Misc. Records

Where to Emigrate and Why - Frederick B. Goddard, Peoples Publ. Co., 1869

KANSAS.

        THE early history of Kansas is so closely identified with the grave and important issues which culminated in the late Rebellion, that this chapter would be incomplete without a brief reference to the stirring events which signalized its birth as a Territory. The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, attracted attention to the country lying immediately west of the Missouri River, and opposite the State of the same name. Emigrant Aid Societies were organized in Massachusetts and other New England States, and early in 1854 crowds of emigrants were hastening to the new Territory of Kansas. These were mostly representatives from the free States. The people along the Missouri State border, regarding this influx of Free-State settlers as inimical to the institution of slavery, determined to occupy the Territory themselves, and so soon as the first effort was made to organize under the laws of Congress and elect officials, trouble was engendered between these two rival factions. Voters came over from Missouri in crowds, controlling the polls in many places, and setting at naught the attempts of the people to elect their own representatives; and in frequent instances sanguinary and desperate conflicts occurred, resulting in the killing and wounding of many, and in the wanton destruction of dwellings and other property.

        This condition of things continued for several years, each party struggling desperately for supremacy, until finally the Free-State men triumphed, and a Constitution was adopted forever prohibiting slavery from the limits of Kansas.

        This political struggle had been watched by the people of the North and South, with thrilling interest and divided sympathies, and the result, doubtless, served to aggravate and intensify the feeling of sectional prejudice which had already, to some extent, embittered the relations between those who approved and those who condemned slavery. It was the first positive advantage obtained by the anti-slavery element over the "peculiar institution," revealing the strength of the party organization, and foreshadowing the perils and dangers with which slavery was threatened. Like the low, soughing wind which precedes the coming tornado, the local disturbances of Kansas were only premonitions of the terrible conflict which followed.

        These facts are mentioned partly because they properly belong to the early history of the State under consideration, but more particularly to illustrate the indomitable will and courage of the first settlers of Kansas, many of whom are now its leading and most influential citizens.

        Kansas is one of the youngest and largest States of the Union. It lies upon the western slope of the Missouri Valley, and is bounded on the north by Nebraska, east by Missouri, south by Indian Territory, and west by Colorado. It was admitted as a State January 1, 1861, with a population of 107,000, which is now estimated at between 300,000 and 400,000, and rapidly increasing. The State has a varying length from east to west of from 344 to 408 miles, with a breadth of 208 miles, embracing an area of nearly 57,000,000 acres, of which according to the authorities of the General Land Office, 43,140,000 are yet unsold and open to settlement.

        Kansas possesses the same surface characteristics as Nebraska, except that it is more extensively and more abundantly supplied with running streams. Its most thickly settled counties lie along the Missouri River front, but railroad facilities have already extended far into the interior, making easily accessible vast tracts of land, excellent for agricultural and pastoral pursuits.

        Mr. A. D. RICHARDSON, inspired by the natural beauties of Kansas scenery, thus writes of it:—

        I wonder if the Almighty ever made a more beautiful country than Kansas. Those green prairies, rolling like gentle swells of the ocean, starred and gemmed with flowers, and threaded with dark belts of timber which mark the winding streams, are a joy forever.

*          *          *          *          *          *

        Glancing over thousands of acres covered with long grass and dotted with groves, it appears the perfect counterpart of cultivated field and orchard. One can hardly persuade himself that he is not scouring a long settled country whose inhabitants have suddenly disappeared, taking with them houses and barns, and leaving only their rich pasture and hay fields.

*          *          *          *          *          *

        Wagon roads, revealing the jet black soil, intersect the deep green of graceful slopes, where waves tall prairie grass with wild flowers of blue, purple, and yellow. * * * * The sky is of wonderful clearness. Narrow belts and fringes of forest mark the winding streams. In the distance rise conical isolated mounds wrapt in the softest of veils, a dim and dreamy haze.

        CLIMATE.—The climate of Kansas is healthful and temperate, comparing favorably with that of any other State in the Union. A correspondent says:―

        Consumption is never known unless brought here from other States. The summer heat is tempered with a breeze from the southwest. The nights are cool. Winters short and mild, with only a few sharp cold. days. Ice in the streams sufficient for summer use. Snow seldom lasts more than a day or two. Spring opens about the first of March usually, not with rain and mud, but with a dry breeze from the south, rising sometimes to a gale. In 35 years there has been but one general drought.

        The seasons are usually mild, and free from great extremes either of cold or heat, the weather changing gradually as one season follows the other. The winters are short, and snow seldom falls in great quantities.

        TIMBER.―As a general thing, the State is not well timbered. The growth of timber has been checked, it is believed, by the Indian fires which have so often swept over the prairies. Along the streams, chiefly, may be found the black walnut, the different oaks, soft and sugar maple, sycamore, white ash, pecan, locust, mulberry, hackberry, coffee bean, cherry, elm, and hickory. A good hedge fence can be raised in four years.  Rails usually had at from $2 to $5 per hundred. Stone suitable for building and fencing are convenient to nearly every quarter section.

        Kansas lumber costs $25 to $40 per thousand feet at the mills. Shingles, about $6. Pine shingles, $8 to $11. Clay and sand for brick abound, and the best varieties of stone and marble.

        We subjoin a portion of the late Report of H. S. SLEEPER, Surveyor-General of Kansas:―

        SURFACE FEATURES.—The general surface of Kansas is a gently undulating prairie, having no marked features like those of other prairie States, except, perhaps, the diversity presented by a more rolling surface. The division of land is of two classes. First to mention is the timber and rich alluvial bottom lands, bordering rivers and creeks, the estimated area of which is ten million acres, being fully five times the amount of all improved lands in the State at the present time. To the second belongs the upland or rolling prairie, the soil of which averages from two to three feet in depth, with a subsoil of fertilizing qualities which will, by careful cultivation, prove inexhaustible. This class of land is considered, by far, preferable for the raising of grains and fruits, while the bottom land is selected for corn, hemp, vegetables, and grasses. But such is the uniform character of the general surface of Kansas, that nearly every quarter section within its limits is capable of cultivation.      

         Timber is confined mainly to the borders of rivers and creeks, and is not superabundant; yet its scarcity is compensated for in a great measure by the very general distribution of rock throughout the State, which is easy of access, and furnishes the best or building and fencing material.

        STREAMS. - No mountain ranges, swamps, sloughs, or lakes exist in the State, except in some instances where rivers have changed their beds, leaving small lakes. Water-courses are well distributed over the State. Their usual course is south of east. Among the most important streams may be mentioned the Arkansas and Neosho on the south, the Kansas River and its tributaries in the northern part, and the Missouri River forming the eastern boundary. The descent of the Kansas River may be regarded as showing the rapidity of the water-courses of the State. From its mouth, west one hundred miles, the fall is a little over two feet to the mile; for the second and third hundred miles, about six feet to the mile; and for the last one hundred miles, about seven feet to the mile; making a total fall of over two thousand feet in four hundred miles. Water-powers are not abundant, but several are being improved on the Neosho and other smaller streams.

        Such streams as rise in the mountains west have quicksand bottoms, but local streams, that rise within the boundaries of the State, have clear water, and gravel beds, but are not enduring as the mountain streams. Unfailing springs of pure, cold water, are found in nearly every locality, and good wells of water can be obtained by digging to the depth of from twenty to forty feet.

        MINERALS.—The coal measures underlie fully seventeen thousand square miles of the eastern portion of the State, extending to an irregular line crossing the State from north to south, near Fort Riley. The upper stratum crops out in nearly every county in the eastern and middle portions of the State. At present, the coal veins have not been worked to any great extent, except in Leavenworth, Osage, and Bourbon counties, where it is found in inexhaustible quantity and of superior quality.     *     *     From recent reports of surveys in the vicinity of Fort Hays and the west, I am of the opinion that from that point west, coal will be found to increase in quantity and quality. Sand-rock, suitable for building purposes, underlies the whole State of Kansas, and crops out in many localities. Lime-rock, also, is found in numerous varieties, and appears in nearly every ravine and hillside. On the Kansas River, near Fort Riley, are found inexhaustible quarries of magnesian limestone, of beautiful color, which is now being used in the erection of public buildings.     *     *     A quarry of black marble, full of light yellow veins, has been discovered in Bourbon County. This marble receives a fine polish, and is considered valuable for ornamental purposes. White marble of various varieties is found south of the Cottonwood River, in the counties of Butler and Sedgwick.

        SALT.—Under the act admitting Kansas into the Union as a State, twelve salt springs were granted, which have been located upon the tributaries of the Kansas River. Four of these springs are situated on Salt Creek, in the valley of the Solomon River; four, in an extensive salt-marsh of three thousand acres, in the valley of the Republican River; two, on a small tributary of the Republican River, still farther east, in a small marsh of three hundred acres, which, like the first-mentioned marsh, is wholly void of vegetation. Of the exact location of the remaining two this office is not advised. These springs are all leased by the State, and will soon be in operation. The brine arising from these springs has been scientifically investigated, and found to yield a large percentage of salt.

        Many other springs have been discovered on the Saline River, and, doubtless, when surveys are extended westward along that stream, very extensive salines will be found. The water of the Saline River during a great portion of the year is found to be so brackish as to be unfit for culinary purposes.

        Whenever the Pacific Railroad and the southwestern branch toward Santa Fé shall have been completed, thus opening up a ready market and furnishing speedy means of transportation, it is fair to presume that Kansas will become one of the great salt-producing States of the Union.

        MANUFACTURES.—Considerable attention has been paid during the last few years to the development of our manufacturing interests. Of the different branches that are now in operation, or nearly so, the following are the most prominent:—

        Two woolen factories are located at Lawrence, one at Fort Scott, and one at Burlington. A paper-mill is about completed at Manhattan, for the manufacturing of all kinds of paper. Numerous flouring and saw-mills are conveniently located throughout the State. In this city a large foundery has been in successful operation for a number of years, manufacturing stoves, quartz mills, and castings for all kinds of machinery. Also, mills for the manufacturing of farm, garden, and household implements, woolen goods, flour, carriages, and wagons, and all kinds of building material, are extensively carried on.

        RAILROADS.—During the past year rapid advancement has been made toward completing the already established roads, and also in forming and surveying routes for proposed roads. The liberal grants of lands that the several roads possess, together with the material aid offered by counties through which the lines pass, and the well-known ability of parties interested in them, are favorable to their completion at an early day. And with the completion of the roads established and proposed, Kansas will have as complete a system of railways as most of the Western States.

        UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD, EASTERN DIVISION.*—The year 1863, dates the commencement of the main line of this road, beginning at the State line at the junction of the Kansas River with the Missouri River. In the year 1864, forty miles were completed; in the year 1865, the war prevented further progress, but in July of the same year a new company was organized, and during the year following completed seventy-nine miles of the main line, together with the branch road from Leavenworth to Lawrence, a distance of thirty-one miles. The main line is now completed, a distance of about 350 miles west of the Missouri River.

* Since the above official report from the General Land Office was published, work on these different roads has rapidly progressed and many miles of track have been added. The constructing and projected railways of Kansas, when completed, will wonderfully facilitate the settlement and growth of the entire State.

        The PACIFIC RAILROAD, central branch, starting from Atchison and running west, has completed and in operation sixty miles.

        The MISSOURI RIVER RAILROAD, commencing at Leavenworth and connecting with the Union Pacific Railroad, eastern division, and the Pacific Railroad of Missouri at Wyandotte, has thirty-three miles completed and in operation.

        The LEAVENWORTH, LAWRENCE AND GALVESTON RAILROAD, commencing at Lawrence, is graded to the south line of Douglas County, with iron arriving for the laying of the track to that point; distance twenty miles.

        The ST. JOSEPH AND DENVER RAILROAD, running through the northern tier of counties, has fifteen miles about ready for the cars.

        A contract for building and equipping the Union Pacific (southern branch) Railroad, was entered into on the twenty-third of August last. The contracting parties to build the line from its junction with the Union Pacific Railroad, eastern division, at Junction City, to the northern boundary of the Osage (Indian) reservation, near Humboldt, Kansas. Work on the line to commence on the 15th of October next, and the road completed and equipped on or before the first day of January, 1870, with a proviso extending the time of completion to 1872, in case the State fails to guarantee interest on certain bonds. From the terms of the contract, and the known ability of the capitalists who have undertaken the work, there is little doubt that the commencement and completion of this line will be in conformity with the time as expressed in the contract.

        The MISSOURI RIVER, FORT SCOTT AND GALVESTON RAILROAD, from Wyandotte, south, has about twenty miles graded. The franchises of this road are of a local nature.

        The LAWRENCE and EMPORIA, and ATCHISON, TOPEKA AND SOUTHWESTERN RAILROADS have each liberal franchises of land.

        The ST. LOUIS AND SANTA FE RAILROAD, from Holden, Missouri, through the counties of Miami, Franklin, Osage and Lyon,  Kansas, to Emporia, thence to Santa Fé  has been much discussed by people along said line, with a view of commencing operations at an early day. This road has no franchises as yet.

        A preliminary survey of a road commencing at a point in the vicinity of Pond Creek, near western boundary of Kansas, and running south to Santa Fé, is being made.

        The extending of the Pacific Railroad through the country heretofore occupied as their undisturbed hunting-ground has been, no doubt, the primary cause of the hostile attitude of the different Indian tribes on the Plains, and it undoubtedly will be the last effort of barbarism to beat back the advancing tide of civilization. But notwithstanding these difficulties, settlements have kept pace with the progress of the road, and points where hardly six months ago not a house marked the spot, are now occupied by flourishing towns. It is impossible to overestimate the advantage that the completion of this road will afford to the people of this district. Already thousands of heads of cattle are being shipped over this road to eastern markets, which were driven up from Texas in the early summer months, and fatted on the nutritious grasses peculiar to western Kansas. Whenever the present Indian difficulties shall terminate, and a false and pernicious philanthropy cease to encourage idleness and vagrancy in the wandering nomads of the plains, then, within an incredibly short space of time, what was the "Great American Desert," will become the home of hardy, enterprising settlers, with their railways, cities, and towns, and countless herds of stock grazing upon the finest pasturage of the world.

        The General Land Office Commissioner says of Kansas:―

        The eastern half is undulating prairie, alternating with timber. The latter is generally found skirting the streams, which flow through beautiful valleys. The western part of the State is more level, the depressions more gradual, and timber less abundant. The extreme western portion forms part of a sterile belt running from the 47th parallel to New Mexico. The State is drained by a number of large rivers, affluents of the Missouri. No mountains, swamps, or marshes have been discovered. The timber consists of cottonwood, sycamore, oak, ash, hickory, walnut, hackberry, sugar-maple, sumac, and willow. The growth of timber is probably adequate to home demand, but not sufficiently abundant to form the basis of an export lumber trade.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

        The soil of the eastern part is excellent, there being two classes of land, the first embracing the alluvions of the river and the strips of timber. Of this class there are at least ten million acres in the State, or fully five times the amount of improved land. For the production of the heavier kinds of cereals this land is surpassed in richness by none of the neighboring States. For wheat and other small grains, the second-class lands, embracing the upland or rolling prairies, are preferred. These are covered by a soil averaging from two to three feet in depth, with a sub­soil of fertilizing qualities sufficient to furnish inexhaustible fertility, if skillfully managed.

        The scarcity of building timber is amply compensated by the general distribution of rocks admirable for the construction of dwellings and fences. Water-courses are well distributed. Unfailing springs of pure cold water are very abundant, and wells, furnishing copious supply, need not be sunk over twenty to forty feet.

        Facts collected from old settlers show that the soil of Kansas has a remarkable power of compensating the absence of rain by its subterranean stores of moisture. The records of meteorological observations at military posts indicate that the average precipitation of rain during the months of June, July, and August, is

about one-fourth of an inch in favor of Kansas as compared with the neighboring States.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *

        LEAVENWORTH, the largest, city, is situated on the right bank of the Missouri, about a mile below Fort Leavenworth. It is surrounded by a fine agricultural country, well watered, and furnished with excellent building materials. Its churches, schools, literary publications, manufacturing and commercial institutions, are on a scale to meet the wants of a large and intelligent population, which is now 30,000 or 40,000.

        LAWRENCE is a beautiful and thriving town in Douglas County, on the Kansas River, forty-five miles from its mouth. Its population is over 2,000.

        ATCHISON, WYANDOTTE, and TOPEKA are promising towns. The latter is now the capital of the State. It is well located on the right bank of the Kansas River, about twenty-five miles above Lawrence, with a population of 1,500.

        We find the following in a pamphlet, briefly setting forth the resources of Kansas, published by State authority:—

        CLIMATE.—The climate of Kansas is, without exception, the most desirable in the United States—it is better than that, even of the same latitude, east of the Mississippi River.

        The winters are short, dry, and pleasant, with but little rain or snow.

        The grass is green in the forests and on the prairies until mid­winter. And very often herds of horses, mules, and cattle roam at large during the entire winter, without any additional feed or care.

        At the close of February we are reminded by a soft gentle breeze from the south, that winter is gone; and the grand prairies, interspersed with every variety of flowers, and dotted by numerous herds of fine stock, or perhaps a train of emigrants wending their way in search of new homes, assume their usual green robes of carpet, and present a scene of superb grandeur.

        During the summer there is always a cool, refreshing breeze, which makes even the hottest days and nights pleasant and delightful.  *          *          *          *          *          *

        Since the year 1860 the State has been blessed with an abundance of rain, and the average yield of crops has been equally as great as that of other States. The oldest inhabitants universally agree that the drought of 1860 was the only one of any consequence that ever visited Kansas.

        SOIL.—The soil is deep, rich, and fertile; in the valleys extending to the depth of four feet, and resting on a clay subsoil; and upon the table-lands and broad prairies, to the depth of from one to three feet, resting on a subsoil composed of clay and sand. The richness of the soil is demonstrated by the luxuriant growth of prairie grass which is yearly produced.

        SCHOOLS.—No new State affords better facilities for educating her children than the State of Kansas. By act of Congress, sections sixteen and thirty-six in each township were donated to the State for the use of common schools; seventy-two sections for the use and support of a State university, and seventy-two sections for other educational purposes. Through the energy and efficiency of the State Superintendent, a thorough and complete organization of common schools has been perfected throughout the State, so that at present the children of no district are deprived of educational privileges.

RIVERS.

        KANSAS RIPER.—The Kansas River is the largest in the State, and one of the most beautiful streams of water in the West. It is formed by the junction of the Republican and Smoky Hill, near Junction City, in the central part of the State, and flows in an easterly direction for a distance of one hundred and fifty miles through a rich, fertile valley, from three to seven miles in width, and empties into the Missouri River at Wyandotte City, the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad.

        REPUBLICAN.—The Republican River comes down from Colorado, through the northwestern portion of the State, coursing in a southeasterly direction through a rich, wild region of country, for a distance of over three hundred miles.

        SMOKY HILL.—The Smoky Hill derives its source from the confluence of several smaller streams in the eastern part of Colorado, and flows to the east through the central part of the State, to its Junction with the Republican. Along the rich valley of this river, a daily line of stage-coaches pass from the western terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad to Denver City.

        NEOSHO.—The Neosho River rises near the center of the State, and flows to the southeast through a rich agricultural and stock-growing country, emptying into Grand River, near the southeast corner of Kansas. The Neosho Valley is from three to seven miles in width, and contains some of the most beautiful, rich, and desirable lands in the State.

        ARKANSAS.—The Arkansas River, collecting the snows of the Rocky Mountains, flows in an easterly direction through the southwestern part of the State, for a distance of three hundred miles.

        GREAT NEMAHA.—The Great Nemaha rises in the north-central part of the State, and flows east, emptying into the Missouri River at the northeast corner of the State. There is a sufficiency of timber on its banks for all practical purposes in the country through which it passes.

        OSAGE.—The Osage courses through a fine region of country in southern Kansas, about midway between the valleys of the Kansas and Neosho. The Pottawattomie and other smaller streams flow into the Osage. The valleys of these rivers contain some of the most valuable farms in the State.

        BIG BLUE.—The Big Blue, from Nebraska Territory, flows to the south through the north-central part of the State, emptying into the Kansas River at the city of Manhattan.

        SOLOMON.—The Solomon rises in the northwestern part of the State, flows in a southeasterly direction, and empties into the Smoky Hill, about thirty miles west from Junction City.

        The source and general direction of the Verdigris, Cottonwood, Grasshopper, Grand, Saline, and all other Kansas rivers, may be seen by referring to Ream's map of Kansas. In addition to the above is the Missouri River, which washes the eastern shore of the State for a distance of over one hundred miles. This river, navigable at all times, is a source of great value to the State, and especially to Leavenworth, Atchison, Wyandotte, White Cloud, Doniphan, and other cities that stand upon its banks.

        It is impossible to draw a line of distinction between different localities, the whole State being supplied with an abundance of pure, clear cold water. Besides the clear running streams and cool refreshing springs in the different localities, the best quality of water is also obtained by digging wells on the high prairies—ranging from ten to thirty feet in depth.

        FORESTS.—Kansas, although a prairie State, is well supplied with almost every variety of timber. Along the entire valleys of the rivers and smaller streams, may be found the best quality of timber in sufficient abundance. The timber contained in these valleys, is from three to ten miles in width, and from one to three hundred miles in length, and consists of oak, walnut, hickory, ash, gum, elm, cottonwood, hackberry, sycamore, and every other variety that is usually found in the Western States.

        The Osage Orange is used extensively for fencing purposes— its growth is so rapid that during the third year it makes a fence of the most permanent and substantial character, at a very light expense to the farmer.

        PRODUCTS.—The following table shows • the average yield of produce per acre:—  

        Tobacco, hemp, flax, cotton, &c., are also raised in large quantities.

        The strictest attention is being paid to the culture of fruit. Almost every farmer has a fine growing orchard, consisting of apple, peach, pear, plum, and cherry trees, together with every variety of grapes and other fruit usually grown in the South and West.

        The prairies and forests abound in wild fruits, such as grapes, plums, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants, paw-paws, crab-apples, &c.

        STOCK.—Kansas is destined to become one of the greatest stock-growing States in the West. Her rich soil, broad prairies covered with fine heavy grass, which during the fall months is cured by the sun into hay, the abundant supply of pure water, the easy and cheap facilities for procuring hay and other forage, the dry, mild, short winter seasons; and the gentle refreshing showers of summer, are only a few of the advantages afforded those engaged in this important enterprise.

        The plague and other contagious diseases so prevalent among stock in other States, are never known in Kansas, except when occasionally brought with herds from abroad.

        Wool-growing is rapidly becoming one of the most extensive and profitable branches of industry. During the present year large herds of sheep have been driven to the State from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, while arrangements have been made for bringing many more during the ensuing year. The facilities for raising cattle are equally great, and the business almost as profitable as that of growing wool. The fine herds of cattle and horses owned by the Indians in southern Kansas and the Indian Territory, feeding on the prairie during the entire winter, prove conclusively that Kansas, as a stock-raising State, is unsurpassed.

In the central and western portions of the State millions of buffalo, deer and antelope roam upon the boundless prairies; supported during the winter by a fine delicate grass cured into hay. Where these wild animals subsist, there can be no difficulty in raising domestic stock, since fifty sheep, or five English cattle can be supported on what would be necessary for the sustenance of one buffalo.

        The State also abounds in a great variety of other wild game such as bears, wolves, wild-cats, raccoons, rabbits, otter, minks, beaver, muskrats, prairie chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, pigeons, quails, &c.

PRICE OF UNIMPROVED LANDS IN KANSAS, SOIL, CROPS, ETC.

        From the returns at hand we may fairly estimate the advance in price of farm lands in the settled counties of Kansas, at not less than 150 per cent, as compared with the census values of 1860. The lowest estimate being 25 per cent, for Nemaha, and the highest 500 per cent for Marshall, Washington, and Saline counties. Pottawattomie and Butler report 300 per cent advance; Marion, 200 per cent ; Linn, Johnson, Doniphan, Clay, Osage, Chase, Woodson, 100 per cent; Jackson and Franklin, to 85 per cent; Allen, Miami, Wyandotte, and Leavenworth, 40 to 50 per cent.

        In Linn County, the location of the main trunk line railroad from the northern lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, our correspondent says, the price of lands has advanced generally 20 per cent within the last few months. In Marshall, farm lands purchased at Government prices in 1860, now sell at $5 to $20 per acre, according to the quantity under cultivation, and the real estate value of the county is claimed to be at least five times that of 1860; and the same facts are true of Washington County and Saline. The Union Pacific Railroad, E. D., running through the county. Bourbon reports an increase of from $2 to $10 per acre.

        Unimproved, or wild lands, are held at figures ranging from the Government price for public lands up to $10 per acre.

        In Bourbon County the average is reported at $3.50 per acre; soil, rich black loam, averaging 2½ feet deep, adapted to the growth of all kinds of grain raised in the Northern States. Allen County, $5 per acre, entirely prairie, the timber being all located, and worth 25 dollars per acre. Linn County, $4 to $8 for prairie; $8 to 20 for timber, principally in the western part of the county, and quality up to the average of the country. Miami County, $3 to $15 per acre. The prairies are undulating, and classed as bottom, second bottom, high prairie, and mounds, and are generally susceptible of the highest cultivation. Franklin County, $3 per acre; prairie, some of excellent quality, but distant from timber and water; other lands stony and bluff, and only fit for pasture. Johnson County, about $6 per acre; soil, mostly black loam, 15 to 24 inches deep, resting on a yellow clay subsoil.

        WYANDOTTE COUNTY, $10 per acre. Our correspondent says: This county is located between the Missouri and Kansas rivers, and is the best timbered in the State. The Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad, E. D., pass through the county in such a manner that no part of the county is more than ten miles from railroad, giving a good market for every thing our farmers may raise, whether grain, vegetables, fruit or stock. The land is unsurpassed for fertility; about one half the county is heavily timbered, the remainder prairie. The prairie portion is in the Delaware Reserve, and has recently been purchased from the Indians, and is now in the market.

        LEAVENWORTH COUNTY, $6 per acre; generally rolling prairies, belted at regular intervals of one to one and a half mile with oak, walnut, hickory, elm, cottonwood, and pine timber. Soil, a deep, rich, sandy, vegetable mold, capable of yielding enormous crops of corn, pasturage, all the cereals, grass, fruits, &c., suited to the latitude.

        Jackson County. About $5 per acre. Very productive; undulated prairie, and alluvial creek bottoms. Streams skirted with timber. Doniphan County, $3 to $15 per acre. Soil superior; adapted to all small grains, especially for hemp and corn, also for root crops. Nemaha County, high rolling prairie, capable of producing all kinds of grains and fruits suited to that locality. Pottawattomie County, $5 per acre; sandy loam, adapted to all kinds of grain. Marshall County, mostly rolling prairie, splendid wheat land. Washington County, $1.25 to $5 per acre; black loam, suited to cultivation of corn, wheat, oats, barley, &c. Clay County, $3 per acre; bottom lands principally suited to cultivation; uplands have a rich soil, and in wet seasons are preferable to the bottoms for small grains, but are chiefly used for grazing, affording an abundance of grass, and unlimited range, well fitted for stock-raising. Saline County, $2,50 per acre; common prairie, bottom and upland. Marion County, $3 per acre; good bottom or table-lands, with plenty of water; timber rather scarce, but plenty of good rock, both lime and building stone; lands of best quality.

        Butler County. Bottom lands $5; mostly in the hands of settlers; the high or ridge lands are owned by speculators, the old settlers thinking them almost worthless. Chase, $3; valley and upland prairie, clay, intermixed with sand and vegetable matter, producing the cereals and root-crops without artificial manure. Osage, from $1 up to $20; average $3.50, consisting of timber lands with running water, second bottom or middle lands, second bottom prairie with running or standing water, upland prairie with ravines and buffalo wallow or thin clay lands. Woodson, $2 to $6 ; minimum price of school lands $3 per acre; rich, sandy, rolling prairie, capable of producing two tons of wild grass to the acre, 37½ bushels of oats, and 22 bushels of wheat. There is still a vast area of public lands in Kansas held at Government prices, the amount in 1860 reaching 50,265,130 acres, against less than 2,000,000 acres taken up in farms.

        Coal is found in Bourbon, Allen, Linn, Miami, Franklin, Leavenworth, Jackson, Doniphan, Nemaha, Pottawattomie, Washington, Clay, Osage, Woodson, and other counties, and in some districts in great abundance, though as yet, has been but slightly developed. In Bourbon, coal underlies the whole extent of the county, the veins varying in thickness from 18 inches to 4 feet, cropping out on the surface in many places, and said to be of the best quality. In Allen and Linn counties, the veins are from 2 to 6 feet thick, awaiting development. Our Osage reporter says:—

        A seam of coal averaging about 20 inches in thickness extends from the northeast to the southwest corner of our county, about 30 miles, and from 2 to 4 miles in breadth. It crops out in a thousand points, and is worked in at least one hundred places. It is worth $5 per ton delivered at Burlingame.

        A similar vein crops out at various points across the county of Woodson. Limestone and several varieties of building stone abound in many counties, supplying a cheap and valuable substitute for timber in fencing and building purposes. In this connection our Miami correspondent writes as follows:―

        We have excellent stones for fencing and building, and they are so placed in the mounds that they occupy but little space, yet they are upon or near every quarter section, and can be seen at a distance as they project from the top of the mound. These stones are of about the right size and thickness to make a very nice and durable wall or fence, and are easily hauled down hill over the smooth surface of the prairie. These fences, when built of the white and gray limestone and brown sandstone, are in beautiful contrast to the rich dark green verdure of these lands. I have on my Stonewall farm 1,700 rods of fence, mostly of limestone, built within the past seven years with my own hands.

        Our Leavenworth correspondent says:―

        We have a soft sand rock which hardens on exposure to the air, very light, porous, and strong enough for building purposes, and makes the dryest house ever built, consequently the warmest in winter, and pre-eminently the healthiest dwelling known. I have tested this rock, and speak of what I know. Very little is yet known of its valuable qualities, but in time they will be appreciated. Fences can be made of rare excellence, and at reasonable prices, that will endure and harden for ages.

        Building stone is abundant in Chase, Marshall, Pottawattomie, Osage, Woodson, and various other counties, the varieties found in Woodson, being of a beautiful white texture, capable of a fine, smooth polish, and is suitable for tables, mantels, tombstones, &c., and so perfectly stratified as not to vary one-fourth of an inch in thickness in blocks 10 by 12 feet square, and these strata range from 2 to 18 inches in thickness. The supply is said to be almost unlimited. In Bourbon a species of black marble abounds, easy of access, and claimed to be equal to the best Italian marble. Lead is found in Linn and Bourbon salt in Pottawattomie, Miami, Doniphan, Saline, &c. feldspar in Washington, gypsum in Marshall and Saline. Gold is reported in Pottawattomie, but extent not developed.

        There is much superior hard-wood timber in Kansas, but generally there is little more than is required for local uses, while in some counties there is a positive dearth of wood, though in such localities forest trees may be rapidly grown, and their culture is being encouraged by the legislature of the State. Our Allen County correspondent reports the finest quality of black walnut, oak, hickory, hackberry, &c., many of which will make 4,000 feet of inch lumber. Wyandotte claims to be the best timbered county in the State, and under the demand for wood, land selling for $40 per acre is paid for by the wood alone. The bottoms of the Missouri and Kansas valley produce immense quantities of the yellow cottonwood timber for fencing and common building purposes, selling at $15 to $20 per thousand.

        Corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, and hay, are the crops of general cultivation, the first-named being the great staple product—the crops of 1866 being estimated as follows: Corn, 6,527,368 bushels; wheat, 260,465 bushels; oats, 200,316 bushels; potatoes, 243,514 bushels; buckwheat, 20,402 bushels; barley, 7,255 bushels; rye, 4,548 bushels; hay, 123,082 tons; tobacco, 22,263 pounds. More attention is being given to wheat, and as the soil and climate are entirely favorable to this culture, there will not long exist so great a disparity between the total amounts of the two leading crops. Corn has been more largely grown in some sections because readily turned to money by selling at Government posts, &c. Our Doniphan reporter says:—

        Corn, hemp, and potatoes, are the principal crops in this county, but wheat, oats, and barley, do well. An average corn crop is from 40 to 50 bushels per acre, but frequently 75 to 80 bushels are raised under fair cultivation. Our corn is mostly put into beef and pork, and thus made profitable at present prices.

        Another correspondent in this county says:―

        Corn has this year averaged 60 bushels per acre, and this is about an average year for the crop. A few years since I raised 83½ bushels to the acre, and sold the crop for 50 cents per bushel, but this was an extra yield.

        In Jackson, stock-raising is considered the most profitable branch of farming operations. Our Saline reporter writes:―

        Corn is the principal crop as yet, because most profitable, there being no good mills for making flour. Our country is better for wheat, rye, oats, and barley.

In Marshall it is not uncommon for persons here to take wild land and pay for breaking and fencing, and the price of the land, from the first crop. Hops, castor-beans, and flaxseed have been successfully cultivated in Johnson County, and our reporter thinks the crops will be trebled the coming season. From Franklin our reporter writes:—

        Corn, wheat, potatoes, and Hungarian grass, are the principal crops. Cotton, of fine texture, was cultivated to some extent during the year. The great detriment to the productiveness of of our county is skimming the surface. Deep plowing is the only remedy against drought. In 1860, the "dry year,"  raised 300 bushels of corn. I plowed my corn as in ordinary years; some persons thought this labor lost. Winter came, and this class of persons had no corn, but received "aid" which the charity of other States sent to Kansas.

        Sorghum is a valuable and sure crop, but is not largely cultivated. In Wyandotte and Leavenworth, vegetables and fruits are largely grown, and find a ready market.

        Winter wheat is generally sown from the middle of September to the first week in October; spring varieties during the month of March; while the harvest commences the latter part of June and extends to the middle of July for the spring-sown crop. A very small proportion of the acreage is drilled, in many counties none at all, though our reporters anticipate the early adoption of the drilling system. As in all the new States, the culture of wheat in Kansas is upon the principle that the soil is inexhaustible and requires little assistance from the farmer for the production of a full crop. In Marshall, they often harrow in wheat without plowing upon ground that has been used for corn, and our correspondent says:―

        If land has been broken in the fall, we harrow in the wheat in March, and get a good crop. If farmers would take more pains, this county would excel in wheat production.

        In Clay County, the ground is plowed, sown broadcast, and harrowed, and the harvest awaited. Our Miami reporter writes:―

        The crop, when sown broadcast, and harrowed in, is 15 to 25 bushels to the acre, but we have raised from 20 to 45 bushels by sowing one and a half bushels, and putting it in with double shovel, or with a drill.     

        In most of the counties the cost of pasturing stock does not exceed the cost of salt and herdsmen, cattle generally subsisting upon the wild grasses of the prairie from seven to ten months, and in some localities little feeding is necessary during the whole year; but where foddered during the winter, the estimated cost ranges from $3 to $8 only per head.

        In Allen County, thousands of horses and cattle live on the prairies the year round without feed.

        Our reporters in all sections of the State speak favorably and confidently of the capabilities of Kansas in fruit production, though in many counties the orchards are too young to return profits as yet, but are rapidly coming into bearing. All the fruits suited to the latitude are successfully grown.—April, 1868, Report of the Department of Agriculture.

        The following are copies of, and extracts from, some of the many letters we have received froth Kansas, in response to our inquiries:―

                                                                                                                                        STATE OF KANSAS, OFFICE OF ADJUTANT-GENERAL,

                                                                                                                                                                                                    TOPEKA, July 31, 1868.

        DEAR SIR : Mr. Giles referred your letter to this office. I send you the inclosed. Plenty of good land under homestead and pre­emption. Beef cattle 2 to 3 cents per lb., gross. Sheep, $2 to $5. Corn, 40 cts. Wheat, $1.50.

        LABOR.—Mechanics, $3 to $5; common, $2 to 2.50.

        An abundance of good bottom land can be obtained at from $2 to $15, according to locality.

                                                                                            Very truly yours,           J. B. McAFFEE, Adj't-General.

F. B. GODDARD, Esq.

(From Leavenworth, July 27, 1868.)

        * * * Lands have found more takers, and have raised in price more since January, than for many years previous. The lands open to purchase, or pre-emption, in Kansas are No. 1, but very distant from the river. Good lands can be bought near No. 1 markets, on fine roads, well watered and timbered, at five dollars per acre, and from that on to twenty. Labor commands $2 per day now, and good mechanics receive $5 per day. A healthier climate does not exist. Limestone and sandstone are found everywhere. Coal is abundant, wood plenty and increasing. The crops are better this year than I have seen them in my eleven years' residence. Our wheat and oats are harvested over a month since. Corn is abundant. Hedge fences do splendidly. Our school system is magnificent. There are schools in every section of the State, and the same may be said of churches. The roads (natural) are very fine, and the farmer can find a good market. Two railroads traverse the State from east to west, and the farmer can get good lands on their line. The majority of the farmers are Americans from Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New York. There are a great many Germans also, and many Irish. * * *

                                                                                                Truly yours,      A. F. CALLAHAN.

(From Leavenworth, July 23, 1868.)

        *     *     *     Coal underlies the whole State inferior qualities near the surface, but strata 600 feet deep. Marble abundant in south part of State. *     * Population all nationalities—a Babel of tongues.  *     * Leavenworth City contains 32,000 inhabitants, is the metropolis of the State, in a flourishing condition, and bids fair to become a large city. Mechanics' wages, $3 to $5 per day.

(From Fort Scott, Bourbon County, July 23, 1868.)

        Yours of 16th received, &c., &c. *     *     *     *     The soil of Bourbon County and southern Kansas generally, is rich, rolling prairie; good timber along the streams; corn averages 40 bushels to the acre; wheat, 25 bushels; oats, 50 to 60; potatoes, 100 to 150. Improved lands in Bourbon County, $10 to $25; unimproved, $2 to $10, according to locality. *     *     *     Carpenters and masons get $3 to $5 per day, and are in demand. Day laborers, $1.50 to $2; farm hands, $18 to $30 per month, and this class of help can get employment at any time. *     *     We have the finest coal beds in the Union; also iron ore in great abundance. A few miles southeast of here is a vein of coal 16 feet below the surface, 8 feet thick, equal to the cannel coal of Pennsylvania. None of these veins are worked, as the surface coal is much more convenient for farmers who supply the market. Two years ago, at Kansas City and Leavenworth, coal brought 25 cents per bushel, while ours readily brought 80 cents to $1. Wheat is now worth, per bushel, $1.25 to $1.50. Choice flour retails at $4.50 per 100 lbs. We are 80 miles from railroad, but will have three lines completed within two years. At present the immigration absorbs all our surplus produce. *     *     We have excellent school and religious advantages. *     *     Majority of our people native born; many Germans and a few Irish.

        We want settlers and workers, not speculators.

                                                                                                                    Very respectfully,

                                                                                                                                    VAN FOSSEN & BRITTON, Bankers.

FREDERICK B. GODDARD, Esq.

(Prom Paoli, Miami County, July 24, 1868.)

        *     *     Our county is rapidly settling with an enterprising population, principally from Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, &c., &c. Plenty of unoccupied land from $3 to $6 per acre. The few Indians in this part of Kansas are preparing to remove to their new purchase in the Indian Territory. The Kansas City and Galveston Railroad runs through our county, and will reach our town by January next. All that we can raise is wanted by the new-comers amongst us.

(From Burlington, Coffey County, August 1, 1868.)

        Limestone soil. *     *     Lands from $5 upward. Good climate; very healthy. We have to kill a man to start a graveyard. Population mixed; social; not much aristocracy.

(From Manhattan, Riley County.)

        *      * Central point of the rich valleys of the Blue and Kansas rivers and their tributaries, whose bottoms furnish a broad expanse of farming land, well supplied with timber, while the rolling country between the streams is well adapted to agricultural and grazing purposes.

(From Burlingame, Osage County, July 21, 1868.)

*          *     *     *     We have more coal than any county in the State. Lands first-class for farmers and graziers; price, unimproved, $2 to $8. *     *     We have several large cheese factories here that are very profitable. *     *     Climate, schools, religious advantages, &c., good.

(From Junction City, July 21, 1868.)

        *      *     *     There is but little good Government land near this place; has been subject to private entry, and of course the best has been entered by speculators. About forty miles from here is the Republican Valley, and about sixty miles from here are the Smoky Hill, Solomon, and Saline valleys. There is plenty of good land to be had under the homestead and pre-emption laws only. *     *     The majority of the people of western Kansas are Americans; is settling up rapidly with Germans and Swedes.

        Within twenty miles on either side of the railroad, in this county, the settlers can only get eighty acres under the homestead act, or pre-empt one hundred and sixty acres on an even section, at $2.50 per acre. Outside the limits he can homestead one hundred and sixty acres, or pre-empt the same amount at $1.25 per acre.

        One great advantage western Kansas has is, that none of the Government land is subject to private entry, and can only be got by actual settlement.

        The crops in this county are principally wheat and corn, and are generally good; but this year they are almost a failure on account of the drought and heat. The upland in this country is very good wheat land, if cultivated properly. The bottom land makes the best corn land.

        Hoping the above will prove satisfactory, we remain, yours truly,

                                                                                                                                                JAS. SHUTER & CO.

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.