an hour every man Of the
party had accepted the invitation and
other Chicago bankers were added to
the list. A private car was engaged,
and at the colonel's suggestion the
bankers extended the invitation to
their correspondents In the country.
The country bankers accepted to a
man. The one car had expanded to
eleven by the time the returns were all
In, and the party, all bankers, left
Chicago as promised on the 16ta, in a
special train Of their own.
On the way they were Joined by 9TH
er bankers until the colonels guests
filled so many cars that the train had
to run from st. Paul to Winnipeg In
three sections. It was the beginning
Of the American invasion. Five hun
dred bankers from all over the mid
die western states In a special train Of
three sections, the guest Of one man
who was taking them to see country
he believed in!
Nobody heard anything about buy
ing land. The colonel was out 20
prove his contentious and hammer
home his conviction that the biggest
and best wheat-producing area on the
North American continent had hither-
to been neglected. He knew these men
were keen and appreciative judges Of
profitable opportunities If the oppor-
tunities were displayed to them plain
ly enough.
The party spread out over the
prairie and read the signs for them.
selves. Those country bankers knew
land when they saw 1t. The city bank
ers promptly saw great big opening.
The land spoke for itself. Within two
or three days the excursion party
without the slightest solicitation, had
bought nearly 100000 acres. The Sas-
katchewan Valley was firmly fixed on
the map Of North America and Da-
Wilson's work was we'll begun. With
in another six months 1,250.000 acres
had been sold, and the following sum-
mer saw thousands Of settlers moving
I'm and breakin for heir first CROP