Our western empire, or, The new West beyond the Mississippi : the latest and most comprehensive work on the states and territories west of the Mississippi

Preface

6/|N the summer of 1879 t^^ publishers of this work entered into )| negotiations with the writer for the preparation of a work on the West; it was to be an octavo vohime of about five hundred pages ; and, having had considerable experience in geographical and historical works, the writer felt confident of its completion in the early spring of 1880. But as he proceeded with his work, both he and his publishers felt that their original plan was too circumscribed for the subject before them. The country to be described was vast, beyond our ordinary conceptions of vastness; much of it had never been adequately described, and the descriptions hitherto published were as far behind the existing facts as a ten-year-old almanac. The tide of immigration had doubled and quadrupled since 1876, and what was a howling wilderness, with only a half dozen straggling settlements, five years before, had already attained the population and organization of a State. The railways, which during the six years of financial depression, had added very little to their mileage in the new States and Territories, were now stretching their iron fingers across the continent, pioneers instead of followers of settlement and civilization. The loaded trains groaned beneath the weight of the superabundant crops ; over all the hillsides the cattle roamed, fat, sleek and contented, in unnumbered thousands ; all the plains were spangled with millions of white-fleeced sheep. Along both slopes of the Rocky Mountains, from Texas to British America, in the summits and passes of the Sierra Madre, the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades, as well as in the smaller outlying ranges between, and even on the hills of the lower Coast Range, gold and silver, quicksilver and platinum, copper, lead and zinc, coal, salt and sulphur, were yielding up their treasures; and every day was adding largely to the amount. The population, which was pouring into this vast empire, was composed of almost every people under the sun; and while the leaven of sturdy law-abiding citizens from the Atlantic States was large, it remained to be seen whether the amalgamation would result in an intelligent and patriotic citizenship; whether education, moral principle, and higher aims than mere money-getting, would gain the ascendency.

^ PREFACE. ;

Then the year iS3o' proved, from ahnost its beginning, to be an exceptional year, especially in its felarions to the West. Our decennial census was to be taken, and it- would be possible by the close of the year, but not earlier, to ascertain whether the boasted increase of these Western States and Territories was justified by the cold and careful enumerations of the census supervisors. Six hundred thousand emigrants reached our shores during the year, and more than twice that number of our own citizens migrated to the West. The railway kings were enlisting their syndicates and making their combinations, which have resulted in a twelvemonth in arrangements for the speedy completion of four new trunk routes to the Pacific on our own territory, and of the Canadian Pacific on our northern border. Eleven States and Territories, heretofore either in part or wholly inaccessible by rail, are now, or will be in a iitw months, provided with railroad transit across their entire breadth or length; and the year on which we have entered is only carrying out right royally the plans and projects of its imperial predecessor.

It was evident to both publishers and author that our plans required extension and enlargement, and so we went from ordinary octavo to royal octavo; from 500 to 700, to 1000, and finally to over 1300 pages. Resolved to represent what had never previously been even attempted, and what for lack of material could not have been attempted with success — the present condition of each of the States and Territories which go to make up "Our Western Empire " — no pains nor expense has been spared to gain from every source every fact which could illustrate their topography, geology and mineralogy, climate, soil, productions, mineral wealth, pastoral facilities, population, accumulated wealth, education- and religion, with notices of the Indian tribes found in their borders. For these purposes, every book and pamphlet, official and other, every report, railroad publication, mining record, every newspaper and every telegraphic report affecting any of these States or Territories, has been carefully scanned to the number of more than three thousand, and a correspondence opened and maintained with many hundreds of officials and others.

The result is before the public. It has been a labor of love, notwithstanding the toil it has required. That it is absolutely free from error is impossible; but the great care which has been taken to secure accuracy leads to the hope that there are no errors of great magnitude. At all events, it could not have been completed with as great a measure of perfection as it now possesses, a day earlier than the present.

No man was ever blessed with more kindly and thoughtful friends than the writer. Every request for information has been most promptly and heartily

. PREFACE. 5

met by those to whom it was addressed ; and in many cases voluntary contributions of great labor and value have been added. Two most valued and helpful correspondents have died while the work was in progress: his Excellency, William A. Howard, Governor of Dakota, and Hon. Alfred Gray, Secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture. Of the living, the warm and hearty thanks of the writer are due to his Excellency, Gen. John C. Fremont, Governor of Arizona, for valuable information relative to that Territory; to Hon. W. H. H. Beadle, of Yankton, Dakota, Superintendent of Public Instruction of Da- ' kota, for much information and valuable memoranda in regard to Southeastern Dakota and the Black Hills; to J. B. Power, Esq., of St. Paul, Minnesota, for a valuable essay, and many important documents in regard to Montana and Dakota; to H. H. Young, Esq., Secretary of Minnesota Board of Emigration, for documents, etc., relative to Minnesota; to Hon. Andrew McKinley, of St. Louis, President of Missouri State Board of Immigration, for letters and valuable documents; to his Excellency, Albinus Nance, Governor of Nebraska, for many documents; to his Excellency, J. P. St. John, Governor of Kansas, and J. K. Hudson, Esq., Mr. Gray's successor as Secretary of the Board of Agriculture of that State, for documents; to Robert E. Strahorn, Esq., of Omaha, for valuable documents and descriptions; to A. L. Webber, Esq., of Hot Springs, and to United States Senator A. H. Garland, for aid in regard to Arkansas; to A. L. Stokes, Esq., of Chicago, for valuable documents in regard to Oregon; to Edward J. Brockett, of Orange, N. J., for many valuable historical and descriptive works; to Cliarles C. Savage, Esq., of Brooklyn, for valuable documents and information concerning Colorado; to Gen. N. A. Miles, U. S. A., for official reports of the exploration of the Yellowstone region ; and especially to Rev. Wayland Hoyt, D. D., of Brooklyn, for his invaluable aid in regard to Montana and the Yellowstone Park. There may be others whose aid ought to be acknowledged, but whose names are not now recalled. If so, they Avill please accept the grateful thanks of one whose memory of names is less tenacious than of loving deeds.

In the hope that this book may contribute to the honor and glory of our beloved country, both at home and abroad, the writer subscribes himself the public's most humble servant. L. P. B.

Brooklyn, February, iS8i.

Contents

Preface 3

Table of Contents 7

Chapter I

What it Comprehends — The West beyond the Mississippi — Its Area and Extent— Comparison with other Empires — Climate — Mountains — Natural Phenomena — Soil — The Alkaline, Volcanic and "Bad Lands" — Predominance of Arable and Pasture Lands — Nutritious Grasses in the Grazing Lands 33

Chapter II

The Great American Desert : Where is it ? — The Hundredth Meridian — " En Perkins's" Scare — The Facts in Reply — Colonel (Brevet Brigadier-General) Hazen on the Northern Pacific — Governor Howard's Answer, and other Facts — Dakota — Wyoming and its Agriculture — Montana — B. R. and Mr. Z. L. White on its Crops — The small modicum of Truth in these " Desert " Stories — The reported " Desert " beyond the Rockies — The Utah and Nevada Desert — Testimony of Surveyors-General — The Texan Deserts and Arizona — The Great American Desert a Myth 37

Chapter III

The whole Region Abounding in Mineral Wealth — Production of Gold and Silver, other Metals, etc. — Forests — Grasses — Root Crops — Fruits — Viniculture 51

Chapter IV

Wild Animals and Game — Beasts of Prey — Grizzly and other Bears — Mr. Murphy's Grizzly Bear Story — The Cougar, Puma, or Panther — The Jaguar and other Felid/e — Lynxes — What sort of an Animal a Lynx is — The Marten and Weasel Tribe — The Gray Wolf — The Coyote — Is the Prairie Wolf a Coyote? — Colonel Dodge's Opinion — Amphibia— The Whale Tribe — Birds of Prey — Perchers and Song-Birds— Pigeons and Grouse — Waders and Swimmers— Reptiles — Fishes — Mollusks and Crustaceans — Domestic Animals.. . . 56

Chapter V

Population — The Increase since 1870 — Tables Showing the estimated Incre.\sein each State and Territory — Notes in regard to each State and Territory. 63

Chapter VI

The Nationalities and Races Represented — The Indians — Different Tribes, and THEIR Characteristics — The Moquis of Arizona — Note concerning them — Africans and Colored Persons generally — Chinese and Japanese — IIispano- Americans — Europeans of different Nationalities — British, British American, German, Scandinavian, French, Italian, Spanish, etc. — Americans born IN the States 66

Chapter VII

Characteristics and Peculiarities of the Population — Humorous Aspects of the Blending of different Nations — The New Dialect^Specimens of it — The Propensity to Humorous Exaggeration — Incidents, Manners and Habits of Ranch-owners and Ranchmen — Colonies of different Nationalities and Religions — Mennonites— Stundists — Mormons — Catholic Emigration — Associations OF Capitalists for Mining, Herding, Wool-growing, or Farming Purposes— Other Modes of Settlement 71

Chapter VIII

Variety of Soils and Surface — Alkaline Lands — The Llano Estacado — Mezquite Lands — The Plains — The Bad Lands — River-bottom Lands — Soils — The Mulatto Soils — The Chocolate Soils — Geography and Geognosy — Geology — Characteristics of the Rocky Mountains — Glacial Erosion — Horse-shoe Moraines — Volcanic Remains of the Yellowstone Country — The Geysers — Wonderful Lava Fields — Volcanic Mounds — The Vicinity of Salt Lake — Professor Geikie's Summary of the Geology of the Central Region— Mineralogy — Mineral Wealth of the West, not Surpassed in any other part of the Globe — W'ide diffusion of Gold and Silver — Lead, Copper, Zinc — Iron found Everywhere — Nickel — Rarer Metals — Salt in Brine Springs, Lakes, Salt Marshes, and Rock-Salt — Borax — Asphaltum and Petroleum — Lignite— Coal — Building-Stonf^ — Colored Rocks and Clays — Precious Stones of all kinds — Porcelain Clays — Baryta — Ochres — Mineral Springs 81

Chapter IX

Climates — Varieties of Climate — Causes — Climate of North-West Coast — Small Range of Temperature on the California Coast — Extremes of Heat and Cold between the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada — Cold in Northern Dakota — Protracted and intense PIeat at Fort Yuma — The Soldier's Test — Temperature on the Plains — The Rocky Mountain Climate—Mot at mid-day. Cool at Night— Annual Range from 55° to 65° — Health fulness of this Climate— Rainfall— Great Variations— Comparison of different Sections — Western Oregon and Northern California, 123 TO 135 inches— San Diego and Fort Yuma, 3.80 to 2.00 inches — Gulf Coast 54 to 67 inches — Mississippi River to 97TH Meridian 45 to 28 inches— 97TH TO 117TI1 Meridian 25 to 11.5 inches— Farther West, t,i to 42 inches — Causes of deficient Rainfall — Two-thirds of Arable Lands DO not require Irrigation — One-third do — Advantages of Irrigation — Crops larger and more uniform— Winds— Character and Effect of dif-

FERENT Winds — The Winds from the North — Gulf Winds — The Hot Winds FROM Mexico — Possihility of their mitigation as the Country becomes Settled 94

Chapter X

The various Processes of Mining — Placer Mining — Gold Discovery in California— Marshall's Specimens — Humphrey makes a Rocker — P. B. Reading's Experiment — John Bidwell's Discovery — Intense Excitement — The Pan — The Rocker — The Ditch and the " Tom " — The Sluice — Hydraulic Mining — Hydraulic Mining not esthetic — Desolation of the Regions where it has been practised — Lode or Quartz Mining — True Fissure Veins — The "Country" Rock — Chimneys, Chutes, or Bonanzas — Pockets — Cement Deposits— Contact Lodes — What is meant by a Contact Lode — Carbonates of Silver as rich as Sulphurets — Gold combined with Sulphurets — Mining and Reducing Processes — Sinking a Shaft — Running an Adit — Cutting a Winze — Stoping — Depth of Mines — Great Heat of Deep Mines — The Water very Hot, 154° F. or more — Cost of Pumping out and Ventilating Mines— The Reduction of Pyritous and other Ores — Gold with Oxide of Iron — Cost of Reduction of Gold — Discoveries of Silver Ores — Silver widely DIFFUSED — Various Conditions and Combinations of Silver in the Ores — Modes of Reduction — The best Mining Regions — Placer Mining: the best Locations — Difficulties of Placer Mining — Difficulties of Lode or Vein Mining — The best Mines bought up by Capitalists — The best Locations for Experts .' loi,

CHAPTER XL ^

Other Metals and Mineral Products — Quicksilver — Its Existence as Cin>;at bar — Copper — Found in Various Forms, as Malachite, Red, Blue, Vellow,, AND Vitreous Carbonates and Oxides, Copper Glance, Pyrites, Native, etc.,. Occurs in nearly all the States and Territories — Lead and Zinc — Both Occur either as Galena (Sulphuret), Carbonate or Oxide, in most of the States and Territories — Iron — Everywhere and in all Forms in the Greatest Abundance — Can Supply the World with Iron and Steel — Platinum — Found Pure and in Combination with Gold, Iridium and Iridosmin in California, Oregon, Colorado, and Arizona — Tin— Occurs as Cassiterite or Oxide — Nickel— Found in Iron Ores — Iridium and Osmium — Tellurium— Rare Metals Found in Combination with Gold, and the latter also with Copper — Antimony — Arsenic — Manganese — The three Found in Various Forms in Combination with Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc, and Iron — Sulphur— Found Native AND in Various Combinations with most of the Metals — Extensive Beds IN California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Yellowstone Park, etc. — Borax — In California and Nevada — Soda — In California, Nevada, and Utah— Salt — Coal — Four Distinct Coal Fields: Eastern, Bituminous; Second, Lignite-Cretaceous; Third, Lignite-Tertiary, but changed by Volcanic Action TO Anthracite; Fourth, Bituminous, and Farther North, Anthracite — True Anthracite Coal also in Arizona — Asphaltum and Petroleum in California, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana— Mica — Alum — Kaolin— Wood and Charcoal as Fuel — Mineral Springs 118 lo CONTENTS.

Chapter XII

Agriculture— Arable Lands East of the Rocky Mountains — Minnesota Farming Lands and Prodi'cts — Dakota Tekkitdry Farming Lands — Montana Farms — Iowa Farms — Missouri Farminc; Lands — Nebraska Farming Lands — Kansas Farming— Arkansas Farms — The Indian Territory as a Farming Region — Texas Farming, Grain, Cotton, etc. — Review of Farming Lands East of Rocky Mountains— Much Poor and Indifferent Farming — Revolution in Farming Produced hy Agricultural ^L\cHINERY — Rix)T Crops — Cotton — Sugar — Fruit Culture — Textile Fibres and Tobacco — The Rocky Mountain Region — Wonderful Results of Irrigation — Beyond the Rockies — From the Sierra Nevada TO THE Coast Range — California — Viniculture in California — The Products of Oregon and Washington i ji

Chapter XIII

Timber and Lumber — Reckless Waste of the Forf^t Growths — Only eight States AND Territories have Sufficient Forests for their own Supply, and some to Spare — Tree-Planting — The Forest Growths in Different Sections — California Forests — What Trees are Planted — Cotton-Wood — Osage Orange — Catalpa — Maple, ETC. — The Eucalyptus Globulus Should be Planted — Why? — Horticulture and Fruit-Culture — Floriculture — Wild Flowers — Market-Gardening 147

Chapter XIV

New Directions in which Agricultural Industry may be Developed, and in which it is already Developing — Millet and other Forage Crops — Silk- Culture — Rearing the Silk-worm — Stifling the Cocoons — Reeling — The Filature — Schappe or Spun-Silk — Cocoons do not bear Transportation well — Advantages of Silk-Culture in the West — The Silkville Experiment — Prices of Raw Silk and of Silk-worm Eggs — Probability of a Large Demand for Raw Silk — Textile Fibres — Flax and Hemp — Paper Stock : Esparto Grass, Tule, Marsh-Mallow, etc. — Ramie, Jute, Tampico — The Nettle — Dye Stuffs— Cochineal — Oil-Producing Plants — The Olive — Cotton-Seed Oil — Hemp-seed and Linseed Oil — Oil of Sunflower Seeds and other Seeds — Sesamum Indicum — Tar Weed (Madia Sativa) — Pea-nut, Ground-nut or Goober — Castor Bean (Ricinus Com.munis and Sanguinarius) — Tea and Coffee Cultivation— Fruit and Nut-bearing Trees and Shrubs — The Olive — Oranges and Lemons — Pomegranate — Fig — Banana, Plantain, Pineapple, Guava and other Tropical Fruits — Papaw — Nut-bearing Trees and Shrubs — Introduction of Foreign Nuts — English Walnut — Italian Chestnut — Almond — Other Fruit-bearing Shrubs — Japanese Persimmon, Carob, Jujube, Mezquite, etc. — Trees and Skrubs containing Tannin — The Sumacs — The Wattles — The Spir/Eas or IIaridhacks 152

Chapter XV

Stock-raising — Cattle-herding, and the rearing of Horses and Mules — The Grazing Lands — The Stock-growing Region, par excellence — Winter Care of Stock — Number of Cattle in the West in 1879 — The Herdsmen or Cow-boys — Stock-raising profitable if WELL managed— Stock-raising in Texas — Cli-

CONTENTS. II

MATic Advantages — Pasturing on the Great Ranges, or on one's own Land — Expense of rearing Cattle in Texas — The two Extremes in Stock-raising in Texas— Examples— Beginning on a Small Scale — Growth of a Texas Stock- RANCHE — Stock-raising in Kansas and Colorado — Joint-Stock Management OF A Ranche — The Colorado Cattle Company's Estate of Hermosillo — Another Colorado Company — Statistics — The Estimate of Mr. A. A. Hayes, Jr. — The Difference of Profit between " Store " Cattle and " Fat " Cattle — Mr. Barclay's Account — The English View of the Matter — Stock-raising in the Northern and Northwestern States and Territories — Shelter and Food for Stock — Future Advantages for Shipping Choice Stock from these States and Territories to Europe — Dairy- Farming — Stock-raising and Dairy-Farming in California — Horse-Farming and Rearing Mules — Camels 165

Chapter XVI

Sheep- Farming and Wool-Growing — Number of Sheep and Annual Increase of Lambs in each State or Territory — The Great Wool States — Improving THE Breed — Merinos — Cotswolds — Southdowns — Leicesters — Tastes Differ— Perils of the Flocks from Cold, Starvation, and Thirst — Winter Shelter and Winter Food Necessary in Kansas and farther North — Diseases of Sheep — The Scab — The Tick — Grub in the Head — The Pale Disease — Paper Skin — The Foot-rot — The Black-leg — Pleuro- Pneumonia, etc. — The Sheep that Browse and the Sheep that Crop their Food — Shrubs and Plants Poisonous to Sheep — Sheep-Farming — The Shepherds — The Sheep- . Farmer in Colorado — The Purchase of the Sheep- Farm — Buying the Sheep — The Account — Beginning on a small Scale: the Man with only $1,000 — Not Advisable to Marry, or bring a Family to a Sheep- Farm when starting WITH A very Small Capital — Crossing the Breed with the Big-Horn — The Angora and other Goats— -The Rocky Mountain Goat 180

Chapter XVII

Employments in Cities, Towns and Villages— "A Man's got to ha\'e Sand " — No Place for Men easily Discouraged — Energetic and Industrious Men can do well— Horticulture, Floriculture, Arboricul-eure- — How to Succeed in these Pursuits— Mercantile Business— The Road to Success for the Tradesman— Banking — The Professions, Clergymen, Lawyers, Physicians, Engineers, Artists, Musicians, and Teachers of Music, Vocal and Instrumental — The Love of Music Illustrated — The Leadville Miner and his Piano — Teachers and Educators — Provisions for Education in the States and Territories— Artisans of all Trades — Machinists, Operatives, and Employes in M.\nufacturing Establishments— Employments connected with Mining, Reducing, Smelting and Refining Metals— Farming, Herding, and other Employes—Day-Laborers— How to Spell " Lynx "— Facilitif,s for Manufacturing—Water-Power, Steam- Power— Woollen Manufacture— Cotton Manufactures and Cotton Seed— Other Textiles— Iron and Iron Wares- Machinery — Manufactures of Wood, etc 191

Chapter XVIII

The Future, the Glorious Future of this Grand Empire of the Wf^t— The Causes which have led to its Growth— Bishop Berkeley's Prediction— The

"Empire" he saw— The Germ of the Great Republic — What the EAfpiRE is,

AND WHAT IT IS TO BE — ItS GrOWTH AM) FUTURE CAPACITY — Thk FUTURE CLI- MATE— The Future Soil and Productiveness — Influence of Railroads in Developing this Region — The Gold and Silver Mini.s as aiding in the Development OF the Country — The Future of the Mines of the Precious Metals — The Western Slopes of the Rocky Mountains full of Gold and Silver — Results OF Increased Production OF Gold AND Silver — Effect of Increased Production OF OTHER Metals — No Metal hut Tin to be Imported— Mineral Earths and Elements to be Developed — Coal — Petroleum— Metallic and Mineral Products of the F'ar West in iSSo — The Production of a. d. 1900 — Vegetable Products — Wheat — Two Thousand Millions of Bushels in igoo — Indian Corn — Corn Crop of 1879 — Influences affecting the F"uture of this Crop — Sorghum— Sorghum Sugar — Its Future. Production and Consumption— Oats — Barley — Rye — Buckwheat — Egyptian Rice Corn — Rice, Note — Summing up of Cereal Products — Root Crops — Potatoi-:s — Sweet Potatoes — Other Root Crops — Difficulty of Determining their Amount — Orchard Products — Textiles— Cotton — The Future Demand for Cotton — Wool — Wool Clip in a. d. 1900— Silk — Probability of the large Production of Raw Silk here — Other Textiles — The Hay Crop — Dairy Products — Tobacco — Sugar, not from Sorghum — Hops — Oil-bearing Plants and Seeds — Summary of Vegetable Products, exclusive of Cereals — Fisheries of the Pacific and the Gulf, of the Lakes and Rivers of the Interior — Fish-Culture, Present and Prospective — Live-Stock in iS8o and 1900 — Forest Products— Various W^AYS IN which Wood is used and destroyed — Probable Value of Forest Products in 1900 — Manufactures — Future of Manufactures — Commerce — Internal and Interstate Commerce — Its indescribable Extent — General Summary — Character of Future Population — Little Danger of War—; Indians — Probable Early Extinction of Indian Tribes — The Colored Race— The Mexicans, Chinese and Japanese— Probability of a large Influx OF Chinese on the Pacific Coast in the near Future — European Immigrants — Emigrants from the Eastern United States — The Character of its Citizens THE BEST Guaranty of its Future 206

Chapter I

Who Should Migrate to this Western Empire, and the Reasons Why— Desirableness OF Accurate Information— WiiAi- English and Irish Farmers are Saying — This Book thoroughly Trustworthy, and written with no Interest but the Immigrant's to Serve — Intentional and Unintentional Misrepresentation— Who should not come— The Land-Grant Railway Companies, AND THE Emigration Societies — The Hardships to which the Immigrant was Subjected Thirty or F'orty Years ago— The comparative Ease and Comfort OF THE Immigrant's Lot now— The Immigrant should not buy his Land before seeing IT — All Lands not equally Desirable— Railway Pamphlets and Emigration Society Circulars sometimes Overstate Advantages — The Immigrant should Examine for Himself — Age beyond which Emigration is Undesirable — Other Classes who ought not to come— Invalids— Lazy People— F'ickle

People — Those who have no Money — Amount of Capital Necessary — This

VARIES WITH the OCCUPATION — WhAT ARE NECESSARY EXPENSES ALTERNATIVES

FOR Men who have only ;^ioo or less, and a Family — Single Men can get

ALONG, though NOT WITHOUT HARDSHIPS AND PRIVATIONS — WhY SOME EMIGRANTS

ARE Dissatisfied — "Our Western Empire" preferred to other Countries by the Emigrant — Why ? 337

Chapter II

The Routes by which "Our Western Empire" is Reached — What the Immigrant

SHOULD DO on REACHING CASTLE GARDEN — ThE JoURNEY AT BEST A WEARISOME

ONE — The Northeastern Region — Chicago the Point of Departure for this Region — Cautions and Advice to the Immigrant when Travelling — The Central Region — St. Louis, Omaha, St. Joseph, Atchison, or preferably Kansas City the Points of Departure for this Region, and for most of the Southern, Southwestern and Pacific Regions also — The Southern and Southwestern States and Territories also reached by Steamers on the Mississippi and the Gulf, and these and the Pacific States by Ocean Steamers from New York — The Southern Region — The Southwestern — The Pacific States and Territories — Time occupied by the Emigrant Trains and the Steamers — Table of Destinations, Routes, Points of Departure and Fares in the Autumn of 1879 248

Chapter III

The Selection of a Farm — How to obtain Land — Various Ways in which an Immigrant with Capital may obtain a Farm very Reasonably — Advice to the Immigrant who has but little Capital — In what States and Territories, or PARTS of States, are there Arable Government Lands ? — How to obtain Government Lands — Prices of Arable or Farming Lands — Purchase at Auction or Private Entry — Purchases and Locations with Bounty or Military Land- Warrants — Locations with Agricultural College Scrip — Pre-emption — The Homestead Sales — Laws extending the Homestead Privilege — Provisions FOR the Benefit of Soldiers and Sailors of the late War, their Widows and Minor Orphan Children — Homestead Lands Exempt from Liability for Debts Previously Contracted— Fees for Homestead Entries — Land- Warrants — The Timber-Culture Act — Terms and Mode of Purchase of Timber and Stone Lands — The Desert Land Act — Purchases under it — Grazing Lands : how Secured 254

Chapter IV

Mining and Mineral Lands — The United States Laws and Regulations of the Land Office in regard to them — Extent of Claim — Rights of Claimants — Veins — How Controlled — Tunneling — Requirements of Location and Labor — How to Secure a Patent for them — Provisions for Placer Claims — Limitations and Liens — Placer and Lode Claims Jointly — Fees to Surveyors — Proof of Claims — Veins Crossing — Sites for Mills — Drainage, Easements, etc. — Vested Water-rights — Homesteads — Agricultural Lands — General Provision — Coal Lands — Who can Claim — Registering Claims — Conflicting Claims — The act of 1874— The Act of 1875 — Rules of the U. S. Land Office — Effect of the Act of 1872 — Extent of Surface Ground — Surface Rights — The Miner's Laws or Rules — Interpretation of the Statutes by the Lano Office — General Instructions from Surveyor-General— Placer Claims — f4 CONTENTS.

Mill Sites— Deputy-Surveyor's Fees— Proofs of Citizenship of Mining Claimants—State, Territorial and Local Rules or Laws— Nevada Statutes— Virginia District, Nevada- Ref^e River District, Nevada— Statutes of Orecon

Quartz Statute of Idaho— Statute of Arizona— Mining Laws of Colorado

Supplementary Act to these Laws passed in 1874— The Colorado Act of

i877_MiNiNG Laws of New Mexico 270

Chapter V

Other Lands in some of the States more Desirable for Emigrants than Government Lands— State and Territorial Lands— Agricultural College, University, AND School Lands— The Quantity, Prices, and Terms of Purchase —Other State Lands— Lands Granted to Benevolent Institutions— Desert AND Swamp Lands— Lands held Under Mexican Titles in California, New Mfocico, and Arizona— Some Danger of Conflict of Titles in thf^e — The Tfjcas Land System— Three Modes of Securing Homes in Texas under its Land Laws, VIZ. : By Settlement under the Homestead Donation Law; By Locating a Certificate; or by Purchase from the State of Common School, University or Asylum Lands— No United States Government Lands in Texas Railroad Lands — Extent of these in the different States and Territories—Range of Prices— Methods of Selling for Cash— On Short Credit- On Long Credit— The Discounts for Cash Payments— Examples— Range of Prices — The Union Pacific, Central Pacific, Western Pacific, and Southern Pacific Lands— Their Rules for Selling— Their Terms higher and more Vigorously Enforced — Buying an Interest in a Mine — This does not Necessarily include Ownership of the Land over it — Buying Partially improved Farms — They Should not be Bought at too High a Price 345

•

Chapter VI

Farming Life — Management of a Farm at the West — The Best Farming Regions — What Crops -are Best — The Immigrant Farmer should decide what Crops he WISHES to Cultivate, beforehand — If Small Grains and Root Crops, he should decide between Spring Wheat and Winter Wheat — Spring Wheat Best Jn THE Northern Tier of States and Territories — Why? — Winter Wheat in the Middle Tier — Other Crops — Indian Corn — Sorghum — Oats — Root Crops — The Region of Moderate or Small Rainfall — Necessity of Irrigation on These — Its Advantages — Crops Certain — Requires more Capital but Gives BETTER Results — Hints to Immigrant Farmers — Deep Plowing Needed — Rotation of Crops — Some Manuring an Advantage — Agricultural Machinery — The Gang-Plow — Seed-Drill — Horse-Hoe — Cultivator — Reaper and Binder or Harvester, Mower, Horse-rake, etc., etc. — Should keep what Stock he CAN Feed — Sowing Grain in Drills, instead of Broadcast — Too much Seed Sown and not enough Care of its Quality — Hai.lett's PEDiGRFJi Wheat — The Immigrant in the South or Southwest — The Best Crops for him — Cotton IF hechooses, BUT Vegetables, Small Fruits, Sweet Potatoes, and generally Market-Garden Produce, more Profitable on Account of n^ Eari.iness Often Two Crops can be raised in a Se.\son — Some of the Cereals and Indian Corn do well in Northern Texas and Arkansas — Need of Fertilizers HERE— Their Accessibility — Semi-Tropical Fruits most Profitable in Arizona, Southern New Mexico, and Southern California — How Farming can be made most Profitable 363