Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 April 1908 — LETTER FROM SOUTH DAKOTA [ARTICLE]

LETTER FROM SOUTH DAKOTA

John Stewart Writes of Things He Has Seen and Things He Has Heard Since Going There. Burke, So. Dak., April 7, 1908. Well, boys; I will tell you a little more about South Dakota. Fall wheat Is looking good, and there are quite a humber of acres of spring wheat being sowed. There are some oats sowed, but a great many to sow yet. I have thirty aeres prepared - but will not sow before the first of next w'eek. It is Storming today, and we have had about four days of high wind since we have beefi here. But the weather here has been about the same as in Indiana in the month of March, with the exception of rain and mud. ’ | It is all four horse work here. There is very little work for s ngle hands in the country. As every farmer tries to do his own work, and one man alone can go through a great deal of work, with riding machinery. I have a neighbor living about 25 rods from me, who is handling fifty head of cattle. He turned 25 head out to pasture, to do entirely for themselves on the 17th of March. They seem to be doing real well on the salt and buffalo grass that was not cut last year. This neighbor also has a cream separator which he b ought three months ago on the Installment plan, agreeing to pay for it with onethird of his cream money. He ' was then milking only 7 strippers. He is now milking eleven head, and has at this time $27 paid on his separator. His cows get nothing but salt grass in the day time with a little Jiay fed at evening.and with sod stables for shelter. I saw Mr. Gwin yesterday; he was sick with the toothache. He Is getting along well with his work. Has a number of acres of fall wheat,which looks good. They are well satisfied with everything in general. Mr. and Mrs. H. Hayes say they like the country very well, and Mr. Hayes has been quite busy with spring work. Mrs. Hayes has made some garden. We had a call from John Fisher not long ago. He is working at Gregory. Johnny does not seem to be entirely satisfied with the country. Of course his family 1b not here and that mahaa some difference.

It appears to me that land is too high _ for a new country. It runs from three to eight thousand dollars, per quarter section, according to improvements and location. I believe the land is good and will producp great crops, if it gets the right season. We have a real nice church and Sunday school at Burke, of the Union Baptist denomination. It has a good attendance. We also have a good sized Catholic church, about a mile from Burke. The Indians are nearly all Cathdlic. We have an Indian family (half breeds) that live about a mile from us. Am told by all, that they make fine neighbors, more so, than they get credit for. /■» I got a Tripp county map the other day. I see by it that about one-sev-enth of the land has been alloted to the Indians for homesteads'.

When Gregory county was opened for settlement there were 106,000 people registered for the drawing. It is estimated there will be 250,000 register when Tripp county opens. My idea is that there will be about one out of every fifty that will draw a claim. They run open saloons here but I have not yet seen any one show any signs of intoxication. Now that is all that I know. This is what I heard. I was told of a man that came from the east to South Dakota. He did not like the climate, it being too cold. He pined away and died. His friends thought they would cremate his body and send it back east for burial. They could find nothing but an old engine boiler, which they used. They piled on brush and cow chips for three days. At the end of that time they opened the door, only to find him comfortably sitting up, and they were curtly told to shut the door and keep the wind out He had just got thawed out You can believe what you like of that JOHN STEWART.