Year: 1867

The following letter from legal gen.
tleman residing in a promising town Of
the great west gives an excellent desorip.
ton Of the place and vicinity.


COUNCIL BEUTFs Iowa, December 7gb, fs57.


Col. CHAs. SWAN, URBANA, ONO;
Dear Sir. 4 In regard "a
the chances for profitable investment in
lands or lots here and in this vicinity.
I agree with the DR.. in thinking that
this is among the most desirable loca-
tious in this portion of the west. We
have a good town and an excellent coun-
try to back it, The accession of rail-
roads has given a new impetus rot only
to the march Of improvement, bus to
business Of all kinds. There is and has
been for a year past steady, but not
rapid or merely speculative, advance in
prices Of real estate both in toWu and
country. The coming year promises
more in the way Of material prosperity
than has been realized in the one now
closing. We are quite likely to have at
least two more railroads in addition to
those we now have, completed to this
point and the work commenced on the
railroad bridge across the Missouri. This
will be the actual terminus Of five roads
in running order within fifteen months.
Omaha is a fast town and a hourishfng
one, but it would be difficult to point
out a substantial basis for her present or
future prosperity. The prices of lots
there are from two to five times greater
than here-rents enormously high and
the prices Of living ditto. The produc-
tive portion of the land in the vicinity
Of Omaha is very limited and her popu-
lation is consequently dependent upon
this side Of the river for nearly s7ery-
thing they eat and for pretty much all
fuel they burn Still the location there,
for the time, of the o. P. R. Rs. ma
chine shops and car factory-in addition
to that being department military head
qu3rters for the District of the Platte,
has made money plenty there and it
flows freely. Another year or two will
probably change al this; and when COM
PEELED to rely wholly upon herself as
Council Bluffs has been doing for years,
she will find the race Of riyaIship a
somewhat harder one than it has been in
the past.


We have a good farming country
around Us here and from the fact that
we have such markets for our surplus
grain and produce as Denver, Cheyenne
and other points farther west, there are
few sections of country, I presume,
where farming pays better than this
Our merchants too, job 4 great many
goods to Western towns and this is rapid
ly increasing. We have plenty of tim
Der for all practical purposes and are
now getting a good article Of coal by
railroad for about SIG to sI8 per ton
it comes from the DesMoines Valley on
the line Of the Chicago & Northwestern
Railroad. Considerable attention is be-
ing paid to stook-raising to which tho
country is we'll adopted. Good improv-
ed farms can be had here within a rea-
5onable distance from town at from SO
to S25 per acre and unimproved land at
from 81 to Sc. Desirable residence lots
in the City can be had at prices ranging
from 5000 to $500 per lot, and business
lots at from $1,000 to $4,000. Rents
pay a large per cent on the money iu-
vested in buildings-either for dwellings
OF business. Living is Of course higher
here than it is in Ohio (which By the
way IS my native State) but labor AMI
everything else is also higher. We
have an excellent system Of School here
five public Schools and one Ladies
one German School, be-
sides some ten or twelve private schools,
in constant operation. Our religious
Societies which have church edifees are
the Presbyterian, Methodist, Episeopa-
Ian, Congregational, Catholic, German
Lutheran and Mormons or Latter day
Saints. J. G. T.