l-*^ \\\. ^-v '»■ & fyvmll Wimvmxt^ JthOTg BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OP 1891 -M-k^M - - -:-i&:.l3j.gA. Cornell University Library The WjBst from the census of 1880 .. 3 1924 030 995 454 olin Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030995454 LAND GRAIirTS TO EAILEOADS AND WAGOl^ Copytigtt, 1882, ty lUnd, McNally & Co.. Chicago. rs TO EAILEOADS AND WAGON EOADS. THE WEST: FBOM THE CENSUS OF 18'80, A HISTORY OF THE INDUSTRIAL, COMMERCIAL, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATES AND TERRITORIES OF THE WEST FROM 1800 TO 1880. ROBERT P. PORTER, SPECIAL AGENT OF THE TENTH CENSUS ON WEALTH, DEBT, TAXATION. AND RAILROADS. ASSISTED BT HENRY GANKETT, S. B., E. M., GEOGRAPHER OF THE TENTH CENSUS ; AND WM. P. JONES, A. M., COEKESPONDIIfG MEMBEB OF THE AMERICAN" GEOGEAPHICAL SOCIETY. ■WITH ]VIA.PS A.NT> IDI^GK-A-MIS. CHICAGO, ILL., U. 8. A. . RAND, McNALLY' & COMPANY. LONDON, ENG. ; TRUBNER & CO., 57 and 59 LUDGATE HILL. 1882. A- M-(.M-^( y-:-.. u...,v:- ^. ■X fQOPMrAX UNivtRsrrv ^ Li8RARV Entered, accobding to Act of Congress, in the Year 1882, by HAND, McNAliT AND COMPANY, In the Office of the Librakian of Conqress, at Washington, D. C. TO THE PIONEERS OF THE WEST, BY WHOSE COTJEAGE, ENERGY, PEESEVBEANCE AND FAITH A WILDEENESS HAS BEEN CONTESTED INTO A PEUITFUL LAND SO VAST, SO FEEE AND SO EAIE, THIS VOLTJJVtE! IS RE SPECTinULL Y By the Author. INTEODUOTIOK It is the aim to present in tMs volume a concise and accurate history of the progress of the States lying between the AUeghany and the Rocky Mountains and north of the Ohio river, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory, of the three States of the Pacific Slope, and of all the Territories of the United States except Alaska, from the beginning of the present century to the close of 1880. This vast portion of our country, covering an area of over two million square niiles, and now containing nearly two-fifths of the entire population of the United States, was at the beginning of the nineteenth century a wild and almost unexplored region. To-day, the Western States and Territories have a population of nearly twenty millions ; produce all our surplus meat and grain, and one- third of our manufacturedT products. Large and influential cities have arisen with wonderful rapidity, and the financial and commercial, as well as the agricultural, mining and manufacturing interests of this part of the United States have become of vast importance both at home and abroad. While this extraordinary advancement of civilization and development of resources in the West have been a prolific theme for writers, until the praises of this fair land have been sung in the most distant parts of the earth, no attempt has heretofore been made to bring into the treatment of the subject the light derived from recent and trustworthy statistics. The well authenticated facts, and the conclusions which these suggest, as brought together in the present volume, will, it is hoped, prove of permanent value not only to politico-economic science but to all persons who want to know the West as it is. In all cases the latest and most reliable official statistics have yi INTRODUCTION. been obtained, showing the progress of the last eight decades in agriculture, manufacturing, commerce, trade, railways, public wealth, public education, and morals, together with the most trustworthy geographical descriptions of the country discussed. I have attempted to relieve the dryness of the statistics throughout the work by sharply defined comparisons and by colored diagrams, which latter appeal to the eye and interest those who would not be attracted by rows of cold, leaden figures. The first three chapters contain summaries of the detail chapters which follow, and, though not successful in every case, I have endeavored to unfold the facts relating to every State and Territory in the same order, and, as far as the varied character of the sections would admit, bring out the same classes of information. In the opening chapter comparison is made between the resources of foreigti countries and the United States. The statistics used in these comparisons for foreign nations are taken from MuThalV s Progress of Nations, for 1880; those for the United States, from the preliminary reports of the Tenth Census, for which I am indebted to Professor Francis A. Walker, the eminent Superintendent of the Census Bureau. I am anxious to express deep obligations to my able co- laborers, Mr. Henry Gannett and Professor W. P. Jones, the former for the admirable descriptions of Nevada, Colorado and the Territories, and the latter for a large portion of the work on the detail chapters descriptive of the Prairie States. I have also profited largely in preparing the work for the press by the advice and suggestions of Dr. Henry Randall Waite and Professor Jamea H. Blodgett, the latter assisting me in obtaining and arranging the material for the chapter on the "Progress of "Western Cities." ROBERT P. PORTER. Washington, D, C, Oct, 1, 1881. OOE'TEI^TS. OHAPTEK PASB I. The Pkairie States 9 n. The TBRBiTOnrES 79 III. The Pacific States 94 IV. State of Ohio > 101 V. State of Inbiaha -. 133 VI, State of Illinois 157 VII. State of Michigan 195 Vin. State of Wisconsin 237 IX. State of Minnesota 350 X. State of Iowa . .-. 373 XI. State of Missouki 396 XII. State of Kansas ■. 328 Xin. State of Nebraska 346 XIV. State of Colokado 372 XV. Tbkkitoky of Dakota ■ 396 XVI. Tbrkitokt of Montana 409 XVII. Tbbkitoky of Wyoming s 419 XVIII. Tekritoht of Idaho 430 XIX. Tesritory of I^tah 437 XX. Territory of New Mexico 447 XXI. Territory of Arizona 455 XXII. Territory op Washington 463 XXIII. State of Nevada 470 XXIV. State of Oregon 479 XXV. State of California 490 XXVI. Progress of Western Cities 516 XXVII. Railroads, Canals, and Public Lands 554 Appendix 599 I|irp?i3; , , , , , . , , 613 THE WEST. CHAPTER I. THE PEAIEIE STATES.. At tlie opening of the century the Old World was dark with war, industrial depression, and famine, while the New World seemed full of promise, and awakened hope and joy in the large army with strong hands and hopeful hearts anxious to leave over-crowded Europe. The population of the civilized countries of the world has doubled since the beginning of the present century ; the United Kingdom and colonies having, in 1801, seventeen millions ; whereas to-day they have forty-three millions. The European continent then had one hundred and seventy millions : to-day it has two hundred and seventy-five millions : and the United States, then with a population of five millions, to-day, has upward of fifty millions. Thus have these nations increased from one hundred and ninety-two millions to three hundred and sixty-eight millions. The population of Great Britain and the United States combined has risen from twenty-two millions to ninety-three milliMis, an increase of three hundred and twenty -three per cent. ; while the population of the European continent rose only sixty- three per cent. During the last sixty years, no less than sixteen millions of people have left the Old World for homes in America and the British colonies ; of whom nearly eleven millions have landed on the shores of the United States. This migration — combined with the opening up of new countries, the great changes brought about by the appli- cation of steam, the extension of railroads, the improvement of ocean navigation, the connection of continents by telegraph, and the spread of knowledge by schools and by the daily press — has made the present the most progressive of all centuries to the Anglo-Saxon race. People are better fed and better clothed ; and, with the advance of science and the extension of knowledge, opportunities on all sides increase. The invention of machinery has done much to bring this about. The United States, for example, makes a million sewing machines yearly, 1 (9) 10 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. wMch. can do as much work as would formerly have required twelve millions of women working by hand. A single shoe factory in Massachusetts turns out as many pairs of boots as thirty thousand boot-makers in Paris. At Birmingham, where Gillott sold his first steel pens a few years ago at a shilling apiece, the factories now produce thirty-two million weekly at . a penny a dozen., Steam power multiplies indefinitely the forces • of a nation. At the beginning of the century, the backwoods of the United States afforded the chief supply of material for ship building. The invention of iron ships has changed this entire industry; and it is said that the yard of one iron ship company in England has for some years turned out more tonnage per annum than the whole of Queen Elizabeth's fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada. In the food supply of the world, there has been notable progress within less than half a century, not only by reason of the introduction of railways and steamers, but also by the removal of arbitrary laws against grain. Forty years ago the peasants of Castile and Leon saw their wheat rotting in the subterranean silos provided by the government, because it was forbidden to export it. Forty years ago Great Britain paid famine prices for bread, sooner than repeal the corn laws, while the moujiks of the Don had such abundant crops that wheat was too cheap to pay the cost of freight to the nearest port. Forty years ago, owing to the want of roads, the price of grain in Western Prussia was double that which ruled in the eastern part of the kingdom. Before the epoch of railroads and the repeal of the com law, the price of wheat ruled one hundred and fifty per cent, higher in England than in Hungary. Iq the subsequent epoch the difference was only twenty-three per cent. The English and the Americans are the best-fed people of the present age ; and therefore they are able to accomplish the greatest amount of work. According to Yauban, Bossuet, and Lagrange (three names illustrious in war, religion, and science, respectively), " that country must be considered the most prosperous in which the inhabitants are able to have the laro-est ratio of meat for their food." The United States, it is stid, consumes 120 pounds of meat per inhabitant; the United Kingdom, 110 pounds; France, 66 pounds; Switzerland, 51 pounds; Germany, 48 pounds; Scandinavia, 45 pounds- Russia, 44 pounds ; the Low Countries, 40 pounds ; Austria 39 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 11 ■pounds ; S]j)^m, 29 pounds ; Italy, 28 pounds ; Portugal, 20 pounds. The United Kingdom, the United States, and Russia consume each eight bushels of grain per inhabitant ; France and Germany, each seven bushels ; Austria, the Low Countries, and Spain, each six bushels ; Italy, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and Portugal, each five bushels. The world consumes thirty-eight million five hundred thousand tons of wheat yearly ; and the wheat lands of the world make up one hundred and five million acres.* The supply and demand are shown as follows : WHEAT. CoumjBiBs. Crop, Bushels. Consnmptlon, Bushels. Surplus, Bushels. Deficit, Bushels. 450,000,000 330,000,000 160,000,000 150,000,000 140,000,000 90,000,000 90,000,000 90,000,000 85,000,000 40,000,000 30,000,000 15,000,000 30,000,000 300,000,000 360,000,000 80,000,000 170,000,000 145,000,000 80,000,000 300,000,000 76,000,000 85,000,000 30,000,000 15,000,000 10,000,000 139,000,000 150,000,000 30,000,000 80,000,000 " "i6,m,ooQ ""14,000,666' 30,000 000 Italy 5,000,000 •Turkey United Kingdom 110,000,000 Spain and Portugal 10,000,000 15,000,000 5,000,000 Chili 119,000,000 Totals 1,590,000,000 1,590,000,000 384,000,000 384,000,000 The wheat fields have been extending prodigiously in the last twenty years. "Down to 1859," says Mulhall,* "the United States used at intervals to import wheat from Europe ; whereas it produces at present one-fourth of the world' s crop. Previous to 1865, Australia was fed with Chilian flour ; but, since 1854, some of the Australian colonies have annually exported twenty bushels of grain per inhabitant. Facilities for transportation have so far improved that wheat grown on the Mississippi or in 'New Zealand is sold as cheap in Europe as that raised on the Don or Danube." During the last century the average consumption of meat in Europe was only twenty-five pounds per head yearly, or less than half what it is at present. As Europe is no longer able to raise enough cattle for her population, an extra supply is drawn from North America, which is consumed chiefly in Great • Mulhall's " Progress of Nations." 12 THE WEST IN 1880 -THE PRAIRIE STATES. Britain = the shipments of cattle and meat from tlie United States in 1880, exceeding a value of $25,000,000. The three great pasture farms destined to feed Europe with meat are the United States, the River Plata, in South America, and Australia. These countries, it js said, could easily export ten million cows and sixty million sheep annually without reducing the nutnber of their stock. Mulhall estimates that one hundred and twenty thousand vessels, manned by half a million of fishermen, are engaged in the fisheries of Europe. According to the recent report of Professor Groode on the fisheries of the United States, from eight hundred thousand to one millionpersons are engaged in fisheries in this country ; but he includes in this estimate those who are indirectly connected with the industry, and the families of fishermen, who are dependent upon them for support. Wine is the other great requirement for the food of mankind ; and the area under vineyards is increasing every year. More than twenty million acres in Europe are under grapes. France, in the earlier part of the present century, produced .eight hun- dred millions of gallons yearly ; but in later years the vintage has averaged twelve hundred millions, representing a value of $240,000,000, ninety-four per cent, being kept for home consumption, and only six per cent, exported. The new vine-growing countries of the world are : the United States^ Australia, and South Africa. The following table shows the number of acres under cultivation, gallons produced, and yield in gallons per acre : WINE. COUHTKIES. Acres under Vines. Gallons. Gallons per Acre. United States Australia .... South Africa. 130,000 15,000 18,000 30,800,000 1,800,000 4,500,000 160 120 250 Spirits are largely consumed in countries where the supply of wine is deficient ; and it is claimed that the consumption of this kind of liquor is increasing faster than the population. In 1869 the United States produced 196,603,705 gallons of fer- mented liquors : last year no less than 413,760,410 gallons were produced, and only a million gallons imported — the total con- sumption exceeding 414,000,000 gallons. The following table shows the number of acres under cultiva- -- c: ^-\^ $: \^ 2 •Vs, ^^,,^ ^-•^ tc ^\^ a. 8g > TO \ Co ^^00^ 03 ^^00^ _^^ _^^ a y^ a ^^ «s Ol ^^^ Co ^ =0 ^ \^ 03 8 ^ > 0= "k > a' a' 00 ^ > z fa 1 ci r^ 3 1-^ ^\ Cl Q. s: ^ "-v,.^ tea (-1. ^--v. 2 a =3 i ^ O »» V^ ■n tc g 33 m v> H o r\^ O ^"--^ o o' CO o g 2, TJ a o > 12. ^^i^ 33 m a > ? 33 O Is r^^ z o d 00 o c o H ~^ IV, ^-\ w i^ •5 ^ i> o S l^^ 1 TO ^ -+ 3- O J: 5" o 30 il> a. i ^ I- ■ S' o o c r m a > CD H |t> I m o in o > 1- m O ■n a c: a > Z "- a > (13) THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PBAIRIE STATES. 15 tion in each country, the quantity of grain raised, the average yield per acre, and the yield per capita : * Countries. Acres under Grain. Bushels. Per Acre. Per Male Feasant. United States Russia Oermany Prance Austro-Hungary United Kingdom .... Spain Italy ■Canada and Australia 118,000,000 158,000,000 43,000,000 40,000,000 35,000,000 13,500,000 15,000,000 18,000,000 14,000,000 2,698,000,000 1,585,000,000 990,000,000 840,000,000 520,000,000 455,000,000 300,000,000 270,000,000 140,000,000 23 10 33 31 15 36 30 15 10 503 156 345 330 180 540 160 140 350 Diagram No. I., on page 13, shows the total cereal product of the United States, with that of some of the principal countries of the world. It is fair to estimate that our annual income from agricultural industries is not far short of $3,000,000,000. That of France is about $1,900,000,000; of Russia, $1,850,000,000 ; of d-ermany, $1,700,000,000 ; of the United Kingdom, $1,325,000,000; of Austro-Hungary, $1,315,000,000; of Italy, $710,000,000; of Spain and Portugal, $650,000,000 ; of Scandinavia, $390,000,000 ; and of the Low Countries, $375,000,000. Total, $13,215,000,000. The total area of forest wealth of the United States, Russia, Oermany, Austria, Canada, Scandinavia, Prance, Brazil, and El Gran Chaco, is 2,760,000,000 acres ; the total annual product from which is $780,000,000, of which the United States, as shown in Diagram II., page 13, produces over fifty per cent., or $385,000,000. Michael Chevalier estimates, that, at the period of the dis- covery of America, the total amount of gold in Europe was only $60,000,000, and of silver, $140,000,000. A new epoch occurred with the discovery of gold in California and Australia. The progress of this form of wealth is summarized as follows * : Dates. Gold. Silver. Total. 1493 $ 100,000,000 1,135,000,000 2,200,000,000 2,800,000,000 6,100,000,000 $ 200,000,000 2,600,000,000 5,130,000,000 6,610,000,000 8,060,000,000 $ 300,000,000 1700 3,735,000,000 1800 7,330,000,000 1848 9,410,000,000 1880 14,160,0011,000 * The table is borrowed from Mulhall's "Progress of Nations," 1881. 16 THE "WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. "tiie United States, as shown in Diagrams III. and IV., page* 14 and 17, stands first of all countries in the yield of precious metals and in the product of its manufactories. By a strange coincidence, the annual yield of California and that of Australia has averaged the same amount, namely, $45,000,000 ; and in each case the highest year reached $75,000,000, the number of diggers being also nearly equal, and their gains averaging from $500 to $750 per man per annum. These are the changes of eighty years. The changes of the past decade, both at home and abroad, are even more strik- ing and interesting, because within the memory of the youngest. This marvelous industrial activity and almost uncheckered career of prosperity and growing wealth is admirably presented in a little work Just published in England,* in which the writer measures each and every element of progress in the various nations, and briefly sums up the results for the world as follows : Increase of— Per cent. Population 9.76 Agriculture 8 . 58 Manufactures '. . • ; .18.60 Commerce .38.20 Mining 47.06 Increase of— Per cent. Carrying trade 53 22 Earnings of nations 19.84 Public wealth 10 57 Taxes 33.34 Public debt 43 3» This writer seems to think that a most remarkable feature is the improvement in the financial condition of mankind, the earnings of nations having risen in twice the ratio of the population. It is true that public debt has increased forty -three per cent. ; bat this is by no means alarming, since the cost of new railways, built since 1870, is $920,000,000 over the total of new debts. Moreover, the tangible increment of w-ealth sine© 1870, would suffice to pay oflE eighty-eight per cent, of all existing national debts. In like manner, although taxation has grown twenty-two and a half per celit. , which is more than the geometrical progression of earnings, the net balance per head of population is higher. I am inclined to agree with JiulhaU when he says that the secret of prosperity is to be the development of the carrying trade by land and sea, and the cheapening of the products of industry by placing the producer and consumer in closer relations than before. As will be seen in the following table and also in Diagram V., page 18, the industries of the United States are greater thak those of any other country in the world : • "The Balance Sheet of the World." Mulhall : London, England. *!. *>. Co Na ^ +* o Co o s i* a Co «: a * CD •^ s? a ^ 3 TO 5 a. a 3; Co Co tl 1^ s H I m o 73 r- CO > z c > o H C S3 m 0) u (17) ■ c: :s ^ o % Co i en g c^ >! 1 o > r- Z o c -\ 73 •V 30 o o c o H CO o n D $□ ■5 J55 CO z > H O z CO =0 h^ Co CO Ci (18) THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRA.IRIE STATES. 19 oooooooooodDci>oooooo 11 oooooooooooooo o o o o o^o ooooooooooooopoo o_ o''o"o''o'o'o''o'o"o'o"o"o"o'o''o"o'o'o" CD 0000000000000<30000 •5 c:_^o_o_o_o_o o_o oooooooooo S w o w" b:r o lo ic JO o" lo" lo" o" o" lo to ic ic ic Ifi- E-i ^(TO(M-^OQ00a00TH00«0i>-^C010C0iOm C0CQ05-t-IO 50_ o"o"50"50''*C0rH.T-rr-rT-r t-T 1-H tH tH WD ««' €©■ oooooooooo oooooo -o ■0 00 00 00)0 00000 -o oooooooooo oooooo -o be a o''o~o"o'o''o''o~o"o"o"o'o"o''o"o'o" ! o' o~ oooooooooooooooo .o 3 O OO O OOOOOC3000 oo o .o & o'o'o'o iri'ro''o"io'io'o"o'o"io"ifflio''io ' w 10 « O "^ t- '^ t- C30 CO -tH T-lt^ lO 04 T-t r-t "« CO (TJIOt-Ii-i ■ 10 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO -o 4" OC3 O OOO) C30000 O OO OO 'O o^o_o_o_o_o_o o_o oooooo o_ -o o o o o o o o o o''o"o''o''o"o"o''o '. o' 0" oooooooooooooooo .o bO oooooooooooooooo .o o_ fl omo woo wooioioioiooioo -o CO O i-H "^ « IM t- CD -^ « T-! -^ £- T-( CO "CO 00 QO CO CO 03 Tl ; " co" OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO coSoSco«cocoo O 03 O i> 00 CO t' iO T-l 04 04 CO 04 tH -iH « TjH ■^ CO T-T 04" TH T-T T-T 000000000 :o -o c^o 00 000000000 'O 'O 00 bb o"o"o"o"o"o"o"o"o" : 0" lo o'o 0" ;^ 0000^30000 .0 . <0 00 000000000 .0 .0 00 0^ fl oioomioiaoiao -o" -o o"o lO g Tfl r-l tH 1» ■* Tt( 04 04« CO -1-1 3 ^ § c- 1^ -cii'cO~04"e4"T-rr-r T-l OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ■ OOOOOOOOiOOOtOOOOO^O • OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CZJ S OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 1 looooiooooiooioiooioininioc i2 ocDcoosiooooosi-Hio-^t^oooacDir-ioow: JO Tt< OS oa t~ -^ 1-1 10 w^ th th CO -^ 51 o i> -r^CO'iM r-T CO : is 09 B :l .- a :!zi ■ c DO fl St tj o ll ■ 1 ^1. PC f^ c p: D (n I ■ Co Co Na S3 > r- z 30 m CO 9 2 o ■ IL > a: o >1 lib. i^i CT) ^ Go =o (-- Ci ^ !>! > — < Ti =^ o, ~~{ rri f^ :b>. (fc CD •^ l>l 53 ^^ i; M ro '-1 ^ r^ 6. SCALE po INCH- W,000-¥IlES THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 35 which Great Britain gave in 1830 than any other country in the world. "Belginm," says Mr. Adams, " under the enlightened rule of King Leopold, did not move in the new departure untU 1834; and France was slower yet." It appears that these countries did not feel, the need of railroads as the United States and England did. They already had excellent systems of wagon roads. In our country such roads were few and badly built ; while in England, though they were good enough, the volume of traffic had outgrown their capacity. The relief came. Massachusetts, according to Adams, led oft", in 1826 ; Pennsylvania followed, in 1827 ; and, in 1828, Maryland and South Carolina followed. Of the great trunk lines of the country, a portion of the New York Central was chartered in 1825 ; the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio was begun on July 4, 1828.' It was not, however, until 1841 that the world became accustomed to the new condition of existence, and refused to gape in wonder at the locomotive. From this date the growth of the railway system in the United States was assured. In the midst of this progressive era, in which the older countries have made long strides, what a wonderful national growth the Republic presents. At the close of the eighth decade of this century, the population has increased, in round numbers, at the rate of thirty-six, thirty-three, thirty-three, thirty -two, thirty -five, thirty-five, twenty-two, and thirty per cent, respectively for each decade ; it has traveled westward at the rate of thirty-six, fifty, thirty-nine, fifty -five, fifty-five, eighty-one, forty-two, and fifty-eight miles in the respective decades, until now the centre of population is eight miles west by south from the heart of the city of Cincinnati. Eight decades ago population straggled over an area of 239,935 square miles : it now extends over 1,569,570, to say nothing of the additional 1,450,000 square miles of territory belonging to the United States, but as yet sparsely settled. The first decade of this century opened with a half-dozen small towns : the eighth decade closes with the United States third in the rank with European nations in respect to cities, and first as the granary and storehouse of the world. Distributed within this fair portion of the earth is a population of 25,520,582 males and 24,632,284 females; of 43,475,506 native and 6,677,360 foreign born; of 43,404,876 white and 6,577,151 colored. This 26 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. population, varied as it is in color and in race, is spi^ead over our many latitudes, and extends from the Atlantic to the Pacihc ocean. It thrives best in the valleys of our large rivers, and along the Atlantic coast ; it breathes best in elevations below 2,000 feet, and increases and multiplies most rapidly in' "a temperature of from 50° to 55° Fahrenheit. Satisfactory and wonderful as I have shown the agricultural growth of the country to be, the development of the nation in other branches of its industries has not been less remarkable. Ten years ago the balance of trade was against us ; but to-day our exports are thirty-one per cent, over our imports. Ten years ago our commerce was represented by $680,000,000: to-day it is upward of $1,500,000,000. Ten years ago our manufactures aggregated about $4,000,000,000; to-day, $5,500,000,000. Ten years ago the annual product of our mining industries was $190,000,000: to-day it is as many millions of dollars as there are days in the year. Ten years ago the prolific soil of the republic produced little over two billions of wealth : to-day the value' of these products is upward of $3,000,000,000. Our carry- ing trade ten years ago was $570,000,000: to-day, it is over $700,000,000. Tlie actual increase of American industry in ten years has been $2,625,000,000. This is not all. We are fast ranking as a manufacturing nation. To speak of mineral wealth in more detail : the products of our iron mines increased one hundred and ten per cent., our copper mines sixty per cent., and our coal sixty-six per cent. ; while the yield of petroleum has increased twenty-four fold. We Lave doubled the mileage of our railroads, our commercial failures have declined fifty per cent., our population has increased thirty per cent., and nearly two and a fifth million persons have found their way to our shores as emigrants. In the midst of this prosperity, we can proudly say, the skillful management of our finances has reduced the national debt twenty per cent in ten years. It has been paid at the rate of one hundred and sixty thousand dollars a day ; and the reduction of the interest makes the burden hardly half what it was a decade ago. In the early part of the present century. The West, as defined in this volume— embracing all the States north of the Ohio river, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory, lying between the Alleghany and the Rocky Mountains, the three States of the Pacific slope, and all the Territories of the United States except Alaska, and O 2.90 O.",' Per Ceut O" iQi) lO to o I •5 >; X o a 5 I ^ ^ 3 79 N re I 7 5s- V_y' "D Co / \ 1:26 3.10 o 2.40 B H « _ P- 2 4 O a o o '^ o Z SO • CO O..U o I® (27) 1800 1810 1830 ISIO 1850 1860 1870 lucrcase oi ji-opuiatiou oi j.u rrairie ota 51,006 1779 lo 1880,. 293,1 es 858,957 1,610,473 S.351.512 5,403,595 9,091,879 12,966,930 17,229,810 Plate IX 1790 1800 1810 1830 l&iO 1840 1850 1800 JProportiou of Population of 10 Frairio .States to Uuilc'd Slates . 1790 tu 1880. Flnte X 38.14 Per Cent (38) THE WEST IN 1880— THE PRAIRIE STATES. 29 covering an area of 2,023,820 square miles, or not less tha^i 1,295,244,800 acres — was populated by little over fifty thousand. The general geographical features of this great area may be briefly epitomized. Only in the most eastern of this group of States (Ohio) is found any portion of the great Appalachian system of uplift. This is shown in a broad swell, in the northern part of the State, trending parallel to the lake shore. South from this, the country falls in gentle undulations, becoming, however, quite rugged in the neighborhood of the Ohio. This " region is one of transition from the Alleghany Mountains to the prairie region, and continues westward into Indiana, where it blends with the true prairies. These extend over the western part of Indiana, Southern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota ; over Illinois and Iowa and most of Missouri ; besides extending into Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas an indefinable distance, where they gradually change into the great arid plains. The jiorthern parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, are densely timbered, the surface for the most part being level or rolling,' with frequent lakes arid ponds, which, in the State last mentioned, are so abundantas to give that part of the State a lacustrine character. Southern Missouri is hilly and uneven; in some parts, almost mountainous. The monotonoiis roll of the Great Plains extends over the western parts of Kansas, Nebraska, nearly all of Dakota, and the eastern parts of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. These plains form the eastern incline, or slope, of the great Cordilleran Plateau, which extends thence to the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Hange, and bears upon its broad summit the multitudinous ranges which are collectively known as the Cordilleras of North America. Of these the foremost rank is occupied' by that system so well known as the Rocky Mountains. This system, with its mountain valleys and its outlying plateaiix, occupies nearly all of the western parts of Montana, Central Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, with the eastern and northern parts of Idaho. The western portions of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming, with Eastern Utah, and nearly all of Arizona, are included in the Plateau Region — a strange and peculiar country. It is made up of plateaux, level or sloping gently, breaking off here and there to lower levels, by abrupt cliffs thousands of feet in height. It is a dry, arid region, with few streams ; but these few have 30 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. cut deep below the surface, and flow far down in dismal canons. Plant and animal life are poor and sparse. Another and yet even more desert region succeeds this. On the west of the Wahsatch and its subsidiary ranges, in Central Utah, we enter the Great Basin, whose scanty waters flow to- neither ocean, but are absorbed by the thirsty soil and by the atmosphere. This region covers Eastern Utah, nearly all of Ne- ^vada. Southeastern California, and Southern Idaho and Oregon. It is traversed by numerous narrow, abrupt ranges of mountains, the " Basin Ranges," alternating with narrow valleys. These valleys, except in a few cases, are very deserts, while most of the mountains are but a slight remove from the general con- demnation. Entering our Territory from British Columbia, and stretching southward through Central Washington and Oregon and Eastern California, into the peninsula of Lower California, is a broad, massive range, known in the first two as the Cascade Range, in the last State as the Sierra ]S"evada. West of it is a broad valley, or trough, extending across the three States. In Oregon, this is occupied in part by the Willamette ; in Cali- fornia, it is the great valley occupied by the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. The western wall of this valley is the Coast system of ranges, beyond which" roll the billows of the Pacific. Such, geographically, is the territory I propose to discuss. In 1800 only two (Ohio and Indiana) of the ten Prairie States, which now have a population of seventeen million two hundred and twenty-nine thousand eight hundred and ten, had any distinctive .white population a,t all*— the balance being mainly a vast, unpopulated region, the silence of which was only broken by rushing torrents, the lowing of buffaloes, the howling of the wind, and the yell of the savage. Since then the growth has been steady and rapid, until, in 1880, Ohio and Illinois each has a population of over three million ; Missouri exceeds two million j Indiana has nearly reached a million ; and Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin will average one million and a half each. To-day the population of young Kansas must exceed a million ; and, by the next census, every one of these ten great States vdll be in the million column in populaJ;ion. The following table shows the population of the ten Prairie States for each decade of the present century : • Indiana included at that time the French and the trading posts northwest of Ohio ; and those about St. Louis were not theu in the territory of the United States. THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. POPULATION OF ipE TEN PRAIRIE STATES. 31 Staies. 1880.* 1870. ■ I860. 1850. 840. Ohio 3,198,339 1,978,363 3,078,769 1,686,331 1,634,630 1,315,480 780,806 3,168,804 995,966 452,433 3,665,360 1,680,637 3,359,891 1,184,059 1,194,030 1,054,670 439,706 1,731,395 364,899 133,993 2,339,511 1,350,438 1,711,951 749,118 674,913 775,881 173,023 1,183,013 107,306 38,841 1,980,829 988,416 851,470 397,654 193,214 305,391 6,077 683,044 1,519,467 685,866 Illinois Michigan 476,188 ■ 212,367 Iowa 48112 30,945 Minnesota 388 703 Kansas Totals 17,329,810 13,966,930 9,091,879 5,403,595 3,351 542 Totals United States 50,153,866 38,558,371 31,448,331 38,191,876 17,069,453 1830. 1820. 1810. 1800.. Ohio 937,903 348,081 157,445 31,639 581,395 147,178 55,163 8,765 230,760 34,530 12,282 4,762 45 365 Indiana 5,641 Minnesota 140,455 66,557 20,845 Kansas Totals 1,610,473 858,957 393,169 51 006 Totals United States 13,866,030 9,633,833 7,339,881 5 308 483. Illinois and Michigan, the former with a population of 12,282, and the latter of 4,762, and Missouri, with a population of 20,845, appear for the first time as separate Territories in 1810. The total population of the West at the close of this decade had increased to 293,169. Ten years later it had increased to 858,957. In 1830, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri were still the only Prairie States chronicled as having any population ; and the total population of all five of these States at this time was much less than the present population of Iowa, which was not then included in the census at all. Ten years later Iowa contained a population of 43,112. In 1840, Iowa and Wisconsin were added to the five ; the former, as 3 * See Appendix for reyised Census. 32. THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES.- shown, having about forty-three thousand population, and the latter nearly thirty-one thousand. Another ten years, and Minne- sota appears, with a population of 6,077 ; in 1860, Kansas and Nebraska— the population of the former having risen, in the decade, to upward of one hundred and seven thousand, and the- latter to nearly twenty- nine thousand. The rapidity of this prodigious growth in population can better be realized, .by a glanoie at Diagram; IX., on page 28r The rate of growth of the western portion of the United States; including the Pacific States and Territories, has exceeded r that of any other section of the country, as is clearly demonstrated by the following table, which shows the population of the four geographical sections of the country, from 1790 to 1880 : POPULATION OF THE FOUR GEOGEAPHICAL SECTIONS. Years. New 'England States. Middle States. Southern States. Western States. , Totals. 1790 1,009,408 1,338,011 1,471,973 1,659,579 1,954,717 3,234,822 2,728,116 3,135,383 ■ 3,487,924 4,010,438 1,337,456 1,833,479 2,491,945 3,210,182 4,151,286 5,118,076 6,634,988 8,838,330 9,848,415 11,756,503 1,583,350 3,201,987 3,983,794 3,905,104 5,144,326 6,358,913 8,356,359 10,259,016 11,250,411 15,354,115 3,939,314 . 5,a08,483 . 7 239 831 1800 . 51,006 393,109 858,957 1,610,473 3,351,542 5,583,418 9,715,693 13,971,631 19,131,810 1810 1830 9,633,823 12,860,-703 17,063,353 33,191,876 31,443,331 38,588iS71 50,153,866 1830 . 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880*. The rate of growth of these respective sections can better be understood by the subjoined table, which shows the percentage of increase in the four sections : PERCENTAGE OF INCREASE. YSABS. 1800 1810 1830 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 New England States. 23 19 12 17 14 32 14 11 14 Middle States. 36 86 24 29 33 39 25 18 Southern States. 39 35 30 81 28 29 24 9 35 Western'" States. 474 193 87 » 130 57 74 - 43 86 A careful examination of the above shows that the New Engla,nd States i increased twenty-two per cent in the- decade See Appendix for revised Census. THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 33 ■ending in 1800 ; that tile Middle States increased thirty-six per cent. ; and that the Southern States increased thirty-nine per ■cent. At that time there was but a nominal population in the northwestern portion of the continent, from the eastern boundary line of Ohio to the Pacific coast on the west, and from the Northern Lakes to the Ohio river on the south. In 1810 the percentage of increase in the Eastern States was nineteen ; in the Middle States,' thirty-Six; in the Southern States, thirty-five ; and in the Western States, four hundred and seventy -four per •ceiit. When the westward movement of the population began, the decennial increase in the New England, Southern, and Middle States, decreased ; in 1820, the increase was twelve per ■cent., twenty-four per cent. , and thirty per cent., respectively, and in the Western States no less than one hundred and ninety- three per cent. In 1830 the three divisions first mentioned remained about the same, and the percentage of increase dropped in the Western States to eighty-seven per cent. In the' decade ending in 1840 westward emigration received an impetus (possibly owing to the commercial distress in the cities of the country), while the increase in the New England States Temained normal, at fourteen per cent., and the Middle and Southern States decreased to twenty-three per cent, each, and the percentage in the Western States increased to one hundred and twenty per cent. In 1850 the manufactories of the New England States began to attract iminigration ; and the increase in population for the decade ending in that year was twenty-two per cent., against twenty-nine per cent, each in the Middle and Southern States, and only fifty-seven per cent, for the Western States and Territories. ' In 1860 the New England States returned to their normal rate of increase, fourteen per cent. ; the Middle States show an increase of twenty-five per cent. ; the Southern, of twenty-four per cent. ; and the Western States arid Territories increased t6 seventy-four per cent, for the decennial' period ehdihg in 1860. The civil war, and its attendant checks upon the growth of population, reduced the percentage of increase in the New England States, in the ten years eridihg in 1870, to eleven per cent. ; in the Middle States to eighteen per cent. ; and this cause, with the imperfect enumeration of the South, .brings the pel'^ceritage of increase in that division of the country down to nine per cent. The effects of the war were les^ felt in tlie 34 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. Western States ; and the preceding table shows that the increase was about forty-three per cent. In 1880, the New England States were restored to their accustomed increase of fourteen per cent.; the Middle States to nineteen per cent.; and the Southern States, owing to the cause before explained, showing within one per cent, the same increase (thirty-six per cent.) as the Western States and Territories. Should the rate of increase in the population of this country continue at thirty per cent, for the next twenty-six years, it would have a population of 65,198,726 in 1890, of 84,758,344 in. 1900, and of 100,396,020— or about double the present population— in 1906. If the West continues to grow at the rate of thirty-six per cent, per decade, its population would be nearly thirty -six millions in 1900, and nearly forty-six millions in. 1906 ; at the same time, the New England States, at their growth, of fourteen per cent., would have, in 1906, nearly six millions,, and the Middle States nearly eighteen and a half millions. Owing to the defects in the enumeration of the population of the South in 1870, it would be unsafe to estimate the future growth of the Southern States. At the opening of the century the aggregate population of the Western States and Territories was less than one per cent, of the population of the entire country. To-day, it is over thirty-eight per cent. The increase of the per cent, of the population of the Western States to- that of the country for each decade is shown in Diagram X., on. page 28. . The area, as I have shown, of the entire territory, is 2,023,820' square miles ; that of the United States is 3,025,600 square miles (exclusive of Alaska), or 1,936,384,000 acres. The total area of the West embraces not less than sixty-six per cent, of the entire United States. In brief, the thirteen original States have ex- tended into an empire so vast in area that a territory only 6,000» square miles less than the entire area of those States has been, given away to aid in building a railroad system which has united the Atlantic with the Pacific coast, the Northern Lakes with the Gulf, and proved a bond of union between the Eastern and the Western States. The population of half a century ago knew little of the extent of the goodly heritage to which they were born, and had not explored the fertile lands of the Great West. The area of the ten Prairie States, revised according to the Tenth Census, is as follows : THE "WEST IN 1880 — THE PKAIRIE STATES. 35 Statss. Area, Square MileB. Area, Acres. Ohio ,. Indiana Illinms Michigan Iowa Wisconsin minnesota Missouri i Kansas 2^'ebraska Totals Totals Pacific States and Territories Balance of country Grand Totals for United States 41,060 36,350 56,650 58,915 56,025 56,040 83,365 69,415 '82,080 76,855 26,278,400 23,264,000 36,256,000 37,705,600 35,856,000 35,865,600 63,353,600 44,425,600 63,531,300 49,187,200 616,755 394,723,200 1,407,065 900,521,600 1,001,780 641,139,200 3,025,600 1,936,384,000 The comparison of this area with that of the principal European countries (Diagram XI., page 37,) gives a realizing idea of the magnitude of the ten Prairie States and of the other territory designated in this volume as "The West." The Census returns of 1880 show that the male population is largely in excess of the female population in the Prairie States ; Ohio, however, coming nearest to an equal division. It will be many years before all the Prairie States will reach this condition : MALES IN EXCESS. States. Per Cent, of Excess. States. Per Cent of Excess. Ohio . - 1.8 4.4 6.4 11.3 9.2 Wisconsin 7 Minnesota 15.9 Illinois Missouri Kansas 8.3 Wirhis'aii ... . . 16.9 Iowa Nebraska 22.6 During the last ten years the border States of Kansas and T^'ebraska and the Territory of Dakota show an increase in the percentage of females to males. A similar movement is very marked in most of the Territories, as in Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Washinjgton, and Wyoming, and in the Pacific States of -California and Nevada. In Colorado, however, this progress lias been rudely interrupted by the great and rapid development of the mineral resources during the last two years, which has 36 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PB4-IRIE STATES. drawn frojn every State a vast male immigration. Thus is woman exerting her influence as a civilizer ; and, as the gloomy- forests were cleared away by the hands of man, and the y^ist prairies were plowed and fenced, what was once a wild waste beqame ready for the habitation of man and the blessed Influ- ence of good wives, mothers, and daughters. The larger part of the yearly eleven million immigrants that have I landed in the United States during this century are dis- riributed ampng the Western States and Territories, a large per- centage of them in the ten thrifty Prairie States : FOREIGN POPULATION. States. Per Cent. States. P«rCent. Ohio 14 ' 1. 23 31 19 44 India.iia, , ^ ^ . . Minnesota 52 Illinois Missouri 10 12 Iowa. Nebraska 27' The cause of this large proportion of foreign element in thes& States is apparent. Agriculture is the,principal moving folKje ;. and Germans, Scandinavians, and Irish are the principal nation- alities drawn over. In the extreme Western States and Territories, most of the immigration is due to mining ; although agriculture and cattle raising play a very important part. The colored element is a very unimportant Dart of the population of the Prairie States : COLORED PqPULAq?ION. States. Ohio Indiana . i Illinois . . ^Michigali "Iowa -»ro 100,000 Whites. 2,555 2;011 1,525 928 585 States. Wisconsin Minnesota Missouri . Kansas . . . Nebraska. To 100,000- .Whites; '201 7;i68- 4,.527 528- TJie.Qensus has brought to light , thp fact th^at oJ3L,e- fifth gf .th,e inhabitants pf.^his cox^ntry live 'below one hundred feet elev3,tipn above .|ea level, ipore thaji two:fifths below five hundred, more than three-fpurths ])elow one thousand ; ,y([hile ninety- seven per cent, live b^lpw,2,090,feet. The interval between tlje-five, hundred and the one thousand feet cpntpprs comprises ^the greater part ■>1 Co ■T3 Q ;? ^ ■^ >=: ! :s- O-c, ^ E^ S: =^ Co ^ -~*- Cj "^ S' c^ » i5~ Co It CD I— I o p W P B > m > 3- C z a CO H > -i m hj CO g THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATEB. B9 of the Prairie States and the grain-producing States of the Northwest. East of the 98th meridian the contour of fifteen hundred feet is practically the upper limit of population, all the country lying above that elevation being mountains. During the last ten years the increase between one thousand and two thousand feet has been nearly fifty per cent. In this grade the effect of immigration in new and previously unsettled regions appears, as in parts of Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota, and Minnesota. The foundation of the wealth and prosperity of these fair States, is, of course, their agricultural products, which have increased, as shown by the Census returns of 1860, 1870, and 1880, until they now reach over 1,907,000,000 bushels of grain, or over seventy per cent, of the total product of the United States : TOTAL PBODUCTION OF CEEEALS. States. I860. BnSlielB. 1870. Bushels. Per Cent. Increase. 1880. Bushels. Percent. Increase. Ohio Indiana 108,789,675 94,997,746 156,543,565 36,169,907 57,613,564 35,868,856 7,564,078 81,504,669 6,483,349 1,730,378 133,473,804 88,336,130 307,936,491 40,733,398 131,951,917 64,199,568 35,450,001 97,798,388 38,736,086 8,573,843 13.49 * 7.03 33.83 55.60 111.67 78.98 368.66 19.98 365.95 398.34 188,933,077 179,142,318 444,633,350 88,097,084 863,497,131 99,661,834 76,044,895 348,889,405 131,971,736 88,039,613 53.03 102.71 Illinois 113 83 Michigan 111.43 198.73 53.68 Minnesota 114.20 Missouri 154 46 Kansas 460 45 Nebraska 924.87 Totals 577,355,687 812,151,975 40.69 1,907,848,923 134.78 Total United States 1,339,039,616 1,387,295,523 13.87 2,697,962,456 94.56 The total cereal crops have nearly doubled in ten years. Minnesota, Kansas, and Nebraska in the first decade increased 368, 265, and 398 per cent., and in the second 114, 460, and 924 per cent., respectively. This gives some idea of the rapid devel- opment of agricultural industry. Even in Ohio the increase in the last decade was over 53 per cent., and in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, "Wisconsin, and Missouri, 102, 113, 111, 198, 63, and 154 per cent., respectively. The per cent, of increase or decrease in the five geographical divisions in the two decades was as follows : * Decrease. 40 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIEIE STATES. CBEBALS. Sbotions; New England States Middle States Southern States The Ten Prairie States Pacific States and Territories . . Averages for United States Per Cent. Increase or Decrease. 1860 to 1870. *17.63 10.14 *37.68 40.70 238.68 Per Cent. Increase, 1870 to 1880. 2.07 9.85 73.92 134.89 117.68 Per Cent. Increase or Decrease. 1860 to 1880. *10.69 20.78 6.70 230.50 636.99 12.87 94.52 115.5 The rate of increase or decrease, in each decade, of the corn and wheat crops of the ten Prairie States, as compared with the other sections of the country, may thus be summarized : WHEAT AND CORN. Sections. I860 to 1870. 1870 to 1880. 1860 to 1880. Inc. Per Ct. Wheat.- - Inc. Per Ct. Corn. Inc. Per Ct. Wheat. Inc. Per Ct. Corn. Inc. Per Cl. Wheat. Inc. Per Ct. Com. New England States *7.34 33.79 *33.58 105.00 175.11 *19.83 *1.00 *31.53 8.11 74.52 32.63 *2.53 54.34 67.75 94.18 13.99 37. 87 40.04 192.29 122.71 11.72 . 39.06 16.13 243.90 499.02 8 60 Middle States . 12.67 11 43 Southern States The Ten Prairie States Pacific States and Territories. . 215.98 288.80 Averages for United States 66,32 *9.38 63.16 130.61 165.43 109.21 From later tables, it will be seen that only three Prairie States (Ohio, 8.-22; Indiana, 28.62; and Missouri, 9.4) show a ■ decrease in corn product in the decade ending in 1870. Of the other States, Michigan and Illinois increased each about thirteen per cent. ; Iowa, nearly sixty-three per cent.; "Wisconsin, one hundred per cent. ; Minnesota, sixty- one per cent. ; Kansas, one hundred and seventy-six per cent. ; and Nebraska, nearly twenty- two per cent. ; making a total increase for the ten Prairie States of about eight per cent. During the same period the New England States decreased 19.82 per cent. ; the Middle States, one percent; and the Southern States, 31.52 percent. The other Western States and Territories show an increase of 74.52 per cent. ; while the entire country shows a decrease of 9.28 per cent. * Decrease. THE WEST .IN 1880.— THE. PEAIEIE STATES. 41 In the decade from 1870 to 1880 all the Prairie States show an increase of from 65.80 per cent., in Ohio, to 1,278.87 per cent, in Nebraska. The other sections of the country, with the excep- tion of the Pacific States and Territories, show comparatively small gains ; while the per cent, of increase for the country at large is 130.61. The increase of the; wheat crop has not been so grea,t for the last decade as it was between 1860 and 1870, the Census show- ing it at nearly sixty- eight per cent. Wisconsin is the only State that shows a decrease, owing to a partial failure of the tjrop of 1879. The average per cent, of increase of the Prairie •States was 105 from 1860 to 1870, and 67.75 from 1870 to 1880, the average for the entire country for the same periods being sixty-six and sixty-three per cent, respectively. The amount of grain produced in these States, as compared with the rest of the United States, can best be realized by reference to Diagram XII., page 38. Of the nearly 460,000,000 bushels of wheat raised in 1880 in the United States, the Prairie States produced over 326,000,000 bushels. The wheat product of these States, as shown by the Census for the last three decades, is given below ; also the per •cent, of increase in the last two decenniums : WHEAT. States. I860. BnshelB. 1870. Bushels. Per Cent. Increase. 1860-70. lP8n. Bushels. Per Cent. Increase. 1870-80. Ohio 15,119,047 16,848,267 23,837,023 8,386,338 8,449,403 15,e5T,'458 2,186,998 4,227,586 194,173 147,867 27,882,159 27,747,222 30,128,405 16,265,773 29,435,692 25,606,344 18,866,073 14,315,926 2,391,198 2,125,086 84.41 64.69 26.39 95.12 248.37 63.54 762.65 238.63 1,131-. 48 1,187.16 46,014,869 47,288,853 51,110,502 35,533,543 31,154,205 24,884,689 34,601,030 24,966,627 17,324,141 13,847,007 65.00 70.35 69.69 112.32 5.15 *2 81 Indiana Illinois Michigan Iowa "Wisconsio Minnesota . . ; 83! 41 7.^? ftp Missouri ISansas 624 49 Nehraska ■ 551.60 Totals 95,004,155 194,763,878 105.00 326,720,466 67 75 Totals United States. . . 173,104,894 287,745,626 66.22 439,479,505 63.16 A similar presentation in regard to the corn product reveals the fact that over 1,283,000,000 bushels of the total corn product of the United States is produced in these ten Prairie States : * Decrease. 42 THE WEST m 1880— THE PRAIRIE STATES. CORN. States. 1860. Bushels. 1870. Bushels. Per Cent. Increase. 1860-70. 1880. Bushels. Per Cent. Increase. 18T0-80. Ohio 73,543,190 71,588,919 115,174,777 12,444,676 43,410,686 7,517,300 3,941,953 73,893,157 6,150,737 1,482,080 67;501,144 51,094,538 139,931,395 14,086,238 68,985,065 15,033,998 4,743,117 66,034,075 17,025,525 4,736,710 *8.33 *28.62 12.49 13.19 63.54 100.00 61.32 *9.40 176.80 31.96 111,877,124 115,483,300 335,792,481 32,461,452 275,034,247 34,330,579 14,831,741 203,485,733 105,739,335 65,450,135 65.80- 126.03 Illinois 158.45 Michi&'an 130 70 269.94 Wisconsin 137.69 Minnesota Missouri 313.49 306.48 Kansas 531.01 Nebrasica 1,378.87 Totals 406,146,464 439,111,805 8.11 1,383,365,107 193.29- Totals United Statps 838,793,743 760,944,549 *9.28 1,754,861,535 130.61 Two Diagrams, XIII. and XIV., pages 43 and 44, show,, respectively, the relative wheat and corn product of the Prairie States to that of the other geographical divisions of the country. The centres of production have closely followed the centre of population in its westward march, until now the Eastern, North Middle, and Southern groups of States do not supply their home demand for wheat. The South Middle States have a small surplus. The Ohio valley has a surplus of nearly half its crop ;. and the more westea-n groups produce nearly fourfold more than their home demand. The wheat crop of thirty years ago- was about one hundred million bushels, divided into equal volume by the eighty-first degree west of Greenwich ; in 1859' the centre of production had advanced to the eighty-fifth degree ; in 1869, to the eighty-eighth degree ; and last year, it is safe to say, the enormous crop of nearly four hundred and sixty million bushels of wheat was divided equally by the ninetieth degree of longitude. It has been said that the only hope for the British and the Russian farmers is in the high rates of transportation and the exhaustion of the soil of the Prairie States, through bad farm- ing. The first question will be discussed farther along. The following table shows, that, in States where ordinary care— such as rotation of crops and a fair quaptity of manure— is given th& soil, the average yield is higher than some writers are willing to admit : ♦ Decrease. --A ' <:=. ^"-^......^^^^^ ■X) g ""■""•^---.^ >: ^ "" ^-^^^ 5 "^ ""^■"---...^ 2' o „., ■ > 5" k ^^.^^ ^^^^ Co a:> ^^^^^^^^ -H- Cl ^ ) Co ' M Co *i s o s: CJI "~"~~-~-,„_,__^ Pj 3^ re "O) ^--.^^_^ , ■^ 3 2 OS ^,^„.-^^ 5 ;! n M o S Hs Hs a rt- S: ^^^^ bd S X a """" --^ 00 M CO ffl m &r m ^^^.^^'"'^''^ o H ffi a > ft. ^^■^^ ^-""""^ CO CC o Cfq H •^ rt- P Co" ft 02 • p, & 3: s --~._^.^_^ u 5- ^^''*'— ■— ^ y 5" s ^^"^ 3. ^ ^^„„»ii-*^' ■ S a s " ■'' O, OS ^ « a: i !? 1 o ^ o- 00 '►o «- - ■^ 1 !h s (43) ^ti n ©• pj o «• a> ■O Ml yjftst,of q,bout 95° longitude. The following; figures. are taken frqm the ,Agririce . . Number tattle.. Average price . . Number sheep.. Average price . . Number hogs . . Average price . . 811,300 $57.53 24,800 $60. B9 700,000 $24.44 7»2,000 $22.37 4,080,400 $2.83 2,045,(00 $5.01 688,800 $54.60 58,800 $60.72 434,800 $25.09 756,600 $18,65 1,019,000 $2.29 2,186,000 $4.70 1,078,000 $51.66 133,900 $60.64 695,400 $26.6:3 1,235,300 $21.09 1,110,800 $2.60 3,202,600 $5.61 350,500 $75.68 4,400 $85.12 416,900 ^6.68 432,600 $22.51 1,856,400 $2.^3 538,800 $4.92 778,400 $55.19 44,700 $70.85 724,500 $24.20 1,370,400 $19.44 454,400 $2.54 2,778,400 $5.36 3,707,0 2,971,6 '4,586,9 8,521,0 Wisconsin. Minnesota; Totals. 392,100 $60.24 S,900 $72.69 458,200 $21.79 622,700 $17.83 1,316,100 $2.39 571,800 $5.07- 274,E00 $64.58 7,300 $88.81 304,000 $20.16 322,400 $17.46 807,500 $2.13 194,200 639,800 299,700 $40.37 $48.62 191,900 57,000 $47.53 $63.03 626,500- 851,400 $19.21 $23.68 1,648,300 647700 $17.47 $20.32 1,523,300 371,900 $1.83 $2.23 2,620,400 1,208,700 $3.44 $5.28 176,100 $64.:)4 1S,200 $87.29 142,900 $26.00 428,000 $21.52 172,800 $2.73 698,700 $5.21 1,7S2,2( l,783,a 3,669,11 ''3,69ii6( To give some idea of the extent of the fishing interests o the Great Lakes, the following table has been compiled. Thi table shows the number of fishermen, value of apparatus, pound of fish, and value of same, in 1879. in the fisheries of each Stati bordering on the Great Lakes : States. Minnesota . . Wisconsin . . Michigan . . . Illinois Indiana ..... Ohio Pennsylvania New York . . Totals . No. of Fishermen 35 800 1,781 300 53 1,046 114 932 5,050^ Value of Apparatus. $ 10,160 223,840 442,665 88,400 29,860 478,800 24,700 59,050 $1,345,975 Total Pounds of Fish. 176,000 10,194,600 24,018,100 3,937,500 1,173,500 24,924,800 1,253,000 4,070,000 68,743,000 Total Value of Fish. ' 5,20( 276,601 711,601 58,00( 88,82( 855, 00( 42,48( 175, 10( $1,653,90( Of the-68,742,000 pounds of fish taken in the lake fisheries of these States, 21,463,900 were whitefish ; ■ 6,804,600, trout; 15,356,300 herring; 7,012,100, sturgeon ; 6,722,600, hard fish ': 7,086,700, soft fish; 43,000, rough fish; 2,302,400^ coarse fish; and 1,950,400, mixed fish. : .The following table shows the number oi men engaged in the fisheries of each of the Great Lakes, the value of their apparatus, the pounds af fish taken, and the value : ' * See Appendix. THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 47 Lakes. Total No. Fishermen Total Value of Apparatus. Total Pounds o( Fish Taken. Total Value of Fish. Superior „ Michigan Huron and St. Clair. Erie Ontario Totals 414 1,578 976 1,470 612 I 81,380 551,135 155,910 503,500 54,050 3,816,635 23,141,875 11.536,200 26,607,300 3,640,000 $118,370 668,400 293,550 412,880 159,700 5,050 $1,845,975 68,742,000 $1,652,900 Elsewhere in this volume, some interesting facts in regard to the raUroad and water transportatipn from the Northwest will be brought together. For the present, attention will be merely directed to the remarkable increase in the miles of railroad since the year 1840 : MILES OF EAILEOAD. States. 1840. •1863. 1870. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 1880. Ohio 78 95 26 187 3,331 2,217 3,157 941 891 1,010 213 923 40 122 3,538 8,177 4,823 1.638 2,683 1,525 1.092 2,000 1,501 705 4.4P1 3,963 7,109 3.306 3.850 2.5o6 1,990 2,905 2,i50 1,167 4.687 4,003 7,285 3,395 3.939 2.636 2.080 3,146 2,238 1,217 4,878 4,057 7,334 3,477 4,134 2,701 2,194 3,198 2,338 1,286 5,151 4,198 7,448 3,593 4,866 2,810 8,333 3,886 8,487 1,344 5,321 4,336 7,578 3,673 4,779 8,896 3,008 3,740 3,103 1,634 6,081 4,382 7,90a Illinois Michigan 3,92a 5,2:36 3,122. iowa Minnesota 3,141 4,058 3,466 ]S ebraska 2,011 Totals 334 12,847 22,688 3.S,307 34,366 35,611 37,058 40,868 43,399- The Prairie States are growing more important every year in manufacturing ; and, inondustries where recent and reliable data, can be obtained, it will be seen that the strides made within the past few years are surprising, and worthy of the most careful consideration of political economists. In 1878 the State of Illinois alone made as many rails as the whole United State* made in any one year prior to 1860. The four States of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Kansas, produced, ih 1879, 266,783 tons of rails, upwards of thirty per cent, of the quantity of rails produced in the United States. Illinois and Indiana alone pro- duced half a million tons of cut nails — over one-ninth of the total production of the country. The spring of the present year witnessed the completion of new rail manufactories in Colorado ; at Omaha, Neb. ; and Centralia, 111. The total produc- tion of iron and steel of all kinds in the United States for 1880 48 THE WEST IN1880'— THEPRAIRIE STATES. was 7,265,140 tons. Of this, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota, Kianfeas, and Nebraska, pro duced i;912, 689 tons : ^1 Hands Employed and WAGEspAiij in the Cen^s Year 1880. Praimb States. Capital Invested in the Census Year 1880. li P. Total Hands. Total Amount Paid in Wages. Ohio 134 13 31 33 33 9 1 2 1 $35,141,294 2,283,000 6,460,620 9,153,473 4,175,386 3,843.318 150,000 450,000 100,000 18,885 1,883 4,887 3,989 3,054 2,088 180 570 90 1,171 165 366 150 35 65 15 30,071 3,048 5.353, 3,139 3,089 3,153 IBO 630 100 $8,265,6™ Indiaiia ." 864,921 2,508,718 JVIissouri jyiichigah "Wisconsin TVTinnesota 734,57S 932,597 1,004,9M 25^7? 166,500 50,000 Kansas Nebraska 60 10 Totals ■ 334 $50,755,990 34,636 2,033 15 36,663 $14,542,587 Peairie States Value of all Materials Used in the Census Tear 1880. Value of all Products Made in the Census Year 1880. Weight of all Products Made in the Census Year 1880. Weight bf all Products Made, in the CienBus Yeai- 1870; Ohio $23,^97^915, 3,393,073 14,^77,145 3,249 558 3,379,430 3,830,667 $34,918,360 4,551,403 30,545,389 4,660,530 4,591,613 6,580,391 930.141 96,117 417,967 125,-758 142,716 178,935 449;768 64,148 25,761 94,890 87,679 42 234 Jndiana' ^ Illinois JVIissouri Wisconsin Minnesota Kansas 734,345 114,500 1,004,100 83',000 19,055 2,000' Nebraska .' Totals $53,476,523 $76 <).R» R»R 1 01 ■> KSQ 76^,480 '■ The ore in the iron regions ot Michigan and Missouri is vfery rich, and free from injurious ingredients, and ia capable of be- ing successfully employed for the manufacture of all varieties of iron and steel. Professor Newberry,* one of the best authorities on the subject, has observed that in these two iron districts the inhabitants of the valley of the Mississippi have a supply of remarkably rich and pure ores, which -is not likely to be exhausted for some hundreds of years, and which, from the small ainountof phosphorus which they contain, will be the chief dependence of the American people for the manufacture * " Iron Resources of the tlmted States ;" International Hevieiol Nov , 1874.^^ THE WEST IN 1880— THE PRAIRIE'STATBS. 49 of" steel. To Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and other points on the shores of the Great Lakes, the ore of the Lake Superior iron regions is floated cheaply, and is manufactured where disembarked, or is distributed through the interior of Illinois and the neighboring States, to be brought in closer proximity to the coal. Already an immense iron rail industry, second only to that of Pennsylvania, has grown up, based on the relations, which have been briefly indicated, between the ore and coal. The increase of popiilation on the shores of these lakes within ihe past quartier-century is without parallel in history ; and twenty -five years more will witness a still greater growth. The present indication is that the demand for' iron will be greater than ever before, atid will be miet by the Western instead of by the Eastern manufactories. This demand, according to Professor INewberry, must be furnished from three points or lines of ' manufacture : first, near the mines, where a limited quantity of iron will be produced with charcoal, and coke or coal brought as return freight ; second, along the Shores of lakes, where the ore is transshipped and meets the coal from the interior, as in ■Chicago ; third, in the vicinity of the coal mines, to which the ore is brought overland by rail, as at Springfield and at Joliet. Neither of these points or lines can ' monopolize the iron manufacture; since return freights must be burnished to empty •coal cars as well as to empty ore vessels. The preponderance of th& lake shores or the interior will be determined mainly by the point to wMtoh economy of fuel can be carried in our iron manufacture. With ^keen foresight and ' enterprise, the West, and especially Illinois, has taken the neiwest and now most profitable branch of the iroin trade— ^the manufacture of steel Tails.- In the ma,nufacture of Bessemer-steel rails, Cook county, Illinois, ha,s alteady distanced Alleghany coiunty,'Penilsylvahia. In 1878, that" great centre of the " iron trade manufactured '72,246 tons of Bessemer-steel rails.' Chicago, during the same time,tul?ned out 123,000 tons ; and, if the neighboring county of ' Will is counted in, the amount is increased to 178,000 tons, or 33,608 tons more than twice the entire production of Alleghany <50unty." The same year the State of Illinois produced nearly one-third of all the Bfessemer-steel rails produced in the United ' States. In bther branches of industry the same holds trile. A few y6ars' agd all our best furniture came from" Boston. A lesfdingJChieagb furniture dealer said to me recently, "Not one 50 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. dollar's worth is now bought east of Grand Rapids, Mich." The leading hotel at Dundee, Scotland, is furnished from top to bottom with furniture made at Grand Rapids, delivered in Scotland twenty-five, per cent, cheaper than it can be produced there. A small town in Indiana recently completed a large order for wagons for an English firm, who reship them from Liverpool to South Africa. The proprietor of a Chicago nail works said, "I remember the time when the first nail factory was built outside of Pittsburg. The people of Pittsburg smiled; for they thought nails could not be made outside of that smoky town. But the enterprise succeeded ; and, as far west as Omaha, nails are being made to compete with the East." It will be seen from these facts that the simplification of machinery and the improvements in the combustion of coal for the utilization of a larger portion of force contained in each ton, combined with increased railroad advantages, tend to make great manufacturing interests less and less dependent on location, and more and more dependent on what Edward Atkinson appro- priately calls the *' finer points." " It is not," says that gentle- man, "many years since a young man came to New England from the far West to visit the works where plows were made : he told the New England craftsmen that they did not fully under- stand the nature of the prairie soil, that they had not calculated the true curves of least resistance, and that he intended to estab- lish a plow factory on the Mississippi. They did not much fear his competition; but his great factory^ employing hundreds of workmen, now furnishes plows even for the Eastern use." There are many other instances where the West has stolen a march upon the East. When at a small town in Indiana, a short time since, I saw forty car loads of plows, from one factory, pulled out of the depot. The inventor of that plow, a Western man, has given to millions of agriculturists the most important improvement of our century, in the American plow. It is by watching the finer points that our Prairie States have gained their present foothold in manufacturing ; and upon these finer points their future in this line largely depends. Science has been brought to bear ; and all the leading iron establishments have laboratories connected with their works, and salaried chemists. I know of a dozen firms in the West that have each spent from $10,000 to $50,000 within the past few years making elaborate e?:periments to better the quality of the mouldboards of plows. THE WEST IN 1880— THE PRAIRIE STATES. 51 I have selected the Western States, including California, in which the manufacture of glass is carried on, and in the following table show the number of establishments, the capital employed, the number of pots, the number of hands engaged, the amount of wages paid, and the value of the product in each State : Plate Glass. States. OS »E=1 Capital. No. of Pots. No. of Em- ployee. Value of Material. Wages Paid. Total Coat Value of Products. 3 1 $1,142,000 1,150,000 64 16 513 350 $398,733 113,295 $160,850 120,000 $496,400 335,000 Missouri Totals 3 $3,392,000 80 863 $411,038 $280,850 $831,400 Window Glass. 3 1 1 1 1 5 $200,000 175,000 25,000 65,000 40,000 410,000 48 30 8 8 14 46 235 169 $101,474 105,000 $145,703 103,000 $373,343 229 397 Indiana Michigan 54 48 373 35,113 37,706 106,510 30,000 32,000 146,861 90,000 68 000 Ohio 358,000 Totals 13 $915,000 154 769 $375,803 $457,564 $1,118,740 Glassware. Illinois 1 1 3 8 $ 20,000 12,000 100,000 484,750 16 7 31 153 f Iowa - . .... 35 317 1,325 $ 3,348 43,085 309,370 $ 2,000 61,339 453,659 $ 3,500 136,487 1,076,320 Ohio Totals 13 $616,750 197 1,477 $345,603 $515,998 $1,216,307 Greek Glass. California Illinois 1 2 1 3 3 $ 75,000 190,000 125,000 140,000 139,000 7 36 14 24 34 113 507 180 350 190 $ 48,070 196,368 30,000 168,305 43,553 $ 45,924 196,324 20,357 167,759 45,000 $103,393 528 000 64,984 Missouri 392,790 Ohio 115,000 Totals 9 $669,000 105 1,340 $486,196 $475,364 $1,204,167 From the above table, it will be seen, that, of the $19,415,599' of capital invested in the glass factories of the United States, $4,493,750, or nearly one-quarter, is invested in the Western States ; while 4,449 of the 23,882 persons engaged in this indus- a 52 I THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. try are employed in the glass manufactories of the Western States. No less than $2,292,000 out of the $2,587,000 capital invested in the manufacture of plate glass is located in two Prairie States. Of the $4,873,155 of capital employed by the window- glass manufactories of the United States, $915,000 is located in the West ; while Pennsylvania has no less than twenty-one of the establishments, and employs $2,279,000 capital. It has been impossible to secure absolute returns in regard to the industries of all the States. In many cases, I have been enabled to give, approximately, the total number of the principal industries, the value of the material used, the number of hands employed, the amount of wages paid, and the annual product. In Indiana, the figures relating to manufacturing are borrowed from the report of Mr. John Collett, the State statistician. He estimates the number of establishments at 14,480, the capital in- vested at $76,341,728, the amount of wages paid at $24,195,057, materih,ls consumed at $97,342,880, and the products at upward of $185,000,000. The statistics of the great lumber interests of Michigan are given in detail in the chapter on that State. In Iowa, I have been able to obtain very satisfactory statistics in regard to the manufactures, showing an increase in hands employed from 1, 707, in 1850, to 39,863 in 1880; of capital invested from $1,292,875 to $31,409,470 ; and of total product from $3,551,783 to over $70,000,000. In Wisconsin, Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois, the number of industries has been presented, but not in such complete form as in Iowa and some other States. Many of the facts in regard to the product of manufactures will be found in the chapter on the large cities. In Nebraska, the number of hands employed in manufacturing has increased from 386 to 7,281, while the capital invested has increased from about $266,500 to $4,348,780, and the products from $607,000 to over $16,670,000. The table on the next page presents at a glance the progress of manufacturing industries in the ten Prairie States from 1850 to 1880. It exhibits the number of establishments in each State, the number of hands employed, the amount of capital invested, the amount of wages paid, the value of materials used and of the products manufactured. This table will enable the reader to appreciate the growing importance to the Prairie States of their manufacturing as well as agricultural and mining industries. THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 53 PEOGRESS OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IN THE TEN PRAIRIE STATES. States. No. of Estab- uients. No. of Hands Empl'd. Amount Capital Invested. Amount Wages Paid. Value Muterials Used. Value Products Manufac'd. Illinois* .. -! Indiana. . Kansas , "Michigan*;. Minnesota. Missouri*. . Nebraska.. Ohio" Wisconsin* 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1860 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 18.0 1850 1860 1870 1880 3,162 4,368 12.597 19,095 4,392 5.323 11,847 14,480 1,939 6,566 6,720 11,559 24.968 82,979 167,788 14,440 21,295 58,852 57,939 1,707 6,.30r 25,032 39,863 $ 6,217,765 27,648,563 94,368,057 150,988,891 7,750,402 18,451,121 52,052,425 76,341,738 1,292,875 7,247,180 22,420,183 31,409,470 $ 3,304,336 7,637,921 31,100,244 49,760,390 3,728,844 6,318,335 18,366,780 24,195,057 473,016 1,922,417 6,893,292 9,642,042 $ 8,959,327 35,558,782 127,600,077 194,160,123 10,369,700 27,143.597 63,l'i5,492 97,342,880 2,356,881 8,612,259 27,682,096 46,220,419 $ 16,534,272 .57.580,886 305,620,672 339,274,109 18,735,423 42,803,469 108,617,278 185,050,220 3,551,783 13,971,33S 46,534,332 70,271,877 844 1,477 2,033 3,448 9,465 15,128 2,270 6,810 2,923 3,157 11,871 17,806 1,735 6,844 15,174 9,344 23,190 6.j,694 100,636 2,123 11,290 34,999 15,808 19,681 65,354 101,952 1,084,935 4,319,060 10,183,800 6,563,660 23,808,336 71,713,383 117,608,144 94,000 2,388,310 11,993,729 33,582,441 8,676,607 20,034,320 80,257,344 130,016,735 880,346 3,377,611 3,769,126 2,717,124 6,735,047 21,205,355 83,928,568 18,540 713,314 4,053,837 13,158,511 J,692,648 6,669,916 31,05 i, 445 49,688,712 1,444,975 6,113,163 20,123,337 6,136,328 17,63.5,611 68,142,515 109,028,024 24,800 1,904,070 13,842,902 41,628,706 12,798,351 23,849,941 116,533,269 173,299,903 4,557,408 ■ 11,775,833 30,489,093 11,169,003 82,658,356 118,.994,676 198,913,055 58,300 3,373,172 23,110,700 76,265,310 21,334,418 41,782,731 306,213,429 300,232,157 107 670 1,377 10,622 11,123 22,773 34,159 1,263 3,064 7,013 9,117 336 2,66) 7,281 61,491 7 -,602 137,203 212,663 6,089 15,.114 43,910 57,083 266,575 2,169,963 4,848,780 29,019,5ks 57,395,803 141,923,964 200,720,851 3,383,148 15,831,581 41,981,872 57,9!i4,988 105,3^2 1,429,913 1,716,279 13,467,156 22,303,989 49,066,488 68,693,083 1,713,496 4,268,708 13,575,642 17,648,334 237,215 2,903,074 11,300,587 84,678,019 69,800,370 157,181,697 319,984,375 5,414,931 17,137,334 45,851,366 64,191,773 607,3S8 6,738, 13 16,670,090 62,692,279 121,691,148 209,713,610 358,513,137 9,298,068 27,849,467 77,214,.326 114,339,340 Manufacturing interests are bound to develop in and around the great iron and coal districts of the Prairie States, and near the great lumber regions. The farther the agriculturist pushes westward, where his labors are most liberally rewarded, the more important become the manufacturing industries of the West. In presenting the last report of the coal trade, Mr. Frederick E. Saward called attention to an increase of ten million tons in the coal production of the United States over the tonnage reported the previous year. The United States has doubled the output of 1869. "It is noticed," says Mr. Saward, "that the • In these States I have been obliged to make careful estimates for 188% based on the actual returns from the large industrial centres, and the percentage of increase in former decades. Every possible care has been taken with the work ; and I believe the final census returns will show that the estimates were approximately correct. 54 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. States of the West are using an immense quantity of coal of different kinds." The coal product of the Prairie States has also doubled, as the following table will show : PRODUCTION OF COAL. States. 1869. 18T6. 187T. 1878. 1879. 1880. OMo Indiana 2,527,285 437,870 2.629,563 21,150 263,487 3,500,000 950,000 3,500,000 30,000 1,500,000 5,250,000 1,000,000 3,500,000 30,000 1,500,000 5,000,000 1,000,000 3,500,000 30,000 1,500,000 5,000,000 1,000,000 3,500,000 35,000 1,600,000 7,000,000 1,196,490 4,000,000 Michigan Iowa 35,000 1,600,000 Minnesota ... . Missouri Kansas 621,930 32,938 1,425 900,000 125,000 30,000 900,666 200,000 50,000 900,000 300,000 75,000 900,000 400,000 75,000 1,500,000 550 000 Nebraska 100,000 Totals 6,535,648 10,535,000 12,430,000 12,305,000 12,510,000 15,981,490 Totals for U.S. 31,077,994 49,305,748 54,398,250 52,130,^84 59,808,398 69,200,934 Chapter XXVI. of this volume will be devoted to a description of tlie commercial and industrial progress and development of the principal cities of the entire Western territory. For the present, it will be only necessary to allude briefly, in passing, to the rapid growth of the city population of the ten Prairie States, which demonstrates that the West is no longer given over to the staples of meat and grain, but is supplying a large share of the manufactures and commerce of the country. The progress of these centres of industrial energy will naturally suggest the inquiry. Is the West as promising a land to the manufacturer as to the agriculturist ? The law of distribution depends upon the relative and not upon the absolute superiority of certain districts as settlements for labor. At first the superior agricult- ural advantages of this region delivered the country over to agriculture. Now, however, that manufacturing can be carried on cheaper, and labor is paid better, in proportion to the cost of living than in the Middle and Eastern States, the population naturally seeks the cities, and manufacturing enterprises are at- tracted. In 1860, the total population of all the cities in Illinois was but 227, 761— less than half the present population of Chicago. The cities of Ohio then contained a population of 339,500, and those of Missouri, 183,867 ; while the total number of dwellers in the cities of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana, respectively, THE "WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 56 ■ did not exceed 90,000. There are now in the Western States one hundred and sixteen cities of over 7,500 inhabitants. In 1860, these cities contained an aggregate population of 1,208,561 ; in 1870, of 2,375,709; and, in 1880, of 3,544,659. This shows a growth of ninety-six per cent, the first decade, and forty-nine per cent, the second. The following condensed table shows the percentage of growth of the cities in the ten Prairie States : I860. 1870. 1880. Increase 1860 to 1880. Population. Population. Per cent. Population. Per cent. Per cent. Ohio 339,500 90,218 227,761 94,007 53,871 92,693 17,808 183,867 12,449 1,881 535,019 181,801 505,623 180,989 112,222 149,338 44,412 382,944 39,037 18,524 57 . 102 122 93 . 108 ,61 149 108 213 885 760,363 252,823 770,244 279,409 152,576 227,988 107,647 467,871 55,618 43,522 42 39 52 54 36 52 142 22 43 135 124 180 Illinois , . - 238 197 183 "Wisconsiii 146 504 Missouri., • Kansas N^phraska 154 347 2,313 From this it appears that Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Iowa show a steady and healthy increase ; but the unexampled growth of St. Paul and Minneapolis the past ten years makes the rate of increase in city population more than three times greater in Minnesota than in Ohio, and more than four times greater than in Illinois. But does this building up of cities and manufactures deplete our farms ? In 1790, about one-thirtieth of the population was in cities ; in 1810, one-twentieth ; in 1830, one- seventeenth ; in 1860, one-eighth ; in 1870, one-fifth and more ; and to-day nearly one-quarter is in cities. In England, as Professor Jevons has ably pointed out, the towns, when great manufacturing industries began to develop, "engulfed the best blood of the rural districts;" and from that time the population in the agricultural counties began to decrease. Such is not the case in the United States. The sturdy population of the rural districts of the Eastern States is gradually migrating westward ; but its place will be filled by foreign immigration. The agricultural communities of the entire West are benefited by the thriving towns which are fast spreading over the Prairie States. The United States is too extended for it to suifer as England has done from the popula- tion of the rural districts drifting into the cities. I am indebted to the Comptroller of the Currency, Hon. John 56 THE WEST m 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. Jay Knox, for the following statistics, showing the number of National banks in each of the Prairie States, and in their laige cities, the amount of capital, and the individual deposits : June 11, 1880. May 6, 1881. States akd Cities. No, of Banl£S. Capital. Individual Deposits. No. of Banks. Capital. Individual Deposits. Ohio Oincmiiati 154 6 6 92 127 9 75 4 32 3 74 30 16 5 12 10 $18,401,900 4,100,000 3,700,000 13,258,500 10,714,600 4,250,000 7,218,250 2,100,000 8,400,000 650,000 5,777,000 4,650,000 1,450,000 2,650,000 875,000 850,000 126,151,751.80 8,231,901.77 5,609,892.53 18,782,783.09 24,373,493.28 20,916,716.32 11,097,089.44 5,187,268.38 6,000,-504. 33 3,106,363.47 11,311,391.21 8,226,451.41 2,882,622.65 6,715,269.84 2,313,542.48 3,530,377.41 160 7 6 92 129 9 75 4 31 3 74 28 16 5 12 10 $18,799,000 5,10d,000 . 3,700,000 18,818,500 10,764,600 4,850,000 7,285,000 2,100,000 2,375,000 650,000 5,750,000 4,925,000 1,400,000 2,650,000 875,000 850,000 $33,440,644.16 10,464,236.22 6,663,018.30 Indiana 28,353,369.77 Illinois 30,265,765.14 Chicago 26,686,593.48 13,091,692.61 Detroit ,.. 6,414,962.36 Milwaukee 8,716,(»0.a8 14,714,420.73 Minnesota 10,115,361.04 SAjssouri 3,846,084.64 St. Louis 6,016,700.05 Kansas 2,648,217.88 3,742,746 37 655 183,039,250 $163,435,826.85 661 $84,292,100 $201,580,303.04 The following statement, compiled from the returns made to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, gives by State and principal cities the capital and deposits of the State banks, trust companies, private 'banks, and savings banks, for each of the ten Prairie States, for the six months ending May 30, 1880, with the average amount of capital invested in United States bonds : § o 1 Capital. Deposits. Invested in United States Bonds. States and Cities- By State Banks, Private Banks, and Trust Companies. By Savings Banks. Totals. Ohio .;...., 248 12 9 144 316 34 155 14 109 9 309 95 170 28 148 83 $5,704,140 1,402,241 1,045,924 4,365,434 4,092,314 4,272,495 2,346,799 1,066,041 1,.578,843 634,731 5,153,906 1,906,375 4,250,175 5,705,555 1,564,144 653,890 $20,834,648 4,392,711 13,965,571 13,172,783 17,061,788 12,584,083 7,105,952 7,544,048 5,964,028 7,788,900 13,326,191 5,000,150 15,307,816 18,688,699 4,877,150 2,019,814 $ 867,475 275,671 678,379 507,953 675,606 2,559,823 154,894 345,742 184,761 15,914 319,876 119,968 428,208 873.395 90.397 39,492 $ 86,959 2,151,270 42,061 60,000 134,2^7 $ 954,434 275,671 2,829,649 550,014 735,606 2,559,823 154,894 480,009 184,761 15,914 - 319,876 119,968 428,208 873,393 ,90,397 39,492 Indiana Chicago Michigan Detroit ■ Milwaukee Minnesota Saint Louis Western States... , $1,883 $45,743,007 $169,633,732 $8,137,554- $2,474,557 $10,612,111 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 57 The distribution of the registered bonds of the United States is an interesting financial topic. Of the total number of owners of the four, four and a half, and five per cent, registered bonds, 10,415, or about one-seventh of them, reside in the ten Prairie States. There was a time when very few of the citizens of these^ Prairie States could be classed as bondholders ; but to-day, as the following table shows, the West, besides having abundant banking capital, has a goodly share of its earnings invested in government securities : Totals. Malic. Femalb. ^■S S u .Q Pkaikie Aggregate Average B Aggregate Average Aggregate Average Ss per »?S Amount per "S Amount per $1 Heldbyboth Sexes. Capita. P Held. Capita. M Held. Capita. SWco S^ So < -!! g ifl ^+-' CO tSl =5. CO '" Co 3" 1 O > 2 ? a " Co Si So s- o _i ^ jr> 1 > a r- s ci g 2 ^ ^ g t 1 CO oo > C3 <* 00 "• r- 5 '1 :t 1S> o CO, o i" !" -*» ^ • z > o C5 3 O z 9 ^5 J it^ rf- tL 3 1 a i =0 9^ s: J^ Africa Co Co "^ ^ S' o 3 i "K-- a s^ u N (61) ^^ -J. c> o f ^ TO C6 CO to oo a Co Co Co 3 • H5 < >^ 1 1 i" 0) 1 CO 05 D 1 CO H > Co to i |5 E < 8 > g m 1 p l2. m pi SE B v: CD h^ tfl s- m i o "^ ■ d o' 05 H 33 ^ »! 00 o 5" =1. a I] ?' s © *3 O m 33 § =1- to § 2 O f 5 TO p h- fD & Co lo" ?5 HI- 2 K 5C 5 < Co 3: s 5 ho • fl) ^ S 5s g Co cs ? ^ ,_^ Co TO Co k^ Co' -D a ■N a. 4 I B CO w ^ *- cfT r*^ 1 &> N &> H ^ 3 »-5 (63) THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 63 Not long since, when examining the subject of State debts for one of the leading reviews,* I was much struck by the fluctua- tions of the State debts of the Western States since 1842. The following table presents an exhibit of these debts for the Prairie States at successive periods for forty years. The immense development of resources by immigration, by agriculture, and by manufactures, has increased the resources of these States so that, with purpose constantly maintained, they make for the most part a highly honorable showing. STATE DEBTS. = 1—^ — States. 1842. 1852. I860. 1870. 1880. Ohio '. $30,000,000 13,751,000 13,537,293 5,611,000 None. None. None. 8,043,261 $15,520,768 6,713,880 17,500,000 2,307,850 81,795 13,892 $9,733,078 4,167,507 4,890,937 3,385,338 534,498 3,253,057 350,000 17,866,000 1,593,306 347,300 $6,473 640 Indiana $10,179,367 10,377,161 3,316,328 351,983 4 998 178 Illinois 357,459 Michigan 905,149 545,435 Wisconsin 3,252,057 Minnesota 318,636 35,953,000 None. 3,535,000 Missouri 857,000 16,758,000 1,139,175 Nebraska 599 367 Totals $59,931,553>, $42,993,185 $49,395,335 $44,018,911 $36,442,360 The State debt of OhiOi which was nearly thirteen million in 1841, and upwards of $15,500,000 in 1852, has gradually decreased to $6,472,640. The State of Indiana, bowed down in 1842 with a yoke which it seemed almost impossible to remove, has gradually liquidated its debt, until now it is less than five million dollars. In reality, Indiana' s only debt is the foreign debt. The domestic debt consists of different sums which have been donated to the school fund, and amounts for which the State has become indebted to the school fund by using its moneys ; and, that this money might inure to the benefit of the school, non-negotiable bonds have been issued by the State to the school fund, which in reality is a debt she owes to herself, and should not be classed •or considered as a debt of the State. Deducting the school fund bonds from the total debt, Indiana only owes $1,093,395 to outside parties. Illinois has done even better than Indiana. Its indebtedness reached its maximum in 1852 — $17,500,000. It is now virtually out of debt ; as the current taxes on the Illinois ■Central Railroad will pay off its entire liabilities this year. * " state Debts and Kepadiation," by Robert P. Porter : International Seview, Nov., 1880. 64 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. Michigan is practically free from debt, for the reason that there is in the sinking fund more than money enough to pay all of its outstanding bonds, which amount to a trifle over nine hundred thousand dollars. Minnesota has forever disgraced herself by refusing to recognize $2,275,000 of railroad bonds issued in 1858, almost before Minnesota had become a State, There are some efforts now being made to pay this debt. The State of Kansas has issued bonds twenty-five different times, covering a period from July 1, 1863, to ;March 15, 1875. The amount of these issues now outstanding is $1,129,175, due from 1883 to 1899. TJie permanent school fund, sinking fund, State University fund, and so on, holds $713,700 of these bonds, leaving only $415, 475 held by individuals. The debt of Missouri, which is larger than that of any other Western State, was mainly incurred in aiding railroads. This does not include the contin- gent liability of the State in $3,000,000 of bonds loaned to the Hannibal & St. Joe Railroad Company. The debts of Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Colorado, are very small, and consist mainly of war and defense bonds and school fund bonds ; and, in the case of Nebraska, the bonds were to assist the grass- hopper sufferers. The total indebtedness of the Western States at present amounts to $36,565,360 ; while the assessed valuation of property is over $5,500,000,000. It is a recent thing that legislatures have arisen to the need of careful guard over the power of collecting and spending the people's money, and the importance of exacting of custodians frequent and full renderings of account to the public. The State debts of the five sections may be thus stated.: Sections. 1842. 1852. 1860. 1870. 1880. New England States S 7,158,274 73,348,072 73,3411,017 69,931,553 $ 6,868,865 79,510,786 64,499,787 48,993,185 2,159,403 8 7,398,060 86,416,045 93,046,934 49,395,326 $ 50,348,550 79,834,481 174,486,452 44,018,911 4,178,604 $ 49,979,514 45,672,575 113,967,243 36,566,360 4,547,369 Middle States Southern States Ten Prairie States .... Paciflc States Totals $813,777,916 $196,025;306 $836,856i364 $352,866,898 $250,732,081 The following table showing the increase in the assessed valua- tion of real and personal property in the same sections of the country, is instructive in this connection.' The tables of 1842 are imperfect ; but those of the last four decades may be relied on as official : THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 65 Sections. 1842. 1852. , 1860. 1870. 1880. New England States . . $ 410,68l>,000 1,141,360,000 799,900,000 223,000,000 $1,128,194,515 1,593,356,934 2,489,426,800 879,666,617 26,986,647 $1,606,468,193 2,773,302,936 4,861,970,635 2,643,663,369 158,679,682 $2,717,562,801 4,393,728,339 2,433,253,840 4,026,368,368 327,183,551 $2,499,113,899 5,316,699,187 2,326,144,381 5,532,159,699 683,946,984 Southern States Ten Pi-airle States Totals $3,574,940,000 $6,117,531,013 $12,044,083,615 $13,898,096,899 $16,258,064,100 In 1842 the Western States were in debt $59,931,553 ; the Southern States, $73,340,017 ; and the Middle States, 73,348,072. In 1852, the first reliable report of the valuation of property, the Southern States exceeded in wealth the Middle States by $896,169,366, and the Western States by $1,609,759,683. To-day the debts of the two latter sections are $45,672,575 and $36,565,360 respectively; while the South, before repudiation, owed $273,205,185, and to-day recognizes $113,967,243 debt. The valuation of property in the Middle States has increased since 1852 from $1,593, 256, 934 to $5,316,699,137; of the Western States from $879,666,617 to $5,532,159,699 ; while, in the Southern States, partly owing to the removal of slaves from the personal property column of the auditors' books — which has in no wise impoverished the States — and partly due to a general under- valuation of property, it has decreased from $4,861,970,635 in 1860, to $2,226,144,381 in 1880. It has been with great difficulty that I have succeeded in obtaining satisfactory statistics in regard to the local taxation for county, school, village, and township purposes. The table herewith presented may be considered as the most reliable one of the kind ever presented ; though it is far from being as accurate as I would wish, and will undoubtedly be subjected to some corrections before it becomes official. It will be observed that most of the Western States have no county tax for school purposes. The figures in regard to taxation of cities of over 7,500 inhabitants may be relied upon as correct. Among smaller units, the subject presents many complications that now begin to elicit careful scrutiny. The same population is sometimes taxable by a town levy, a city levy, a school district levy, and even by two school levies. The corporate units into which the people may organize, sometimes aggregate taxes that would be quickly modified if demanded for a single central treasury instead of for a number of separate funds. THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. LOCAL AND STATE TAXATION. County. State. Cities, etc., under 7,500 pop. Cities, etc., over 7,500 pop. School Districts. Totals General. School. General. School. Ohio Indiana. $7,084,059 ■ 4,683,445 4,730,094 3,533,089 3,323,016 3,870,981 1,722,033 1,351,888 3,060,878 1,337,887 $3 914,342 938,387 1,730,656 1,852,914 1,153,498 837,385 457,468 468,758 688,139 $1,535,945 1,558,.')97 1,101,363 364,698 380,410 $6,0n9,6fl9t 860,941 7,863,915* 321,713 1,030,497 740,815 660,351 396,734 249,053 94,322 $7, .590, 131 1,671,547 5,818 445 4,009,806 1,951.689 1,055,225 1,567,470 637,199 306,276 305,369 + $2,074,678 8,684,192 1,358,140 649.073 3,704,456 1,386,437 1,073,837 1,120,190 677,306 $2.1,134,148 11,746,295 24,878,465 11,240,355 Michigan. . $409,110 278,957 7,397,182 10,607,872 Wisconsin " ■ ■ 258^ 059 90^589 6,017,701 3,976,475 Kansas.... 4,519,636 iJ,395,473 Totals.. $32,396,370 $683,067 $11,386,332 $5,189,366 $18,128,010 $24,208,157 $15,628,308 $107,413,500 The local indebtedness has been obtained with almost absolute accuracy; and the following exhibit, though not official, and still open to possible correction, is extremely interesting as show- ing the heavy burden of this class of indebtedness which the Western States have to bear, and the great necessity of con- stantly watching the minor civil divisions of the country, lest, in unguarded moments, those intrusted with the management of local affairs contract debt, in the name of piablic improve- ments, far in advance of the increase and actual necessities of the population or its ability to pay : LOCAL INDEBTEDNESS. States. County. Cities, Towns, ETC., op LESS THAN 7,600 pop. Cities, etc, of mohb than 7,500 population. School Districts. Totals. Bonded. Floating Bonded. Floating Bonded. Floating. Ohio $ 2,967,870 2,886,557 13,693,758 11,849,493 910,303 3,690,467 2,080,169 747,777 7,339,666 4,417,060 $2,084,101 1,868,929 2,948,752 1,431,059 1,650.681 1,040,803 886,989 746,437 849,609 206,765 '$98,268 150,498 206,864 50,699 101,579 83,676 33,250 44,935 40,148 $40,683,526 6,958,700 18,590,680 26,146,449 6,546,045 3,091,959 3,683,651 2,991,911 1,839,813 428,535 $ 807,3831: 315 948 160,189 1,483,418 2,200 165,069 6,735 13,904 5,963 49,030§ $1,452,197 795,440 3,406,304 718,784 308,786 1,135,138 276,566 736,445 1,761.895 1,300,5.37 $17,984,976 14,111,677 39,117,774 42,110,977 8,495,011 8,516,611 7,178,870 5,363,729 13,428,048 6,953,809 Indiana Illinois Missouri .... Michigan — Iowa Wisconsin . . Minnesota . . Kansas Nebraska . . . $1,187,897 268,598 274,910 26,398 302,106 212,085 104,005 686,168 611,739 Totals ... $49,472,114 $3,573,906 $13,712,576 $749,849 $109,961,269 $3,008,737 $11,782,042 $192,260,482 The purposes for which the most of this debt has been incurred, the rates of interest it bears, and the dates of its issue and maturity, will be found in chapters on the various States. * This sum includes $1,396,181, known as Eegistered Bond Tax. t This includes school district tax. f All bonded. § From Auditor's report. . «» ^ „ 5: — i. Ca to o Ml ^ » ^ 1— * ft .. § $S 9? 2 Co ^ <:> ^ D "o S o 1 m 00 - '^ S" s o H §. m o z m (0 00 < § 5; -0 o' M 2 5' 1-1 CO H5 o o Co S" Co ■^ ft H m CO rt- » Co o a: 1— i li- "o ft Co § • Cl -s- <5i to ■D n ji S ^ ^' 2 «^ »B s'a S" 2 D s- CO "^ ? % -1 N 8» 8 hi s s s ^ o (67) K Ci 1 OS ^ a 2 or a: to i 00 s a" Co C7t S" 5' 5' ■ 5: II 1 1 3 Ct. ^ =1. Co g >i C5 05 ;;^ C5 "-^ <^ =3 Si o> o Cti <« «Q w ■u S" o 3 c CO ^^ o ^ II r>i S 1 o ?^ a t: m B CD c« 1 o 5^ CO 1 1 ^ o ■-« O Ci O Co 3 1— » 5' g 0^ Or » H y 10( Sweden & Norway O ^ 1 - ■ 5^ ■»-*■ Co M "h-i ~^ "cs «> lO C3 Co >; Zif t 1; 1 §• =3' a o O , ^ 1 .V. O rtugal a Denmar It-- o • 3* -+. ar o. £i OS o ^ O ??■ w >-i _ ^11 (68) THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 69 A glance at the following will show the distribution of city indebtedness in the five geographical sections of the country : States. Bonded Debt. Floating Debt. Gross Debt. Stnlslng Fund. Net Debt. New Ent'land States $113,931,573 386,861,355 64,083,648 109,961,369 7,259,615 $ 6,528,164 13,156,181 6,501,589 3,008,727 244,803 $120,459,737 399,017,536 70,584,337 112,969,996 7,504,418 $21,278,514 81,318,202 5,671,806 7,091,269 1,831,715 $ 99,181,223 317,699,834 64,912,431 105,878,727 5,672,703 Southern States Prairie States Pacific States and Utali Totals 8682,096,460 $38,439,464 $710,1535,924 $117,191,506 $593,344,418 Taking the net debt column, after having carefully deducted the sinking fund, I find, that, of the $593,000,000 of net debt of cities, $105, 000, 000, or about eighteen per cent, of it, , is located in the ten Western States. Briefly to summarize the relative condition, I find that the New England States, with a population of little over four millions, and an assessed valuation of two billions and a half, have a net local debt of upwards of ninety- nine millions of dollars ; that' the Middle States, with a population of about eleven millions and a half, and a valuation of five billion three hundred and sixteen million dollars, have a net municipal debt of upwards of three hundred and seventeen million dollars ; the Southern States, with a popiilation •of fifteen and a quarter millions, and a valuation of two billions two hundred and twenty-six million dollars, have a net municipal debt of nearly sixty -five million dollars ; the Prairie States, with a population of about seventeen million two hundred and thirty thousand, and an assessed valuation of over five billions and a half, have a net debt of a little over one hundred and five millions of dollars. The city debts of the Pacific States and Territories, are, as yet, very small ; and it is to be hoped that they will never be materially increased. The total amount of the public debt .of the United States other than the National debt (without deducting the sinking fund) is $1,187,536,598. Of this amount, $250,722,081, or over twenty-one per cent., is State debt ; $125,601,258, or ten and a half per cent., county debt ; $27, 423, 084, or abou,ttwoand three-tenths percent., township debt ; $18,844,415, or about one and six- tenths per cent., school district debt ; $710,535,924, or about sixty per cent., large- oity debt; and$55,009,836,orfourandsix tenths per cent., small- €ity and village debt. During the last ten years the aggregate THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIEIE STATES. tMs debt has increased about tMrty-seven per cent.: State 3ts have, however, decreased thirty-seven per cent., and mty debts nearly nine per cent. The municipal debt of the intry has increased over 133 per cent, in this period. The 'centage of State, county, municipal debt, and of wealth cording to assessor' s returns), for each section of the country, jiven below : States. Per Cent, of ■ State Debt. Per Cent, of County Debt. Per Cent, of City Debt. Per Cent, of Wealth. V England 19.93 18.31 45.45 14.58 1.83 3.25 34.70 19.36 43.69 . 11.10 16.71 53.54 10.95 - 17.84 .96 15.37 die 33.70 13.63 34.03 ific . 4.38 Totals 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 This is a very favorable showing for the Prairie States. With rty-four per ceint. of the total wealth of the country, they 7e only fourteen and a half per cent, of the State debt, and 3 than eighteen per cent, of the municipal debt. The county ' 3t of the entire country is only about $125,000,000 ; and of s the Prairie States have nearly forty-three per cent. )n the 20th of May, 1785, Congress, legislating for the ^ernment of the public domain, made this provision for ication : ' ' There shall be reserved the Lot No. 16 of every mship for the maintenance of public schools." In the md Ordinance of 1787, occurs this declaration : ' ' Religion, rality, and knowledge being necessary to good government i the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of educa- n shall be forever encouraged." This was the key-note to the ;ard for education and for morality in the development of the V States. In 1787, two townships of- land were set apart or the purpose of a university" in each new State. In iordance with these provisions, every State admitted since )0 has had at least two townships for higher education. Ohio i three ; one while a Territory, and two as a State. Wiscon^ reserved four. In 1886, the $28, 000, 000 surpl us in the United ites Treasury was loaned to the existing States, forming in ny of them a permanent educational fund. In 1841, Congress Luted half a million acres of land for internal improvements THE WEST IN 1880— THE PRAIRIE STATES. 71 to each of certain States,* of which some used theirs wholly I'or school funds ; and in some other States some portion of the grant swelled the school fund. Since 1848, two sections in every township, the sixteenth and the thirty-sixth, have been given to each incoming State and Territory for schools. In laws of 1849, 1850, 1860, the "Swamp lands" in certainf States were given to them, and a percentage of their value was devoted to education. Some provisions, meantime, gave a por- tion of the avails of the general sales of the land to certain States. In 1862, Congress granted lands to each State in proportion to its representation (30,000 acres for each senator and representa- tive), to establish colleges for the encouragement, among other things, of industrial and mechanical instruction. These are what are now known as the " land grant," or "State agricultural colleges." In the West these successive acts, evincing the national appreciation of education and religion, have been heartily responded to by the States themselves. The pioneers whose camp fires, from Massachusetts' Harbor westward, have marked the advance line in the conquests of industry, have been for the most part God-fearing men, who, opposed to th6 supremacy of the church, still recognized it as a necessary factor in the upbuilding of a successful common- wealth, and provided generously for its growth and conservation. Thus it has happened, that, upon the borders of unconquered wilds, amid the rude surroundings of pioneer life, among the first communal acts of a new settlement, as a rul^, prior even to its civil organization, steps were taken for the establishment of public worship. Often, as in the early history of the New Eng- land towns, the minister discharged the additional function of the teacher, and instructed those who were permitted to pursue their studies beyond the rudimentary knowledge imparted by the brave women who found opportunity, in the midst of their many cares, to teach their children how to read and write, how to think, and how to live. In any new community the national idea included the school as a matter of course ; and the first rude public building served both for church and school house. * Mfteen —Alabama, Arkansas, Caliromia, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Klnnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, and Wisconsin— have received land under provisions of the act of 1841. California, Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, Oregon, and Wisconsin appropriated this grant to educational purposes. t Foortecn- Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mich- igan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oregon, and Wisconsin. 4 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. The spirit which inspired these provisions for the moral and e intellectual training of the young, was but the projection of at which was already filling the Eastern States with intelligence d thrift. As of the Atlantic States, so of the West, it may be id, that, whatever the prosperity due to other causes, a large jasure of it is due to the church and the school as the nur- ries of a true and brave manhood and womanhood. As the original territory of the Northwest, through various msitions, developed into prosperous States with well-ordered dl divisions, in each of them provisions, more or less iple, were made for public instruction. A patent moral [iuence emanates from the pulpit and the Sunday-school, 'ten failing in the West, as elsewhere, as has been justly id, " to exalt the pure ideal of the Gospel above the tempo- ;ing expediencies of gain," the church, through its various encies, still sways a grand power among the educational ctors of the day. The homes of our country are its great hope. In the conserva- )n of the home as a centre of moral influence, lies the safety the state. The public life of the West, which is but the rger side of its home life, notwithstanding the comparatively cent transition from the rude conditions characteristic of new mmunities, is as exalted and pure as in the States of the East. In the organization of their public school systems, the newer ates, profiting by the experience of the older, have been able, .th almost phenomenal quickness, to place the work of public struction upon a footing only secured at the East after long lars of experiment and laborious effort. With few exceptions, nowhere in the country are provisions [• the education of youth of all classes in all respects so mplete and satisfactory. A comparison of school laws shows remarkable degree of uniformity in the ends sought, and in the ovision for their attainment, and a like degree of uniformity observable as to results. The average expenditure for each habitant of the leading States of the West, as shown by the companying tables, is almost double the expenditure per habitant in the Middle States, and nearly five times that of the uthern States ; while the proportion of children in attendance higher than in any other part of the Union. The percentage of public school attendance to population in ffierent parts of the Union is as follows : THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 73 States. Per Cent of Population. Cost per Capita of Populat'n. States and Tbbkitorieb. , Per Cent of Population. Cost per Capita of Populat'n. New England Middle 19.22 20.30 13.61 $2.28 1.04 .46 Western ■. . . 22. 6e 14.81 $3.05 2.32 Pacific Southern The public spirit which shows itself in the progress made in public school instruction, is also seen in the attention which has been paid to private schools and colleges, established and maintained by individual and denominational effort. The accompanying table, which is compiled from the Census reports of 1850, 1860, and 1870, from the reports of the Commissioner of Education, and the reports of State officers of Public Instruction, presents a retrospective view of the progress of popular education in the States named : States. Census Tears. Whole No. of Schools. No. of Acade- mies. No. of Col- leges. No. of Prof. Schools. Total Cost of Schools. . Average Wages per Month of P. S. Teachers. Ohio \ 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1860 1870 1880 1860 1870 1880 11,952 16,856 4,964 6,841 9,073 13,766 4,141 8,718 11,835 20,627 2,754 4,101 5,595 6,600 1,483 3,927 5,243 6,589 1 912 2,479 3,707 775 3,916 7,496 11,867 1,783 4,396 6,750 11,019 154 1,689 7,820 87 796 3,902 136 267 26 39 22 27 $6,614,816.59 7,711,325.24 42 25 41.60 69 116 365 7 12 16 4 8 2,499,611.00 4,491,850.00 r 47.80 45.60 211 432 575 8 22 30 13 20 5,970,009.00 6,531,941.79 • 206,763.00 816,666.00 2,759,096.94 3,789,197.97 35.75 36.10 24 93 264 6 8 10 Michigan ■ 3 6 35.15 35,60 Wisconsin ■ f 62 110 3 7 4 8 2,050,310.00 2,605,626.00 140.00 116,602.00 1,011,769.00 1,328,428.90 38.50 60.70 4i 13 42 L 4 6 27.50 2 32,70 17 34 110 14 24 145 321 29 36 48 9 12 21 2 8 9 17 2 5 8 Iowa ■ 6 8 3,076,802.00 5,980,096.00 36.80 29,70 Missouri ■ 10 18 2,340,805.00 3,112,178 00 50,792.00 787,226.00 1,818,336 00 33.75 36.40 32.26 2 28.78 2 26 1 2 279,308,00 1,808,967.00 47.55 30 65 74 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. The school population of the ten Prairie States was : Ohio, 1,043,320; Wisconsin, 483,453; Indiana, 708,101; Minnesota, 271,428 in 1878 ; Illinois, 1,000,694 ; Missouri, 702, 152 ; Michigan, 486,993; Kansas, 312,231; Iowa, 577, 353 ; Nebraska, 122,411; total, 6,708,136, as against 14,962,336 for the whole United States. Scarcely second in point of time, among the educational influences which have contributed to make the fortunes of the West, is the newspaper. Accommodating itself quickly to the • conditions of new communities, the printing press established itself in embryo towns, whose houses were yet without founda- tions. Thus upon the lines of commerce, along which the food products of the West are borne eastward, and in the midst of the mines yielding gold and silver and the baser metals, not only in answer to a commercial necessity, but in response to the demands of an intelligent people eager for knowledge, newspapers at once became among the most important and far reaching of educational influences. As indicated by the follow- ing tables, compiled expressly for this volume by the eminent statistician Mr. S. N. D. North, of New York, more than one- third of the established dailies, and about one-fqurth of the aggregate circulation of the daily press of the United States, are in the nine great States of the West. The taWe shows the number, average subscription price, and aggregate circulation : ' States. Ohio Indiana Illinois Micliigan Wisconsin Iowa Kansas Missouri Nebraska Totals Totals for country- No. 54 40 73 33 31 33 19 43 14 No. German. 10 4 9 2 3 3 1 7 Averau:e SuT)8crip- tion Price. $7-00 6.70 6.36 5.73 8.53 8.88 7.10 7.82 8.10 Aggregate Circulation. 307,234 71,143 368,333 63,949 34,300 34,860 33,051 141,700 14,148 Annual Aggregate Circniation. 65,890,389 31,404,510 84,484,768 30,417,283 9,611,350 11,134,935 7,029,413 37,791,460 4,659,780 328 963 39 81 6.57 858,718 263,423,786 7 33 3,581,187 1,137,337,355 The following tables show the number of letters mailed in each State and Territory in 1880, its rank in this regard ; and the average number of letters mailed for each inhabitant : THE WEST IN 1880— THE PEAJRIE STATES. 75 Westbbn States akd Tbrbitorieb. States akd Tebbitorisb. Eank. No. of Letters Mailed 1880. Average per Inhabitant. Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Dakota Idaho Illinois Indiana Indian Territory , Iowa Kansas Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Mexico Ohio Oregon Utah Washington Territory. Wisconsin Wyoming 44 34 13 25 36 47 4 9 48 8 15 7 17 6 43 36 41 43 5 37 39 45 11 46 1,278,420 6,419,296 32,568;268 10,749,034 4,023,708 835,812 68,643,338 25,574,536 465,453 38,984,593 18,380,908 33,928,896 16,742,440 39,703,308 1,576,324 10,291,330 1,963,884 1,584,700 61,464,053 3,636,880 3,796,040 1,141,453 33,765,913 880,568 31.61 7.99 36.09 55.33 29.76 35,33 32.39 12.97 6.05 17.84 18.45, 20.13 21.44 18.30 40.35 33.74 81.54 13.38 19.31 20.80 19.43 15.19 17.30 43.3.5 Eastern States . Maine 23 29 33 32 3 10 13,315,696 7,698,548 7,058,688 7,174,960 69,010,604 33,563,268 20.36 New Hampsliire . 33.18 Vermont 21.24 Rliode Island , 25.91 Massachusetts 38.70 S8.20 Middle States. New York. 1 3 13 40 211,435,640 105,337,340 20,783,048 3,384,928 41.58 Pennsvlvania . . . . , . « . . . 34.57 New Jersey. - 18,37 Delaware . . 16.26 Southern States. 18 16 35 38 81 30 38 27 30 33 14 34 16,475,732 16,874,104 4,912,493 8,137,012 7,205,376 14,607,316 3,071,376 8,891,376 7,365,544 13,783,184 18,733,016 11,363,784 17.62 11.15 "West Virffinia 7.94 5.81 ftonth. Carolina 7.33 Oeoreria 9.49 Florida 11.48 7,04 MississircDi 6.43 Louisiana . .* 14.66 Texas 11.75 7.30 19 49 15,154,630 6,812 85.31 .32 .- 76 THE WEST m 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. It is not surprising, that, in regions so distinguished by the evidences of energy, intelligence, and prosperity, the fore- going statistics should show, that, in the use of the mails— a fair gauge by which to estimate the difference of intelligence among the masses — the Western States should compare more than favorably with those of the Bast and South. The following statistics of important public libraries, are from a compilation made by Mr. A. R. Spofford, the courteous librarian of the Congressional Library : States. No. of Libraries. No. of Vols. Contained Therein. States. No. of Libraries. No. of Vols. Contained Therein. Ohio 223 133 177 89 73 39 79 614,279 240,769 466,378 211,815 184,714 72,830 130,260 87 14 19 262, 35^ Nebraska 36, 760 40,864 Michigan Wisconsia Totals 933 2,351,021: Iowa The American who leaves the East for the West will find its religious and its educational advantages but the natural growth of the seed grown on the Atlantic shores ; and the emigrant whO' comes from highly organized Grermany, Sweden, or the later awakened Britain, will find Western laws empowering him to reproduce all that he desires of the educational systems he prized ; while the broadest religious toleration leaves all to combine their efforts as they will without the burdens and the penalties that rest on dissenters beyond the Atlantic. Looking back forty years, we find the then existing Prairie- States containing a meagre population, mostly dwellers in log- houses, without any large centres of commercial activity, without their vast net-work of railroads, without their canals and the' present sound banking system, vainly struggling to- infuse life into banks that had little but paper for assets, to build railroads without the money to pay the tariff on the iron, to dig canals without being able to hire the laborers, and to construct other internal improvements, without credit to borrow the first installment necessary to start the work. At this time, for example, Illinois was struggling with projects which, including State banks, involved capital of over twenty-three and a half million dollars ; and yet there were then but seventy thousand log cabin farmers in- the State, and these loans equaled THE WEST IN. 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. 77 about three hundred dollars for each, family. Indiana had started vast schemes for railroads and canals, and commenced operations, on the whole, simultaneously. The result was, that vast sums of money were expended before any work was complete, and the State for years verged on bankruptcy. Michigan had the misfortune to enter the Union in times of great speculative excitement. This extraordinary fever had culmi- nated in a bank mania in Michigan; and, though the popu- lation of that State was Ibut 31,369 in 1881, in 1833 it had twenty banks, and at the close of 1887, forty banks, with aggregate loans of nearly four million dollars. A reckless spirit of speculation universally prevailed throughout these States. All seamed to be deluded by deceitful visions of imaginary wealth. Industry and economy were disregarded, and recourse was had to extensive credits, and the pernicious system of borrowing. No sooner was Michigan admitted to the Union than the legislature appointed a Board of Commissioners of Internal Improvements, and authorized, March 1, 1837, the survey and construction of 557 mUes of railroads, 231 miles of canals, and the improvement of 321 miles of river navigation. A loan of five million dollars was authorized for these objects. Fortunately for Wisconsin, the constitution of the State forbade the creation of a State .debt to an amount greater than $100,000. But even the constitutional authority was evaded, and the legislature, by a series of acts, conferred upon counties, towns, cities, and villages, the power of contracting debts. In the early history of the State these powers had been used to a considerable extent, and in 1858 over eleven and a half millions of dollars had gone in this way. The State of Missouri had embarked in the perilous course of lending her credit to corporate companies, but was not seriously embarrassed during this period. Ohio had carried on an extensive system of improvements ; but, partly owing to her early settlement, and partly owing to the fact that in the year 1825 she established a co-ordinate and co-extensive system of taxation, she suflfered less than some other States ; and, while the abandonment of some of the works was seriously talked of in 1841 and 1842, the State managed to meef her obligations without any serious embarrass- ment. Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Minnesota were States that came into existence at a later day and under different environments, and with the lessons of the danger in pushing 78 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PRAIRIE STATES. public improvements of all kinds far in advance of population, as shown in the case of their sister States, by which to profit. Turn from this picture to the one presented by the array of facts and figures in this chapter, or to the more detailed sketches that will follow, and study the Prairie States of to-day, with their State debts mainly paid, their broad acres bringing forth abundant harvests, their workshops competing with the Eastern States, their net-work of railroads, arid their great cities and vast commercial relations with the civilized world. The growth of these States should be studied, in all their lights and shades, in the characters of the old pioneers — Who crossed the prairies, as of old Their fathers crossed the sea, To make the West, as they the East, The homestead of the free; in their early constitutions and institutions ; by the success and the failure of their enterprises, as they cut through the forests and plowed the vast prairies, built railroads or dug canals, inaugurated commercial ventures or opened up mines of precious metal. The long lines of moving wagons, and the dangers that beset the early immigrants, should not be passed over in the rush of frequent trains traversing these regions at lightning speed ; for here we have a lesson of the endurance and courage necessary to open up a wilderness and make it blossom with a harvest. The hardships of log-cabin days and of dangerous encampments, are now giving way to the comfort of homes, and the luxuries that the railroad brings to the door. As years pass, the shades of this early life will disappear with the bright- ness of handsomely built cities, while the gloomy financial embarrassments that rested on the struggling communities of 1840 will be traceable in the history of some of our most valuable public works. A more perfect study of these phases of early life in the Prairie States will incline us to look charitably, not only upon the defects of the generation now silently stealing into the gloom of the grave, but upon the inheritors of their toil, who, as years pass, will tone the predominant idea of material progress, and give more attention to the still higher aims of life, and be better prepared for the new condition of civilization that awaits them. THE WEST m 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. 79 CHAPTER n. . THE TEEEITOEIES. In the previous chapter I have briefly described the entire area of country I propose to discuss in this volume ; and hence it will not be necessary to retrace our footsteps, the chapter on 6ach State and Territory amply supplying all details. The area of the ten Western States has been shown to be 616,755 square miles, or 394,723,200 acres ; the area of the Territories comprising Arizona, Dakota, Idaho, Indian Territory, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the unorganized territory aggregates 938,050 square miles, or 600,352,000 acres, or very nearly one-third of the entire country, as the following table shows : Tbbbitobibs.- Area, square miles. Area, acres. Arizona Dakota Idaho Indian Territory Montana New Mexico Utali '. Washington Wyoming Unorganized territory . Totals Totals for United States 113,020 149,100 84,800 64,690 146,080 133,580 84,970 . 69,180 97,890 5,740 73,333,800 95,424,000 54,373,000 41,401,600 93,491,200 78,451,300 54,380,800 44,375,300 62,649,600 3,678,600 938,050 600,352,000 3,035,600 1,936,384,000 The Indian Territory and unorganized territory are only included in the Territories proper for the purpose of showing the area of the different geographical sections of the United States, and do not form a part of the territory included in the West as defined for our present purpose. The population of 80 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. this region is indeed meagre, and, as will be seen by the following- population table, does not reach the density of one to the square mile : POPULATION. Territories. 1880. 1870. 1860. 1850. Arizona .... Dakota Idaho Montana . . . New Mexico Utah •Washington Wyoming . . Totals. . 40,441 135,180 32,611 89,157 118,430 143,906 75,130 20,788 9,658 14,181 14,999 20,595 91,874 86,786 23,955 •9,118 4,837 93,516 40,273 11,594 61,547 11,380' 605,633 271,166 150,220 72,927 The Census of 1880 shows, as might be expected from the character of the country, that the male is largely in excess of the female population, but few women having as yet ventured into these wild and uncultivated regions : MALES IN EXCESS. Territories. Per cent of excess. Tebbitories. Per cent, of excess. Arizona 130 55 ■ 102 158 New Mexico 16 5 Dakota Utah 7.2 57 5 Montana W vominff ' 113 A large proportion of the population is made up of adven- turous foreigners from all quarters of the globe, as the table of foreign and native born indicates : Territories. Per cent, of foreign pop. Tebeitobies. P6r cent, of foreign pop. G5 62 44 41 9 Dakota Utah 43 Idaho 26 WyoTning » 39 The people are mostly interested in mining and stock raising ;. though cereal crops will undoubtedly, in the course of time,, assume vast proportions in Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, and Washington. As yet, however, but a small proportion of the land cultivated in cereals can be assigned to THE "WEST IN 1880 — THE TERRITOBIES. 81 this section of tlie United States. The following are the present areas cultivated in cereals : ACRES IN CEREALS. Tbrritokies. Com. Wheat; Date. Barley. Rye. Buekwheat Arizona 1,818 90,852 569 197 41,449 13,007 3,117 9,026 365,398 33,066 17,665 51,230 72,542 81,554 341 39 78,336 13,197 34,691 9,237 19,525 37,963 833 13,404' 16,156 8,391 1,323 3,548 11,368 14,680 Dakota ..... Idaho .". 3,385 354 15 17 1,153 518 6 331 Montana New Mexico . 34 Utah Washington . WvominsT . . . 106 Totals 149,009 519,623 193,689 66,670 4,448 461 Totals U.S. 63,368,869 35,430,053 16,144,598 1,997,717 1,843,308 848,389' The production of cereal crops and the progress made may best be realized by the following table, showing the total cereal production of each Territory for the past three decades, and the percentage of increase or decrease : Total Cebeal Pkoduct, in Bushels. Tebbitobibs. 1860. 1870. Per cent, of increase. 1880. Per cent, of increase. 24,569 432,426 418,756 100 255,591 770,287 1,065,233 114,195 554,549 1,619.34 7,352,589 1,417,089 27,264 1,398,324 1,977,368 1,547,247 410,788 4,108,370 1,640.56 238.40 Montana 37,364.00 407.93 Idaho Utah 549,383 1,158,264 40.29 *8.73 156 70 45.35 358.85 330,737 140.33 641 03 Totals 1,963,953 3,601,137 83.46 18,189,039 403.70 It appears, therefore, that the cereal crops of these Territories have grown from less than 2,000,000 bushels in 1860 to over 18,000,000 bushels in 1880, an increase of over ninefold in twenty years ; of which by far the largest aggregates were in Dakota and Washington — ^which from producing less than one- fourth of the total cereal crops of the Territories in 1870, advanced to the production of nearly two-thirds of the whole in 1880. In wheat and corn the following progress has been made : * Decrease. 82 THE WEST m 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. Wheat. Tbkeitobiks. 1860. 1870. Per cent, of increase. 1880. Per cent, of increase. Dakota 945 170,663 181,184 17,959.47 2,830,289 469,688 4,674 540,589 1,169,199 706,641 136,427 1,921,323 1,558.38 159.33 jdaho 75,650 558,473 352,833 27,052 217,043 614.55 Utah 384,893 434,309 45.10 *18.76 109.84 100.28 404.31 86,319 151.73 785.23 Totals 906,365 1,582,886 74.63 7,778,839 384.84 Corn. Territokies. 1860. 1870. Per cent, of increase. 1880. Per cent, of increase. Dakota 30,369 133,140 330 556.87 3,000,864 5,649 1,402.08 Montana 1,665.31 Idaho 5,750 95,557 640,833 33,041 31,781 16,408 163,342 633,786 34,746 39,183 185.37 Utah 90,483 709,304 5.60 *9.65 70.91 New Mexico *1.09 Arizona 8.44 4,712 362.34 79.89 • Totals 824,767 939,413 13.68 3,893,978 211 37 These statistics show that, since 1860, the aggregate wheat production of the Territories has increased from less than a million bushels to nearly eight million bushels. The following is a rough estimate of the cattle, sheep, and swine of this region :t Teeeitokibs. Cattle. Sheep. Swine. Dakota 200,000 489,500 575,000 309,000 175,000 400,000 145,000 305,745 50,000 513,600 350,000 62,900 495,000 5,000,000 1,326,000 340,095 75,000 39,000 4,000 16,300 40,000 10 000 Montana Wyoming Idaho Utah New Mexico Arizona 9,700 48,074 Totals 3,399,345 8,136,595 333,074 * Decrease. ' + For the live stock statistics of the Census Burean, which were not obtainable until after this volume had been eleotrotyped and the first chapter had gone to press, see the Appendix. THE WEST IN 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. 83 The advantages and the disadvantages of the various sections of the above Territory in respect to cattle and sheep raising are all set forth in subsequent chapters, and need no recapitula- tion. The amount of precious metals produced in the Territo- ries, according to Wells, Fargo & Co., for 1880, was as follows: Termtobies. Gold diiBt and bullion, by express. Gold dust and bullion, by oth- er conveyances. Silver bullion by express. Ores and base bullion, by freight. Totals. 13,749,081 1,115,787 1,175,115 95,958 37,800 159,970 68,911 $374,000 55,789 235,023 10,336 $4,12&,081 3,822,379 1,894,747 6,450,953 711,300 4,472,471 105,164 $ 919,189 332,755 3,076,775 684,000 3,830,449 1,753 $1,731,614 151,854 3,267,884 Idaho Utah New Mexico . . ; . . 80,000 34,500 1,402,052 Washington ' Totals $6,393,132 $789,648 $7,844,931 $6,553,404 $21,580,095 Thus upward of $-21,000,000 of precious metals are annually produced in these Territories, nearly twenty-five per cent, of the entire product of the United States. Mining laws in the country yvest of Missouri are based upon the theory that all mineral depos- its except coal are in form of the ideal fissure vein, i. e., a body of ore having a certain definite thickness, dipping at a steep angle, and holding its course downward. Upon this assump- tion, the discoverer is entitled, by the present laws, to a certain distance upon the vein, say 1,500 feet, with a width of 150 to 300 feet on each side of the outcrop. The owner is at liberty to follow the deposit underground wherever it may lead, outside of his side lines. Were all mineral deposits of this type, the law might, in most cases, be a good one. But the ideal fissure vein exists only in imagination. > Mineral deposits 'occur in all sorts of forms — beds, contact veins, masses of miscellaneous shapes, segregations, "blow-outs," in short, everything but "true fissure veins;" and the law does not cover them. In many cases the line of outcrop can not be determined, and side and end lines have to be placed at random. It can be easily seen that such a law aff"ords infinite opportunity for litigation ; so that it is a common saying that a mining title is merely a title to a law suit, with a possibility of a mine thrown in. Verily, possession here is nine points, and a sljot-gun title holds better than anything else. The whole trouble arises in ap attempt to convey the mineral deposit separate from the land, a plan which 84 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. seems scarcely feasible. It would appear to be mucli better and simpler to convey simply the land, with, whatever mineral may be within its limits. As railroads are pushed into this region, and the facilities for the transportation of crops, cattle, and the products of the mines, improve, it may be safe to predict a still more rapid progress. At present the Territories have the following railroad mileage : Territories. Dakota. . . Montana. . Wyoming. Idaho .... Utah Miles of railroad 1,265 48 473 230 770 Tereitoeies. New Mexico. Arizona Washington . Total. Miles of railroad in 1880. 384 274 4,076 It is well known, that, in that part of our country which may be roughly defined as lying west of the 100th meridian, which includes nearly all of the Territories, irrigation is almost universally necessary to secure success in agriculture, owing to the slight rainfall and the dry atmosphere. Over much of this region, the air is so dry that there is little or no dew, although the temperature often falls forty, fifty, or more degrees, between midday and midnight. The annual rainfall ranges from twenty -five down to four inches. It is greatest on the eastern border of this region, and thence decreases westward and southward, reaching its minimum in Southwestern Arizona and Southern California. Prom this arid region must be excepted that lying west of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range, in California, and Western Oregon and Washington. Here peculiar climatic influences are at work, which, with their results, will be noticed farther on. Other exceptions from the general aridity must be made, in the case of small valleys, etc., in the immediate neighborhood of high mountains. These are, in many cases, well watered, owing to their proximity to the mountains ; but they are small and of little importance in a general discussion of the subject. The eastern limit of this region consists of a broad belt of debatable land, whiph in one season may be tolerably well watered, and is susceptible of cultivation without irrigation, while in the next season everything not artificially watered may ■be dried up. This is Powell' s sub-humid region. THE WEST IN 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. . gg This belt, having a breadth of several degrees of longitude, occupies the coteaus of Dakota, mainly east of the middle line of that Territory, the middle portion of Nebraska, lies somewhat west of the middle of Kansas, occupies the western part of Indian Territory, and the central portion of Texas, comprising the lower course of the Rio Grande, even to its mouth. Here is an area of 1,400,000 square miles, or nearly one-half the area of the United States, (exclusive of Alaska), where one of the most important industries, agriculture, is entirely dependent upon irrigation. Without water, the land is of value only to the cattle raiser : with it, it becomes as valuable as the rich prairies of the Mississippi valley. The subject of irrigation, then, is one of the utmost importance, not only to the States and Territories of this section, but to the country at large, as the productiveness of nearly one-half of the country depends upon it. Throughout most of this region the quantity of arable land is dependent upon the amount of water at hand. Of the great extent of the plains, covering hundreds of thousands of square jnUes, stj-etchiug from the Missouri to the base of the Rocky Mountains, and the Saskatchewan to the Mexican border, there is sufficient water to irrigate barely a tithe. Of the great mountain valleys of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, but a comparatively small portion can ever be brought under the dominion of the farmer, from want of water. Of the great desert expanses of Western Utah, Nevada, Arizona, iSouthern and Eastern California, but very little can ever be redeemed, for the same reason. There are few streams in the whole West which can not be used up to the full amount of their annual discharge, and yet there will be vast areas of the richest land doomed to remain forever a desert, unless a change of climate should affiard the needed relief. It becomes a question, not of land, but of water. The values of the two are reversed. The water here becomes the valuable commodity ; as without it, the land can not be given away — at least, so long as our paternal government continues to furnish pasturage for nothing. The utmost economy in the use of this precious commodity becomes, then, the great desideratum. A " cubic foot of water" saved means the redemption of 200 acres of the best of land from the desert. It means an additional production of 4,000 to 6,000 bushels of wheat, having a cash gg THE WEST IN 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. value of $3,000 to $5,000. It is, however, a fact, strange as it may seem, that, throughout the arid region, excepting Southern California, the most wasteful system, or want of system, prevails. In Colorado, there is used four or five times as much water as is needed. In Utah, at least twice as much ; while, in the Great 7alley of California, irrigators are fully as wasteful of the precious fluid as in Colorado. Throughout the West, water is generally measured by what is known as the "miner's inch ;" i. e., the quantity which will flow through an aperture one square inch in area, under a given press- ure, or head. As commonly measured, about forty miner' s inches are approximately equal to a flowage of one cubic foot per second. The latter mode of measurement is a much more definite and satisfactory one, and is gradually being adopted. The "duty" of water is the area of land which a certain quantity — one cubic foot per second, for example — will suffice to water. Were all land uniform in slope, all soils the same iu respect to porosity, did all crops require the same amount of moisture, and were the atmosphere everywhere of the same degree of aridity, then the duty of watej? would .everywhere be the same. But these conditions vary through a very wide range in different parts of the country, and with different crops ; and no rule can be laid down except for the great average of crops, soils, etc. Clay lands require less than sandy soils, for very obvious reasons. Level land takes more than rolling or sloping land, as the water remains on the surface, and sinks into the soil, instead of flowing off. Crops which are sown broadcast require more water than those planted in drills or rows, as they require to be irrigated by tfooding, which is usually a more wasteful method than that by ditches and lateral seepage, which is usually practiced in the latter case. Early sown crops require less water than those planted late, as they get the benefit of the spring rains and the moisture from the snows of winter. Less water is required when irrigation is performed late in the day or in the evening, than if done in the morning, owing to the excessive evaporation. Of the principal crops cultivated in this region, oats require the most water, and corn the least. It has been found, that land, after having beeh thoroughly watered for a series of years, requires much less, and even none at all, in some cases. The explanation probably is that the subsoil becomes thoroughly THE WEST m 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. 87 soaked, and yields its moisture, by capillary attraction, to the surface soil. If this be the case, the amelioration is but temporary. Many authorities have written upon the question of the average duty of water ; and the experience of all countries in which irrigation is practiced, has been compared. The almost unanimous result which has been reached is, that, with the great average of soils, climates, and crops, the duty of water — i.e., the amount of land which can be watered by one cubic foot per second, flowing constantly throughout the season — should reach at least 200 acres. This conclusion was reached by the Hon. Gr. P. Marsh , in his well-known and able work, ' ' Man and Nature ;' ^ by the commissioners on irrigation in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Yalley ;* and by the State Surveyor of California, W. H. Hall, in his report upon irrigation. f This is a much greater duty than is attained anywhere in this country, with the exception of Southern Oalifol-nia. There,; water is very scarce, and the utmost economy in its use has,, perforce, to be practiced. Irrigation has been carried on for centuries ; and necessity, combined with long experience, has taught the inhabitants methods of economy. The duty is carried higher in this most arid region than in any other part of the earth! In some cases, it is made to go as high as 600, 800, or even 1,000 acres per second-foot. This but illustrates what can be done when the necessity arises. In Colorado, the common practice is to allow an inch of water to an acre, i. e. , a duty of forty acres per second-foot. In Utah^ the duty is higher, but nowhere does it reach 100 acres. In other parts of the West, the practice is as lavish as in Colorado. At this rate, agriculture will soon have reached its maximum development in the arid region, as the water will be entirely in use, and that to very poor advantage, watering one-fourth, or perhaps not more than one-fifth, of what it should serve. The productive power of this region will be very much restricted. Even now, the water of the South Platte is nearly all abstracted for irrigation, while several of its branches are used up entirely. Several of those of Utah and Nevada are used in toto. Heavy inroads have been made, too, upon many other of the Western streams, without a proportional redemption of land. * House Ex. doc, No. 390. Foi-ty-third Cong., First Session. + Eeport of the State Engineer: Sacramento. 1880. 88 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. Aside from the bare fact, tliat crops will not grow without irrigation, there are certain advantages incident to the artificial application of water to the soil — advantages which commend themselves to farmers in more humid regions. The cultivator is entirely independent of the weather : droughts have no terrors for him. Again, the waters of irrigation come from the mountains charged with fertilizing material, which by evapora- tion they leave in the fields. Irrigated land thus needs no manure, and never wears out, the waste from the growth of crops being amply returned to the soil from the water of irrigation. There are several methods in use of applying water to land, which are more or less applicable to diverse circumstances and different crops. Among them is that known as flooding, where a thin sheet of water is allowed to flow from the side ditches, completely covering the land. This method is varied in a num- ber of ways : first, by flowing a thin sheet continuously, for a long time, allowing the water to run off" as rapidly as it comes on ; second, by flowing a deep sheet of water for a shorter time ; and, third, by covering the surface with a standing flood, and allowing it to remain until it sinks into the ground. These diflPerent methods are often combined with one another, espe- cially the second and third, which combination is used to a great extent in the Western country. Land can be prepared for the reception of water by this method much more cheaply and can be irrigated much more rapidly. It can, however, be used only on land which is smooth and horizontal, or nearly so. It is used almost entirely for crops sown broadcast, as the following method, by ditching, is used for crops sown in drills. In the ditching method, the water is conducted along small ditches, between the rows, and reaches the roots of the plants by lateral percolation. The ditches may be numerous and small, between ■each pair of rows ; or they may be large and few in number. Again, they may be filled with water and allowed to stand, or the result may be attained by a continuous flow through them. This method is applicable to surface of all degrees of inclination, and it may even be quite rugged. These two general methods are of almost universal application throughout the We$t. Other methods are employed in foreign countries, but very, rarely, if at all, in the United States. Among them is that of underground or subsoil irrigation, where the water is supplied to the soil by filtration from an THE WEST IN 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. 89 underground ditch. A fourth method, and one employed only on a very limited scale, is by sprinkling, in imitation of nature' s method. The expense of irrigation differs with so many of the attendant circumstances that it is impossible to speak definitely upon the subject, except in detail. The relative scarcity of water, the cost of dams, main ditches, and other works, the expense of keeping things in repair, all modify the price. As a general ithing, the ditch arid other works are built and owned by a •company, who sell the water at a certain price per miner's inch, per second-foot, or acre irrigated, to the farmers, as they might .sell any other commodity. In 1876, the prices per inch of iour of the principal ditch companies of Colorado were as follows : Platte Water Canal Company $3.00 I Table Mountain Company 1.50 | Farmers' Ditch Company ; $1 .50 Ralston Creek Ditch Company. ... 3.00 The San Joaquin and King's River Canal Co., California, sells water by the acre irrigated, and at prices which differ with the crops, as follows : Per acre. For cereals $2.50 For alfalfa 3.00 Per acre. For market gardens $5.00 For wild grass lands 75 Many of the California companies charge a certain price per acre, averaging $1.25 for each watering. Many of the ditches have been constructed by the ranchmen themselves, who form companies for that purpose ; while a third practice is that of bringing the water to the land and then selling the land, with the water-right attached, the owners of the land and water-rights forming a company for keeping the wprks in repair and for the proper distribution of the water. This plan was adopted in the {Jreeley colony, in Northern Colorado, and has worked admira- bly. The price of a water-right calculated to be sufficient for continuous irrigation of forty acres, is $300, to which must be added an annual charge of twenty-five cents per acre for keeping the works in repair. It is a prevalent idea that large areas of the West may be redeemed by the promiscuous sinking of artesian wells, which are expected to bring to the surface great quantities of water. Many costly experiments in this direction have been made, with .a net result of practical failure, and the sinking of immense 90 THE WEST IN 1880 -THE TERRITORIES. sums of money. The facts are, that there is not an unlimited supply of water in the bowels af Mother Earth ; that water exists beneath the surface only under certain conditions of strata ; that only under much rarer conditions is this water under a pressure which will force it to the surface when an opening is made ; and that, even then, the quantity is very small, almost infinitesimal, in comparison with the requirements. A catalogue of the unsuccessful borings made in the West would fill a volume, and would outnumber, many tinies over, the- number of flowing wells. They have been sunken in many parts of the West, on the Staked Plains of Texas, the Jornada del Muerto of New Mexico, in Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, and California ; and, while in a few cases water has been found in suflacient amount for railroad or domestic purposes, the failures vastly outnumber the successes ; and in no case, except in Southern California, has the water been used for irrigation. In certain portions of Southern California, artesian wells are used for irrigation to a considerable extent. ' Here the crops are very valuable, consisting of wine-grapes, oranges, and garden veg- etables, and the duty of water, as was stated above, very high. In Los Angeles county, there are no less than 550 flowing wells, of a depth ranging from fifty to 500 feet. Some of these wells irrigate from 100 to 200 acres each ; but one that will water forty acres is considered a very good one ; while, on an average, each will serve about thirty acres. Their average discharge does not exceed one-tenth of a cubic foot per second, an amount of water which, at the rate at which this fluid is used in Colorado, would serve only four acres. The average cost of these wells has been about $400 each, giving, as the cost of a cubic foot of water per second, $4,000. This does not take into account the many failures to obtain Water. Truly, as the State Engineer of Cali- fornia says, in summing up the matter, "It will be seen that the luxury is a somewhat expensive one." Another matter which should be considered here is the prob- able effect upon the climate of the breaking up, planting, and watering of extensive areas of this country. The popular idea is that cultivation of the soil, and especially the planting of trees, tends to increase the rainfall. How this can produce such a result is not clear. There can be no doubt that a change is effected in the conditions of moisture of the soil and of the atmosphere. The breaking up of the soil by the plow, prevents THE WEST IN 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. 91 the moisture, whether from irrigation or from the heavens, from flowing off as rapidly, and causes a greater proportion to sink into the earth, or enter the atmosphere. The growth of vegetation acts in the same direction, and also protects the soil from evap- oration. How far this merely preventive action will go towards ameliorating the conditions which relate to vegetable life, and whether it will finally obviate the necessity for irrigation, can not be foretold. But little advance has been made in these Territories in manufacturing. Flouring mills and saw-mills are among the first establishments in the grain raising and timber regions of the Territories, as stamp mills, and smelting furnaces are in the mining districts. The following table gives some idea of the extent of manufacturing ; but the figures for Idaho, Montana, and Arizona, tor 1880, only represent the principal industries : PEOGRESS OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IN THE TERRITORIES. Teekitokies. No. Es- tablish- ments. No. of Hands Empl'd. Amount of Capital Invested. Amount of Wages Paid. Value of Material Used. Value of Products Mauufac'd. Anzona* J Dakota' -{ Idaho*.... ■{ Montana* \ I Utah -j Washington t < 1870 1880 1870 1880 1870 1880 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1860 1870 1880 1870 1880 18 23 17 83 101 64 201 51 14 148 533 1,066 52 269 350 32 39 84 111 91 505 265 393 701 402 51 389 1,534 3,221 870 1,026 1,231 502 577 $160,700 217,008 79,200 428,850 742,300 479,460 1,794,300 367,700 44,400 44.^,356 1,491,898 2,839,463 1,296,200 1,893,674 2,840,511 889,400 1,245,160 % 45,580 63,812 21,106 213,925 112,372 109,111 370,843 209,712 9,984 231,701 395,365 711,657 453,601 574,936 689,923 347,578 417,094 $110,090 154,126 105,997 1,185,822 691,785 695,311 1,816,331 532,747 337,381 439,512 1,238,252 2,105,028 502,021 1,435,128 1,865,666 280,156 308,172 $ 185,410 274,407 178,570 1,769,233 1,047,624 939,125 2 494,511 1,041,466 291,220 900,153 2,843,019 4,217,434 1,406,821 2,851.062 6,129,762 765,424 The regions now left as Territories differ much in their quality from that already formed into States. We may, however, expect that the magnificent water-power and the rich soil of Southeastern Dakota will form a strong agricultural and manu- facturing State. Manufactures and mining will be predominant in some mountain regions ; and other rich spots will be found in States yet to crystallize out of the Territories. * None in 1850 and 1860. tNoneinl850. 92 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE TEREITORIES. Accustomed in the States to schools, churches, local news- papers, and other intellectual advantages, the great body of the population of the Territories no sooner take up their abodes in these new regions than they begin to organize for the estab- lishment of like institutions. In New Mexico and Arizona the Spanish element has retarded the development of public schools, but 'as the tide of Anglo-Saxon, Teutonic and Scandinavian immigration continues to roll in upon these regions, the active educational ideas of these vigorous race-elements manifest themselves, and the schoolhouse rears its roof in the midst of every cluster of rude, primitive shops and dwellings. In the more northern Territories the territorial church and school history of Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, described in the chapters on those States, is fast repeating itself. The foUowing^ table gives the principal educational statistics derived from the latest official sources, compared with similar statistics of earlier years : Tbekitobibs. Censas Tears. 1870 1880 1870 1880 1860 1870 1880 1870 1880 1860 1870 1850 1860 1870 1880 1879 1876 Whole No. of Schools. 25 135 34 173 52 170 365 10 106 21 44 37 175 257 406 287 21 No. of Acad- emies. 4 15 1 6 3 16 No. of Colleges. Total Cost. Average Wages of Teachers 19,938.00 38,348.08 9,730.70 86,986.00 6,000.00 61,172.00 307,860.00 59,793.00 $45.60 56.80> 60. 5U 68.25' 75.10- 46.30 33.23 Not long ago it was estimated that a generation must pass in privation and hardship before the social institutions of well- organized communities could be established in a new territory. It is not so now. When immigration traveled by ox-team, the blessings of civilization followed at slow pace. But now THE WEST IN 1880 — THE TERRITORIES. 93 the Western settler soon gathers about him the best forces of modern civilization. Often he puts upon the cars a full equip- ment for a comfortable homestead ; and' as to his social and ■ domestic institutions, he sets them up like a ready-made house. There is a freedom and vigor in these new institutions like that which business men feel when they leave the shop and the factory, and camp for a summer' s vacation in the woods among mountains and streams, in the pure, free air of the open country. While our Western Territories have so much that is grand, and inspiring in the majesty of their mountains and the breadth of their plains, in their rich mines, great forests, and broad acres, so long will they be the world's great recruiting ground for spirits tired and worn in the routine of the old communities and serve to recuperate and renew the vigor of our national growth. 94 THE WEST IN 1880 -THE PACIFIC STATES. CHAPTER III. THE PACIFIC STATES. The review of these four States is the story of the world's great hunt for gold. In the autumn of 1848— only a month or two after California was ceded by Mexico to the United States— an American settler erected a mill on the banks of the Sacra- mento river to grind his corn into food in that townless, roadless, and almost uninhabited region ; and, as he dug a mill-course through his garden, he found gpld ! The precious yellow ore glittered, says one writer, in the shovelfuls of gravel which he tossed up. The sleepy Spaniards had been there for three centuries ; yet they had never found it. So widely spread was the glittering ore, that at first it appeared everywhere : the soil teemed with it, as if the whole surface of the land consisted of the debris washed down from auriferous mountains : then, according to R. H. Patterson, the gold hunt began. From Europe, from the Atlantic States of America, even from China, an exodus took place — tens of thousands of adventurers rushing and racing to get first to the Golden Land. They came, crowded and half starving, in leaky ships, round by wild and stormy Cape Horn, a voyage of fifteen thousand miles. They forced their way across the Isthmus of Darien, struggling through the lux- uriant jungles of the tropics, steaming like a vapor bath, and over the forest-clad mountain range, from whence Balboa first descried the new ocean of the Pacific — often losing their way among woods unopened by a glade and unpenetrated by any track, or perishing by fever and malaria. Most arduous of all was the route by land across the American continent. At ' that time the whole region west of the Mississippi river was unten- anted save by the savage Red Men ; while the broad plain, or basin, between the two parallel chains of the Rocky Mountains (where the Mormons had just settled beside the Salt Lake of Utah) was a waterless desert of burning sand, covered in some parts with glittering sheets of salt (emblem and cause of deso- THE WEST IN 1880— THE PACIFIC STATES. 95 lation), across which the track of every caravan of emigrants was marked by the skeletons of mules and cattle, and often of the daring adventurers themselves.* So rapid was the progress of California, that only two years after the first accidental discovery of gold, the London Times (Nov. 19, 1850) stated that the population of that previously unoccupied country then amounted to about 250,000, and the export of gold to £12,000,000 per annum, adding that " almost all the accounts from the new region, although deemed exaggerations at first, have proved ultimately to have been understated." It has been very truthfully said that geologists have an interesting field for study and research in the various gold-bearing gravel beds of California. These are distinct from the aurifer- ous sands of the existing streams : they mark the course of ancient inundations, or of rivers which have long ago ceased to How. They mark the course of extinct rivers, j ust as the boulders -and detritus of moraines mark the course of extinct glaciers. The largest of these gravel beds is one running from Sierra county through Placer county, and which is crossed by the Pacific Railway at Gold Run, What a strange and striking picture presents itself to the mind's eye of any one standing there now ! Far in front of him, across a mile of gravel bed, and stretching on either side out of view, busy miners and hydraulic appliances are at work where once a primeval river, a mile broad and proportionately deep, flowed in slow and stately course through a lonely valley, untenanted by any tribe of man. The mammoth, the great elk, and the moose-deer (the last named being the most ancient of surviving quadrupeds in North Amer- ica) may have stood by the wide stream drinking their fill at morn and eventide, and with blank-gazing eyes beheld to the north the far-oflE mountains of quartz shooting their white pinnacles into the sky, thick-flaked with gold — a dazzling, glittering mass of light, visible from afar as the slanting sunshine gleamed on their snow-white sides and silmmits — whiter than any marble, and sparkling with gold. • Next, these glittering mountains vanished, sinking in ruins into the bed of the great river. Then the sides of the valley, too, sank away, and the river itself disappeared, seeking lower channels ; and finally, its old course was left on high ground, where only tiny rivulets are found, far too small to meet the wants of the miners now toiling * British Quarterly Beriew, January, 1880. 96 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PACIFIC STATES. in the dry bed of the vanished river — a mighty Pactolus of primeval times.* Grold was discovered in Nevada as early as 1849 ; but ten years later, when the first important discovery of silver was made, the population of the still unorganized Territory was only about 1,000. After this, other and still richer discoveries followed in rapid succession. These mines and also those of Colorado are fully described in the chapters on Nevada and Colorado. Princely fortunes have been made in silver mining in a marvelously short time ; while, on the other hand, vast sums have been spent fruitlessly in the search for such fortunes. It was in 1874 that the ."Big Bonanza," in the Comstock Lode, the richest in the world, was discovered. The hardy and keen-eyed prospectors roving in that desolate region suddenly spied silver veins cropping out of a lofty branch of the Washoe Mountains. Near where Virginia City now stands, silver was descried on the slope of Mount Davidson. This fortunate discovery was quickly followed by an era of mining excitement, with consequences extending to every money centre of this country and Europe. A large number of silver mines are at present worked successfully along a line of nearly two miles upon this mountain. As in Nevada, so in Colorado, the mining of precious metals is to-day, and probably will continue to be, the principal interest of the State. The recent astonishing discoveries at Leadville,, Colorado, have proved only second in importance to those in Nevada. A more detailed account of both of these discoveries, will be found hereafter. The annual product of lead, silver, and gold, in the States and Territories west of the Missouri during the- past ten years,, has been as follows : Tear. Amount, 1870 ; . . . $53,150,000 1871 . . , . , 55,784,000 1873 60,351,834 1873.. 70,139,860 1874 71,965,610 1875 76,703,433 1876 87,319,859 Tear. Amount. 1877 $95,811,583. 1878 78,376,167 1879 73,688,888 1880 77,333,512 Total $798,323,785 The product of the United States since the discovery of gold in California, as compared with the rest of the world, will be found in the following statement : * Edinburgh Review, January, 1879. THE "WEST m 1880 — THE PACIFIC STATES. 97 Countries. Gold. Silver. Totals. United States $1,410,000,000 1,360,000,000 100,000,000 465,000,000 55,000,000 $370,000,000 $1 780 000 000 Australia . . . . , 4 1,360,000,000 800,000,000 15,000,000 375,000,000 9(10,000,000 Russia 480, 000, 000' 330,000,000 Totals $3,390,000,000 $1,460,000,000 $4,750,000,000 The product of the precious metals in the four Pacific States, for 1880, was as indicated below : California .$18,276,166 Colorado 31,384,989 Nevada 15,031,631 Oregon $ 1,059,641 Total ..$55,652,417 Though mining is the first industry of these four States, it is by no means the only one. The areas of California, Colorado, Oregon, and Nevada, compared with that of the whole United States, are as follows : States. Area, square miles. Area, acres. 158,360 103,935 96,030 110,700 101,350,400 Colorado 66,513,000 61,459,200 Nevada 70,848,000 Totals 469,015 800,169,600 Totals for United States. 3,035,600 1,936,384,000 Prior to 1850, few besides adventurers and savages populated this area of three hundred million acres ; and to-day the popu- lation only exceeds by a trifle one million and a quarter. POPULATION. States. 1880. -1870. I860. ' 1850. California 864,686 194,469 174,767 63,265 560,247 39,864 90,923 42,491 379,994 34,377 53,465 6,857 92,597 Oregon . . 13,294 Totals 1,296,187 733,535 473,593 105,891 — As in all new States, the male sex largely predominates. 98 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PACIFIC STATES. MALES IN EXCESS. States. Per cent of excess. States. Per cent, of excess. 49.0 43.6 .9 Oregon 44.8 Nevada 128.0 As denoted in the following table, tlie population of California is more than fifty per cent., and that of Nevada fully seventy per cent., foreign born: States. California. Colorado . Per cent, of foruign pop. 51 35 States. Oregon . Nevada. Per cent, of foreign pop. 31 70 In California, as will be seen in the chapter on that State, over one hundred thousand of the population are Chinese. The Census of 1880 shows that the following number of acres of land were in cultivation with the six cereal crops : ACRES IN CEEBALS. States. Corn. I = Wheat. Oats. Barley. Bye. BHCkwli't California Colorado 71,781 33,991 5,646 487 1,832,429 64,693 445,077 3,674 49,947 33,033 151,634 5,937 586,340 4,112 29,311 19,399 ■ 30,281 1,394 841 1,012 8 372 Totals 100,905 2,345,873 330,' 531 639,163 22,416 1,392 Totals in U. S., 62,368,337 35,430,052 16,144,598 1,997,717 1,843,303 848,389 The cereal crops in this region are constantly growing in importance, having, as the following table shows, almost doubled in the past ten years : • Total Cekbal Product, in Bushels. SAtbs. 1860. 1870. Per cent, of increase. 1880. Per cent, of increase. California 13,026,637 28,487,124 863,871 4,659,054 591,189 135.86 45,135,852 2,648,573 12,933,019 783,519 58.37 Colorado 306.59 Oregon 1,830,378 6,868 155.90 8,507.72 178.00 Nevada 33.36 Totals 13,853,783 34,901,238 150.49 61,499,963 77.74 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PACIFIC STATES. 99 Wheat is the great California and Oregon crop, and, as the subjoined table will show, the yield is steadUy increasing : Wheat. States. 1860. 1870. Per cent, of increase. 1880. Per cent, of increase. 5,938,470 16,676,703 358,474 3,340,746 338,866 181.39 29,017,707 1,435,014 7,480,010 69,398 79 99 Colorado 453 09 836,776 3,681 183.12 6,203.11 319 55 Nevada *69.73 Totals '. . 6,758,877 19,504,788 188.58 37,992,039 94.78 Corn. States. 1860. 1870. Per cent, of increase. 1880. Per cent, of increase. California ". . 510,708 1,231,322 381,903 73,138 9,660 139.13 1,993,325 455,968 126,862 13,891 63 22 96.62 Oregon 76,132 460 *5.33 2; 000. 00 75 86 33 44 Totals 587,390 1,534,923 161.36 3,589,046 68.67 The stock raising interests are yearly becoming of more importance, especially in California, Oregon, and Colorado. The Tenth Census will give the following estimate of cattle, sheep, and swine, in these four States :t States. Cattle, Slieep. Swine. California 814,393 800,000 598,007 383,900 7,059,833 1,000,000 1,403,436 a78,000 868,059 Colorado 30 000 Oregon 179,195 Nevada 30,500 Totals 3,496,199 9,741,369 1 087 754 Elsewhere I speak in detail of the principal manufactures of each of the Pacific States ; here I simply present in tabular form the principal statistics collected by the Census Bureau upon this subject for the Census years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. The progress of these States in this regard, as indicated by these figures, is certainly full of encouragement. It will be observed * Decrease. t For revised Census statistics, see Appendix. 100 THE WEST IN 1880 — THE PACIFIC STATES. that the product of this class of industries in 1880 is estimatec at nearly double the product of 1870. PROGRESS OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IN THB FOUR PACIFIC STATES. States. S S No. of Estab. 'ment8. No. of Hands Empl'd. Amount of Capital Invested. Amount of Wages Paid. Value of Materials Used. Value of Products Manufac'd California 1850 1860 1870 1880 1860 1860 1870 188D 1850 1860 1870 1880 1850 1860 1870 1880 1,003 8,468 3,984 6,374 3,964 49,226 25,392 38,088 $ 1,006,197 33,043,096 39,738,303 63,665il23 $ 3,717.180 28,402,287 13,136,722 19,705,083 $ 1,201,154 27,051,674 35,351,193 49,491,669 $12,862,58! 68,2i3,22i 66,694,65f 109,881,011 -Colorado -1 I 256 460 876 1,664 2,835,605 5,812,990 528,221 1,003,620 1,593,280 2,867,904 2,853,82C 6,047,97t Oregon - 330 594 52 309 969 1,744 2,859 5,232 285 978 2,884 6,056 5,137,790 9,947,913 843,600 1,337,238 4,376,849 12,474,019 2,498,473 4,497,851 388,620 635,256 1,120,173 2,016,311 10.315.984 16,505,574 809,560 1,431,952 3,419,756 6,155,560 15,870,638 33,534,60f 2,216,640 2,976,761 6,877,387 13,342,130 The construction of railroads is much more difficult and •expensive in this region than in a prairie country ; but, as the following statement of railroad mileage in these four States plainly shows, the resistless energy of the Western population laughs at all barriers in the path of its industrial and commercial progress : States. Miles of Rail- road In 1880. States. Miles of Rail- road in 1880. California 3,230 1,531 583 Nevada 769 Colorado Oregon 5,102 These states, with their important cities of San Francisco, Denver, Leadville, Portland, and Virginia City, have been barely skeletonized in this chapter : in the proper place their importance will be more fully set forth. THE WEST IN 1880— OHIO. 101 CHAPTER IV. STATE OF OHIO. Ohio has been aptly styled "The Gateway 6f the West." Bounded on the east by Pennsylvania, with its immense riches in agriculture, mines, manufactures and trade ; on the west by "the prosperous State of Indiana ; on the north by Lake Erie ; and on the south and southeast by the Ohio river — with the center of the population of the Union just beyond her border, she sits, ^s it were, in the very lap of the wealth of the " Great* Repub- lic;" and, gathering nearly all the through lines of travel and traffic between the harvest-laden West and the markets of the world in her grasp, not only enjoys unwonted means of trans- "portation for her own productions, but levies contribution on a commerce of enormous proportions, that is incessantly hurrying to and fro across her domain from regions beyond. The north- ern extreme of Ohio is in north latitude 42°, while the southern extreme touches 38° 30'. Its eastern limit is the meridian of •80° 30' west longitude, and its western limit is that of 84° 50'. Its greatest length and breadth ai'e 220 and 210 miles respect- ively. Its area, according to the Tenth Census, is 41,060 square miles ; equaling 26,278,400 acres, of which not less than 25,313,937 acres are rated as taxable. The surface of the country presents no great geological up-lifts ■or mountain ranges. • Its general character is that of a table-land, crossed by a low range of hills, running from a little south of the northeastern corner of the State to the Indiana line, near its intersection with the 40th parallel of latitude. This ridge, in no place more than 1,491 feet above tide-water (an altitude reached at Zoar's Station, Tuscarawas county), forms the divide between the tributaries of Lake Erie and the Ohio. Northward the land is generally level, sloping down gradually to the surface of the lake, whose mean level is 573 feet* above the ocean. Southward, * According to the recent government determination of tlie levels between tide-water in the Hnd- eon and the mean level of the Lakes. 102 THE WEST IN 1880 -.-OHIO. over a considerable area, embracing the central part of the State, the country is a nearly level plain, in some places so flat as to require artificial drainage. Farther south, the surface grows more and more uneven, until along the Ohio river it is decidedly hilly. The beautiful river bluff's, broken or rounded into nearly every conceivable form, rise to heights of 250 to 600 feet above the water. Here- and there deep channels have been furrowed through them by creeks and rivers that have come down from the interior through delightful vales or romantic, rock-walled defiles, worn out by the impetuous spring-time and autumn freshets. The State is indebted mainly to these water- worn feat- ures for its pleasing diversity of surface. Ohio is abundantly watered. From the dividing ridge already described several considerable rivers pour the treasures of in- numerable springs northward into the great upper basins of the St. Lawrence, or southward into the turbid bosom of the Ohio. On their way, they receive tribute from countless creeks and rivulets — the wealth-infusing veins of this fertile land — which seam it in every direction. Artificial irrigation is something Ohio will never need to study, if she takes proper care of the forests that shade her native urns and hill-hidden fountains. The cloud- winged treasures of the Gulf and of the Lakes distill their fruitful showers over all the land in a rainfall that averages forty inches per annum. With such numerous natural aque- ducts, artificial drainage is seldom either necessary or difficult. Few of these interior rivers are navigable for any considerable distance. This is usually because of rapids, which multiply cheap water power, that to-day is driving thousands of saws, mill stones, lathes and looms, and whirling myriads of spindles. The principal streams that run to the Ohio river are the Scioto, navigable in the rainy season for 130 miles ; the Great Miami, seventy-five miles ; the Muskingum, navigable as far as Coshoc- ton, 110 miles; and the Hocking, some eighty miles long and quite deep for considerable distances, but in many places broken by rapids. The Little Scioto, Brush, and other feeders of the Ohio, are barely boatable a part of each year. The main tributaries of Lake Erie from this State are the Maumee, known in Indian annals as the Miami of the Lakes, the Portage, the Sandusky, the Huron, the Vermillion, the Black, the Cuya- hoga, the Rocky, the Chagrin, and the Grand. Of these, the first is navigable eighteen miles by good-sized lake steamers, and by THE WEST m 1880 — OHIO. 103 smaller craft a short distance farther ; the second is navigable twelve mUes ; the fourth, fourteen miles. Others afford valuable water power, and, by the aid of the general government, all have been converted, at their confluence with the lake, into good harbors ; conspicuous among which is the port of Cleveland, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga. Of all the extensive, well-watered, and agreeably diversified surface of Ohio, less than two per cent, is uncultivable. The soil, the chief element of its prosperity, is for the most part a rich, friable loam, with a light, clay subsoil on the hills, and 'marl, or rich drift and alluvium, in the valleys. The extreme southern projection of the State, between the Scioto and Hock- ing valleys, embracing Lawrence, Gallia, Meigs, and the most of Jackson and Vinton counties, is covered with native soil, unenriched with the fertile deposits of the drift and alluvial periods. So also are a narrow section, taking in the south- western part of Washington county and a portion of Morgan, on the divide between the Hocking and the Muskingum ; twO' small circles, far up the Muskingum, in Tuscarawas, Holmes and Coshocton counties ; and the entire area of Monroe, Belmont and Jefferson, and the greater parts of Guernsey, Noble, Har- rison, Carroll, and a part of Columbiana counties, grouped along the Ohio river, between Marietta and the Pennsylvania line.. Besides this, there is an area, about equal to Highland county,, which takes in the southern part of that county and the adjacent upper corners of Adams and Brown. These are by no means, the most fertile parts of Ohio. On the other hand, the highly productive valleys adjacent to^ these, along the lower Miamis and the Muskingum, are covered mainly with a mixture of native soil, drift and alluvium. The remainder of the State south of the Erie water-shed has a soil composed of drift, in which stratified beds of sand and gravel abound ; while thei Erie slope is drift, destitute of sand and gravel, but abounding in deposits of blue clay. A careful study of the geology of the broad region between the Pennsylvania line and the Wabash, Western Tennessee, and the Lakes, has discovered that the several layers of stratified rocks overlying this country were at some comparatively recent time — ^geologically speaking — upheaved into a low mountain ridge, that stretched from the neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee, to Erie, Pennsylvania;. As the eons of the earth' s 6 104 THE WEST IN 1880— OHIO. genesis wore on, the incessant hammering of the elements beat down this immense arch between the West and the East, pulverizing and washing away stratum after stratum, and depos- iting the detritus — the clays, the marls and the sand beds — down the flanks of the ridges and along the valleys, where this cover- ing has helped to preserve these same strata as they are found to-day, dipping in anticlinal directions to the northwest and southeast, resting upon each other in the following order: Beginning at Cincinnati, with what is now familiar to all geologists as the Cincinnati group, the oldest stratified rocks in the State, as one travels up the Ohio, he finds, after some miles, first a thin- stratum of the Clinton group, next the Niagara group, then an outcrop of Huron shales, then the Salina group. The Oriskany, the Corniferous limestone and the Hamilton groups, which farther north in the State crop out below the Huron shales, and the Erie shales, belonging above the latter, do not appear in Southern Ohio, where the Waverly directly overlies the Huron shales, and is itself overlaid, farther east, by the Lower Carboniferous, beyond which, for miles and miles, until the Pennsylvania line is reached, stretch the Carboniferous conglomerate and the Coal measures. These latter formations cover about one-third of the State, bounded on the east and south by the Pennsylvania line and the Ohio, and on the north and west by a broken line crossing the southern edge of Trumbull county into Portage, running thence almost due north along the east line of Geauga county for some twelve miles, thence abruptly southward, including about two- thirds of Wayne, the eastern borders of Licking, Fairfield and Hocking counties, very nearly all of Jackson, and the eastern half of Scioto, and striking the Ohio river a few miles above Portsmouth. When first invaded by the white settlers nearly the entire surface of Ohio was covered with forests. A few patches of prairie lay here and there— astray, as it were, from the vast natural meadows, or prairies, of Illinois, and lost in the appar- ently interminable woods. Most of these were in the northern part of the State. Almost one- third of Ohio is still endowed with abundance of timber, a productive fund invested by nature, valuable in itself and invaluable in its influence on climate and production. Of the 20, 173, 155 acres returnpd in the assess- or' s rolls for 1879, 5,101,441 were woodland. The distribution of the forests, according to this authority, is so general that but ^THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. 105 twelve counties report less than 40,000 acres each, and only nine report over 80,000, of which but two have more than 100,000 acres. The most heavily timbered counties lie along the Ohio river, south of a line drawn from Belmont to Adams ; on the upper waters of the Muskingum ; and in the northwestern part of the State, in the triangle formed by the State boundaries and a line drawn from Upper Sandusky to the southeast corner of Preble county. The principal varieties of forest trees are oak, poplar, ash, sugar maple, walnut, chestnut, beech, hickory, elm, sycamore, dogwood, hackberry, paw-paw and ironwood. Mr. John Hussey, a high authority, says: "There is no tree peculiar to this State, and no variety that attains its greatest perfection here, owing to the location of Ohio on the border of the northern and southern timber regions." Yet much of the native timber of these woods is of noble proportions. 'Oak, elm, sycamore and whitewood logs four and five feet in diameter are not rare, while oaks of six feet do not occasion surprise. A sycamore in Columbia township (Lorain county) is thirty-three feet and four inches in circumference. One of the greatest of nature' s boons to Ohio is its climate. In the southern part, above the river valley, it is not quite so mild, judged by the mean temperature chart of the Smith- sonian Institute, as that of the Atlantic seaboard in the same latitudes, but in the northern, part of the State the mean temper- ature is almost identical with that on the same parallels on the Atlantic coast.' The fierce hyperborean blasts, sweeping down from the frozen wastes of British America, are turned aside or tempered to comparative mildness before they pass the inland sea that shields Ohio on the north. The vapor of the lake is converted into snow, that blankets her wheat farms and enriches her corn fields. Extreme cold is not infrequent for a few days at a time, and sudden and great changes oft en take place, par- ticularly in the north. The Ohio river, being from 250 to 600 feet lower than the lands a short distance back, is less subject to extremes of temperature than places farther north. ' Urbana, Ohio, is located in latitude 40° 6' N., but ten miles north of Philadelphia, and in longitude 83° 43' west, at an elevation of 1,044 feet above tide water. Observations recorded here may therefore be received as a fair mean standard for the State. Of 1,095 observations of the course of the wind, made at this point by M. G. Williams, during the year ending Dec. 31, 1878, 473 106 THE WEST IN 1880— OHIO^ are marked " calm," and over forty-nine per cent, of the remain- ing 622 record the wind as between S. B. and S. W., showing a prevalence of mild or warm winds. Even in the 636 records made in the first three and last three months of 1878, 235 are "calm," and fifty-nine per cent, of the remainder report the wind out of the south, between S. B. and S. W. During the extended period of forty-seven years, 1832 to 1878 inclusive, the mean temperature of the winter months was 28.27° Fahr. in January; 30.67° in February; and 80.38° in December. The minimum temperature within that period was 26° Fahr. in Jan- uary, 1873 ; and in the whole period of nearly half a century, the temperature fell to 15° or below but ten times. For the same series of years the mean temperature of June was 69.43°; of July, 73.49°; of August, 71.03°. The maximum was 97.49°, a point reached twice in the summer of 1854, and once each in 1856 and 1858. Mr. Lorin Blodgett, in the Topographical Atlas of Ohio, says that during the summers, generally, the river valleys have an average temperature of 73° to 75°; the level and central. portions, 72° to 80°; and the lake border, 70° to 72°. " A peculiar mildness of climate belongs to Kelly's Island, San- dusky and Toledo. Here, both in winter and summer, the cli- mate is 2° warmer than on the highland ridge extending from Norwalk and Oberlin to Hudson and the northeastern border." The treasures of the rain and snow are meted out to Ohio, as I have before intimated, in fruitful abundance. The rainfall at Urbana, during a series of twenty-seven years, ending Dec. 31, 1878, averaged 39.83 inches. This includes a mean of 34.38 inches of snow. The value of these bounties of nature depends greatly on their distribution. Here, again, the register of the watchful meteorologist reveals one of the prime secrets of Ohio's prolific corn and wheat fields. In the twenty- seven years above specified, the average annual number of days of snow-fall was thirty-eight ; of rainy days, 104 ; of cloudy days, fifty-four ; of fair weather, l35 ; and of bright, clear weather, thirty-four. True, Mr. Blodgett says : " The actual rainfall of Ohio in differ- ent months and years varies greatly. There may be none in a month, and again the quantity may rise to twelve or fifteen inches in a single month ; and for a year the variation may be from a minimum of twenty-two or twenty-five inches to a maxi- mum of fifty or even sixty inches in the southern part of the State, and forty-five to forty-eight inches along the lake border." THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. 107 But these extremes do not occur frequently. One of the most careful observers, Dr. D. Drake, reported the following as the mean of thirteen years' observations at Cincinnati, for each month: January, 3.19 inches; February, 3; March, 3.27; April, 3.5 ; May, 5.12 ; June, 6.75 ; July, 4,78 ; August, 4.68 ; September, 3.42 ; October, 3.64 ; November, 3.72 ; and De- cember, 3.72 inches. This denotes a fall of 9.87 inches in the spring months; of 16.11 in the summer; of 10.88 in the autumn ; and of 10.91 in the winter. The rainfall at Phila- delphia for the same thirteen years averaged 45.24 inches per annum. The annual rainfall at St. Petersburg is nineteen inches ; at Paris and Rome, twenty-one inches ; at London, twenty- seven; for all England, thirty ; and at Naples, thirty-seven inches. In the tropics, it is often sixty inches in a month, and as much as two hundred during the year. While the Urbana observations give us a fair average of the rainfall for the State, considered as a unit, all who are studying the relations of climate and soils to crops will be interested to know that the average is materially greater in the most productive corn districts, in the southwest angle of Ohio, than in the dairy and vineyard region,' in the extreme north. In the first tier of counties skirting Lake Erie, the average rainfall is but thirty-two inches; in the next tier back it is thirty-four ; in the third tier, it is thirty-six ; in the next tier, and in the counties bordering the Ohio river as far down as Washington county, it is thirty-eight inches. Southward and westward of this boundary, extending to the Indiana line, is a broad area with an average of forty inches of rain. This is limited on the southwest by a line drawn from near the south- west corner of Van Wert county to the center of Meigs. South- ward of this, at distances of fifty miles apart, draw two parallel lines. Within these belts, the average rainfall is forty- two, forty-four and forty-six inches, respectively ; the heaviest amount being in the five southwestern counties, noted for their immense yields of corn. Important as are the effects of climate on crops, this consider- ation pales in comparison with the question, Is it salubrious ? The vital statistics for the year ending March 31, 1879, make the following significant answer: Of the 28,179 decedents reported by the probate judges for that year, 481, or more than fourteen per cent., had lived beyond three-score years and ten. Sub^ tracting those who died under ten years of age, more than thirty- 108 THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. three per cent, of tlie remainder lived beyond seventy ; over sixteen per cent, beyond eighty ; and thirty-seven of the whole number survived beyond 100 years. Of the total 28,179 deaths, a little over twenty-two per cent, were from miasmatic infections, contagious and epidemic causes, (more than half of these result- ing from diphtheria, scarlatina and cholera infantum) ; twelve per cent, were from consumption, and about six per cent, from other lung diseases. The vital tables plainly show that with the settlement of the country the death rate is diminishing.' This may be attributed partly to the drainage of the swamp lands, the clearing of forests and the close grazing of bottom lands, and partly to the increased ratio of natives exempt from the strain of acclimation incident to immigration. Of the native animals that roamed through the forests and glades of Ohio a hundred years ago and supplied its only articles of export, very few representatives remain. The com- mon deer is still abundant in the most thickly wooded districts ; and the black bear, wolf, and wild-cat, or lynx, are occasionally found in the few rough, broken parts of the country. The rac- coon, rabbit, squirrel and other small game are quite plenty. But other quadrupeds, once so numerous here, the panther, the bison and the elk, are gone, like the race of fleet-footed hunters that once pursued them through the sylvan aisles. Professor E. D. Cope, of the Academy of Natural .Sciences, Philadelphia, says that there are 525 species of fauna indigenous to the State of Ohio. This is only twenty-five less than the total zoological species of Pennsylvania, which comprehend a number of marine species. The mammalia include fifty-four species of quadru- peds ; 263 of birds ; thirty-nine of reptiles ; thirty-one batrachia, (frogs, etc.); 134 fishes; two lampreys. The principal birds, are the thrush, wood-warbler, mocking bird, bobolink, hang- nest, hawks of several species, one species of vulture — the tur- key-buzzard—the wild turkey, the wild goose, two species of grouse, a partridge, a heron,' the grass-snipe, the true snipe, woodcock, ducks, loons and gulls. The reptiles include several, species of tortoise and twenty- three of snakes. Only three of the latter are venomous, the copperhead, the massassauga rattle- snake and the common rattlesnake, confined now to the least- cultivated regions. Of the fishes, sixty-eight- species are good for food ; the principal ones being white perch, yellow perch, striped bass, green bass, black bass, sun-fish, pike, including THE "WEST IN 1880— OHIO. 109 tlie delicious muskallonge, cat-fish. — frequently weighing 150 pounds — brook trout, lake trout, whitefish, carp, sucker and chub. The State contains 25,000 species of insects, embracing several kinds that are often seriously injurious to vegetation. Of domestic animals, only the horse, the cat, and the dog were found among the Indians, having been introduced from the European settlements in the South and the East. Such, in ' natural resources — in geographical position and extent, in §oils, in climate, in her rivers, her virgin mines and quarries, her botany and zoology — was Ohio when ceded by Great Britain to the United States, in 1783. So she continued until after Virginia relinquished her claim to the Korthwest Territory in 1784 ; and still later, when the great ordinance of 1787, the "Bill of Rights" of the then unborn millions who have since inherited the great West, was enacted by Congress, and this territory was thrown open for settlement. !N'ot until the subsequent year, 1788, was the first permanent white settle- ment made in Ohio. That was ninety-two years ago, and now this single State, that must wait nearly two lustrums longer before she can celebrate her first centennial, contains a popula- tion of 3,198,239, or several hundred thousand more than the whole Union could boast when it struck for independence. Mr. H. S. Knapp, in his history of the Maumee valley, says that the first efEorts by Europeans to settle within the present limits of Ohio were made in 1680. That would be just 200 years ago. It is true that Count Frontenac, then Governor General of Canada, as early as 1679 urged the French monarch, to erect forts and trading posts in the West ; and, although he received no support from his royal master, he sent out a number of trading parties, one of which erected a stockade below the site of Maumee City. This became a profitable trading post, and is spoken of in the old French records as under the command of Sieur Court hemanche in 1694. It was finally abandoned for a more eligible site at the head of * the Maumee, near the present city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Surely, neither this nor the sim- ilar rude stockades subsequently erected at several other points in Northern Ohio and Indiana, for the protection of the fur traders, and ' ' coureurs des hois, ' ' could be fairly characterized as European settlements. I have already described this class of men. They were adventurers, not immigrants. They were intent only on peddling their goods for furs, and living beyond 110 THE WEST IN 1880— OHIO. arms' length of tlie restraints of civilization. They were nomads, making their homes — if they could be said to remain anywhere long enough to have homes— with the Indians; migrating hither and thither with them, and no more entitled to be called " settlers " than the aborigines. The hona-flde settlers of Ohio were men of an entirely different mould. It has been well said of them: " They were born under a monarchy ; fought the bat- tle of Independence ; assisted in the baptism of a grand republic ; then moved into a wilderness and laid the foundations of a State, itself almost an empire." In 1786, the Ohio Company was organized in New England. This company contracted with Congress for 1,500,000 acres of land on the Ohio, including the mouths of the Muskingum and the Hocking, for $1,000,000. The most of the company were revolutionary soldiers, and held an abundance of continental scrip, which they offered in payment for the lands. This con- tract was executed in November, 1787, and Q-en. Rufus Putnam and a number of other colonists made what I have above termed the first permanent white settlement in Ohio, at Marietta, near the mouth of the Muskingum, in April of 1788. "Most of these colonists," says Judge Burnet (himself one of the early settlers of Cincinnati), were men of distinction and energy." As soon as they had provided shelter for themselves and families, they or- ganized a church and established a school by voluntary contri- butions. Two entire townships were reserved out of their grant for the foundation of an academy or "university," and two others for the support of schools and "religion." This example was followed by subsequent colonists in other places. Such was the spirit of the early settlers of Ohio— both those who made the first "clearings" on the Ohio river, and those who entered the " Western Reserve," at the northern extreme of the wilderness. In this fact is discovered one of the causes of that thrifty, healthy growth which has since extended through the entire West, now a land of schools and churches, good laws and morals, as well as of immense wealth. In October, 1788, John Cleves Symmes contracted with Con- gress for 1,000,000 acres along the Ohio, between the G-reat and the Little Miamis. Soon afterwards he sold the land on which Cincinnati now stands to Matthias Denman and Mr. Filson of Kentucky, for laying out a town. The site was surveyed during the next winter, 1788-89 ; the corners of the lots and the streets THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. HI being "blazed," in Indian fashion, on the giant trees of the magnificent forest that then covered the plateau, encircled with hills 300 feet high, on which the "QaeenCity" now stands. In this chrysalis period of its existence, the present emporium of the Ohio valley was known by the euphonious name of Lo^nti- ville, which its putative fathers no doubt intended as a guide to the backwoodsmen of Kentucky, already familiar with the salt licks of the sinuous Licking river, who might be in search of this infant Moses of the West. Of course, the scholarly back- woodsmen would at once recognize that this happy compound of the initial of their beautiful river with the Latin words os and anti and the French mile, signified "a city opposite the mouth of the Licking." Fortunately, Governor St. Clair changed its name, a few months later, to Cincinnati, iu honor of the order of Cincinnatus, to which he belonged. Columbia, at the mouth of the Little Miami, was begun by the erection of a block house in November, 1788 — antedating the platting of Cincinnati by a few days. In the following February, Mr. Symmes laid out a town at the southern extreme of his purchase, just above the mouth of the Great Miami. The spring freshets completely inundated it and drove the ambitious founder farther up the Ohio, to North Bend, where he platted what he fondly hoped would become an immense city, extending entirely across the isthmus between the Miami and the Ohio. It was christened Symmes City. Thus, Marietta, Columbia, Cincinnati and Symmes City were founded within a period of ten months, each hopeful of becoming the metropolis of the West. Marietta was by a few months the oldest, and here Gen. Arthur St. Clair located, on the 9th of July, 1789, when he arrived to set up the government of the Northwest Territory, the first purely civil government ever established between the Great Lakes and the Ohio. For a time, Symmes City contained more inhabitants than Cincinnati, and jealousy ran high between the rival villages, until the commandant of the government trbops, having been induced to remove to Cincinnati and erect Fort Washington at that point, sealed the doom of the slighted city, which now exists only upon the pages of the earliest chronicles. Judge Symmes always insisted that in this, as in many other fateful events of history, doom waited on a woman's smUe. Paris bore away Helen, Troy received the guilty pair and perished ; Menelaus Symmes complained that a Symmes City Helen, removing to 113 THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. Cincinnati, drew the gallant commandant after her. Mark,, however, the difference in the results ; Cincinnati received them and waxed mightier than before, while Symmes City has gone to join Troy, Carthage, and those other ancient emporiums for which poets now and then inquire, crying " Where are they ? " and only mocking echo answers, mildly repeating "Where ? " Indian troubles began as soon as these settlements were com- menced. Mr. Pilson, mentioned above as one of the original grantees of the Cincinnati purchase, was killed in 1789, while engaged in surveying a part of his grant. Savage raids and massacres multiplied rapidly. For years settlers were afraid to venture far from their villages, except in armed bodies ; and farming was restricted to the neighborhood of forts and block houses. The region between the two Miamis became known a& " The Miami slaughter pen." Not until two disastrous military campaigns, one under General Harmar in 1790, and another under Governor St. Clair in 1791, was the general government aroused to the necessity of a great effort to subdue the savages.. In 1794, Gen. Anthony Wayne, of revolutionary fame, with 2,000 regular troops and 1,500 mounted riflemen, Kentucky vol- unteers, defeated the combined tribes of the Northwest, in a bloody battle near the site of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The follow- ing year they sued for peace, and General Wayne dictated the terms of a treaty, signed at Greenville, Ohio, by all the tribes claiming country east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio river, relinquishing title to nearly all the present territory of this- State and a strip along the eastern side of Indiana, besides several small tracts in Michigan and Illinois. Almost immediately after the promulgation of this treaty, which resulted in a long term of peace, not seriously disturbed until nearly twenty years later, during our second war with Great Britain, immigration, which had been well-nigh totally arrested, poured in upon the fertile plains and down the luxu- riant valleys of Ohio with great rapidity. No census of the population was taken in 1790, but from the best data I can find, it is evident it had increased, within about two years, from the little band that wended its way by painful marches through the moun- tain passes of Pennsylvania and West Yirginia to the Monon- gahela, and descended thence to Marietta, to some 3, 000. Before the end of 1798, notwithstanding the retarding effects of five years of Indian wars, there were eight organized counties, includ- THE "WEST IN 1880— OHIO. 113- ing Wayne county, whicli embraced, besides the northwest corner of Ohio, parts of Northeastern Indiana and Michigan, and' Kas- kaskia county, covering the most of what is now Illinois. The ordinance of 1787 provided, that, when satisfactory evidence was given that either of the three divisions defined therein to be erected in due time into as many distinct States, contained 5,000 free male inhabitants, it should be entitled to elect a Territorial legislature. Such a population was found within the limits of Ohio in 1798, and, an election having been held, in conformity with the provisions of the ordinance, the first legislature met at Cincinnati, Sept. 16, 1799. The moral disposition and far-seeing political sagacity of those hirsute, sunburnt and homespun-clad statesmen of the backwoods, engaged in laying the foundations of what has proved to be one of the most virtuous and prosper- ous commonwealths of modern times, are manifested by their refusal to authorize lotteries for public purposes, however meri- torious these purposes might be ; and by an address to the people, just entering upon self-government, closing with these memorable words: "Religion, morality, and knowledge are necessary to all good government. Let us therefore inculcate the principles of humanity, ibenevolence, honesty and punctu- ality in dealing, sincerity, charity, and all the affections." It is hardly surprising, that, starting in this spirit, Ohio has never been beguiled by the siren of repudiation into a disregard of the precepts of the fathers, and that she early made liberal provisions for public schools and higher institutions of learning, so that in 1880, out of a population of nearly three and a quarter millions, there are but few who can not read. This legislature adjourned just twelve days before the advent of the new century, which opened upon Ohio in the full enjoyment of laws of her own making, or approval. On the 7th of the following May, Congress having duly recog- nized the Territorial organization of Ohio, the rest of the region that had shared with her in the government of the Northwest Territory was erected into the Territory of Indiana. * How rapidly Ohio has developed from this beginning of its Territorial epoch, at the day-spring of the present century, down through its State history, begun in 1803, to the present * For a short time all that portion of the present States of Ohio and Michigan east'of the western honndary line of Ohio extended northward to the international houndary line, and north of a line drawn due east from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, was not attached to Indiana Territory, but Congress soon added it to that jurisdiction. 114 THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. year, is unfolded in the following table, giving its population at nine decennial periods, and the percentage of increase from period to period : Census Teaks. White. Colored. Total. Per cent, increase. 1800 45,038 338,861 576,572 928,329 1,503,123 1,955,050 3,303,808 3,601,946 3,100,000 337 1,899 4,863 9,574 17,345 25,279 36,673 63,213 98,239 45,365 230,760 581,434 937,903 1,519,467 1,980,329 2,339,511 3,665,260 3,198,239 1810 409 1830 152 1830 61 1840 1850 63 30 I860 18 1870 13+ 1880 '. 16+ Ohio is the first State (except Vermont) that came into the Union entirely exempt from slavery, and in which a slave was never owned. According to the last census, then, Ohio stands third in rank of population among the States of the American Union, and contains nearly one-fifteenth of all its inhabitants. The material development of this State has been still more rapid than its increase of population. The assessors' returns i'or 1879 report 8,840,232 acres of plowed land; 5,758,415 acres in pastures ; 6,101,441 in woodlands, out of a total of 25,376,264 acres of taxable lands enumerated in the Grand Duplicate of the State for the same year. Of these, according to the report of the United States Agricultural Bureau for 1879, 3,019,600 acres were in Indian corn, an increase of over thirty-seven per cent, in ten years ; 1,876,500 acres were in wheat, an increase of more than forty-two per cent, in ten years. There were 67,400 acres planted in rye ; 860,100 in oats ; 38,500 in barley ; 16,100 in buckwheat ; 124,400 in potatoes (an increase of 45 per cent); 21,000 acres in tobacco ; and 2,099,145 in hay, an increase of more than fifty-one per cent. To overcome as much as possible the fluctuations of seasons and markets, and so furnish to agricul- turists, capitalists, social and political economists, and all coq- cerned in definite knowledge of this subject, a safe basis for their calculations, so far as Ohio is concerned, I have with much labor averaged the yields and values of the principal crops of this State for ,the five years ending with 1879. This table exhibits not only the total average annual yield of each of these crops for the period named, and its total value, but the price per THE WEST IN 1880— OHIO. 115 bushel, pound or ton, and the yield per acre, together with the value of the yield per acre — each averaged for five years. In the first column I am able to set forth the total of four of the principal of these crops for the year 1839, indicating that in forty years the corn crop has increased 209 per cent. ; the wheat crop, 60 ; the oat crop, 88, and the hay crop, 124 per cent. Crops. Total yield ol crop of 1839, in bushels, pounds or tons. Indian corn Wheat Rye Oats Barley Buckwheat. Potatoes . . . Tobacco . . . Hay Average annual yield in bustiels, pounds or tonefor5 yrs. ending 1879. 33,668,147 16,171,661 14,393,103 Average price per bushel, pound or ton for 5 years. 1,033,037 104,265,940 26,993,350 731,793 27,063,098 880,130 339,540 10,406,640 19,199,750 3,387,616 $0.38+ 1.08 .65+ .39+ .74+ .74 .46+ .05.9 9.33 Average annual value of crop for 5 years ending with , 1879. $40,373,992 25,700,660 457,799 7,813,353 681,087 249,544 4,735,463 1,138,340 2,086,313 $83,126,550 Average annual yield per acre, for 5 years ending 1879. 34.3 14.7 14.6 30.5 24.5 14.7 83 748 lbs. 1.34T. Average annual value per acre for 5 years ending 1879. $13.37 16.25 9.44 8.76 18.15 10.07 37.77 43.37 11.33 The total cereal product of Ohio in 1879 was 170,811,300 bushels, on 5,878,200 acres ; an average of 29 bushels to the acre. The total cereal product of France, in 1875, was 216,805,223 hectolitres, on 14,916,328 hectares; and the average yield to the hectare was 14.35 hectolitres, or 16.46 bushels to the acre. The cereal crops of Ohio in 1859, 1869, and 1879, in bushels, according to the^ Census tables of 1860, 1870, and 1880, were : Ckops. I860. 1870. 1830. Wheat 15,119,047 683,686 15,409,234 73,543,190 3,370,650 1,663,868 37,882,159 846,890 25,347,549 67,501,144 180,341 1,715,221 46,014,869 Rye , . 389,331 Oats 28,664,505 Indian corn . 111,877,134 280,329 Barley ■ l,707,l!i9 Totals , 108,789,675 123,473,304 188,933,177 In 1879, according to State statistics, in addition to a hay crop of 2,456,000 tons, of which 1,951,000 were timothy, Ohio pro- duced 388,200 bushels of timothy seed, worth $980,000. In 1868 it produced 479,669 bushels of flax-seed, and 12,036,083 pounds of fibre, off an area of 148,986 acres ; also 11,909 pounds 116 THE WEST m 1880 — OHIO. of sorghum sugar and 1,273,048 gallons of syrup, from 16,30n acres. Its sugar maples yielded 2,978,288 pounds of sugar, and 510,117 gallons of syrup, and its apiaries contained 169,755 hives, yielding 2,512,293 pounds of honey. In the same year, its orchards covered 421,349 acres, yielding 30,669,404 bushels of apples (the largest yield in the history of the State) ; 1,476,159 bushels of peaches (a light crop) ; and 110,419 bushels of pears. Besides this, there vrere considerable orchards of plums and •cherries. In the same season the Ohio vineyards had increased from 8,560 acres the year before, to 9,963 acres, a gain of more than sixteen per cent. ; and they yielded 10,341,715 pounds of grapes and 708,733 gallons of vrine. Immense quantities of small fruits and vegetables are raised every year, of which mo regular returns are made to the State statisticians. It appears that not less than 80,000 bushels of strawberries were handled in Cincinnati, in 1879. These brought from $1.25 to $3 per bushel. The total product of the State has been estimated at 400,000 bushels of strawberries, worth $800,000. Andersonville township, Hamilton county, produces the greater part of all the berries sent to Cincinnati. The value of the berries and toma- toes of the entire State is roughly estimated at $2,400,000 per annum. The live cattle and meat products of this country not only supply a per capita home consumption nearly doable that of any other nation, but have of late years taken a prominent place among our exports to foreign lands, the total number of living animals exported from the United States for the year ending June 30, 1879, being 435,597, against 82,274 in 1870, of the value of $11,487,754, against $1,048,039 in 1870 ; while the meats •exported during 1879 amounted to $90,614,985 in value; the butter, cheese, and condensed milk, to $18,121,056 ; and the tal- low, hides and wool, to $12,089,071. In the year ending June 30, 1880, the value of live animals exported increased to $15,882,120, a gain of over thirty-eight per cent. That, directly and indirectly, Ohio contributed a considerable share of this surplus, is made very evident by the statistics of farm animals and dairy products, given in this chapter and else- where in this volume. The following table shows the number of farm animals in Ohio, averaged for five years, with the price per head and their annual total value, averaged for the same period : THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. 117 Fabu Animals. Number in February, 1870. Annual number of animals av- eraged for 5 yre. ending Jan. 1880. Pc^ce per head, av oraged for the 5 yrs. ending 1880. Total annual value, av- eraged for 5 years. Horses Mules Oxen and other cattle Milch cows Sh» ep : . . Hogs Totals 734,300 26,000 753,000 315,000 3,340,000 463,000 771,960 36,300 799,830 ■ 736,140 4,070,000 1,983,900 $61.59 64.54 33.34 30.35 3.65 5.97 $47,494,705 1,698,594 18,600,593 33,016,930 10,817,165 11,404,453 5,619,300 8,378,130 $113,033,439 During the ten years closing with 1878, the dairy products of Ohio have grown surprisingly, having increased from 37, 605, 378 pounds of butter in 1868, to 50,332,000 pounds in 1878, and from 17,814,597 pounds of cheese to 36,401,386 pounds, making the total ^airy product of 1878 worth not less than $11,200,000. Much of this increase is due to the introduction of the factory :system of manufacturing butter and cheese, which has resulted in improving the quality as well as multiplying the quantity of these articles, enabling them to compete with the best dairy prod- Ticts of the Eastern States and Europe. The milk sold in 1870 amounted to 22,275,344 gallons, and in 1880 to 51,950,620 gallons. The poultry and eggs of Ohio constitute no mean element in its schedule of products, amounting in 1880 to $4,590,000. The wool produced in 1878 amounted to 16,390,505 pounds, worth in New York $4,590,000, which places Ohio in the front rank of wool-producing States. Only California and Texas sur- pass Ohio in the number of sheep raised, and only California in the quantity and value of wool produced. In 1879, Ohio had over two and a half times as many sheep as any other Western State. The superiority of American wools in soundness, strength and length of staple, adds greatly to their value in the markets of the world, and gives our manufacturers an advantage over those of most other countries, which is beginning to be appreci- ated both at home and abroad, as plainly manifested by the increased demand for American woolen goods. In these ele- ments of excellence the Ohio wools stand among the first. It is hard for the political economist to discover any real value in dogs; yet the State records report 272,084 of these animals, valued by their owners at $373,624. That "the meat of the children is given to the dogs," not only at the poor man's table, but in the .sheep pastures, is demonstrated by the assessor's returns for 118 THE WEST m 1880 — OHIO. 1879, which bear witness against the curs, that they killed not less than 24,684 sheep, and injured 22,942 during that year— the aggregate damage amounting to $104,444. Diseases, which carried off in the same period 223,015 hogs, valued at $661,454; 63,702 sheep, valued at $153,485 ; 14,795 cattle, worth $363,172 ; and 11,109 horses, valued at $603,735, impose quite as heavy charges upon the farmer as he can complacently bear, without this aggravating infliction suffered from an army of useless whelps. Stringent laws and dog poison, still more effective, have worked some abatement of this plague since 1871, when the damage to sheep-husbandry from dogs amounted to nearly eighty per cent, more than in 1879 ; but it is evident that this evil is still a serious one to this industry. The best of light and brown sandstone, and other excellent building materials enter largely into the buildings of the State, and large quantities of similar materials are exported. The importance of the home demand may be better understood by the fact that nearly 12,000 new buildings are annually erected in Ohio at a cost of nearly $7,000,000. Beds of gypsum and marl add not a little to the wealth of the State, as fertilizers and in commerce ; and underlying the beds of iron ore in the southeastern portion are extensive quarries of buhr- stone, th-e only ones df any considerable value as yet devel- oped in the United States, constituting our chief substitute for the famous buhrstone of Paris for milling purposes. About one- third of Ohio, as I have' already shownf is underlaid with the Coal measures, the lower strata of which contain immense beds of bituminous coal, iron ore, limestone, and the buhrstone of which mention has already been made above. Seldom is nature so bountiful in her gifts as she has been to this section of Ohio. While Ceres gilds the undulating fields with yellow harvests and Pan leads the myriad flocks among the hills and meadows above ground, Plutonian riches of even greater value are found stored away in inexhaustible mines beneath. The coal beds vary from two to ten feet in thickness, and embrace an area of not less than 10,000 square miles. The coal product of 1878, according to the assessor's returns of May, 1879, was 5,245,077 tons — more than forty per cent, of the total yield of the West- ern States — and the mines employed 9,952 persons. The largest yield was obtained in Tuscarawas county, 35,059,607 bushels; the next largest in Trumbull county, 26,618,843 ; the next in THE WEST IN 1880 -OHIO. 119 Stark, 9,339,494 ; these togetlier' being nearly fifty per cent, of the whole. The yield for 1880 is estimated by the State In- spector at 7,000,000 tons. As yet but an insignificant portion of the coal fields has been opened up. The iron ore mined in the_> same year was 291,847 tons, of which 83,654 tons were taken' from the Lawrence county mines ; 77,500 from Columbiana ; 61,333 from Perry and 25,296 from Jackson county, leaving but fifteen per cent, for the five other iron-producing counties. These mines gave employment to 1,655 persons. As yet the iron mining in Ohio is scarcely more than begun. There is probably more black band iron ore in this State than in all the rest of the Union. The petroleum yield for the same year was 1,272,723 gallons; of which 2,000,000 refined 'petroleum were obtained from Coshocton county, and 42,000 in Ottawa county ; while 955,000 gallons of crude oil were produced in Washington, and 218,723 gallons in Morgan county. Salt springs are numerous in the Muskingum valley and between this and the Ohio river. In some cases inflammable gas issues from them, and burning wells are not uncommon. The salt-bearing rock is usually found at from 650 to 750 feet below water level in the rivers. The product of the salt furnaces in 1879 was 2,903,961 bushels; of which the Meigs county furnaces made 1,895,354 bushels ; or two-thirds. of the whole; Muskingum county 603,750, and Tuscarawas county 176,427 bushels. Large beds of potter's clay of good quality exist in several parts of the State, and the stone-ware made in 1879 amounted to 5,354,200 gallons, of which Summit county manufactured 3,540,000, or fully two thirds of the whole. Columbiana, Defiance, and Highland counties- manufactured 32,166 barrels of water cement ; apd Greene county made 108, 250 barrels ; Clarke, 102,000 ; Erie, 80,000; Sandusky, 78,000 ; Cuyahoga, 73,574, and twenty other counties together, 101,000 barrels of lime, being a total of 532,826. Considerable quanti- ties of fire-clay are manufactured. It is one of the peculiar advantages enjoyed by Eastern Ohio, that the coal, limestone, and other essentials for the reduction of iron ores, and the iron itself, are all found in close proximity; whereas the ores of other regions have, in many cases, to be transported over long distances to reach coal beds and the required fluxes. Ohio has heretofore taken high rank among the iron-manufacturing States, standing second to Pennsylvania 7 120 THE WEST m 1880 -OHIO. in its iron product in 1880 ; the total production of iron as returned by the tenth census, being 930,141 net tons. The State has 134 blast furnaces, rolling mills, steel works, etc., in which $25,141,294 of capital is invested, 20,071 hands employed, $8,265,070 wages paid, $23,997,915 materials used, nearly $35,000,000 worth of manufactured articles produced, .weighing, as above said, 930,141 tons, against 449,768 tons in 1870. In 1878 the hot blastfurnaces of Ohio turned out 268,567 tons of pig iron, of which the Mahoning county furnaces yielded 81,403 tons ; the Cuyahoga furnaces the next largest amount — 60,000 tons — Jack- son, 31,616 tons; Perry, 26,003 tons; and Lawrence, 16,174 tons ; which distinctly outlines the locale of the iron and steel smelting business. The iron-manufacturing centre of the State is indisputably Cleveland ; Cuyahoga county alone producing 168,165 tons of pig and rolled iron, and 25, 000, tons of castings, or thirty-five per cent, of the whole. In foundry products, Cincinnati and the rest of Hamilton county take the first rank, with a total of 31,600 tons of stoves, hollow- ware, and other castings. The foundry productions of the entire State, reported by the assessors. May 1, 1879, was 27,386 tons of stoves and hol- low-ware ; 22,450 tons of car wheels ; and 27,118 tons of other castings ; total, 76,954 tons, which, added to the pig metal and rolled iron before given, made an aggregate of 621,925 tons of iron and steel products for that year, besides twenty -five loco- motives, 1,502 steam engines, 1,035 steam boilers, 109 sugar mills, 29,828 reapers, 24,950 mowers, 2,089 threshing machines, 22,776 plows, 2,500 corn planters, and large quantities of imple- ments for mechanical and agricultural purposes. But I have shown that this business was exceeded in 1880. The total value of the manufactures of Ohio, in 1880, was about $460,000,000. Of this amount some thirty per cent, was produced in Hamilton county, which includes Cincinnati. Cleveland and the remainder of Cuyahoga county made nearly an eighth of the whole. Montgomery county, embracing Day- ton ; Summit, embracing Akron ; Stark, with its busy towns of Canton, Massillon and Alliance ; Franklin, with the active city of Columbus ; Lucas, including Toledo ; Mahoning, with the furnaces and mills of Youngstown ; Butler, including Hamilton; and Trumbull, embracing Warren — followed the two leading counties above named in the list of Ohio's manufacturing locali- ties, in about the order above given, with a product of from THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. 121 :$20,000,000 down to $8,000,000 each. Clark, Jefferson, Law- rence, Scioto, Richland and Muskingum counties stood next, with products amounting to about $7,000,000 apiece in the chief of these, and not less than $4,500,000 in the least. Twelve other counties, in various parts of the State, made, in 1880, from $2,000,000 to $5,000,000 worth of wares each. With the map of Ohio before him, and the above indications of the chief manufacturing counties, one readily comprehends that no single portion or district of this great State monopolizes its manu- facturing industries. The glare of the blast furnace is seen and and the thunder of the forge is heard in many a noisy industrial neighborhood, and the whirr of wheels and buzz of saws and spindles salute the ear throughout every portion of the com- monwealth. Among these it is not difficult to designate the chief industries except in a few instances, where two or more classes of manu- factures are so nearly balanced in the aggregate values of their several products that only the final statistics of the Census Bureau, not yet available, will enable us to determine which pre- dominates. In Ohio, probably, the iron and steel production exceeds the value of the flouring and grist mill products. If so, theI^ this is the only one of the ten prairie States in which flour and meal do not outrank in value every other manufacture. Clothing, lumber and wooden ware, agricultural implements and machinery, distilled, malt and vinous liquors, packed meats, furniture, leather, coal-oil rectified, boots and shoes, tobacco in various forms, carpentry and building, ranked next in import- ance to the two leading lines of manufactures. The value of these classes of products ranged from about $35,000,000 each, in the case of the iron and steel, and the flour and meal, down through the twenties and tens of millions, to about $6,000,000 each in the ones last named. Next in value stood carriages and wagons, printing and publishing, paper, cooperage; butter and ■cheese, woolen goods, stone and earthenware, sash and doors, and freight and passenger cars, ranging in aggregate value from $6,000,000 down to $2,500,000 each. Hamilton manufactures nearly four times as much lumber, planed and sawed, as any ■other county ; then follow Lucas, Hardin, Cuyahoga, Trumbull, Erie, Ottawa, Van Wert, Sandusky, Wood, Stark, Ashtabula, Wayne, Darke, Henry, and Champaign. Butler county is the ■centre of paper manufacture, and Cuyahoga stands next to it 122 THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. in the total value of paper of all descriptions produced in tlie county. In meat packing and clothing, Hamilton county so far exceeds any other in the State that comparison is useless. In bridge building Cuyahoga leads the State, and in cooperage it is far ahead of all rivals, exceeding even Hamilton by nearly 100 per cent. Glass manufacture is one of the growing industries, Ohio standing now fifth among the States in the amount of window glass made, third in glassware, and seventh in green glass. According to the report of Professor Gr. Brown Goode, special agent in charge of the Fishery Division of the Census, Ohio stood first among the States in the number of pounds of lake fish caught in 1880, first in the number of pounds of such fish salted, and only second to Michigan in the value of fish, fresh and salted. More than half of this industry is centered in Erie bounty and mainly at Sandusky. Lucas county stands next, with nearly a fourth of the entire business. It is quite surprising that Ohio has not gone into the manufac- ture of cotton more extensively. ' With excellent water-power, and such abundance of cheap fuel at home, while the cotton region stretches to her very border, it seems strange that in 1880 there were but forty-two looms and 14,328 spindles in this State, consuming 10,597 bales of cotton, and employing only 563 per- sons. The attention given to woolen manufacturing is much more considerable, the product in 1880 amounting, it is estimat- ed, to over $4,000,000 in value. There is good reason to antici- pate a rapid increase both in the woolen and cotton manufactures of Ohio. Already this State ranks with the very first' in the total value of its factory products. A carefully prepared estimate made from the returns sent in from the camme^sial agencies, for 1880, would indicate that there are 26,525 reputable commercial houses in Ohio, and that the total wealth of these establishments is $192,275,409 ; that there are 7,353 traders or operatives, with a capital each of $500. There are probably 5,317 bona fide manufacturing firms, with a total wealth of $75,661,958, and upward of 250 manufacturing corporations, with a total wealth of $26,787,422. If these figures may be relied upon, the total commercial and manufactur- ing interests of the State would now represent a wealth of $296,894,951. No stronger cbnfirmation of the avowal of the Superintendent ] THE WEST IN 1880— OHIO. 123 of the Census that the statistics of the' Mining and Fishery Indus- tries in the United States, down to and including the Census of 1870, are "distressingly inadequate to the known facts of the case," could.be adduced than the returns made for Ohio and other States bordering on the Western lakes and rivers. Accord- ing to this, the fisheries of Ohio, in 1870, employed only 565 persons, receiving $71,762 wages, engaged $262,000 capital ; and produced $383,121. The fish taken on the lake shore alone were worth fully this sum. The following statistics are founded , on preliminary reports made to the Census Bureau. The final reports, the aggregates of which for each of the ten Prairie States are given in Chapter I. , differ somewhat from these figures : BSTrMATB OF THE VALUE OF THE YIELD OF THE LAKE FISHERIES OF OHIO FOE 1879. Toledo Locust Pt. . Toussaint . . . Port Clinton Huron Sandusky . . , Vermillion . . I 90,000. no 2,735.00 1,300 00 38,930.36 31,914.07 186,391.51 10,139.16 Brownhe'im Bay to Lorain Dover Bay Ashtabula and Conneaut Willoughby&I^ainesville Miles Grove Total value. $ 10,836.00 7,408.00 20,200.00 13,945.00 7,300.00 1400,979.00 With the attention now given to fish culture by the general government, the State, and private parties, this industry may be expected to develop greatly during the decennial period now opening. Powerfully conducive to all this wonderful growth of Ohio in population, agriculture, and the great industries, as I have . intimated before, have been its systems of transportation, without which, it is safe to presume, such a growth in such a brief period of time would .have been impossible. Nature had done grandly for Ohio, giving her a coast line of 230 miles on Lake Erie, and 436 miles on the Ohio. Yet, in early days, to reach the Eastern markets, swine and cattle had to be driven over the AUeghanies and the Blue Ridgie to Baltimore or Philadelphia*^a wearing journey of from six weeks to two months. So impressed was Congress with the hardships of this journey and the necessity of constructing roads, that one of its first acts after the adoption of the present constitution was to provide for the construction of the National Road, to run from Cumberland, Maryland, . * The Ohio Gazetteer for 1821 says that 40,000 head of swine were driven from Ohio to Philadelpliia and Baltimore and other Eastern markets, in 1810. Vast numbers of ewine were alsO driven to Detroit and other military posts in thatquarter. 124 THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, to the Mississippi — a road eighty feet wide and nearly 1,000 miles long, which was looked' npon for many years as the Appian Way of this country. When Ohio was admitted to the Union, it was stipulated that the State should expend a given per cent, of the amount received for certain lands granted to it, for the construction and main- tenance of roads. There are to-day 478 turnpikes and plank roads, public and corporate, in this State, with a total length of 3,728 miles. According to the late Judge Burnet, of Cincinnati, the first company of Ohio pioneers, under the lead of General Kufus Putnam, of Connecticut, struck the Monongahela river near the mouth of the Youghiogheny, and, as it was not safe to proceed in open boats, they built a substantial row-galley, completely decked over, as a protection against Indians. " This," he adds, " was the first decked vessel that ever floated the Ohio." This was the germ, in 1788, of a business on the Western rivers, which, according to the government report for June 30, 1879, had then expanded to 1,203 steam vessels, and 1,373 barges, with a measurement of 501,809 tons. This is without taking inta account sailing vessels on the Lower Mississippi, and canal boats within the waters of Ohio and other Western States. On the Lakes, in the same year, there were 3,087 American vessels, with a measurement of 597,376 tons, besides an immense fleet of foreign vessels. To the river and lake navigatioa must be added the 736 miles of canals constructed withiu Ohio, and owned by the State — connecting the Ohio river and , Lake Erie by a line from Portsmouth to Cleveland, and by another line from Cincinnati to Sandusky, thus uniting the 1,500 miles of navigable waters of the St. Lawrence river with the nearly 20,000 miles of navigable waters of the Mississippi system. The last-mentioned line connects with the Wabash and Erie canal, a few miles north of Defiance, which, until the abandonment of its upper section, joined the navigable waters of the Wabash river and Lake Erie, and linked together the canal systems of Ohio and Indiana. The proportion of these vessels enrolled or licensed in the three customs districts of Ohio on Lake Erie, and the customs district of Cincinnati, their value and the nu,mber of hands em- ployed, may be seen in the following tables, compiled from reports prepared for the Tenth Census : THE WEST IN 1880— OHIO. 125 VESSELS ENROLMID OR LICENSED IN THE SEVERAL CUSTOMS DISTRICTS OF OHIO ON LAKE BRIE. Class. , No. Tonnage. Value. Crew. Passenger steamers 6 85 35 34 .2,680.23 31,767.87 ' 1,500.51 983.93 $ 98,300 1,618,100 154,100 137,300 91 Freight " 493 Towing " 183 Yachts " 91 Totals 110 36,931.52 $3,007,700 807 OHIO RIVER STEAMERS. ClASB. No. Tonnage. Value. Crew. 73 17 28 34,671.10 968.45 3,931.87 • $1,534,500 33,600 146,800 1,900 Ferry " 63 Towing " 898 Totals 118 39,571.43 $1,713,400 3,360 Canal boats, estimated Barges, " "Wharf boats, " 350 300 28 28,000 90,000 10,000 $150,000 115,000 50,000 1,400 ORE AND GRAIN TRAEMC OF OHIO ON LAKE ERIE— Steamers. Tbaffio. No. Tonnage. Value. Ore to Ohio Ports. Ore trade .... 24 6 26,550.23 8,524.78 $1,000,000 350,000 1,010,946 tons. Grain " Important as are all its means of vrater transportation, the railroad system of Ohio is of far greater service to it. The railroads (begun vfith the construction of the Cincinnati & Sandusky railway, in 1835, and the Cinpinnati & Cleveland, com- menced in 1843) have expanded to 6,021 miles vrithin the State, uniting the commerce of Ohio to all the great trunk lines of the Union. The increase, within the State alone, during the decade from 1870 to 1880, has been more than eighty-three per cent. Down to 1879 these railroads had cost $423,745,324 ; their grogs earnings that year amounted to $52,499,430, their net earnings to $19,940,511, and they paid out $7,647,553 in dividends. The capacity of these mighty channels of com- merce is but dimly outlined by the fact that the returns of the Ohio roads alone report 1,804 locomotives, 1,221 passenger and baggage cars, and 46,990 freight cars, moving upon eighty-five 126 TPIE WEST IN 1880— OHIO. roads; of which thirty-seven carried 13,604,823 passengers and 1,759,996,044 tons of freight in the single y_ear.l879. There are over fifty cities in the State with a population of 5,000 and upwards— of which Cincinnati has 255,708 inhabit- ants ; Cleveland, 160,142; Toledo, 50,143; Dayton, 38,677; Columbus, 51,665 ; Zanesville, 18,120; Springfield, 20,729 ; and seven others, over 10,0,00. The trade and manufactures of these hives of human industry are treated of elsewhere. All these cities are linked together by an endless chain ot railways, and the perpetually rolling wheels of a sleepless commerce. To-facilitate exchanges and serve as the nerve centres of this magnificent commerce, there are 165 national banks in Ohio, with a capital'of $25,960,081 ; nineteen corporate banks, with a capital of $1,312,842 ; twenty-seven savings banks, vrith a capi- tal of $1,575,361 ; and 173 private banks, with $4,407,794 capi- tal, or a total of 384 banks," with $33,256,078 capital. The extents of_the mercantile business of thisStata is indicated by the following carefully prepared summary of the insurance business in Ohio for the year ending January, 1880 : Companies. Eisks written. Premiums -received. Losses incurred. Oiio joint stock fire and fire-marine insurance companies Ohio mutual fire ins. companies. . . Joint-stock fire and fire-marine ins. - companies of-other States, .-.-v^t-. Mutual fire and fire-marine ins. of .other States ' '. Marine insurance, companies Foreign Insurance companies C^ualty ins. co's of other States. . . $ 87,777,493.61 53,140,396.33 ISS; 075,736. 79 • 7,075,015.03 2,838,009.00 47,319,532.74 9,767,387.35 $1,083,147.23 385,333.91 1,541,308.44 79,226.36 10,831.39 468,473.63 43,483.19 $ 583,332.43 4^9,950.83 703,635.85 68,543.72 3,500.00 169,866.33 49,419.34 Total ms. other than life Ohio life insurance companies. . . . Life ins. co's of other States $363,983,549.84 962,049.00 9,248,540.00 $3,610,694.15 308,523.50 2,596,887.34 $2,008,348.50 63,725.00 1,314,770,00 Total life insurance $10, 330, 589. 00 . $2,905,410.84 $1,278,495.00 Aggregate $3.73,194,138.84 $6,516,104.99 $3,386,743.50 The total assessed value of real estate in Ohio, according to the Census report of 1880, is $1,102,677,704. From the returns on 600 special schedules sent into every county of the State, it appears that real estate is assessed differently in different coun- ties,, varying from thirty-three and one-third to ninety per cent. A careful analysis of these returns makes it fair to estimate, that, THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. 127 on an average, real estate is assessed at about sixty per cent, in Ohio ; hence the true value of all its real estate is, $1,837,792,840. It is difficult to make even an approximation of the true value of personal property. The assessors' books show $443,068,896, but this does not cover one-half of the personal property of the State, which careful computation shows to be, in round figures, $1,000,000,000, making a total true value of $2,837,792,840, or of $887.29 per capita of the population, while the debt is only fl5.98 per capita. In the recent investigation made by the Wealth, Debt, and Taxation division of the Tenth Census into the ownership of the national debt, it was found that private citizens in Ohio held $16,445,050 of the registered bonds ; and, estimating at the same ratio, the State owns $18,988,696 of coupon bonds. The regis- tered bonds are distributed in the following cities : Labgb Cities. ^ Total amount of Registered Bonds. $ 4,815,450 Olevelanti . . . .;.... ■. . . .'.^. .... .\ .... 3,854,300 503,100 Dayton . 564,650: Toledo 244,900 304, 100 Sa>la>iice of State i 6 258,650 Total : $16,445,050 Total amount of coupon bonds held in State 18,988,696 Total $35,433,746 The State debt of Ohio, which was nearly $13,000,000 in 1841, and upwards of $15,000,000 in 1852, has gradually decreased to $6,472,640, of which aU but $4,165 bears interest at six per cent. Of this grand total, the irreducible debt, belonging to the pub- lic school fund and the agricultural college fund, aggregated $4,289,718. Below is the debt exhibit of the State according to the Census of 1880 : Total state debt I 6,473, 640 ■ Total county debt 2,963,647 Total city debt (cities over 7,500 population) 38,571,389 Total debt of othe;' cities and towns 1,668,934 Total school district debt 1,451,197 Total , $51,136,817 128 THE WEST IN 1880 — OHIO. The taxation for general and school purposes for 1880 may b& divided as follows : Taxatiok fob Gehekal Purposes. State $2,914,342 County 7,084,058 Cities 8,783,516 Total $18,781,916 Taxation fob School Pukposeb. State $1,535,945. Cities (over 7,500 inhabitants) 1,696,576 Other cities and towns 8,721,539 Total $6,954,050' Thus the taxation — State, county, and municipal — for all pur- poses, aggregates $25,735,961 annually, or 8.04 per capita of the population. It is in brief : Debt per capita of population $ 15.98 Taxation per capita of population 8.04 True value of property per capita of population 887.29 Taxable property per capita of population 483.31 Below is a very interesting table, compiled with great care,, exhibiting the population of the fifteen largest cities of Ohio ;. the total assessed valuation of property, the per capita valuation -,. the total taxation, the per capita taxation ; the total debt, and the per capita debt : Cities. Populat'n 1880. Total Assessed Value Property. Per Capita Ass'd Yal. Total Tax Levy. Per Capita Levy. Total Debt. I'er Capita Debt. Akron Canton Chillicothe . . 16,512 • 12,258 16,938 255,708 160,142 51,665 38,677 13,122 11,314 15,838 20,739 12,093 50,143 15,431 18,120 $ 7,300,000 5,056,070 4,931,624 166,697,294 70,548,104 27,439,382 18,888,270 5,936,750 5,446,918 4,041,913 9,683,759 5,173,520 18,K87,955 4,437,048 7,400,000 $442.10 412.47 391.15 650.90 440.53 531.10 488.35 489.75 481.52 255.20 467.15 427.82 372.69 287.58 408.38 $ 164,714 108,201 89,449 4,906,477 1,791,922 581,715 431,209 142,473 134,266 156,625 183,973 77,601 613,695 103,841 167,387 $ 9.97 8.83 5.28 19.17 11.18 11.25 10.89 11.75 11.86 9.88 8.87 6.41 12.31 6.72 9.23 $ 23,000 180,657 $ 1.39 14,73- Cincinnati. .. Cleveland . . . Columbus . . . Dayton Hamilton . . . Portsmouth. . Sandusky . . . Springfield . . Steuben ville . Toledo Youngstown . Zanesville . . . 24,403,500 6,344,881 1,259,162 1,110,340 48,067 334,700 489,100 64,900 35,888 3,374,246 203,050 534,543 95.43 39.62 24.37 28.70- 3.96 28.69 30.88 3.13 3.96 67.29 13.15 29.50 Totals... 707.690 $361,669,207 $511.05 $9,642,348 $13.63 $40,396,034 $57.08 These fifteen cities in the State of Ohio aggregate 707,690 inhabitants, or twenty-two per cent, of the population of the State. The total assessed value of property in these cities ia $361,669,207. The true value, judging from the incomplete returns received up to this time in the Census Office, would be nea,rly double that amount, or $739,338,214. The average per THE WEST IN 1880 -OHIO. 129 capita wealth seems to be greater in Cincinnati, where it is nearly $651, than in any other city. It is surprising, however, to observe how evenly the per capita valuation runs in the cities of this State, nearly nine out of fifteen being over $400, and under $500 ; the average being about $511 per capita of the population, or, if we choose to take the true value, $1,022. The total tax levy for various purposes made during the fiscal year closing in 1880, aggregates $9,642,348 ; but the per capita taxation shows a greater degree of variation than does the per capita wealth. For instance, in Chillicothe, it is down as low as $5.28 ; and in Cincinnati it runs as high as $19.17, making an average per capita taxation for the large cities of the State of $13.62. Of course, we find within these cities the bulk of the local debt, aggregating $40,396,084, and the variation in the per capita is still greater than in the taxation column ; for here we find the little city of Akron down as low as $1.89 per capita, while the city of Cincinnati exhibits a gloomy pre-eminence in a per capita debt of $95.48. Toledo is the next most deeply involved, $67.29 ; Cleveland, third ; Sandusky, fourth, and so on. The average debt per capita of all these cities is $57.08. Quite a contrast this to the rural districts, for, when the vast population from the small cities, towns, and villages of the country is brought in, we find that the per capita debt of the entire State is $15.98. While the energies of this people have been so intently directed to the material development of their State, they have not failed to respond to the claims of man' s higher nature. Edu- cation in all its forms, from the unsectarian instruction of the common schools, free to the children of rich and poor without distinction of race or color, to the higher culture of colleges and professional schools, and the moral and religious teachings of the churches, is amply provided for. When the State gov- ernment was organized, it claimed and received from the general government the sixteenth section in every township, or its equiv- alent, for public school purposes. On Nov. 15, 1879, the common school fund of the State amounted to $3,744,603.85, and the funds of the agricultural college and the two State universities, to $545,114.67— a total of $4,289,718.52, producing an income of $274,659.42. The same yearthe State tax for the common school fund was 4^1,585,744.50, and the Ibcal taxes for school purposes 130 THE WEST IN 1880—01110. were $5,418,104.26. Other funds, fines, licenses, etc., and the balances brought over from the preceding year, swelled the total receipts of the school treasurers to $11,243,210.38, and the ex- penditures wei:e.$7, 711,325. 24. There were 12,143 school houses in the State, valued, including grounds, at $21,103,255. Of the 1,043,320 persons between six and twenty-one years of age, 734,651 were enrolled in the schools; the sessions of whicli averaged thirty weeks to the year. For the preparation of teach3rs for their work, there, are ten normal schools, only two of which, however, receive . any State or municipal support. A fund has been provided, for the aid of teachers' institutes, by taxing the candidates for teachers' cer- tificates. There are thirty-five colleges and universities in Ohio, of whicli five are non-sectarian. All the others are under denominational control. In 1879 thirty-three of these institutions reported 289 instructors and 6,240 students. Thirty of them reported 380 graduates. Twenty-one academies reported 131 regular instruct- ors and 4,369 students in 1878 ; and eleven female colleges and seminaries reported 112 instructors and 907 students in 1879. Besides the above, there are four scientific schools. Of these, the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College at Columbus, con- trolled by the State and endowed by congressional land grants, has buildings, grounds, and apparatus- estimated at $300,000. It has an endowment of 700,000, producing an income of $30,500, and a library containing 1,000 volumes. There are fourteen theological schools, with fifty-eight instructors and seventeen endowed chairs, and with 351 students, and 97 graduates (in 1879). There are two law schools, with, 120 students, twenty-nine graduates (1877), and 109 volumes in libraries. There are ten medical colleges, one dental college, and one college of pharmacy in the State, having 136 instructors and lecturers, 1,565 students, and 550 graduates (in 1877). That . essential element of everything American, the never- missing factor in all of our prosperity, the press, was established in Ohio at the very outset of the State's history. In 1880 every one of its counties had one or more newspapers. .There are, in all 666 papers in the State, of which 54 are published daily, 6 tri-weekly, 4 semi-weekly, 518 weekly, 3 bi-weekly, 10 semi- monthly, 65 monthly, 7 bi-monthly, and 5 quarterly. The fifty-four daily papers issue 65,890,389 copies annually, besides THE WEST IN 1880— OHIO. 131 17,121,740 copies in their semi-weekly, weekly, and other editions. The leading papers of Cincinnati take rank with the most powerful organs of the American press, and the chief papers of Cleveland, the capital, and several other Ohio cities, are widely known and influential, particularly within the State itself. In this State the year 1880 closed upon a population of nearly three and a quarter millions, with scarcely one member unem- ployed, unless from choice, or because of mental or physical disability. For these unfortunates, the benevolence of the people has made ample provisions of excellent character in State institutions for the blind, the deaf and dumb, the sick, the feeble-minded, and the insane. Among the infallible criteria of a prosperous, moral, and well- governed State, are a high ratio of marriages, a low ratio of divorces and illegitimate births, and a low ratio of paupers and criminals, and herein the records of Ohio are very creditable. The marriages in 1879 numbered 26,399, or one in twenty-eight* of the male population above twenty-one years of age. ■ The births numbered 65, 132, of which only about two in a thousand were illegitimate, whereas in France the ratio of illegitimate births in 1877 was over sixty-one in a thousand. , The total number of divorces granted was 1,472, of which about twenty- five per cent, were for adultery, twenty-five per cent, for cruelty, and fifty per cent, for lighter offenses. The total number of boys sent to the reform school was 310 ; of girls, 73. There were 7,872 paupers in the infirmary, and 23,823 paupers ' otherwise supported for a portion of the year. The total number of convicts received at the penitentiary for the year 1879 was 621, or less than 1 to 5,000 inhabitants, and of these, ninety per cent, were from twenty-five to forty-five years of age, and a large proportion were foreigners. The total number in the penitentiary was 1,362, about 1 to 2,450 of the entire popula- tion, whereas in Pennsylvania, the same year, the convicts numbered 1 to 1,328. Thus has Ohio passed, in less than a century, from a waste of unbroken forests and bison-pastured prairies, to the condition of a populous^ wealthy, intelligent, and highly moral commu- nity ; favored far above the communities of the old world in the , enjoyment of civil liberty and the possession of all that good government and bountiful nature can vouchsafe to any people. 232 THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. CHAPTER V. STATE OF INDIAT^A." Before attempting to skefccli the Indiana of 1880, I open the ■musty covers of a tare old book of 1804, and, turning to " Northwestern Territory," read : " This portion of the United States is now divided into the States of Ohio, the Indiana Ter- ritory, and Wayne County, which forms a separate district and government. The northwest part of the above Territory, lying north of the Illinois river and between the Lakes and the Missis- sippi, is stiir inhabited by Indians, and is not included in either ' of the above divisions. * In some parts the country is too hilly for cultivation ; and in some places between the Ohio and the lakes the land is so flat that the water stands till midsummer. For miles the ground is not visible, yet the water is not more than twelve or eighteen inches deep." Such is the graphic description of the Northwest Territory -given by that learned geographer " Jedidiah Morse, D. D., A. A. S., S. H. S., author of The American Universal Greogra- phy," in the American Gazetteer, one of the standard works of Its time. Anno Domini 1804. To us, living only three-quarters of a century later, with the Census of 1880 before us, this seems a contracted and lugubrious description of a region that at this time contains five of the most prosperous, wealthy, and influen- tial States in the Union, and no inconsiderable part of a sixth. Nobody will deny that Northern Indiana and several other sec- tions of this extensive domain had some very moist places, such as the sloughs and lagoons along the Upper Kankakee, the flats near the headwaters of the White, the Wabash, the St. Mary, and the two St. Joseph rivers (some of which embraced whole townships), where for many years tte chills and fever nevei; failed to produce a large harvest, and corn and wheat, not being amphibious, often grew discouraged. Nevertheless, a decent * The American Register (1804) says: "Wayne County, Indiana. A county ol the Northwest Territory, laid out in 1796, now a Territorial jurisdiction, having 3,206 inhabitants." THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. 133 respect for the water-nymphs and Jack-o' -Lantern compel me to remark that they did not selfishly appropriate anything like so large a proportion of the country as this learned geographer' s description of the Northwest would give the outside world (then so ignorant of the "West) to understand. Indeed, the swamp lands have proved to be a small fraction of the whole ; and, as the country has opened up, and the natural drainage has been improved, a very considerable proportion of these wet lands has been reclaimed, as in time they are all likely to be. Indiana claimed all she could under the Swamp Act land grant, amount- ing to but 1,209,422 acres, not quite one-eighteenth part of the total area. The northern extremity of Indiana lies in north latitude 41° 46', and the southern in latitude 37° 47'. Its eastern boundary, the west line of the State of Ohio, is the meridian of 84° 50' west of G-reenwich, and its western limit — the eastern boundary of Illinois — is the meridian of Yincennes,* and the mid-channel of the Wabash river, from the point where this meridian crosses that stream, southwesterly, to its mouth. The Ohio river, separating it from, Kentucky, forms its southern boundary ; and at its northwestern corner it has a coast line of about fifty miles on Lake Michigan, including the Jiarbor of Michigan City, its only lake port of entry. The extreme length of the State is 276 miles, its average length 246, its average breadth 140 miles. The area, exclusive of surfaces ■covered with water, is 33,809 square miles, or 21,637,760 acres ; •of which, not quite one-half, according to the assessors' returns •of 1879, are reduced to culture. Total area, 36,350 squa,re miles. More than two-thirds of the surface of the State is level or gently undulating, frequently beautified with swelling knolls, or mounds, and occasionally by ridges rising from one hundred to three hundred feet above the general plain. It has been said that Indiana is peculiar in the absence of well-defined water-sheds. The tributaries of the several interior rivers interlock, and many of the lacustrine basins or swamps at the sources of the prin- cipal streams, particularly those in the northern part of the country, discharge their waters through two or more outlets * In fact, owing to the imperfections of the government surveys, the eastern line of Indiana is not a true north line from the mouth of the Great Miami, nor is its western line, between the Wabash ■and Lake Michigan, the meridian of Vincennes, as prescribed by acts of Congress. This may account for some of the disagreements of State historians, and encyclopedias, in their statements as to the longitude of these boundaries, but it should hardly excuse the error of the American Encyclopcedia, in fixing tha west line of Indiana in longitude 88° 3'— several miles west of Chicago. 134 THE WEST IN 1880 — INDtANA. issuing in widely diverging or opposite directions. The south- ern portion of the State grows more and more uneven as one approaches the Ohio river, until it becomes rugged, and in many- places too broken and bare of soil for ordinary methods of cultivation. The assessors' returns show that much of this region is still in forests, barrens, or wild pastures. The bottom lands along the water-courses, however, are remarkably fertile, and some of them are very profitably cultivated The greatest elevations, of Indiana do not exceed 670 feet above the Ohio river at the mouth of the Wabash. To the voyager along the Lower Wabash and Ohio, the hills, most of which are as high as the most elevated portions of the interior plateau of the State; seem almost mountainous, and in places the scenery wears an aspect of romantic beauty. The principal rivers of Indiana are, the Ohio, which in several places almost doubles upon itself as it courses its sinuous way for 380 miles along the State's southeastern and southern limit; the Wabash, 600 miles in length, navigable for steamboats, in high water, for over 400 miles, and draining some 12,000 square miles ; the White river and its tributaries, draining some 9,000 square miles ; the Whitewater, flowing through the southeastern corner of the State ; the Maumee, in the northeastern, and the St. Joseph, in the extreme northern, counties ; the first discharg- ing into the Great Miami, the second into Lake Brie at Toledo, and the last into Lake Michigan, at St. Joseph, Michigan. The geological divisions of Indiana may be approximately defined by drawing a line from the northeast corner of Randolph county to Hanover Landing, not far below Madison on the Ohio ; , another line from Charleston on the Ohio northeasterly to Cass- ville, Porter county, and thence due northwest to the State line; another from the southern extremity c*f HarriBoh county to the southwestern angle of Lake ; and a fourth line from about five miles east of Leavenworth, on the Ohio, to State line, Newton county. All west of the last line is a dark blue limestone, abounding in marine shells, and with heavy beds of blue clay, being the Trenton limestone of Hall, or Lower Silurian of Lyell The division next east of this is sub-corniferous sandstone, of coarse structure and gray color. Next east of this is a soft, fine-grained sandstone of various colors, ranging through lead, gray, and yellow, to red, of the Chemung group. Between this and the narrow wedge of coarse granite sandstone interchanging ' THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. I35 with beds of bituminous coal, fire clay, shales and coal measures, which makes all the southeastern corner of the State situated east of the first line drawn above, is an immense section em- bracing about half the area of Indiana, that belongs to the Niagara limestone, or Upper Silurian. In the most western of these five sections are the rich coal fields of this State, of which there are two well-defined zones, the eastern and western. The former contains the already noted n on- caking variety of bitu- minous coal, called by the miners "block coal," which is remarkably free from sulphur and phosphorus, does not swell, send out jets of gas, nor cake in the f urnacBi and which is there- fore peculiarly valuable for reducing ores. * This zone, averaging three to four miles in width, extends along the entire eastern border of the Indiana coal field, from Rome, in Perry county, northward to Williamsport, Warren county, a distance of 150 miles, covering an area of about 450 square miles, or 288,000 acres. The western zone, embracing all the State west and south of the block coal region, includes a little over 6,000 square miles. The beds of this belt produce only the caking variety of bitu- minous coals, which can not well be used for smelting purposes without coking. Near the eastern boundary of these coals, the beds vary from four to eight feet in thickness. Dr. Cox ha& given us a section of the Indiana coal measures, extending, through 519 feet of drift hardpan, sandstone, fire clay, and shales, to the lowest coal, immediately below the millstone grit. Within this section there are eleven seams of coal, the lowest three feet thick ; the next, two ; • the third (lower block), three feet eight inches ; the fourth, five inches ; the fifth, one foot five inches ; the sixth ("main block" — the most valuable), four feet four inches ; the seventh, seven inches ; the eighth (upper block), one foot ten inches ; the ninth (bituminous caking coal), seven feet ; the tenth, ten inches ; and the eleventh, four feet. Mr. 'James MacFarlane says: " As respects quality, quantity, and accessibility of its coal, Indiana is more fortunate than any of the other Western States." This is true except as regards quantity, in which Illinois leads Indiana. * Professor E. T. Cox, the State Geologist, says, that for raanufactaring pig iron this coa-l is not snrpassed by any in this country; and Mr. James Macfarlane remarks : "As a hlast-furnace coal to smelt iron ore, it has been amply tested in the five furnaces in Clay county, leaving nothing to be desired. The pig iron here made from Iron Mountain and Lake Superior iron ores by the use of block coal as- a fuel, commands from two to three dollars more per ton at the furnace than the same grade of pig iron made in Kentucky and Ohio will command.in Indianapolis." — Macfarlane' s CoalBegions of America, p. 394. 136 THE WEST m 1880 — INDIANA. Hon. Jolin Collett, the State statistician, estimated the number of coal mines in operation in 1879 at 274, with a capital of 16,430,506 ; paying over five and a half millions of dollars wages to 2,397 employes, and producing coal valued at $25,000,000. Of this, about 90 per cent, was taken out of the four contiguous counties, Clay, Sullivan, Knox, and Daviess, lying between the forks of the White and the Wabash rivers. The same year, Mr. Collett estimated the number of stone quarries at 445, employing capital to the amount of $1,144,767, engaging 872 persons, and yielding products worth $1,483,618. In the beginning of this century, Indiana, like Ohio, was for the most part covered with forests. Here and there, in the central and northern parts of the State, prairies and oak openings were found, and near the Illinois line considerable areas of prairie lands existed. Notwithstanding the enormous, and in many places wasteful, destruction of the forests, according to a recent estimate of the United States Agricultural Bureau,* 39.6 per cent, of the State is still in timber. This was nearly thi'ee times the amount of woodland in Illinois at the same date. Many of the Indiana forests are composed of trees of large size and good timber quality. Mr. C. R. Barnes, of Madison, Ind., writes, that, during the summer of 1873, in the prosecution of some botanical work in Southern Indiana, he was led to observe the size and character of the forest trees. He measured over 1,000 in Jefferson county, at three feet above the ground, with the following results : Number of Trees of Each Species. Average Diameter. Average Height. Numher of Trees of Each Species. Average Diameter. Average Height. 2 ft. 8 in. 3 '• 2 " 3 " 2 " 3 " 6 " 65 feet 69 " 69 " 87 " 100 sugar maples * 75 sycamores 2 ft. 6 in. 4 " 9 " 3 '■ 4 " 2 " 9 " 70 feet 150 red oaks 83 " 150 white oaks 75 white elms 100 buckeyes 70 " 68 " * 75 red maples averaged the same in diameter and height. The above varieties and the white and blue ash, the chestnut, oak, and hickory, black walnut, poplar, and basswood, are found in nearly all parts of the State ; and in the central and southern part, sassafras, sweet gum, mulberry, and cypress abound. The variety of trees found in this State is very large. Within its limits, the flora of the South meet, and interlock their branches with those of the North. The cypress, one of the principal * Report of 1876. THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA . I37 lumber trees of Louisiana and Mississippi, grows to almost equal size in the wet bottom lands along the Wabash in Indiana and Illinois. The sweet gum of Tennessee and Kentucky is common in the Indiana woods ; the pecan flourishes along the Wabash. These trees of the South are met by the hemlock of the JSTorthern timber region. Groing westward, Indiana is the last heavily timbered State within the parallels of 37° 40' and 41° north latitude, which fact adds largely to the value of its forests ; the products of which, in 1878-79, were estimated by the State statistician at $11,892,856 sawed lumber, and $4, 532, 304 staves, besides hewn timber, and large quantities used in wagon making, and the logs transported to other States to be cut into lumber or used as spiles. The fauna of this. State corresponds, for the most part, with those of Ohio and Illinois, mentioned elsewhere. Deer, squirrels, rabbits, the raccoon, and opossum, are still numerous in the most densely wooded districts, and at certain seasons the sports- man has little difficulty in finding water- fowl, pigeons, partridges, quail, and other small game. Fish abound in all the rivers and most of the lakes, and large quantities are taken every year in the Ohio and the Wabash and off" the lake shore. The annual mean temperature in the region south of the par- allel of Indianapolis is about 56° Fahrenheit. According to the observations of the United States Signal Corps, the lowest annual mean at Indianapolis, in the period of fourteen years from 1865 to 1878 inclusive, was 50.46°, and the highest mean for any year was 56.46°. The mean temperature of the hottest week of 1872 ranged from 85° in the northern counties to 90° at Indianapolis and Vincennes ; while the mean of the coldest week of the fol- lowing vidnter, ranged from ten above zero on the Ohio to zero at Michigan City. In the northern half of the State, the mean annual rainfall ranges from thirty- six inches on the Michigan line to forty-four at Lafayette, diminishes to forty inches a few miles below Lafayette, and continues at that through the entire length of the Wabash valley to the Ohio river. For all the rest of the State, including all the region south and east of the latitude of Indianapolis and the west fork of the White river, it is set down in the Smithsonian chart at forty-four inches, but, according to local observations, it is rather more than this in the three or four counties on the Ohio, next the Ohio line. There is considerable fluctuation from year to year. In the 138 THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. observations of the Signal Corps, at Indianapolis, during a period of fourteen years, the lowest annual mean rainfall was 35.13 inches, while the highest was 56.56. The climate can hardly be called equable, as the markings of the thermometer and rain gauge above given very plainly show. Yet, that it is favorable to agriculture is clearly demonstrated by the crop reports I shall present; while the vital statistics show that it is salubrious. Twenty- six in every thousand per- sons dying in 1870 had lived beyond fourscore years. One hundred and forty in every thousand lived beyond threescore. . In three or four counties of that angle of the. State where the , rainfall is the heaviest, one-fifth of all the deaths were froni consumption. The mortality from this cause in the rest of the State diminishes as one goes northward to one in six or seven. In most of the counties around the headwaters of the Wabash and the Kankakee, and in the northwest angle, for some thirty or forty miles back from Lake Michigan, it falls to one in eight or nine. With the exception of the counties in the forks of the White, and in the southwestern projection of the State, between the Ohio and the Wabash, where the deaths from malarial diseases registered about one in twelve, the deaths from malarial causes were not numerous, ranging from one in seventy-five in all the southern half of the State except the por- tions delineated, to one in twenty-five in the northern half. Deaths from intestinal diseases are rare in all that half of the State south and east of a line from Fort Wayne to Terre Haute, except a narrow strip along the Ohio and the Lower Wabash, numbering from one to two in a hundred : in the rest of Indiana. they numbered from five to nine. Enteric, cerebro-spinal menin- gitis, and typhus fevers together carried off from nine to fourteen per cent, of the decedents in the portion of the State south of a line from Lawrenceburg to a little north of Terre Haute ; from five to nine in all the eastern two-thirds of the remainder, except two narrow strips along the Ohio line, and from three to five in the balance, stretching west to Illinois ^nd northward to the lake. It is now just two hundred and one years since the bold Chevalier de La Salle, on his first expedition to explore the country of the lUini, entered Indiana by ascending the St. Joseph river to the portage from that stream into the Kankakee, at a point not far from South Bend. Transferring his boats to the THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. 139 Kankakee, he pushed his explorations down this stream and the Illinois river to Lake Peoria, and finally to the Mississippi. It was not until more than twenty years later, in 1702, that French traders established something like permanent trading stations in Indiana, and it was nearly fifty years before the Wabash and Miami (now Maumee) rivers and the portage near Fort Wayne became one of the principal routes of transportation for the French and Indian traffic between Canada and the Mississippi. In 1765, the French and half-breeds at Vincennes, Ouiatanon, and the head of the Maumee, numbered 104 to 116 families,* or about 520 inhabitants. Soon after the capture of Vincennes by Col. Greorge Rogers Clarke, more particularly noticed elsewhere, under authority from the government of Virginia, " for ,the preserva- tion of peace and the administration of justice," a court of justice was established at Vincennes in June, 1779. It was composed of Col. J. M. P. Legras, Commaudant at Port Vin- cennes, President, and several magistrates. Pursuing the cus- toms and usages of the French commandants, their predeces- sors, these magistrates granted tracts of land to the inhabitants, both French and Americans ; showing special liberality in their grants to civil and military officers of the country. Winthrop Sargent declared, in a letter to General Washington on this sub- ject, that between 1783 and 1787, when General Harmar inter- dicted the practice, 22,000 acres of land had been granted to individuals by the court of Vincennes. Before the period here named, 26,000 acres had been granted to individual applicants, in parcels from the size of house lots to farms of 400 acres. In the spring of 1780t three large ' ' family boats ' ' arrived at the Palls of the Ohio. In 1792 the population of Vincennes was estimated at 1,500 souls, chiefly of French and Indian extraction, but including a number of American^, principally from Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. Settlements had been begun at vaYious places along the Ohio and the Whitewater rivers. After Virginia ceded her claims to this country to the United States, and the Northwest Territory was organized by Governor St. Clair, the administration of afl"airs at Vincennes passed into the hands of this new government. On the 7th of May, 1800, Ohio having been erected into a separate Territory, the Territory of Indiana was organized, with William Henry Harrison, for- merly of Ohio, as Governor. The population from this first year ' George Crogban's Jonmal. t Batler's Kentucky, p. 99. 140 THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. of its history down to 1880, in decennial periods, is as follows: Periods. White Population. Free Colorecl Population. Slaves. Total Population^ Percent. Inciease 1800 5,348 33,890 145,758 339,399 678,698 977,154 1,838,710 1,655,837 1,939,094 163 393 1,230 3,639 7,165 11,363 11,438 34,560 39,368 135 337 190 3 3 5,641 34 530 147,178 . 343,031 685,866 988,416 1,350,428 * 1,680,687 1 1,978,863 1810 334 1820 500 1830 133 1840 qa 1850 44 I860 36 1870 ... . 94. 1880 IT Slavery was established in Louisiana by decree of Louis XV. The ordinance of 1787 consecrated the Northwest Territory to freedom. Great efforts were made by a large body of the. early settlers to have this provision of the ordinance annulled, but the Southern leaders in Congress combined with the great states- men of the North to preserve the ordinance inviolate. For nearly fifty years, however, there was a party in Southern Indi- ana in favor of tolerating slavery within the State ; and by one means and another slaves were held until after 1840, although during much of this period the servitude was virtually voluntary. It will be seen from an inspection of the table above given, that, while Indiana gained less than 20,000 in population during the first ten years of its Territorial existence, in the next decade, during which it took up (in 1816) the powers of State govern- ment, it increased more than 122,000. In the following decade it gained nearly 200,000 ; and since then the population has grown at the rate of nearly 300,000 each ten years. Indiana is eminently an agricultural State. It has nearly four times as many persons engaged in agriculture as in manu- factures, and more than seven times as many as are employed in trade and transportation. The plowed land and meadows, ac- cording to the State Statistician's report for 1879, amount to 9,297,096 acres, and the pasture lands to 2,108,501 acres. The following table shows the acreage and total yield of the prin- cipal crops, according to the reports of the United States Agri- cultural Bureau for 1869 and 1879 : X • Of whom 1,539,163 were natives, and 141,474, foreigners. t Of whom 1,834,597 were natives, and 143,765, foreigners. t The corn crop of 1880, according to this same authority, was but 111,028,600 bushels, and tlie wheat crop but 38,341 990 bushels. THE WEST IK 1880 — INDIANA. 141 Products. Acreage in each crop. Per cent, of Increase in ten years. Total yield in 1869. Total yield in 1879. Indian corn Wheat Kye Oats Barley Buckwheat. Potatoes . . . Tobacco Hay 4,088,500 2,153,200 38,800 495,700 •30,400 8,000 60,000 7,900 1,166,281 30 50 18 38 21 44 51,094,538 27,747,222 457,468 8,590,409 356,262 80,291 5,399,044 9,325,393 1,076,768 134,920,500 43,709,960 504f000 14,028,310 550,800 160,000 4,080,000 • 6,636,000 1,411,200 The value of these nine crops of 1879, above given, was estimated, by the same authority, at $117,731,814, as against $100,277,599 in 1869. The total value of all farm productions of Indiana, in 1870, including betterments, and additions to stock, according to the Census Bureau, was $122,914,302. In 1880, the State Statistician, Mr. John Collett, gives the estimated value of the principal farm, orchard, vineyard, and garden crops at $177,771,832, including 35,992,180 bushels of apples, 4,244,445 bushels of peaches, 122,157,613 gallons of milk, 28,617,086 pounds of butter, 18,531,524 dozen eggs, 3,893,715 pounds of wool, 5,662,204 pounds of tobacco, 6,729,265 pounds of grapes, 1,588,232 gallons- of sorghum molasses, and 250,754 pounds of maple sugar. Add to the above $177,771,832, Mr. Collett' s estimate of value of principal farm animals, $127,152,256; also bis estimate of value of poultry, $2,802,015; and value of stands of bees, $438,981 ; and we have a grand total of $308,165,084 as the estimated value of the farm products of Indiana, in 1880 ; an aggregate which, it is thought, will not differ materially from the forthcoming estimates of the Census Bureau. The following are the statistics of the principal cereal crops of Indiana in 1859, 1869, and 1879, in bushels, as given in the Census tables for 1860, 1870, and 1880 : Ckops. I860. 1870. 1880. Wheat 16,848,267 463,495 5,317,831 71,588,919 396,989 383,345 37,747,333 457,468 8,590,409 51,094,538 80,331 356,263 47,284,853 Kye ... 803,105 Oats 15,599,518 Indian corn 115,483,300 Buckwheat . . 89,707 Barley 883,885 Totals 94,997,746 88,336,180 179,142,818 142 THE WEST IN 1880— INDIANA. The following table shows the total annual yield and the yield per acre of the nine principal crops of Indiana, averaged for five years ; also the price per bushel, pound, or ton,, the total value and the value of the yield per acre, of each crop averaged for the same period : Ckops. Total yield of crops of 1869 in t)Ush's,pounds or tons. Indian corn Wheat Rye Oats Barley Buckvclieat. Potatoes . . . Tobacco.. . . Hay Average annual yield in bush- els, pounds, or tons for 5 yrs., ending 1879. 51,094,538 27,747,223 457,468 8,590,409 356,262 80,291 5,399,044 9,825,392 1,076,768 Avg. price per bush- el, pound or ton for 5 years. 113,634,500 27,745,195 465,800 15,107,103 472,700 156,380 4,694,000 11,083,000 1,268,240 Average annual value of crops for 5 years end- ing with isra. ^ .33 1.03 .64 .37 .83 .75 .43 .04.9 8.49 Av'rge an- nuTyleld p'racrefr 5 yrs. end- ing 1879. $37,310,202 38,580,083 299,758 4,115,813 394,456 119,118 3,010,320 567,290 10,562,401 Avg. ann'l value per acre for 5 yrs. end- ing 1879, 31.9bn. 14.1 " 14.2 " 26.9 " 21.0 " 17.8 " 77.0 " 737. O&s 1.28T $10.74 14.60 9.17 7.38 17.56 13.59 32.74 35.23 10.81 The total cereal products of Indiana in 1S79, was 156,581,677 bushels, on 6,794,600 acres ; an average of 23.04 bushels per acre, against an average yield in France (statistics of 1875) of 16.46 bushels per acre. The average yield of wheat alone, was 20.3 bushels per acre, which was more than the average yearly yield in France, and, according to the Board of Trade Reports, con- siderably more than the yield for the same year in England. The principal farm animals of this State in January, 1880,* were, horses, 688,800; mules, 58,800 ; milch cows, 434,800; oxen and other cattle, 756,600; sheep, 1,019,000; hogs, 2,186,000; an aggregate of 5,144,000 head, with a total value of $68,806,248. The following table shows the number of farm animals of Indiana averaged for five years; also the price per head, and the annual total value averaged for the same period : Farm Animals. Number in Feb ruary, 1870. Numb'rof farm animals aver aged for the 5 years ending January, 1880. Price per head averaged for the five years ending J ann ary, 1880. Total annnpl value averaged for five years. Horses Mules Oxen and other cattle Milch, cows Sheep Hogs Totals 555,000 35,700 575,000 427,000 2,160,500 3,035,000 679,400 60,320 766,040 437,460 1,115,340 2,289,030 $ 54.15 61.65 18.33 25.89 2.28 5.43 $36,791,590 3,712,585 14,031,349 11,338,758 2,558,338 12,346,644 5,778,200 5,347,480 $80,769,259 * According to the statistics of the Agricultural Bureau. The assessors' returns vrould diminifi" these figures, except as regards the number of hogs, which it would increase by 440,500. THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. I43 The difference between the total value of the farm animals of this State averaged for five years, and the total value for the 3'ear ending January, 1880, is due mainly to the financial con- dition of the country, including the change from an irredeema- ble paper currency to specie or its equivalent. It will be observed, that, while the total value of farm animals in 1879 dropped nearly $12,000,000 below the average for the five years, the total number of farm animals decreased but 203,480. Within the ten years ending Jan. 1, 1880, the number of horses increased twenty-four per cent. ; of mules, sixty-four per cent. ; of oxen, thirty-one per cent. ; of hogs, sixteen per cent. ; while the milch cows increased in number less than twenty per cent.; and the sheep decreased more than half, or over fifty-two per cent. The richest wheat and corn bearing districts of Indiana are the valleys of the Wabash, the White, the Whitewater, the Kankakee, and the St. Joseph rivers. Here, too, are found much the largest proportion of horses, cattle, and swine. Accord- ing to the State statistics for 1879, fully thirty-five per cent, of the corn crop of that year was produced in the twenty-two counties of the Wabash valley. The finest and most abundant fruit-growing section is in the north. With the exception of Tipton, all the counties that in 1879 reported over 100,000 bushels of fruit lie in a cluster north- east of a line drawn from Michigan City to Portland, in Jay county. Indeed, St. Joseph, Kosciusko, Wabash, Huntington, Allen, and the six counties between there and the Michigan line, prodiiced 1,852,761 bushels, or fifty- three per cent, of the yield of the whole State. These same counties reported 1,646,836 gallons of cider, which was seventy per cent, of the total production. Sheep raising in Indiana is a feeble industry compared with the same pursuit in Ohio. The counties reported by the township trustees as having more than 15,000 sheep apiece in 1879, belong almost entirely to what I have designated as the fruit-growing section, in the northeastern angle of the State, to the valleys of the Wabash and the West Fork of the White river, and the country between. The five counties adjoining Michigan con- tained one-eighth of all the flocks of the ninety-two counties. Wine was made in Indiana in very early days. Mr. Coxe, the "Father of American statistics," in remarks accompanying the 144 THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. Census of 1810, says : " About ninety-six quarter-casks of good, red wine have been made by a few Swiss settlers, from the Madeira and Cape of Good Hope grapes, on the Ohio river, in about 39° north latitude, in the Territory of Indiana." He was greatly interested in this new industry, which he firmly believed would be developed to large proportions. He prepared a table show- ing the latitudes in which the noted wines of Europe are pro- duced, and the parallels of corresponding climate in this country, according to the best meteorological data of that time, and he inferred that skilled vintners could make this industry profitable in the United States. This table is not without interest how \_ and it is herewith given : TABLE FROM T. COXB'S REPORT TO THE SECEETAET OF STATE, ACCOMPANTINa INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS OP 1810, PAGE XVIII. Wines. Latitude in Europe in whicli produced. Corresponding Degrees in America. Moselle, Bhenisb, aad Hock Champagne Burgundy (the most exquisite) Claret, Sauterne, and Grave Oporto, or Port Lisbon and Carcavella Xeres(or Sherry), St. Lucas, and Malaga 49° 49° 49° 44° 30' 41° 30' 38° 80' 37° to 50° to 48° to 45" to 20' to 39' to 38' 30' 30' 80' 40° 40° 38° 85° 80' 82° 29° 30' 28° to 41° to 39° to 36° 30' to 20° to 30° 30' to 29° Mr. Coxe' s hopes have not been realized in Indiana, although, the cultivation of the grape, and wine manufacture, were carried so far that Switzerland county became quite noted in this con-, nection, and other counties along the Ohio and Whitewater rivers followed its example. Of late years the " vine rot," and other discouragements, have combined with the temptations tO' more profitable or less uncertain occupations, to reduce the quantity of grapes and wine produced. In 1879, the wine man- ufacture of the State amounted to but 65,357 gallons. Tobacco growing is also limited, for the most part, to the southern counties ; ninety per cent, of the crop of 1878, accord- ing to the State statistics, being raised in the three adjoining river counties, Warrick, Spencer, and Perry, and their next neighbors on the north, Pike and Dubois. Although the aver- age annual value of this crop for the five years included in the above table was $35.23 per acre, exceeding that of any other crop, yet the expenses and risks incurred in cultivating and curing it have led to a considerable reduction in the product ; THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. 14g, the farmers preferring crops not so subject to tlie vicissittides of weather and fluctuations of the market. The large increase, since 1870, of the number of factories for the manufacture of butter and cheese has added very considerably to the product of these articles. The State Statistician estimates the butter made in the year ending April, 1880, at 28,617,086 pounds, worth $5,222,618. There is no good reason why Northern Indi- ana should stand far behind Northern Ohio and Illinois in dairy farming. The average assessment of farm property for the whole State, was $16.50 per acre, and $15.47 per capita. Unimproved lands may be bought at from $10 to $20 per acre in the greater part of Indiana, and even at lower prices in the southwestern portion. Improved farms range from $20 to $60 per acre, one-fourth in cash, and the remainder on deferred payments. It is considered, that, even at the last-named price, a practical farmer may with economy and management make the deferred payments from the profits of his farm within five years. An inspection of the crop reports of the State Statistician shows that the yield of corn ranges, in different parts of the State, from ten bushels to the acre up to 120 bushels, and wheat Irom five to sixty-four, and even, in rare instances, seventy-eight, bushels per acre. I have already shown that the wheat yield, averaged for five years, was fourteen bushels, and the corn yield thirty-one bushels. Corn is raised by contract at twelve cents per bushel delivered into granaries, all the expenses being borne by the cultivator, whose profits at this rate usually range from $7 to $10 per acre. Mr. Collett estimates the expenses of a wheat crop, for labor, seeds, implements, harvesting, and threshing, at $6 to $8. 50 per acre, leaving an average profit of $7. He estimates the average profits on an oat crop at $3 to $5, and on hay at $4 to $8, per acre. The increase in the number of farms, and the reduction in the average acreage for each, is due in' part to the readiness with which large farms are subdi- vided by landholders. Undoubtedly, young farmers, trained for their business and full of energy, can, by application and per- severance, work their way to the possession of good farms. From 1820 to 1840, the growth of the manufacturing interests of Indiana was exceedingly slow. Since 1850, however, this class of industries has gained rapidly in importance, as is plainly shown by the following tabular statement taken from the 146 THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. State Statistician's Report for 1879, p. 271. It is defective in many details, but may be considered a fair estimate of the manufacturing interests of the State. Business. Capital investea. Value of raw mate- rial used. Value of mauufact- urefl products. ^ O Annual wages paid, including superinten- dence. Other expenses, inciuding taxes, insu- rance, repairs, etc. Agricultural implem'te. 131 50 2,736 1,183 68 406 27 270 11 212 374 223 646 6 291 25 297 984 71 288 17 517 175 61 242 275 398 55 1,989 6 163 445 368 1,742 $2,201,248 39,500 1,088,793 475,460 1,437,896 448,199 28,400 920,861 187,000 283,620 6,430,506 1,186,806 943,160 1,125,000 366,369 482,512 456,489 8,317,604 2,804,600 3,868,416 2,279,700 604,873 281,575 3,306,414 591,206 146,165 2,630,744 5S,750 5,060,744 21,000 1,079,130 1,144,767 719,472 36,443,560 $1,472,636 92,430 1,457,457 948,978 791,274 163,741 4,186 897,353 46,750 439,611 ■ 4,868,536 584,062 2,098,815 1,883,750 592,455 1,021,004 93,305 21,625,770 3,309,310 1,779,471 191,722 960,953 323,811 1,359.141 620,766 81,873 3,525,197 24,755 5,668,084 51,030 2,837,594 289,626 777,742 87,030,984 $3,331,683 329,085 3,992,660 1,913,800 1,421,0-3 995.810 70,200 1,707,370 194,480 999,477 25,046,820 949,444 3,725,483 ' 3,113,760 855,838 3,547,516 623,720 26,882,491 5,833,360 4,177,889 403,665 1,776,866 605,386 3,233,396 1,572,608 377,419 5,919,174 160,602 11,892,856 97,040 4,532,304 1.483,618 1,213,749 64,072,746 1,394 264 1,716 1,632 386 1,928 57 1,111 105 655 3,397 339 1,963 691 263 215 948 1,740 2,144 2,750 286 717 857 1,540 858 160 1,774 111 4,504 83 1,622 892 644 22,024 $1,080,762 80,256 685,388 500,663 211,567 349,874 24,800 453,655 16,153 230,429 2,534,633 184,416 632,186 175,184 109,851 94,023 148,603 861,491 93 ■.',2.32 981,750 188,760 286,800 153,867 ■ 729,760 361,853 54,730 779,378 32,163 1,629,574 12,480 380,139 105,711 242,936 8,954,298 $ -44,465 26,738 272,198 Boots and shoes 111,828 258,831 Bricli (common) Brick (fire) 103,086 1,638 94,337 39,083 Cigars 89,510 1,466,155 Coffins 63,798 Coopering 50,488 60,625 36,378 87,381 51,035 Flouring mills 855,050 308,935 335,600 66,081 Hai-ness and saddle . . . Marble works Machine works Merchant tailoring.. . ; . . 79,009 37,044 323,848 85,725 . 54,436 176,360 13,6-20 556,687 11,310 55,345 Stone quarrying Wagon factories 66,396 64,753 2,398,431 Totals 14,480 176,341,738 $97,342,880 185,010,220 57,939 $24,195,057 $3,014,917 . The growth of the manufacturing industries from decade to decade, is exhibited by the following carefully prepared statement : Items. 1 1850. I860. 1870. 1880.* Number of establishments. . . . Number of hands employed.. Capital invested 4,393 14,440 $ 7,750,403 3,738,844 10,369,700 18,735,433 5,333 31,395 $18,451,131 6,318,335 37,143,597 43,803,469 11,847 58,853 $53,053,435 18,366,780 63,185,493 108,617,378 14,480 i 57,939 $76,341,728 34,195,057 97,343,880 185,050,320 Amount of -wages paid Materials Products The value of the products per capita of the hands employed, was $1,296.77 in 1850, about $2,010 in 1860, and $1,845.60 in * Collett'e Report, p. 271. t It is evident that the State Statistician's returns are below the real number. THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. 147 1870. THb average product per capita for 1880 is probably about $2,000. It is hardly safe, owing to the consolidation of manufacturing capital and the improvements in machinery, to compare the growth in the numbers of establishments and the hands employed. One firm may have quadrupled its capital, and by the aid of improved machinery one man may produce more than half a dozen could without such aid. In the sub- joined table I show the percentage of the increase in capital invested, wages paid, material used, and products manufactured in Indiana for the decades ending 1860, 1870, and 1880 : I860. 1870. 1880. Items. Per cent, of increase. Per cent, of increase; Per cent, of Increase. 136 69 161 128 181 190 133 153 46 Wages paid 81 54 Products '. 70 Since 1850, therefore, the total increase in the amount of capital invested in manufacturing is 884 per cent. ; in products, no less than 889 per cent.; in materials used, 840 per cent., and in wages paid, 547 per cent. No more wonderful exhibit of the extension of manufacturing industries in our prairie States can be given than the percentages of their persistent growth. Attention is called below to a table showing the principal industries of Indiana according to the Census of 1880 : .a S o 6 Capital, Dolls. is Kg Ik !B § S ■=^ ;>> C6 Average number of hands employed. Total Amount Paid in Wages during the year, Dolls. * Materials, Dolls. BUSINEBS. > , > Is S. 5 Products, Dolls. Agricultural implements 93 721 46 977 195 1,986 12 1 1,977,424 1,445,764 79,245 9,238,573 1,035,983 14,787,410 1,137.600 45,000 2,658 5,667 137 8,968 683 16,230 806 130 2,121 8,596 100 1,713 476 10,040 505 1 20 16 7 "w 91 293 2 31 10 356 43 923,124 681,164 27,138 1,037,590 174,941 2,493,558 63,821 16,240 1,999,212 382,977 131,659 26,408,982 2,156,477 6,995,897 1,332,121 290,000 4.128,068 1,919,348 206,608 Flour and grist mill products.. Leatlier, tanned and curried.. Lumber . . . 29,330,118 2,723,069 13,862,479 Slaughtering & meatpacking. Slaughtering & meat packing. 1,526,245 276,000 4,081 29,696,999 30,179 18,451 63 826 5,416,576 39,697,325 54,960,920 148 THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. According to the reports of the Bradstreet Commercial Agency, tbej-e were, in 1880, the following hona-flde commercial houses, manufacturing firms, and incorporated manufactories in Indiana; Num- ber. Capital. Wealth. ■ iKDnSTBT. Capital and Personal Property. Real Estate. Total. Average. 15,919 3.191 4,472 852,426,760 22,085,200 1,474,535 858,495,332 21,199,800 1,688,900 $115,365,845 45,397,175 3,255,245 $ 7.247 14,227 728 Manufacturing firme Meclianical inMatrieB ^ Num- ber. Authorized Capital. Paid in. Real Estate, including Fixed Machinery. Total Wealth. Average WeultS. Incorporated maunfactories.. 147 $13,504,750 $12,458,930 $5,804,993 $16,072,434 $109,336 In the above table only firms entitled to credit are included, and hundreds of small manufacturers who carry on their calling at home or in little shops attached to their dwellings, are ex- cluded. The State Statistician, in his report on the commercial industries of Indiana, shows a greater number ; but his total capital and average capital are much less than the figures given by Bradstreet, as the following table shows : COLLETT. Bbadstbeet. Class. Establish- ments. Capital. Average. Class. Establish- ments. Capital. Average Manufactures Dealers 14,480 19.009 $76,341,728 51,271,089 .5,272 2,697 Manufactures Commercial houses 7,810 15,919 $ 64,724,854 115,365,245 $8,287 7,24? Totals 33,489 $127,612,817 3,315 Totals 23,729 $180,090,099 7,589 It is very difficult to collect all the facts essential to accurate and_comprehensive knowledge of the capital actually employed, the material consumed, and the full product, of the factories of a single great city ; and it is impossible, in the present state of legislation, to accomplish this, more than approximately, foi' an entire State. Some idea of the number of establishments, and amount of capital invested in the various commercial interests of the State, may be gleaned from the following table, compiled from Bradstreet' s Commercial Reports for 1880: THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. 149 Industry. Dry goods General stores Groceries and provisions. Drugs ; Ijiquors, saloons, etc Hardware Live stock Boots and shoes Lumber Hotel Millinery Agricultural implements Establishments. Capital. 691 $11,010,950 2,384 20,103,325 3,410 17,333,845 1,291 7,247,350 1,714 4,487,945 486 7,763,000 113 1,906,100 578 3,961,300 354 6,026,900 467 2,678,450 649 1,000,330 278 1,376,100 Here, as in the other Western States, the first settlements were made along the natural channels of transportation, and extended as these were improved, and united by canals. The importance of good roads was felt in very early days, and the general government made land grants to aid in the construction both of highways and canals — the grants for the latter purpose aggregatingno less than 1,439,279.41 acres, or almost a fifteenth part of the entire land ai'ea of the State. Then followed the present era of railways. The record of all these improvements is stamped on the soil in enhanced value, and commemorated in the history of the birth and progress of nearly every considera- ble town and city in the State. Eight of the twenty-three cities and towns of over 5,000 inhabitants, stand along the Wabash and the line of the Wabash & Erie canal ; five of them along the Ohio ; the remaining twelve owe their present magnitude mainly to the marvelous development of tlje railway systems of the coun- try, which has enabled them to compete with the river towns. Not only are all the great manufacturing industries distributed along the rivers, canals, and railways, but the statistics of agri- culture and the assessors' records show the wealth of the farm- ing communities, stretching in golden belts along the lines of cheap or rapid transportation, the farms rising or sinking in valuation as these lines approach or trend away from them. The common pioneer roads of the prairie States, winding their way across the unwooded, sunny undulations of these native meadows, cost but a trifle compared with those of a thickly timbered region like Ohio and Indiana, where the settler had to hew his way to the spot selected for his cabin and then clear his farm of forest trees and underbrush. The common highways •of Indiana represent labor worth many millions of dollars. 150 THE WEST m 1880 — INDIANA. Besides 54,813 miles of common roads, constructed at an esti- mated cost of more than twenty-two and a half million dollars, there are 332| miles of free gravel road, costing $625,455 ; and 2,060 miles of toll roads, made at an expense of $3,672,454. There are two canals. The Wabash & Erie,, from Evansville to Toledo, part of the way by slack-water navigation on the Wabash and Maumee rivers, is 467 miles in length, 379 of which are in Indiana. It was of great service until the railways supplanted it in the upper part of its course, and the portion between Fort Wayne and Lafayette is now unused. The Whitewater canal extends from Lawrenceburg, on the Ohio, to Hagerstown, almost directly north of it, and is seventy-five miles in length. These canals, with the line of 380 miles of the Ohio along the Indiana boundary and the several hundred miles of navigation on the Wabash, may be said to complete the water transportation of the State, except for rafts and flat-boats. There were sixty-nine steam vessels, of 6,780 tons, and forty barges, of 4,215.75 tons, enrolled and licensed in Indiana, June 30, 1879. Twelve steam vessels, of 573.66 tons, and sixteen barges, of 807.43 tons, were built in the customs district of Evansville. The construction of railroads in Indiana began about 1840, but progressed very slowly, so that in 1845 there were but thirty miles in operation. Between this date and 1850 several important lines of railway were chartered, and pushed forward with rapidity, so that in 1855 there were 1,406 miles of road in operation within the State. The level character of the surface and the abundance of timber render construction cheap, and the geographical position of the State compels the great east and west roads of the North- ern States to pass across its entire breadth. Trunk roads from Chicago and Michigan, seeking Cincinnati, Louisville, and the far South, cross it diagonally and lengthwise. Other roads push northward from Central and Southern Illinois to reach Lake Erie, and connect with the great trunk lines of the North, until now the whole State is interlaced with railways. The number of miles increased from 2,217 in 1865 to 4,522 miles in 1880. There were, in all, sixty-four railways in 1879, of which eleven carried 3,022,437 passengers and 8,071,776 tons of freight. They were equipped with 812 engines, 591 passenger, baggage, express, and mail cars, and 18, 452 freight cars. The capital stock and funded debt amounted to $206,486,075 ; the cost of railroads THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. 151 and equipments was $188,726,511; the gross earnings reached $20,331,375; the net earnings amounted to $6,485,732; the amount paid on interest account was $5,417,774, and on divi- dends, $404,162. Five of these roads control over one hundred miles each, two over 150 miles, and eleven have between 20Q and 350 miles each. Several others form continuous lines of grand proportions. The Pittsburgh & Fort Wayne line is 468 miles in length. The Chicago, Columbus & Indianapolis is 580, the Ohio & Mississippi is 615, and the Michigan Central is 804 miles in length ; while the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern extends 1,177.67 miles, and the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, 1,301.76 miles. The number of banks and the capital employed in banking in Indiana correspond with the fact that her commerce is chiefly engaged in disposing of her own products and supplying the wants of her own people. The following statistics indicate the measure of service rendered, and the security afforded depos- itors by the several kinds of banks. In. 1879, seventy-four national banks, fifteen State, fifty-three private, and five savings banks made returns to the State Statistician. The national banks had $10,733,500 capital, $7,752,760 circulation, and $10,023,018.33 in deposits. Their discounts amounted to $15,223,684.89. The fifteen savings banks had a capital of $833,950 ; and their deposits amounted to $984,585.42. The fifty-three private banks had a capital of $2,095,191.07, surplus funds and undivided profits amounting to $288,343,171, and de- posits to the amount of $3, 453, 960. 09. Their loans, discounts, and over-drafts amounted to $3,383,985.57. The five savings banks held a capital of only $50,000, and surplus funds amounting to $32,953.64, belonging mostly to clerks, mechanics, and laborers. Their deposits were $639,474.05. Their discounts reached $524,164.60. The paucity of these deposits is due chiefly to the fact, that, in this State, cheap homes on easy payments, absorb the savings of a large proportion of the classes which in other States deposit their savings in bank. There is, moreover, a feeling that the banking law is not all that it should be. Besides the foregoing, there were sixty-two banks which refused or failed to report when called upon. Indiana is one of the wealthy States of the Union. The assessed value of the real estate as returned by the local assessors is $672,142,081; and the personal property, $178,336,747; making 9 jgg THE WEST IN 1880- INDIANA. the total assessed value, $850,478,828. The true value of property in the State is not less than $1,700,000,000. The credit of the State stands high. In the decade ending 1840, Indiana, with her sister State of Illinois, was allured from the path of wis- dom and economy by the seductive spirit of speculation, and was induced to embark in an expensive system of internal improve- ments. The State debt at this time was upwards of $lS,OO0,000, the population but 750,000, and the amount of taxable property, $97,000,000. For a time it was impossible to pay, but the development of its resources has since enabled it to pay every dollar of the old debt, and the State debt is now less than $5,000,000. The following table shows the present State and local debt of Indiana :* Total State debt f 4,998,178 Total county debt 5,060,767 Total city debt 10,227,242 Total debt of school corporations 802,368 The State tax, as computed by the Census office, is $1,190,671. The following tablet shows the population, assessed valuation of property, tax levy, rate of taxation, gross debt, receipts and expenditures, of the twelve cities in the State having a popula- tion of 7,500 and upward, for the year 1880 : Towns. Popula- tion. Total Assessed Valuation. Total Tax Levy. Rate of Tax. Outstand^g Bonded Debt. Total Receipts. Total Expendi- tures. Evansville 29,280 26,880 75,074 10,422 14,860 11,198 8,945 16,42i 12,743 13,279 26,040 7,680 $17,307,726 13,460,075 48,099,940 2,536,964 9,263,490 5,216,825 3,302,850 3,725,390 7,785,350 4,809,005 13,562,625 3,431,952 $658,495 346,495 770,133 79,458 173,847 152,331 82,973 81,959 143,251 _ 90,794 246,483 71,041 3.227- 2.576+ 1.60 + 3.132+ 1.877- 2.92 2.189 + 2.20 1.84 1.88 — 1.81 2.07 $1,984,000 856,900 1,914,600 253,500 . 300,000 407,000 101,700 346,600 167,000 332,600 213,000 82,000 Fort Wayne 954,543 103,024 207,326 115,705 107,342 132,336 93,401 71,774 139,916 43,821 $414,150 465,564 92 2^ Jeffersonville 1J5,219 97 878 LoeansDort 74!089 125,629 63,132 45 911 New Albany South Bend Terre Haute . . . 1051368 25 708 Totals 252,823 $132,492,191 $2,796,260 2.11 $6,958,700 $2,512,568 J1 ,034,908 The bonded debt of the twelve large cities of Indiana, according to the Census of 1880, is $6,958,700. I have prepared with great care the following table, showing the purposes for which this debt was contracted : * These figures are taken from a report made by the State in 1879. t This table is compiled from returns sent to the Census office by the authorities of the different ■cities. > THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. 153 Cemeteries $ 11,100 Fire department 16,000 Funding floating debt 115,400 Improvement of harbors, riv- ers, wharves, canals, and water power 105,000 Parks and public places 130,500 Public buildings 1,700 Railroad and other aid $2,767,500 Kefunding old debt 2,257,500 Schools and libraries 201,000 Streets 23,000 Water works 1,330,000 Total.^ $6,958,700 That the reader may know the rates of interest which this debt draws, I present the subjoined schedule. It shows that nearly two-thirds of the whole is funded at moderate rates. Per Cent. Amount. 10 $ 257,900 8 922,700 7 8-10 1,697,500 7 1,679,000 Per Cent. 6 5 Amount- $2,353,600 49,000 Total $6,958,700 A careful analysis of the returns from all these cities shows the amounts of this debt issued each year, and the amounts maturing in the years named below : Amounts Issued in Yeaes N^MBD. Amounts Matubing in Ybaks Named. Previous to 1860 ... Overdue $ 900 1880 120,500 1860 1881 106,000 1861 1882 86,000 1862 1883 21,000 1863 1884 83,000 1864 1885 86,100 1865 1886 49,000 1866 1887 119,000 1867 .$ 67,000 1888 251,000 1868 , 499 000 1889 314,000 1869 . 416,900 1890 520,500 1870 . 1,028,500 1891 3,000 1871 97.000 1893 228,700 1873 418,700 1893 868,000 1873 . 743,000 1894 489,500 1874 . 536,500 1895 1,187,000 1875 706,500 1896 165,000 1876 . . . 67-7 500 1897. ... 500,000 1877 . . 700,000 . 235.500 1898. 337,500 1878 1899 384,000 1879 434,000 1900 171,0n0 1880 393,600 After 1900 980.000 Total .$6,958,700 Total $6 958,700 The subjoined table shows the population of these cities at the last three decennial periods, together with the total assessed valuation, estimated true value of real estate and personal property, and the total bonded and floating debt of the cities named : 154 THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. Cities. Populat'n 1860. Populat'n 1870. Populat'n 1880. Total Asses'd Value of B. E. and Personal Property. Estimated True Value of Heal Estate. Total Esti- mated True Value of E. E. and Personal Property. Total ■ Bonded and Floating Debt. Evansville 11,484 21,8W 17,718 48,244 7,254 13,606 8.950 10,709 15,896 9,445 7,206 16,103 5,440 29,280 26,880 75,074 10,422 14,860 11,198 8,945 16,422 12,743 18,279 26,040 7,680 $17,307,725 13,450,075 48,099,940 2,536,964 , 9,268,490 5,216,825 8,302,860 3,725,390 7,785,350 4,809,005 13,562,625 3,431,952 $20,635,791 14,800,600 51,048,313 2,668,796 9.086,954 5,358,546 3,849,845 3,421,015 6,143,986 3,776,850 12,778,853 3,233,366 $37,514,388 19,067,466 68,064,417 3,658,394 12,115,938 7,011,394 4,466,460 4,561,353 8,191,981 5,035,800 17,051,804 4,311,141 $1,984,009 8,56,909 1,914,600 294,350 300,000 456,276 233,051 Indianapolis Jeflersonville Lafayette Loganspon 18,611 4,020 9,387 2,979 8,130 12,647 6,603 3,803 8,594 3,960 New Albany Richmond South Bend Terre Haute Vincennes 368,482 167,000 337,600 291,489 82,000 Totals 90,218 181,801 252,823 $132,492,191 $135,492,191 $180,950,536 $7,274,648 Ohio stands first among the Western States in the number of her church sittings, which are nearly equal to full provision for the entire population. Indiana stands very near to Ohio in this regard. Of the church accommodations, the Methodists have about one-third of the whole, the Baptists something more than one-sixth, the Presbyterians and the Christians each about one- eighth, and other denominations the remainder. Until 1870, throughout the greater part of Indiana, the public schools were of an inferior order. During the past decade the improvement has been very striking. Superintendents, teachers, and people have been inspired with a species of enthusiasm on this subject. A system of county institutes has been ordained ; and the attendance of teachers has been made compulsory, fines being imposed for neglect of this duty. Besides this, there were 4,530 township institutes held in 1880. A large State tax is raised, which i^ distributed ^rorai^a on the basis of school population, so that the wealthier counties contribute to instruction in the poorer ones. This tax, added to the very large permanent school fund derived from Congressional grants, pays more per capita towards the support of public instruction, I believe, than the general fund of any other State. The following table indicates the growth of the public school interests of Indiana for the fifteen years ending Dec. 31, 1880 : Items. 1865. 1880. Items. 1865. 1880. Permanent school fund .... Value of school property . . $1,614,337.44 3,827,173.00 1,020,441.00 107.38 $ 9,065,254.'?3 11,817,954.63 3,066,432.00 331.41 Aver, length of school year Cedays 9,493 7,403 403,812 136 days 13,578 Teach^-rs' salaries School houses 9,M7 Average annual salary t-chool attendance . . 511,28S THE WEST m 1880 — INDIANA. 155 It will be observed that the permanent school fund has more than quintupled in this period ; that the value of school property (considering the appreciation of the currency) has increased at full as great a ratio ; and that, if the school enrollment has increased but twenty-six per cent., the average school year has considerably more than doubled in length, while it appears else- where that the average attendance has improved very materially. The total school population is 703,558 ; so that, adding to the school enrollment, 511,283, the 12,112 connected with private schools, and the attendance on seminaries and colleges, it is evident that more than seventy-five per cent, of the school population is in school. Indiana expends three times as much for public schools as Virginia and West Yirginia together. The State maintains a Normal school at Terre Haute, one of the most effective insti- tutions of the kind in the West. There is a State University at Bloomington, \well furnished with apparatus, having a valuable cabinet of mineralogical and geological specimens, and large collections in natural history. It had an attendance in 1880 of 397 students. At Lafayette there is an agricultural and indus- trial institution, Purdue University, endowed by the land grant act of 1862. It had 220 students in 1880. Besides these institu- tions, there are thirty-five denominational colleges and acad- emies, and four professional schools, with an attendance of about 4,000 students. Illiteracy has been reduced very rapidly under the operation of the improved system of public schools and other causes, during the past ten years, so that the illiterates numbered, in 1880, less than one in eleven hundred of the entire population.* At the same time, the ratio of commitments for crime is below the average elsewhere ; while the ratio of house- holders to the entire adult population is rather greater. Prop- erty is more evenly distributed in Indiana than is commonly the case in other States, which is attributed in part to the oppor- tunities for work for all classes and the fewer inducements to speculation. A steady growth of manufactures and trade accounts for the much niore rapid growth in population of the large towns and cities than that of the rural districts. For example, in the last decade sixty-three per cent, of the net increase of the population of fourteen central counties of the east half of the State was in the fifteen cities and large towns, • Eeport of the State Superintendent for 1880. 156 THE WEST IN 1880 — INDIANA. Indianapolis being the chief. The population of Indiana Las increased nearly 300,000 in the last ten years. The increase of agricultural wealth, as I have shown elsewhere, was in greater ratio than this. The manufacturing industries have groAyn with still greater rapidity. The number of miles of railroad has doubled since 1865. Within ten years, the product of the coal mines has very much more than doubled. The public debt has been reduced until it is now scarcely a million, after deducting its non- negotiable bonds, representing the funds it holds for the benefit of its own schools and colleges. Taxation, except for recent public improvements, is a mere trifle. Public and private credit stands high. The public press was never before so strong in influence at home and abroad, and never exerted itself so beneficially for the public weal as it has done during the decade just concluded. By its enterprise, and the greater efforts made by the State itself, through its Bureau of Geology and Statistics, and other means, to disseminate information as to its resources and its civil and social advantages, these are better understood than at any former period in its history. As a con- sequence, home and foreign capital stands ready to embark in new enterprises or to enlarge existing industries. The advanta- ges of homes in the midst of such privileges as we have de- scribed will prevent any considerable emigration, and will continue to attract immigration, especially to the industrial centres. With nearly half of her soil still unfurrowed, with her rich deposits of "block coal" of superior quality for smelt- ing purposes barely broached, with a school fund larger in pro- portion to her population than any other State in the Union, with abundance of work and fair wages for all who. come to her — Indiana enters upon a new decade confident of continued and increasing prosperity. THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. 157 CHAPTER VI. STATE OF ILLIN'OIS. Illinois, embosomed in the very midst of the luxuriant val- ley of the Mississippi, with a soil of unsurpassed fertility extend- ing from boundary to boundary, with two-thirds of its surface underlaid with coal, with its broad expanse well-nigh girdled by navigable waters, traversed by the main channel between the twenty thousand navigable miles of the Mississippi river system and the five inland seas of the mighty St. Lawrence, and seamed in all directions with the trunk lines of the railway sys- tems of the continent — naturally leads all the other States of the West in agriculture, manufactures, and commerce. The entire area of the State 18 56,650* square miles, or 36,256,000 acres ^ . being a sixth greater than the area of New York, and nearly equal to that of England and Wales combined. Yet, there is probably less than ten square miles of sterile land in all this broad territory. The extreme length of Illinois, measured nearly oa the third principal meridian, is about 385 miles, extending from the Wisconsin line, under the parallel of 42° 30', south to the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi, some two miles below the thirty-seventh parallel. Its greatest breadth, on the parallel of 40^ 12', is about 218 miles; that is, from the meridian of Vincennes, 87° 35' to 91° 40' west of Greenwich. The boundary of the State is very irregular, following, first, the tortuous windings of the Mississippi, its entire western and southwestern line (separating it from Iowa and Missouri), to Cairo, thence up the still more crooked Ohio, dividing it from Kentucky, to the mouth of the Wabash ; which it ascends through all its frequent and abrupt windings to the meridian of Vincennes, the common boundary of Illinois and Indiana from this point to Lake Mich- igan, a distance of about 165 miles. From here the boundary follows the Lake to the Wisconsin line, the parallel of 42° 30', " According to statement of the United Slates Census Bureau. 158 THE WEST IN 1880— ILLINOIS, along which it runs about 140 miles, to the Mississippi. It is a singular, provision that, while the jurisdiction upon the Wabash and on the Mississippi is concurrent for the States separated by them, and while the middle of the Mississippi is expressly named as the boundary on that side, the fundamental law con- fines the jurisdiction of Illinois to the north shore of the Ohio, and gives her no control on that stream except as may be arranged between Illinois and Kentucky. The surface of Illinois rises from the broad alluvial bottom lands of its rivers in steep, romantic cliffs, from one to four hundred feet in height (as in many places along the Ohio and Lower Mississippi), or, which is still more common, in beautifully rounded, grassy bluffs (as along the Illinois, the Sangamon, and Rock river). From the tops of these bluffs, extend the prairies, now clothed through all the summer with green or golden grain. There are no mountains in Illinois. Its highest summits are between Galena and Freeport, in the northwest corner of the State, near- Scales' Mound. Some of these rise 648 feet above Lake Michigan, 873 feet above the Mississippi at Cairo, and 1,164 feet above tide level. Mounds are com- mon in the prairies of Central Illinois, rising from fifty to • seventy feet above the surrounding plains, crowned with groves, and looking, as viewed across the green billows of apparently illimitable corn fields, like mimic islands. Along the line of the rugged geological uplift, known as the Grrand Chain, extending from Grrand Tower on the Mississippi to Shawneetown on the Ohio, and below this, the country is quite broken, resembling Southern Indiana. The general slope of the State is from the northeast to the southwest, the prevailing direction of all its principal interior rivers. Rock river, the Illinois, the Sangamon, the Kaskaskia, and the Big Muddy. In all, there are 288 rivers and large creeks shown on the best maps, of which only the Illinois and the great boundary rivers are at present used to any noticeable degree for navigation. Rock river, the Pecatonica, one of its tributaries, the Fox, the Kaskaskia, the Vermillion, the Sangamon, the Kankakee, and the Embarras might easily be rendered navigable by slack- water improvements, and it is not unlikely that the Kankakee may be so improved and be connected with the Maumee, at Fort Wayne, by canal. The subject is now receiving legislative attention. After leav- ing the northwest part of the State, where the fall gives good THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. 159 water power, the streams become, for the most part, more slug- gish, more dependent on the immediate rainfall, fluctuating greatly according to the season. In every nook and corner of the State the soil has been put to the test of repeated crops, and has proved its fertility by har- vests which have placed Illinois foremost among the wheat and corn growing States. In the bottom lands, the soil is alluvial, of a depth varying from five to twenty feet, yielding crops in almost marvelous profusion. The "American bottom," extend- ing for a hundred miles along the Illinois side of the Missis- sippi, with an average breadth of seven miles, fully justifies this expression, yielding at times eighty bushels of corn to the acre. The bottom lands of the Illinois are nearly as broad as those of the Upper Mississippi, say from one to three miles wide, and are of inexhaustible richness, although scarcely equal to the American bottom. The uplands from Lake Michigan to the Grand Chain are covered with deposits of drift, varying from ten to two hundred feet in depth, overlaid with rich black loam, from ten to. fifty inches thick. The finely comminuted limestones, sandstones, and shales of the drift era, mingled with organic vegetable and animal mould left by the dead herds and unmown harvests of countless centuries, constitute here a strong soil, distributed with peculiar impartiality over every section of the country ; so that when the several counties are marked on the map, as I have just marked them, for every 10,000 hogs and cattle, every 2,000 acres in orchards, and every 100,000 laushels of wheat and corn produced, not one of the 102 counties goes unmarked for corn, of which only twenty- eight counties pro- duced less than 1,000,000 bushels, and but four less than 500,000 bushels ; only twenty-eight counties show less than 100,000 bushels of wheat, while twelve show from ten to thirty-, three hundred thousand bushels ; only eight counties show less than 10,000 hogs and 10,000 cattle ; while in each section, north, south, east, west, and in the central counties, the number of hogs assessed range from 10,000 to 70,000, and the cattle from 10,000 to 41,000 dnd upward. The maps of other States marked on this plan show a much more unequal distribution of the princi- pal crops, while some of them betray large districts as yet but little cultivated. The northern part of Illinois is of the Silurian formation, the Lower Silurian immediately underlying the northwestern, and 160 THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. the Upper Silurian, the northeastern portion. South of a Hne- drawn eastward from the mouth of Rock river to within a few miles of the Indiana line, the formation is mainly Carbonifer. ous, and coal is now mined in numerous places over most of that area, embracing about three-fourths of the entire State. Professor Worthen, the State geologist, estimates the extent of the Illinois coal field at 36,800 square miles. Occasional out- crops of older formations occur, where geological uplifts have brought the lower strata to the surface. There is a narrow- strip along the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, from the mouth of the Wabash up to the northern line of the coal field, in which, except where it crosses Madison county, opposite the great east bend of the Mississippi, there is no coal. The Belleville mining district, within sight of St. Louis, is the most productive and valuable mining region of the State. The Coal Measures, which thin out toward the north and the west, entirely disappearing before reaching Lake Michigan and the edge of the great trans- Missouri plains, range from a depth of over 500 feet .above the conglomerate formation in Southern Illinois, to but a few feet in the north. There are six principal seams of workable coal. Beginning with the lowest of these, No. 1 ranges from, two to three feet in thickness. No. 2 varies from two to live feet in thickness. It is the lower seam at Murphysboro, the Morris coal of G-rundy county, the lowest seam at La Salle, between the above places, and the lowest coal at the Pontiac shaft. No. S is from three to four feet thick. No. 4 is a coal that has only been identified at Cuba, in Fulton county. No. 5 is one of the most persistent seams, and is almost universally developed wherever properly sought. It produces coal of excellent qual- ity ; that raised at Hewlett, Sangamon county, being pure enough to be used without coking for iron smelting. No. 6 is the highest seam in Illinois that attains a thickness of more than two feet. It is from four to five feet thick in La Salle, Fulton, and Peoria counties, and from six to seven feet at Belleville. The quality of the coal mined on the Big Muddy is not equal to that of the Indiana and Ohio block coals, but it is regarded as a block coal, and is used without coking, in large quantities, for smelting the Iron Mountain and other Missouri ores, to which it lies almost adjacent. The coal mined in Illinois, in 1869, amounted to 2, 629, 563 tons. The product had increased in 1879 to 3,500,000 tons ; three and a half times the amount in any other THE WEST m 1880 — ILLINOIS. 161 Western State, except Ohio, of which the yield that year was estimated to be 5,000,000 tons. It is estimated that Illinois con- tains one-seventh of all the known coal in North America. This enormous treasure is greatly enhanced in value by its close vicinity to the inexhaustible mountains of the finest iron ore in the world for the manufacture of steel, in Missouri ; by cheap river and lake transportation, bringing it nearer than any other great coal region to the rich iron and copper ores of the TJpper Peninsula of Michigan ; and by its nearness to , the two grand commercial and manufacturing centers of the Central States, Chicago and St. Louis. The quality of the Illinois coal is not equal to that of the bituminous coal of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania ; but the immense quantities of it, its wide distribution over a prairie State which is at the same time rising into high rank as a manufacturing region, the moderate depth at which the coal is reached, and the ease with which it is mined, the many railroads crossing the vast coal fields in every direction, and finally the neigbborhood of the great cities, above named, the largest of the Mississippi valley, close upon the edge of the mining districts — all help to render coal mining an industry of great importance to this State. Mr. James McFarlane says : "There is, perhaps, no other area of equal extent in the United States where coal is so easily obtained with a moderate expendi- ture of capital as in the Illinois coal field . ' ' He also say s : " It is remarkable that the first discovery of coal in America, of which there is any account in a printed book, was made so far in the interior as Illinois, by Father Hennepin, in 1669, more than two hundred years ago." Hennepin's map, accompanying his jour- nal published in 1698, locates a "coal mine" near Ottawa, which evidently refers to the thin surface outcrop in that vicin- ity. "This," says R. C. Taylor, "is the earliest notice on record of the existence of coal in America." Devonian rocks crop out near the mouth of Rock river and in the forks of the Mississippi and the Illinois, and a few miles north of the mouth of the Ohio. The limestones of the Lower Silurian furnish build- ing stones varying considerably in quality. On Fox river and along the Des Plaines, Upper Silurian limestone of superior quality is quarried, of which many of the most expensive pub- lic and private edifices in Chicago are constructed, including the magnificent County Court House. Much of this stone is shipped to great distances. The Carboniferous limestones are 162 THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. accessible in many parts of the State, Silurian sandstones along the Upper Illinois river furnish material for extensive glass works. Carboniferous sandstones form a ridge in Union county, which con- tains also Lower Silurian and Devonian strata. Potter's clay is abundant in many localities, especially in the southern counties, where also ochres of value for mineral paint occur. Peat beds exist in swampy parts of several northern counties. Iron ores exist in many places, but not in quantities and of a quality to be of important commercial value while such exhaustless masses are so convenient in adjacent States. Lead occurs in Jo Daviess county, in the Galena limestone, in great richness, and has been worked here from early times. Mines have also been worked in Hardin and adjacent counties at the extreme south. Zinc ores accompany the lead, and of late years have become valuable. In the early settlement of the State, springs and wells furnished an important supply of salt. A few thousand bushels are still annually made in Saline and Q-allatin counties, where seventy- five gallons of brine will make fifty pounds of salt. A superfi- cial drift formation occurs over much of the State, carrying granite pebble and stray copper almost to the Ohio river.' Mineral springs of various character occur in Southern Illinois, some of which have attained a local celebrity. Upon the cen- tral prairies, water is usually readily obtained by digging from twenty to fifty feet, but in extreme drought the supply is some- times unreliable, and no reasonable depth of digging or boring promises a complete remedy. A tenacious subsoil, underlying a large proportion of the State, retains moisture until remedied by drainage, which is, fortunately, easily secured. While Illinois is emphatically a prairie State, it has never been so nearly treeless as the States beyond the Missouri. Large dis- tricts of Southern Illinois were originally densely wooded, and forest belts from three to thirty miles wide extended along the banks, and filled the areas between the forks, of rivers. In many sections large'surfaces have been denuded of timber. The wood- lands at this time, based on the observations of the State Horti- cultural Society and the Census returns, stand in about the fol- lowing ratios to the entire area of the country : In the Fox river district, embracing twelve counties in the northeastern corner of the State, the acreage of woodland is about six per cent, of the whole ; in the Rock river district, including eleven counties in the northwest, it is now a little more than eight percent.; THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. 163 in the Illinois river district, below Ottawa, extending across to the Mississippi, embracing twenty-one counties, it is not far from fifteen per cent. ; east of this district, in the Grand Prairie district, including seventeen counties in East Central Illinois, it is about six per cent. ; directly south of this, in the Centralia district, embracing seventeen counties, lying mainly between the Wabash river and the Illinois Central railroad, the woodland acreage rises to fully twenty-four per cent, of the entire area ; in the Kaskaskia district, stretching eastward of this last to the Mississippi, including thirteen counties, it is twenty-one per cent. ; and in the Grand Chain district, including the eleven counties in the extreme south, it is from twenty-five to twenty- seven percent. Dr. George Vasey enumerates sixty- one species of native forest trees common to the whole State, six peculiar to the northern part, and fourteen peculiar to the southern part, to which three have since been added, making eighty-four in all.* Of these, the principal varieties are the oak, of which there are ten species ; the ash, of which there are five species ; the maple, of which there are three ; the walnut, hickory, pecan, poplar, elm, hackberry, cottonwood and tulip tree. Of wild fruit trees, there are the wild plum, cherry, crab apple, mulberry, haw, and paw- paw. Sycamore, cypress, redbud, birch, beech, and sweet gum grow in the southern counties. Fully eighty million feet of pine lumber were sawed in 1880 in Illinois mills along the Mis- sissippi, those of Rock Island and Moline leading all others, in the ratio of seven to one. The pine logs are all rafted to these mills from the Upper Mississippi. • Large quantities of native logs are manufactured into lumber in the principal hardwood districts, amounting to several million feet annually, but I have no exact data before me. Black walnut and poplar logs are in great demand for furniture factories. Counties and towns are authorized to provide for the encouragement of tree planting, but no large tracts of planted trees are seen anywhere. Groves of a few acres beautify some of the largest farms. The State Agricultural College at Champaign has covered about forty acres of prairie with a thrifty growth of many species of forest trees, and has done much to encourage forestry by plainly showing what trees are best suited to the climate. In all parts of the State, the waysides are bordered with Osage orange or other hedge * Davidson & Stuv^ say there are ninety species ; and Professor French, of the Southern Illinois Normal, has discovered other species. 164 THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS, trees, or are shaded with' far- stretching rows of elm, maple, walnut, locust, or poplar trees ; while over 290,000 acres of orchards go far towards replacing the leaf surface lost to the State by the destruction of native forests. At its settlement, Illinois abounded in deer, and the French pioneers shot many a buffalo and elk before the demand for furs and peltries had tempted the Indians to slaughter the immense herds that once grazed on this side the Mississippi. Wild tur- keys were abundant along the Sangamon and other streams of Soiithern and Central Illinois, where they fattened on the pecans and other wild nuts. A few wolves, foxes, and minks still prowl around sheep fields and farm houses; an occasional otter haunts the streams in the depths of the deepest woods ; a few muskrats build their quaint huts in the swamps ; skunks still infest the hazel thickets ; rabbits or hares start out of the orchards and bound along the hedge rows ; opossums and squirrels, and occa- sionally raccoons, invite the sportsman to the woods ; and pouched gophers, ground-squirrels, and moles infest parks, orchards, and corn fields. The fauna mentioned in the chapter on Ohio, are, nearly all of them, common to Illinois and Indiana. The grouse, or prairie chicken, is not extinct, but the great flocks of thousands, mentioned in the early history of this State, wiUbe seen here no more. Wild geese and ducks, that formerly nested within the State, now pass over it in limited numbers. Swans, pelicans, and other water-fowl are occasionally shot on their passage across the State. Myriads of pigeons still come and go in their semi-annual migrations. The peculiar haunts of wild animals are mostly broken up. Few species are as yet entirely extinct, but most of the representatives that remain are driven to the thickly wooded river bottoms. Formerly fish were abundant in nearly all the numerous streams of the State ; but neglect in. the structure of dams, and wholesale destruction by traps and nets and winter fishing, have greatly reduced the supply. Stringent laws have been enacted of late, and a com- mission is maintained to .see that these acts are enforced, and to co-operate with the United Sta,tes commissioner in propagating fish and stocking the rivers of the State. This board, consisting of N. K. Fairbank and S. P. Bartlett, of Chicago, and J. Smith Briggs, of Kankakee, have in one year's time rescued nearly 6,000,000 young native fish from the shallows where they were left by the receding of the spring floods, besides distributing THE WEST m 1880 — ILLINOIS. 165 nearly 1,000 Grerman carp to various ponds, and securing 1,000,000 wall-eyed pike for distribution this year. The trout and whitefish of Lake Michigan are superior food, particularly the latter ; and constant efforts are made by t}ie United States lish commission to obtain large numbers of eggs for distribation to all inland waters where it is thought that they will thrive. The fish of the Mississippi and its tributaries from Illinois are for the most part the same which are enumerated in the chapters on Missouri and Iowa. The climate of this State is subject to many and sometimes sudden and great fluctuations of temperature, yet that it is remarkably favorable to agricultural pursuits and to health is attested by the crop reports from year to year and by the vital statistics. Of the finest winter and spring wheat belts of the con- tinent, the one covers its southern central portions and the other edges into its northern counties ; while it leads all the States in corn. The annual mean temperature runs from 52° in the farthest southern projection of the State to 48° in the northwest. During the hottest week of 1872 the mean temperature ranged from 85° on the lake shore to 90° at Springfield, and about 92° at Cairo. The mean temperature for the coldest week of the following winter was zero on a line from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan through Springfield to the Mississippi at a little above the mouth of the Illinois river. It fell to nearly 10° below zero at Galena, and rose to about 8° above at the mouth of the Ohio. The average annual rainfall for the State is about forty inches ; the average in the northern counties being not far from tliirty-six inches, and that of the most southern counties forty- two. With its undrained swamps and prairie sloughs, and the rank vegetation left on the ground to poison the air in its decay, it is not strange that in early days ague was a prevalent disease in many parts of the country, but particularly along the bottom lands. The advance of cultivation, with its road making and drainage, together with close pasturage, has reduced the cases of ague to about the average throughout the Northern States from Boston to the Mississippi. In an area west of the Des Plaines and the Illinois, extending to the Mississippi, the deaths from consumption, in the year tab-ulated in the statistical atlas of the United States (1872), ranged from fourteen to twenty in every hundred decedents. This was the case also in a small area .around Cairo, and in another small district along the Indiana line 166 THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. north of Yincenhes. In the rest of the State, nearly two-thirds of the whole, the deaths from this cause ranged from fourteen down to five in a hundred decedents. Deaths from malarial diseases are few in the region west of the Des Plaines and the Illinois, where those from consumption were most numerous, averaging less than one in a hundred. This disease prevails most in the extreme south. Deaths from intestinal diseases occur in about the same ratio as in adjacent States, except in a limited area along the great rivers, ,where they are fewer. Enteric, cerebro- spinal, and typhus fevers carried off from two to nine of every hundred on the mortality lists. "Thirty in every thousand decedents had lived to between sixty and seventy years, sixteen to eighty years and upwards. The mortality in Chicago, 1879 to 1880, Oct. 31, was less than in most other large cities of the world, being 17.9 in every thousand population, against 18.8 in St. Louis, 20 in Boston, 23.4 in New York, 25.8 in Brooklyn, 18.3 in Philadelphia, 20.9 in Baltimore, 27.7 in New Orleans, 32.9 in Dublin, 21.9 in Glasgow, 21 in London, 24 in Paris, 27.7 in Lyons, and 29.3 in Berlin." * Blindness, deaf-mntisna, and insanity occur about on the average of the whole country. Idiocy among young children is a little above the national average. The first recorded visit of white men to Illinois was made by Marquette and Joliet in 1673. La Salle entered the Illinois river by the Kankakee branch in December, 1679, and explored it to its mouth in 1680, setting up the standard of France- jat Fort Creve Coeur, on the east bank of the river, just below the mouth of Lake Peoria. A map of Canada, or New France, published at Paris, 1703, by Guillaume De Lisle, of the Royal Academy of Sciences, " First Geographer to the King," repre- sents Lake Michigan as "Lac des Illinois ;" locates the "Chica- gou" and the Illinois rivers ; and indicates the lead mines about Galena and Dubuque as "Mine de Plomb." The Illinois and Chicago rivers soon became the channel of the French and Indian traffic between the Mississippi and the Lakes. As early as 1686, or sooner. Father Claude Jean Allouez entered upon missionary work at the Indian village of Kaskaskia, and about the same time Father Pinet formed a mission station at Caho- kia, nearly opposite the site of St. Louis. Indian traders soon fol- lowed, and erected rude storehouses and stockades. Encour- * Dr. Oscar C.De Wolf. THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. 167 aged by M. Tonti, La Salle's lieutenant and successor, farmers and mechanics began to settle here, at the old village of Peoria, and about Fort St. Louis ; but more particularly at Kaskaskia and Cahokia. The cultivation of the soil was commenced before the year 1700 ; dwellings, chapels, and school houses arose; and before 1712 these places had taken on the appearance of perma- nent civilized settlements. The "Company of the West" was organized in Paris soon after this, to settle the Mississippi val- ley, and Philip Frangois Rinault, as principal agent, sailed from France in 1719, with some 200 mechanics and miners, stopped at the' West Indies on his way, and purchased 500 negroes to work in " the mines," and reached Illinois before the close of that year. These were the first slaves introduced into Illinois, where slavery was legally established by decree of the French monarch soon after this. It is perhaps not strange, then, that notwithstanding the ordinance of 1787 prohibited slavery in any portion of the Northwest Territory, or States to be organ- ized from it, Illinois did not wholly shake ofE slavery until after 1840. This company' held large tracts of land in fee sim- ple direct from the crown, of which the Indian title was extin- guished ; and grants of so many arpents* along the river front or highway, extending back in (long, narrow strips, often to a mile or more in length, were granted to individual farmers. Before the American Revolution the greater part of the Ameri- can bottom for a distance of thirty miles above Kaskaskia waa covered with these grants and brought under cultivation. Wind, water, and horse mills were erected for flouring purposes, and considerable exports of flour were made to New Orleans, MobUe, and other places. With thousands of savages on all, sides of them, these quiet, inoffensive missionaries, peasants, and fur traders dwelt here for nearly a century, enjoying an Hespe- rian Acadia, as regards all but the ravages of the swamp angel of the American bottom, which often desolated their homes. They were not remarkable for enterprise or energy, and had the West waited for such as they to develop it, it would still be a wilderness. This state of things continued until 1763, when Illinois, with all the rest of Canada, or New France, passed by treaty to G-reat Britain, with scarcely any sign of change as regarded the laws and customs of the colony, until the Ameri- can Revolution. On the Fourth of July, 1778, General George • The arpent is 11.67 rods. 10 168 THE WEST m 1880 — ILLINOIS. Rogers Clarke, under commission ©f Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia, surprised and captured the British forts of Kaskaskia and Cahokia. The French were easily persuaded to espouse the American cause, and, having taken the oath of allegiance, were ever after loyal to the Republic, although, on more than one occasion, they were sadly ill-treated by the poorly disci- plined militia of Virginia, and their none too scrupulous com- manders. Virginia sent two successive " County Lieutenants," or sub-governors, who governed all the settlements of the region between the Ohio and the Lakes, under the name of the "County of Illinois."* The subsequent cession to the United States of the claims of Virginia and Connecticut to this vast ter- ritory, the Indian wars in which Illinois was concerned in com- mon with Ohio and Indiana, under the aaministrations of Gov- ernors St. Clair and Harrison, have been sufficiently touched upon elsewhere. In 1809, Illinois, after having been under the juris- diction, successively, of the governments of Canada and Louisiana, Great Britain, Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana, was organized as a Ter- ritory, with Ninian Edwards as Governor. The war with Great Britain in 1812, incited the Indians to renewed hostilities, involv- ing numerous savage outrages and murders, many of which were avenged in manner almost as savage. The treacherous massa- cre of the garrison of Fort Dearborn, Chicago, was an incident of that war, as was also the fight near Rock Island, in which Major (afterwards President) Zachary Taylor participated. Compared with the rate at which the younger Western States have grown in population since opened to settlement, the growth of Illinois was at first very slow. The total population in 1800, the French Tiahitans all included, numbered only 2,458. During the next decade the increase was less than 10,000, composed mainly of accessions from Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and other Southern States. The war of 1812-15 checked the rate of immi- gration for a time, just as it had begun to flow in freely ; but, as soon as peace was secured, the influx of new settlers became much greater than ever before. It gathered still greater volume when the State was admitted to the Union, Dec. 3, 1818, and two years later the Census of 1820 showed more than four and a half times the population of 1810. Settlements were confined, for the * One of these was Colonel John Todd, who, under date of Jan. 15, 1779, issaed his proclama- tion concerning " the settlement of titles of lands on the borders of the rivers Mississippi, Ohio. Illinois, and Wabash," requiring all who claimed to have titles to lands in this county to produce evidences of the same to be duly recorded. THE WEST IN 1880 - ILLINOIS. 169 most part, to the borders of the Wabash, the Ohio, and the Mis- sissippi, south of a line from Terre Haute to the mouth of the Illinois. About this time the iniiuence of steamboat navigation began to be felt. A little later the lead mines about G-alena {generally conceded to be the first explored in the United States) commenced to draw multitudes of adventurers to that corner of the State. Lead mining first attracted public attention in 1821. In 1825 the lead product was 664,530 pounds; in 1827, it was 5,182,180 pounds ; in 1828, 11,115,810 pounds; and in 1829, 13,343,150 pounds. Prices having suddenly dropped far below ordinary rates, the product of 1830 fell off to 8,323,998 pounds. Lead mining has been an industry of the State ever since. Note the effects of all these causes on the Census. There was an increase of more than 100,000 between 1820 and 1830. The Black Hawk war, in 1831 to 1833, was the ultimate cause of the removal of the Sacs and Foxes, and the opening up of the lovely Rock River Valley. Between 1830 and 1840, Illinois gained neaxly 420,000 inhabitants. The Mormons migrated from Missouri to Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1840. Their influence was morally pestilential, and they were expelled in 1844. The increase of population between 1840 and 1850 was something less than in the previous decade, but was still nearly 400,000. As early as 1816 the project for opening a canal from Lake Michigan to the Illinois river engaged the at- tention of Congress. Right of way was ceded by the Indians. Other grants were made by the general government after the Indian title to this part of the State had been extinguished. Canal commissioners were appointed by the State to survey the route, locate these lands, sell them, and take other steps in the prosecution of the work. A ship canal was projected on a grand scale. The commissioners platted the site of Chicago in 1829. Settlers and speculators flocked hither from all parts of the ■country, foreseeing that the then untenanted flats on either shore of the sluggish, insignificant-looking Chicago river, were des- tined to bear a great city. The sales mounted into hundreds of thousands of dollars in value. Legislative wrangling con- spired with other causes to delay the work for years. At last ground was broken July 4, 1836. The State becoming financially embarrassed, other internal improvements were abandoned, and for a time work on the canal was suspended. Finally, the plan of the work was changed. The project for a ship canal was set 170 THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. aside. A system of locks was adopted, and in 1848 the canal was completed on the plan upon which it is now operated. The effects of this and other internal improvements, combined with the expansion of commerce on the Lakes and on the Mississippi, within the next few years, were remarkable. Railway con- struction began in earnest. Soon the Illinois Central and other roads penetrated far into, and in some instances entirely across, the State. Immigration was stimulated by the land-grant rail- roads, as well as by the peculiar natural and other advantages of the country. As a result, the population increased more than 860,000 between 1850 and I860. The following table shows the population of Illinois ir^decennial periods from 1800 to 1880 : Teaks. White. Colored. Slaves. Total Popn- latiOD. 1800 2,275 11.501* 53,778 155,061 472,354 846,034 1,704,291 2,511,096 3,032,174 183 781 1,374 2,384 3,929 5,436 7,628 2-', 762 46,248 2,458 n,m 55,211 157,445 476,183 1810 168 917 747 331 1820 1830 1840 1850 851,470 1,711,951 3,539,891 3,078,76» 1860 1870 1880 Agriculture engages more than one-fourth of the total popu- lation of the State ; manufacturing, one-sixth ; trade and trans- portation, less than one-sixth ; personal service and the profes- sions, about one-eighth; and two-fifths are in school — leaving but a small proportion of the people, young or old, unemployed. Average wages in 1880 for field hands and mechanics were as follows: Field hands, by the year, $22.11 per month, or with board, $14.99 ; harvest hands, transient, $1.73 per day without board; transient field hands, not harvesting, $1.11 without board ; with board, 82 cts. Mechanics— Carpenters, $2.03 ; black- smiths, $2.03 ; wheelwrights, $2.12 ; machinists, $2.25 ; shoe- makers, $1.75— without board. Of the total area of Illinois (36,256,000 acres), 15,201,183 acres were planted in 1880,t incorn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, flax and hay; 476,000 were in other crops; 4,257,054 were in pastures ; 3,708,567 acres were in woodlands; 272,127 were in city and village lots ; leaving some 10,500,000 acres not covered in the Agricultural Report, of which aboijt * There are 49 persons, besides Indians not taxed, appearing in the total population, bnt not amoDg white or colored. ^ *■ > t State Agricultural Report. THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. 171 3,500,000 are improved. The corn crop of 1879* was 312,221,000 bushels, a gain of seventy-four per cent, in ten years ; the wheat crop was 44,896,830 bushels — an increase of fifty-four per cent. (In 1880, it was 53,767,200 bushels, or over thirteen and a half million bushels more than the wheat crop of all the Middle States and New England together.) The yield of rye in 1879 was 4,050,000 — an increase of 500 per cent, in ten years ; while the oat crop showed a decrease of twenty-eight per cent., amounting to but 25,716,990 bushels. The barley yield was 1,270,500, or only 20,500 more than in 1869 ; the yield of buck- wheat was 305,900 — a gain of twenty-one per cent.; the tobacco crop reached 1^,091,000 pounds — a slight falling off; the potato product was 10,822,800 bushels — an increase of forty-seven per cent. ; and the hay crop fell from 2,800,000 tons to 2,456,000, but rose in 1880, according to the State Agricultural Report, to 3,486,584 tons. The principal cereal crops of Illinois in 1859, 1869, and 1879, as given in bushels in the Census tables of 1860, 1870, and 1880, were as follows : Ceops. ■ 1860. 1370. 1880. Wheat : 33,837,033 951,381 15,830,639 115,174,777 334,117 1,036,338 30,138,405 3,4o6,578 43,780,851 139,931,395 168,863 3,480,400 .51,110,503 Kye 3,131,785 Oats 63,189,300 Indian corn 325,793,481 178,859 Barley 1,339,533 Totals 156,'544,165 207,986,491 444,623 350 It is worthy of special note, that, according to this authority, the total cereal products of Illinois increased much more rapidly during the last decade than in the one immediately preceding ; the increase between 1860 and 1870 being 33 per cent., while between 1870 and 1880 it was 114. The remarkable differences between the agricultural statistics of the Census Bureau and those of the Agricultural Bureau are referred to elsewhere. The following table shows the annual yield of the principal crops of Illinois, as estimated by the Agricultural Bureau, averaged for five years-^1875 to 1879 inclusive — together with the total annual value, the price per bushel, the yield per acre, and the value per acre, all averaged for the same period : * United States Agricultural Bureau Reports. 172 THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. Ckops. Indian corn Wheat Rye Oats Barley Buckwheat . Potatoes . . . Tobacco.. . . Hay Total yieM of crops of 1869 in bush'8,pound8 or tons. 121,500,000 29,300,000 675,000 35,736,000 1,350,000 351,000 7,500,000 14,500,000 3,800 000 Average annual yield in bush- els, pounds, or tons for 5 yrs., ending 1879. Avg. price per bush- el, pound or ton for 5 years. 260,330,740 *33,051,366 3,917,000 57,333,038 3,074,330 165,180 11,915,000 7,183,500 3,333,160 Average annual value of crops for 5 years end- ing with 1879. I .31 .95 .57 .35 .65 .76 .47 .53 7.71 Av'rge an- nuTyield p'racrefr 5 yrs. end ingl879. $78 600,337 30,543,361 1,601,083 13,901,613 1,339,689 131,497 5,389,473 388,800 33,836,233 30 13.4 16 30.7 30.7 16.1 85 653 B>s 1.41 T Avg, ann'i value per acre for 5 yrs. end- ing 1879. "13.11 9.1» 7.53 14.09 11.25 40.49 35.28 10.21 In 1879, Illinois led all the other American States in the total yield of the four principal cereals, corn, wheat, rye, and oats ; it stood fourth in buckwheat, and twelfth in barley and tobacco, As in other wheat-producing States, so in Illinois, there have been discouraging seasons, followed by years when the farmer turned to other crops and the average of wheat fell off ; but of late, improved cultivation, good prices, and favorable seasons have led to much larger yields than ever before. The wheat crop of 1879, according to the State report, f was over eleven millions and a half greater than that of any previous year, yet the product of 1880 shows the enormous increase of nearly eight and a half millions. I shall find no better point than this for cor- recting an error that is sometimes made by those who look simply at the currency prices of farm products in former years, as com- pared with recent prices, and so greatly underestimate the actuajl amount received for these products at this time. For example, it was stated in one of the official reports of 1879, that, owing to the low average price — eighty-seven cents per bushel — the value of the wheat crop of that year, $39,936,639 in currency, would return the producer less than the crop of 1864, 1866, or 1867; the first of which was nearly twelve million, the next nearly seventeen, and the last more than seventeen million, bushels less in quantity than that of 1879, but produced, the first, $51,775,318, the next, $55,104,243, and the last, $55,160,000. But, then, it must be borne in mind, that the price per bushel in 1864 (that is, $1.55) was worth only thirty-eight and seven-tenths cents in gold ; that 6f 1866, given as $1.93, was worth but sixty- • This is but little more than 68 per cent, of the crop of 1879, and only 60 per cent, of that of 1880. t Reports of State and United States statisticians seldom agree. Usually the State reports, based on assessors' returns, are below United States estimates. The cereal statistics of the Tenth CenBM sometimes differ materially from both of these reports. These disagreements are noticed more par- ticularly elsewhere. THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. ■ I73 six cents; and that of 1867, say $1.97, was worth but seventy- one cents in gold, while the price realized in 1879 — eighty-seven cents per bushel-^was gold or its equivalent. This being taken into consideration, the true value of the crop of 1864 was but $19,929,536 ; that of 1866 was but $36,543,819; that of 1867 was but $39,480,000 ; while that of 1879 was $39,930,639. Consider, also, the great reduction in the price of everything the farmer consumes, and it is easy to see why he feels inspired to increase his acreage to the utmost. The best wheat district is on the Mississippi, beginning a little above the mouth of the Illinois, extending below the mouth of the Kaskaskia, and reaching across the State towards the Wabash. Of the more than forty million bushels of winter wheat raised in 1879,* three-quarters were produced south of Pana, in Christian county, half of this south of the Ohio and Mississippi railroad. In 1880 Madison was the banner wheat-growing county, with the immense aggregate of 3,539,400 bushels ; Montgomery followed with 3, 326, 664 bushels ; and next came Macoupin and St. Clair, all in a cluster, with eight neighboring principal wheat-growing counties directly around them. Madison averaged twenty-five bushels per acre. The principal spring wheat counties are in the centre and northwestern parts of the State. Spring wheat is giving place to winter wheat. In only twelve counties did the former, in 1879, exceed 100,000 bushels. These were, Lee, 362,690; and Ogle, Livingston, Bureau, McDonough, Knox, La Salle, Woodford, Whiteside, Stephenson, and Carroll, with from 172,000 to 122,000 each. Corn does well in all the State, but is most prolific in the central and north central belt, above the principal winter wheat district and south of the parallel of Chicago, from Indiana to the Mississippi. It is lightest in the extreme northeast, southeast, and southwest corners. Oats are lightest in the central counties. The crop of 1880 reached 62,709,002 bushels, or five and one-half millions over the aver- age of preceding five years. Tobacco culture is confined to the southern counties. Cotton was raised for home use by early settlers as far north as the Sangamon ; but, except for the impetus given by the high prices of the war times, little would have been raised for market. A few thousand bales were produced during the war and immediately after it. Hay is a very important crop in the northern and north central parts of the State, in what I * Beport of State Board of Agriculture. 174 THE WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. shall hereafter point out as the chief dairy district. Strawber- ries, raspberries, and grapes are raised almost everywhere. There are cherries in the north for home use, and some plums and pears. Blackberries and peaches are abundant in the south, where, at certain localities, great attention is paid to all these fruity for marketing. At Centralia and Cobden, on the Illinois Central railroad, strawberries are shipped by the carload in their season, and special trains carry them and the peaches to Chicago. The Alton peach district has long been famous for its superior fruit, and large shipments are made from here to the St. Louis and Chicago markets. In 1879 the orchards covered 287,583 acres ; the vineyards, 2,899 ; fruits and berries not included in orchards, 3,111. The orchard products in 1879, were 595,869 bushels of apples, 25,749 bushels of peaches (less than the twenty-fifth part of the crop of 1878), 6,134 bushels of pears (less than half the crop of the year before), and 326,823 gallons of wine (double the yield of the preceding year). The grape yield was 3,184,952 pounds. Berries and small fruits were valued at $185,488. An area of 17,883 acres of sorghum produced 1,309,400 gallons of. syrup; 17, 664 acres of broom corn produced 11, 161, 238 pounds; the products of 29,639 acres in crops not named were valued at half a million more ; while timothy, clover, and other grass seeds reached nearly half a million bushels, and flaxseed went over 1,600,000 bushels. With only 153,464 bushels of grass seed, Illinois led all the other Western States in 1870, and, with but 280,043 bushels of flaxseed and 2,204,606 pounds of flax fibre, she ranked third among all the flax-raising States. The first as a wheat and corn growing State, Illinois is conspicu- ous also for the immense numbers of its flocks and herds. It stands first among all the States in the number of its horses — 1, 078, 000*— a gain of twenty-two per cent, in ten years ; and next to Missouri and Texas in mules — 133,900 — an increase of forty -four per cent. in ten years. The number of milch cows is 695,400, an increase of only fifteen per cent, since 1870 ; but in oxen and other cattle it stands fourth, with 1,235,300, a decennial gain of twenty-six per cent. In the number of fat cattle marketed, it is particularly prominent. A part of the superabundance of the corn fields is converted into fat cattle, hogs, and sheep. While the 4,464,000 oxen and other cattle of Texas were valued at only $39,640,320, • Report of Agricultural Bureau for 1880. THE "WEST IN 1880 — ILLINOIS. 175 the 1,235,300 of Illinois were estimated at $26,052,477. The fat cattle sold in 1879 amounted to 409,982, worth $16,751,460. Sheep raising, for various reasons, is not flourishing as it did ten years ago. The number of sheep in 1880 was only 1,110,800, which is forty-four per cent, less than in 1870. The flocks kept now are raised for market. Where wool raising is the main return looked for, the cheap, wild pastures of the far West, now that the railways have reached them, will be found the best adapted to this industry. The ravages of dogs have had their share in driving the flocks out of this State ; for, while the fat sheep sold in 1879 numbered 174,448, those killed by dogs num- . bered 27,338, or nearly a sixth as many. The wool clip of 1878 was 2,891,000 pounds ; that of 1880 was about 3, 000, 000 pounds. The hogs in January, 1880, numbered 3,202,600, an increase of fifty percent, since 1870. During the year no less than 2,193,- 487 were marketed, which, with the hogs remaining on farms, made an aggregate of 3,800,364. In 1878 the epidemic known as hog cholera, together with other diseases, carried ofi" nearly a half-million head (474, 758), valued afc$l, 438,589.* Thesameyear its ravages in Iowa and other Western States were nearly or quite as disastrous. In 1879 the loss for Illinois, from this cause, was reduced to $588,487, and in 1880 it was inconsidera- ble, while the high prices maintained, rendering this one of the most productive of farm products, have induced increased atten- tion to hog farming. Illinois farmers marketed 300,000 more iat hogs this year than in 1879. The following table shows the number of farm animals in Illinois, averaged for the five years ending January, 1880, with the average price per head, and the total value, averaged in like manner : Farm Animals. Number in Feb- ruary, 1870. Numb'rof farm animals aver- aged for the 5 years ending January, 1880. Price per bead averaged for the five years ending J anu- ary, 1880. Total annual value averaged for five years. Horses.. Mules Oxen and other cattle Milch cows Sheep Hogs 881, 560 93,000 980,000 603,000 1,995,000 2,005,000 1,093,760 126,860 1,261,300 705,820 1,205,560 3,965,740 54.27 68.33 30.94 26.99 3.43 6.28 $59,313,165 7,969, SOo 26,435 9:n 19,064,839 1,924,730 18,174,762 6,557,500 7,353,040 $133,881,723 * state Eeport. The losses suffered in 1877 and 1878 from bog cholera and other diseases will soon ^e more than compensated for, to the farmer and to the consumer, by the improvements induced by it in the care of herds. 176 THE WEST IN 1880— ILLINOIS. For some years Illinois has stood at the head of the butter and cheese producing States, of the West. The demand for milk and cream in and about the great cities of Chicago and St. Louis, and in the thirty-seven cities, besides Chicago, with a populatioa of five to forty thousand inhabitants, has tended to check the rapid increase of butter and cheese making, while Iowa, Minne- sota, and Wisconsin have of late made more rapid progress in this direction than ever before, Wisconsin taking the lead in cheese making, with a product in 1879 of over 16,000,000 pounds, and Iowa passing to the front the same year in butter making, with a product of 50,000,000 pounds ; while Illinois, which produced over 28,000,000 pounds of butter in 1860, and 36,000,000 pounds in 1870, is reported as having sold but 25,028,225 pounds of butter in 1879. But then its cheese product rose from 1,661,703 pounds in 1870 to 6,618,212 pounds in 1879, and the milk sold rose to thfr grand aggregate of 96,669,854 gallons,* besides 230,499 gallons of cream — enabling this State to maintain still its pre-eminence- in the West in dairy farming. Iowa passed Illinois during the decade in the number of milch cows, but not in the quality of the kine, nor in the management of them. A line passing east- ward from the southeast corner of Iowa across the Illinois river,, and then curved so as to strike the Indiana line fifty miles far- ther south, defines with general accuracy the southern limit of the principal dairy district of the State. Here creameries and cheese factories constitute a very important part of the agricult- ural equipment. But the boundaries of this district are con- tinually extending. The attention given to the improvement of stock in this State is worthy of special mention. In the ninety county fairs of 1879 there were exhibited 1,291 different specimens of pure-bred short-horned cattle, nineteen pure Heref ords, ninety- one pure Devons, forty- seven pure Holsteins, 387 Jerseys, and fifty-eight Ayrshires. There were also 334 thoroughbred horses, 998 roadsters, 471 Norman and French draft horses, and 378 Clydesdale and English draft horses. There were 303 pure-bred Cotswold sheep, 491 pure Leicester and other long- wool sheep, and 243 South-Downs, owned in different counties ; also eighty-eight * According to figuree furnished by Mr. A. H. Wright, of Chicago, who has special facilities for obtaining statistics of this kind, the city of Chicago in 1880 consumed 10,730,215 gallons of milk; 5,153,440 of which were delivered by the Chicago & North-Western Railway; 1,075,694, by -the Chicago, Burlington & QuiBcy; 1,405,538, by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul; 532,783, by the Chicago* Eock Island; 252,152, by the Chicago & St. Louis; 152,616, by the Illinois Central; and 11,744, by the Chicago & Eastern Illinois; while 2,146,043 gallons were delivered by the wagons from farms about thfe city. The above shows the direction from this city of the milk-producing districts. THE WEST m 1880 — ILLINOIS. 177 Oxford and other Downs, 166 American merinos and 338 Span- ish merinos, and other fine-wool sheep — all pure-bred stock. Finally, of pure-bred swine, there were 756 pure-bred Berk- shires, 1,137 pure-bred Poland Chinas, 307 Chester Whites, sixty- eight Essex, fifty Sufiblks, and five small Yorkshires. These animals are well distributed throughout the entire State, and serve to show the intelligent and enterprising character of the stock raisers of Illinois. According to an estimate based on the returns of poultry and eggs sold in nine representative counties, the amount of these marketed in the entire State was $3,466,000, which, added to the home consumption, would make the value of the total product not less than $6,000,000. Bee farming has not received the at- tention it deserves, and is destined to receive as soon as farmers and horticulturists learn the importance of combining this with their other interests. The honey produced in 1880 is variously estimated at from 1,700,000 to 1. 900, 000 pounds, s derived from the Mnth Ceiisus, The ratio of the blind to the total population was almost the exact average for the United States, except among the very young. The State ratio of deaf mutes corresponds with the national average. Insanity at the age of forty stands at a little above the national average ; idiocy at, or very near, the national average. Marquette and Joliet, in 1673, and Hennepin and La Salle, within the next eleven years, had made discoveries along the Mississippi, giving Prance a claim in this region. Yet it is not clear that the eastern lead mines were reached till 1720, or that a permanent settlement, that of Ste. Genevieve, was made till 1755; while it was 1763 when Pierre Laclede established a trading post where St. Louis now. stands. In this same year France trans- ferred all her claim to Spain ; whose brief occupation was closed by retransfer to Napoleon in 1800. In 1803, Missouri, with all the rest of the Louisiana tract, from the Gulf to and including the most of Montana, passed by purchase to the United States. 304 THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. Property titles of all kinds that were valid under Spanish and French laws were confirmed bj the act of cession. Very few- land titles trace back to the Spanish domination. The French bestowed large tracts of land upon their communities for public supply of fuel and for pasturage. The right of the municipality of St. Louis to subdivide and sell the lands thus conferred on that little French hamlet of pioneer times has since materially lightened the burden of pxTblic works ; as the income from this source has been considerable. Almost immediately after the acquisition of Louisiana, all that portion of it not now included in the State of Louisiana, an immense area estimated at 1,134,329 square miles, was, by Act of 1804, constituted a district, under the name of "The District of Louisiana." This, for adminis- trative purposes, was attached to Indiana Territory, which was separated from it only by the Mississippi. On March 3, 1805, all this became the Territory of Louisiana; and June 4, 1812, it was re-organized as the Territory of Missouri. By Act of March 6, 1820, and resolution of March 2, 1821, completed by proclamation of Aug. 10, 1821, Missouri was made a State, with its present boundaries, except in the northwest corner, where the limits were not extended beyond the meridian of the mouth of the Kansas river, so as to take in all between that meridian and Missouri river, until June 7, 1836. The State gained admission as a slave State only after a great struggle, ending temporarily in what is known in the national'history as the "Missouri compromise." This had the effect to establish a slave State, bounded on three sides by territory consecrated by the same act as free soil. As a consequence, Missouri was for years complicated in the various movements of the great free and pro-slavery parties. Divided within herself by two contend- ing factions, opposed in policy to that section of the country to which she naturally belonged, disparaged by the South and by the North — her prosperity was long retarded to a degree only partially expressed by the statistics I shall soon give com- pared with those of States her juniors in years if not inferiors in natural resources. When the strife culminated in the "War of the .Kebellion," a double government distracted the State for some time, adding, in some parts of the country, anarchy to the ordinary inflictions of war. Some of the sharpest conflicts of the struggle occurred in Missouri. The authority of the Federal government was at last restored ; but in some places the THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. 305 ranklings of partisan strife have not even yet entirely ceased. In 1790, two or three diminutive villages contained the white population of Missouri. In 1800, the settlements had spread thirty miles towards the Missouri. In ten years more they had slightly expanded, and occupied the narrow peninsula within the forks of the Missouri and Mississippi. By 1820, the popula- tion reached up the Missouri to the Osage ; up the Mississippi for fifty miles above the mouth of the Illinois, and down the Mississippi to the limits of the State. In 1830, the broad bands of settlement along the two large rivers filled the centre and nearly all the eastern part. In 1840, only a few counties in the Northwest along the Iowa line, and an area on the south boundary, between the Ozarks and the Current river, were left almost entirely unsettled. Part of this southern tract was still unoccupied in 1850. In 1860, settlements had been made in all sections of the State. The table below shows the population at each of the decennial periods from 1810 to 1880, inclusive, as given by the U. S. Census Bureau ; together with the population in 1848, 1852, and 1856 — an era of peculiar interest — as shown by the State Census : Census Teaks. Total Popnlat'n Males. Females. White. Free Colored. - Slaves. Density. Eatio of Increase. 1810 20,845 66,586 140,455 383,702 588,971 682,044 724,667 911,001 1,182,012 1,721,295 * 2,168,804 11,390 36,544 74,123 203,095 327,205 357,832 402,595 496,908 622,201 896,347 1,127,424 9,455 30,042 66,327 180,607 281,766 324,212 322,072 414,093 559,811 824,948 1,041,380 17,227 55(988 114,795 32-3,888 510,435 592,004 634,934 806,744 1.063,489 1,603,146 2,023,568 607 376 569 1,574 1,779 2,618 2,536 2,652 8,572 118,071 145,236 3,011 10,232 35,091 68,240 76,757 87,422 87,207 101,605 114,931 .33 1.02 2.15 5.87 9.01 10.44 11.09 13.52 18.09 26.34 t31.20 1820 1830 1840 1848 1850 .•. 1852 1856 1860 1870 219.43 lie. 94 173.18 53.50 77.75 6.81 25.10 73.30 45.62 1880.. 26.56 Professional and personal service, manufactures, commerce, and transportation, employ about one-fourth of the population ; the schools enroll rather more than one-third ; and fully another third are, engaged in agriculture — the leading industry of the State. The ratio unaccounted for in useful occupations is rather less than that for the country as a whole. This table shows the total annual yield and the yield per acre of the nine principal crops of Missouri, averaged for five years ; also the price per bushel, pound, or ton, the total value, * Of whom, 1,957,564 were native 1)001, and 211,240 were foreign bom. t On the ba6is of the Census area. The estimates of density for all hnt 1880, are based on the area reported by the Commissioner of the General Land Office. 306 THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. and the value of the yield per acre, of each crop averaged for the same period : Crops. Total yield of crop of 1869 in bush's, pounds or tons. Average annual yield in bush- els, pounds 01- tons for 5 yrs., ending 1879. Avg. price pr. bush., pound or ton, for 5 yrs. end- ing 1879. Average annual value of crop for 5 years end- ing with 1879. Avg. ann'l yield per acre for 6 yrs., end- ing with 1879. Avg. ann'l value per acre for 6 yrs., end- ing 1879. Indian corn .... Wheat 80,500,000 7.500,000 335,000 6,500,000 300,000 75,000 2,000,000 18,500,000 750,000 113,700,360 18,679,520 707,220 17,832,624 443,500 54,350 0,053,560 30,339,525* 1.034,482 $ .26 + .90 .56 .33 + .79 + .61 + .41 + • .05.7 8.33 130,406,214 16,953,307 393,564 4,159,138 353,875 67,639 3,543,538 1,802,701 8,256,478 31.3bu. 13.0 " 15.1 " 28.0 " 18.0 " 17.8 " 88.0 " 7. 64 lbs 1.34T. $8.88 11.01 Rye 8.45 Oats 6.53 Barley 14.45 Buckwheat Potatoes Tobacco Hay 11.07 36.88 48.58 11.01 Total ... . $64,935,434 The total yield of corn in 1879 was 141,739,400 bushels, against 80,500,000 in 1869 — a gain in ten years of 72 per cent. The yield of wheat the same year was 26,801,600 bushels, against 7,500,000 in 1869— an increase of 257 per cent ; rye produced 804,100 bushels in 1879, against 326,000 in 1869 ; oats, 15,429,120, against 6,500,000 — an increase of 122 per cent, in ten years; buckwheat, 56,000 against 75,000 — a marked decrease. ' The potato crop of 1879 was 6,897,800 bushels — a gain in ten years of 245 per cent ; hay, 1,053,000 tons, against 750,000 tons in 1869. The principal cereal products of Missouri in 1879 are given below from the statistics of the Census Bureau, and compared with the figures of the same bureau for 1870 and 1860 : Crops. I860. 1870. 1880. Wheat 4,227,586 293,363 3,680,870 73,892,157 183,292 338,503 14,315,936 559,533 16,578,313 66,084,075 36,253 269,340 24,966,637 Rye. 535,426 Oats 30,670,958 202,485,723 Indian corn Buckwlieat 57,640 123,081 Totals 81,504,669 97,793,338 248,839,405 Wheat nearly always yields a fair crop ; but the average product is heaviest in the counties near the mouth of the • The Census Bureau estimates the crop of 1880 at only 11,994,077 pounds. THE WEST IN 1880— MISSOURI. 307 Missouri. St. Louis flour sustains a -high, reputation all over the world ; having for some years commanded a premium above most, if not all, other brands for foreign shipment. This State, like the southern portions of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, lies directly across the best winter wheat belt of the United States, where that grain reaches its highest maturity. For this and other reasons, the flour manufactured from it endures the test of long sea voyages without fermentation. Until the late civil war the flour of Richmond, Va., manufactured from the harvests of the eastern limits of the winter wheat belt, had held almost a monopoly of the flour trade with India, China, and other warm countries. Then these countries were reached from the Atlantic only by a sea voyage of from three to four months, in which the tropics had to be crossed twice — an ordeal that none but the best flour can endure. When the war excluded Richmond flour from the New York market, St. Louis winter wheat flour took its place, and has maintained it, in the main, ever since. Oats do well, especially from the northeast corner of the State to the Upper Osage, and south of the Missouri from the mouth of the Osage to the Mississippi. The yield seems to be very light in the mineral regions southeast of the Ozarks. Corn is lightest in a narrow strip from Bobneville, on the Missouri, to Hannibal, on the Mississippi. It is heavier in the rest of the district east of the Chariton, and in the oat dis- trict south of the Missouri. It is still heavier west of the Char- iton, in half a dozen counties southeast of Kansas City, and along the border of Arkansas, east of the Ozarks. It is heaviest of all in the northwest angle, between the Iowa line and the Missouri river. Hay excels in a small area between the Noda- way and the Grrand, next the Iowa line. It makes a fair crop in the west of the State, except in a belt of a few miles along the south side and east of the Ozarks, where it is rarely profitable. Cotton is raised in the southeast counties, and on the head- waters of the Gasconade, in the mineral district. In 1870, this crop only aggregated 1,246 bales ; in 1880, according to the Census Office, it reached 19,733 — an increase of 1,483 per cent. Owing, undoubtedly, to the concentration of cotton culture upon the most fertile lands, and from the fact that the area of production embraces, almost exclusively, the highly fertile lowlands lying at the head of the great " St. Francis bottom," 308 THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. in the northeastern corner of the State, Missouri stands at the head of the list in average yield per acre,' producing 3% of a bale (of 475 pounds) to the acre. Tobacco is an important crop in this State, which ranked ninth in this product in 1880, when 15,521 acres were planted, and 12,015,657 pounds produced— an average of 774 pounds per acre. It is especially cultivated in the rich lands along the Missouri, below the Grand. The cultivation of amber and other sorghums bids fair to be a large interest. Castor beans are an important crop in a few counties. Missouri stands second among our hemp-producing states. The rye crop is large. In domestic wines the State ranks next to California. Ordinarily apples and small fruits produce abundantly. Peaches, nectarines, grapes, plums, cherries, and berries excel south of the Missouri river, and pears in limited districts. No locality seems to have developed such market gardening of small fruits and vegetables for distant markets as the general fruitfulness of the orchards, vineyards, and gardens, would lead one to expect. There is a profuse supply for the local markets, when fruits are in full season ; but as yet little enterprise appears to be shown in the business of packing and exporting. Choice berries, luscious peaches, and good apples perish where they grow when the demands of the home market have been met ; and prices naturally droop to where they fail to repay the labor of marketing. As soon as a few enterprising fruit growers and shippers contrive to make proper use of the increasing facilities for quick transportation, Missouri fruit gardening will assume important proportions. The following table shows the number of farm animals in this State averaged for five years ; also the price per head and the annual total value averaged for the same period : Fakm Animals. Number in February, 18T0, Ave'ge number of animals av- eraged for five years, ending Jan., 1880. Price per liead avg. for 5 yrs., ending Jan., 1880 Total annual value averaged for five years. Horses Mules Oxen and other cattle , Milch cows Sheep Hogs Total. 460,000 80,200 703,000 357,000 1,679,000 2,300,000 610,460 164 980 1,203,080 489,420 1,384,580 3,491,460 $41.93 49.44 16.91 20.13 1.80 4.23 $35,557,436 8,056,051 20,160,989 9.836,659 3,405,603 , 10,195,817 $76,303,545 THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. 309 The farm animals of Missouri differ in quality very materially. There were two classes of early settlers ; of whom one sort seem never to have experienced any desire to improve either themselves or their stock. They take the provincial oognomen of "Pukes"— and appear to be pr'oud of it. The State is certainly to be congratulated that the ratio of this class to the whole population is continually diminishing. With them, or their ancestors, migrated across the Mississippi certain unimals, which, left to take care of themselves, are now as peculiar as the majority of their owners. There is the long, lean, lank, almost wild hog, not inaptly characterized "the wind- splitter," fattening on mast,- running at the approach of human foot-steps, and which has to be shot like wild game, at slaughtering time. There are " scrub horses " out-ranked by Indian ponies and Mexican mustangs. There are "scrub cows," also, whose owners divide the milk with calves, kept tied near the house all the season to entice them home from the open, woody range every night. Stock of this kind is scarcely ever seen in some parts of the State ; and it is passing away from certain other regions. Fine horses and mules have always been the pride of Missouri ; and another class of the early settlers, ■quite different from the one above alluded to, introduced choice •cattle many years ago, and have exerted themselves to improve their herds. In the fine grazing counties of the northern part of fhe State, careful attention is given to cattle for dairy purposes. In the old, rich counties along the Missouri, fine short-horns are found. In the rich districts along the Osage, and the Kansas •boundary, fine cattle for dairy farming, and for fat beef, abound. Herefords, Holsteins, Jerseys, Devons, appear in the lists of the cattle exhibits of the county fairs, from nearly all over the State. Horses for the saddle have always been more •esteemed than in the prairie States ; and now some of the best varieties of draft and carriage animals are raised. Sheep do well. The State has raised them in increasing numbers for a long term of years, and of late with increasing regard for quality. The northern part of the State is well adapted to butter and cheese making ; and a rapid development in dairy farming has taken place in the northwestern counties. Butter and cheese fac- tories are almost unknown south of the Missouri river. Not 500 pounds more of cheese were made in 1870 than in 1850 ; but in 310 THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. butter a great and steady increase took place, and the product is still growing, although not so rapidly as that of Iowa. The northern counties furnish immense quantities of eggs for ship- ment. This is learned in part from the statements of commission merchants in the large cities, and from reports of station agents ; but the business is so covered in -other accounts that the real magnitude of the traffic in poultry and eggs is not readily measured. Missouri is one of the first of the honey-producing States, standing fourth in this regard. The total value of the farm products of the State in 1870, was estimated at $103,035,759 ; for 1880, they may be safely estimated at not less than $158,000,000 in value. North of the Missouri, the soil varies in quality, but the greater portion of every county is esteemed good land. The river counties of the northwest have heavy timber and rich bot- tom lands. In. Platte, one of the oldest and richest of these, prices ranged, in 1879, from $10 to $20 per acre. * Of the coun- ties bordering the north shore of the Missouri, Ray reported two-thirds of its area in plowed land and meadows, valued at $15 per acre. Along the Mississippi, Clarke reported prices at from $8 to $12 per acre, and half of the county under cultiva- tion. In Marion county, there were 200,000 acres under cultiva- tion, estimated to be worth $2,382,770, and 78,040 acres unculti- vated, valued at $390,200. In Lewis, cultivated land was valued at an average of $10 per acre, uncultivated at $3 to $8 per acre. In Lincoln, there were 294,213 ctiltivated acres, ■ assessed at $2,942,136 ; and 196,142 uncultivated, valued at $631,994. Of the interior counties of the Northwest, Nodaway assessed improved lands at $20, and unimproved at $3 to $10 per acre ; Grundy, at $15 per acre ; (rentry, next east of the rich county of Platte, and said to be equal to it in fertility and smoothness of surface, with an abundance of water and timber, reported three- fourths of its area unoccupied. There are large amounts of uncultivated land in most of the counties north of the Missouri. Excellent water is reached at a depth of from ten to fifty feet. There is coal in nearly every one of these counties. South of the Missouri,. improved lands in Cooper county (underlaid with coal) were assessed at $15 per acre ; in Osage county, at an average of $4. Four-fifths of the land in the latter county is unimproved, much of it being hilly and broken. Grasconade * Report of the State Board of Agriculture for 1879. THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. 311 reported one-fifth of its surface improved, valued at $10 per acre. There is more or less of lead and iron in all of the counties last named. In the counties along the Kansas border, nearly all containing coal, lead, and potter's clay, improved lands were assessed at from $7 to $15 per acre. Prom one-half to three-fourths of the area of each county was classed as unimproved, and valued at from $3 to $7 per acre, according to quality of soil and railroad facilities. Every county from Dallas westward, contains much good land, pro- ducing from thirteen to twenty bushels of wheat, and from thirty-five to forty bushels of corn, per acre. In the cotton- bearing corner of the State, only one-fourth of Mississippi county is improved, but one-tenth of Pemiscot, and five- eighths of Stoddard. Cultivated lands were assessed at $10 to $12 per acre. Of the mineral-bearing counties on or near the Mississippi, the group comprising Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Madi- son, and Washington, all contain lead, zinc, and iron ; and most, if not all of them, some copper. Madison yields cobalt, and some silver. Lands were assessed at $4 to $13 per acre. Good cotton lands are found in the middle district of the south- ern tier of counties, along the White river, which is navigable into Taney county. They are valued at $4 to $5 per acre. The several groups of counties I have here described, are so distrib- uted over the State as to enable the reader to form a tolerably accurate conception of the agricultural value of nearly every part of it. The rate at which the new lands of Missouri are being occupied, is indicated by the fact that there were 52,992 acres of public land disposed of in Missouri, in 1879, and over 1,198,000 acres during the ten years ending with 1879. Before passing to manufactures, I may say, that, according" to the Census Bureau's statistics for 1880, Missouri ranks, in hemp production, second ; corn, third ; tobacco, ninth ; wheat, eighth; oats, eighth; rye, eighth. In farm animals: mules, first ; oxen and other cattle, second ; hogs, third ; sheep,, seventh ; milch cows, seventh ; and horses, seventh. According to the Census of 1880, in the production of iron and steel, Missouri ranked, among all the States, tenth ; in lead and zinc production, first ; jute and hemp bagging, second ; coal, sixth ; plate glass, second ; green glass, sixth. Of the impor- tance of the lead and zinc production, suflacient has been said already. Several other industries are worthy of especial notice. 19 312 THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. The number of establishments engaged in the production of iron and steel was 22, with a capital of |9, 152, 472; the hands employed numbered 3,139 ; the wages paid amounted to $734,575 ; the value of the material consumed was estimated at $3,249,558, and the total product at $4,660,530. Whereas, the weight of iron and steel of all kinds made in this State in 1870 was but 94,890 tons, in 1880 it showed an increase of nearly one- third, amounting to 125,758 tons; of which 95,050 tons— more than three-fourths of the whole^consisted of pig iron and cast- ings direct from the furnace. Of the remainder 16,508 tons were rolled iron, 8,409 tons were Bessemer steel ingots, and there were 4,000 tons of blooms made from the ore. Only 5,100 tons of Bessemer steel rails were produced, as against 201,186 tons of such rails made in Illinois. Considering that this State is endowed, as I have before shown, with an inexhaustible supply of the very best quality of iron ore, within sight of enormous coal deposits inside its own borders, and convenient to the excellent furnace coal of southern Illinois and the Indiana block coal, it is evident that the devel- opment of the iron industry of Missouri is nowhere near what the world might reasonably expect. With the thousands of miles of railroads stretching out from it in all directions to be shod with steel, it is a reflection upon the enterprise of Missouri which nothing can turn aside, that this State makes only one ton of steel rails to every forty tons made by Illinois, which has to import all its iron and fetch furnace coal much farther to its iron and steel factories than Missouri has to do. Certainly a much more rapid development of the iron and steel industry of Missouri should be looked for in the present decade than in the past. The manufacture of glass, which, in 1880, employed more than 600 hands and produced plate and window glass, glass ware and green glass, valued at $614,277, is here a comparatively new industry. A fine quality of sand is easily procured. The manufacture is in enterprising hands, and it will be pushed with spirit. There are fully forty manufacturing industries of Missouri, with a product of one million dollars and upwards. First of all among these stands the manufacture of flour and meal, exceeding the sum of $81,000,000 in 1870, and now overrunning $40,000,000 a year. Carpentry and building stood next in 1870, THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. 313 valued at about $15,000,000. The building improvements in 1880 in nearly all parts of the State, but particularly in and about Kansas City and in the rapidly growing southwest, ■exceeded those of 1870, yet it is safe to assert that pork and beef packed, and meat cured or canned in 1880, ranked next in value to the flouring and grist mill products. Next in importance stood manufactured tobacco, distilled, malt and vinous liquors, men's and women's clothing, lumber, printing and publishing, saddles and harness, bagging, freight, passenger and street cars, machinery, iron and steel, boots and shoes, furniture, refined sugar and molasses, animal and vegetable oils, bakery products, and brick, ranging in value from $15,000,000 down to about $4,000,000 a year. Below these stand jewelry, tin, copper and sheet iron ware, sash, doors and blinds, black- smithing, cooperage, patent medicines, paper, brooms, pig, pipe, bar and sheet lead, agricultural inplements, and confectionery. Tanging in value from $3,700,000 down to $1,500,000. While St. Louis aspires to be, and has reason to hope to be, the greatest cotton exchange in the country, it is remarkable that the State stands but twenty-second in the manufacture of cotton, having in the last census year only 341 looms and 19,312 spindles, employing but 515 hands. It only remains for me, in this place, to give a general idea of the principal manufacturing localities. Flour and meal are made in all but three counties, but about half of the enormous total is made in St. Louis county alone. Jackson county, including Kansas City, is the next greatest producer, and St. Charles and Pike counties, on the Mississippi above St. Louis, rank next. St. Louis, Jackson and Buchanan counties (the latter containing St. Joseph) are the chief meat packing districts. St. Louis, St. Charles and Jackson counties lead all others in hemp and paper bagging. Washington, Jefferson, St. Francois and Franklin counties, clustered on the eastern border, and Newton and Jasper counties in the southwestern angle of the State, are conspicuous for lead and zinc smelting, and St. Louis, Marion and Lewis counties for lumber. St. Louis and Kansas City manufacture about three-fourths of all the cigars, snuff and chewing tobacco, furniture, iron and steel, machinery, distilled^ malt and vinous liquors, boots and shoes, and clothing. Of all the other chief manufa,ctures named in this chapter, St. Louis makes from fifty to ninety per cent, of the whole. 314 THE WEST IN 1880— MISSOURI. So long as rivers constituted the main channels of domestic and inter- State commerce, the remarkable fluvial system of Missouri, joined with her position near the geographical centre of the Mississippi basin, gave her peculiar commercial advanta- ges ; and seemed to afford to St. Louis, so grandly located between the union of the Missouri and the Illinois with the Mississippi on the north, and the mouth of the Ohio on the south, a positive guarantee of forever remaining the metropolis of the West. For nearly three-quarters of a century, not only the fur trade, but the general commerce of the upper rivers and of the farther West, centered upon St. Louis. The batteau of the fur trader, the keel boat, the barge, the flat-boat, and the raft, all came with the currents, or were laboriously propelled against them by oar and pole and shifting sail. Fifty years from "the founding of the city," the steamboat made its advent upon Western waters. The influence upon the development of the country and the growth of St. Louis was wonderful. Not until the opening of the Erie Canal, in 1825 — that magnificent artificial highway between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic, over which, within the period ending Dec. 31, 1872, passed merchandise to the enormous amount of $6,065,060,698 in value — was it deemed possible that Illinois might sometime rival Missouri in the advantages of navigation. Later, the railways came into competition with ^11 other means of transportation, and have served to depreciate, relatively, the commercial importance of Missouri's superior river system. This is still, however, an element of commercial power of large significance. In the year ending June 30, 1879, the number of vessels registered, enrolled, and licensed in Missouri, numbered 395, of 148,692.68 tons burthen; and the total number of sailing vessels, steam vessels, canal boats, and barges on the Western rivers was 2,576, of 501,808.82 tons burthen, against 3,087 vessels, of 597,376.84 tons, on the Northern lakes. The same year there were ten new river steamers built at St. Louis, of 977 tons burthen, and thirteen barges, of 2,479 tons burthen. The first locomotive west of the Mississippi reached St. Louis in 1852, but little progress was made in railway building until twenty-five years ago. In 1865, when Ohio had 3,331 miles of road and Illinois had 3,157, Missouri had but 941. Since then the increase of mileage has been rapid, reaching a total of 4,053.63 miles in 1880,* including 482.28 of side track. The rolling * Poor's Manual for 1880 THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. 315 stock comprised 516 engines, 316 passenger and baggage, express and mail cars, and 11,148 freight cars. The capital stock invested, and funded and floating debts, amounted to $208,989,807; the cost and equipments, to $189,977,013; the gross earnings, to $19,101,987; the net earnings, to $8,411,896 ; and the interest paid on bonds, to $6,284,545. There are now forty -two roads in the State, of which the greater number centre at St. Louis, connecting there with nearly all the great trunk lines to the north, to the Atlantic, and to the Gulf. Kansas City, on the western border, is another railway centre of rapidly increasing importance, where many of the principal roads from St. Louis and Chicago make connections with the roads of the West and Southwest. Of the forty-two railroads in operation in Missouri in 1879, seven carried 3,514,014 passengers, and 5,525,277 tons of freight. In 1878, there were thirty-live National banks, with a capital of $9,135,300, and a circulation of $5,918,379. During the six- teen years ending in 1879, since the National bank system was foianded, five banks have failed whose capital was $3,250,000. These have already paid about sixty-six per cent, on the claims against them, with a probability of paying twenty per cent, more — a record worthy of remark in contrasting the bank securities and bank management of the past decade with that of broken banks in other days. It is also worthy of remark, that, next to Minnesota, Missouri stands highest in the percent- age paid by its insolvent National banks. The total assessed value of property, according to the Tenth Census, is $529,403,781, of which $381,768,822 was estimated as real estate, and $147,634,959 personal property. The true value of property is not far from $1,000,000,000. The bonded debt of the counties is $11,849,493 ; and the floating debt, $274,910; of the cities and towns of less than 7,500 population, $1,431,059 ; and the floating debt, $206,864; the school district debt aggre- gates $718,784 ; and, as shown in the table further along, the total debts of cities of over 7,500 was $27,661,867 — making a total local indebtedness of $42,142,987. Added to this is the State debt proper, amounting to the sum of $16,758,000. The general county tax amounted, in 1880, to $3,533,089; the general State tax, $1,852,914; the State school tax, $264,693; the school dis- trict tax, $1,358,140 ; the general tax of cities and towns under 7,500, to $321,713 ; and the taxation of cities, to $4,962,262. 316 THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. Below I give the total bonded debt of the cities of Missouri with a population of 7,500 and upwards : Hannibal $ 167,100 Kansas City 1,337,949 St. Cliarles 82,000 St. Joseph 1,861,600 St. Louis $22,507,00O Sedalia 272,800 Total $36,178,449 Following are the amounts of total bonded debt issued for the purposes named : Bridges $ 961,000 Fire department 100,000 Funding floating debt 3,167,200 Improvement of harbors, rivers, wh'ves, canals & water power 874,000 Parks and public places 3,836,000 Public buildings 1,190,000 Railroad aid 2,470,300 Refunding old debt $6,437,000 Schools 80,000 Sewers 1,237,550 Streets 203,499 Unspecified* 1,465,000 Water works 5,678,000 Total $36,178,449 Of the $5,678,000 bonds issued for water-works, St. Louis issued $5,429,000; and Sedalia, $249,000. St. Louis issued $136,000 for sanitary purposes. St. Joseph issued $1,031,300, and St. Louis $950,000, for railroad aid. I show in the next table the several dates of issue and the dates of maturity of the above bonds : Amounts Issued in Years Named. Previous to 1860 $1,865,800 1860 93,300 1861 1863 1863 1864 9,000 1865 703,000 1866 799,250 1867 4,677,750 1868 3,931,350 1869 1,378,350 1870 586,066 1871 1,488,383 1873 3,468,000 1873 1,774,000 1874 3,178,000 1875 8,399,500 1876 363,800 1877 110,000 1878 883,000 1879 675,000 1880 ■. 508,000 Total $36,178,449 Amounts Maturing in Tears Nameb. Overdue $ 333,700' 1880 676,666 1881 433,383 1882 346,500 1883 170,000 1884 ■ 29,000 1885 703,000 1886 571,3.50 1887 4,531,750 1888 3,405,150 1889 1,364,950 1890 575,000 1891 1,170,000 1893 3,811,000 1893.. 1,873,800 1894 3,178,000 1895 1,544,500 1896 263,800 1897 308,000 1898 1,228,000 1899 675,000 1900 508,000, After 1900 3,190,000 Total $36,178,449 * This is a part of tlie debt ol St. Louis ; 1 est, $1,339,000, for general purposes. 6,000 of it was created for sanitary purposes ; and the THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. 317 These bonds may be classified as below, showing amounts drawing the rates of interest named : 5 per cent $773,800 10 per cent $ 1,267,225 8 " 927.224 7 " 3,546,500 6 " 20,663,700 Total $26,178,449 The next table shows the rate of increase of the cities and towns of Missouri with a population of 7,500 and upwards, for the last three decades, compares the total assessed valuation of real and personal property with the estimated true valuation, and gives the total bonded and floating debt : Cities. Popurn 1860. Popul'n ISiO. Popurn 1880. Total As- sess'd Value o( Real Estate and Personal Property. Estimated True Value of Beal Estate. Total Estimated True Value of Beal and Personal Property. Taxation. Total Levy Total Debt. Hannibal Kansas City St. Cliarles St. Joseph ... St. Loais 6,505 4,418 3,239 8,932 160,773 10,125 32,260 5,570 19,565 310,864 4,560 11,074 55,813 8,417 32,484 850,522 9,561 $ 2,800,460 10,577,260 1,744,671 8,698.529 160,684,840 1,886,345 $ 2,804.285 11,743,696 3,530,303 7,997,514 181,099,973 2,331,666 $ 3,739,046 15,658,261 4,707,070 10,663,352 241,466,630 3,108,888 $ 82,607 481,265 36,539 171,970 4,123,859 68,022 $ 190,173 1,369,427 32,000 2,445,600 23,351,867 272,800 Totals 183,867 382,944 467,871 $186,242,105 $209,507,437 $279,343,247 $4,962,262 $27,661,867 Nearly nine-tenths of the population are of American birth. The Irish constitute about two per cent, along both sides of the Missouri river, within a strip from Hannibal west to the Missouri, and along the Mississippi below St. Louis. The Germans are about two per cent, of the entire population. Of these, about two per cent, are found along the southern edge of the State, some twenty per cent, of them in and about St. Louis, and south of the Missouri to the Gasconade. The remainder are quite evenly distributed through the rest of the country. Yerj few of the Germans became slave-holders, and their communi- ties near the Gasconade contain but few negroes. Canadians, English, and Welsh are scattered in small numbers between the Mississippi and the Chariton, and in and about St. Louis. Swedes and Norwegians seem to prefer the States and Terri- tories farther north and west : what few there are in Missouri are found not far from the Kansas border. The number of dwellings is large in proportion to the population. There being such an abundance of timber, log houses are numerous. Clay for brick, and fuel for burning, are readily obtained nearly every- where, and brick buildings are very common, both in city and open country. 318 THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. The Methodist Episcopal ohurcli, including the church South, provides one-fourth of the whole church accommodation of the State. The Baptists furnish nearly as much ; the Presbyterians about one-eighth ; the Catholics nearly the same; and all others the remaining fourth. Taken together, the church accom- modations are less in proportion than in States east of the Mississippi, but rather more than in Iowa or Minnesota. Ten years ago, in the rough country southeast of the Osage valley, from twenty to forty per cent, of the white popula- tion over ten years of age could not read or write, and in the rest of the State, the rate was from twelve to twenty per cent. Besides the illiterates among the whites, there was a large body of them in the colored population, and particularly among the late slaves — much the largest proportion of whom were held in the fertile counties along the river valleys. They constituted an element of the population not found in the other States of the Northwest. Undoubtedly these two social evils, slavery and ignorance, handicapped Missouri in the race of progi'ess ; and are mainly, if not entirely, responsible for the fact that so large a proportion of the most intelligent, enterprising emi- grants from the Eastern States and Europe long avoided this State, and settled in the Territories north and beyond it, on lands no more fertile ; indeed, in many sections, quite inferior in soil, climate, and relation to commerce. The rapidity with which Missouri has advanced since 1870, evinces the sound political economy of emancipation and the greater attention now paid to public education. The colored race is rapidly rising in the scale of intelligence, and acquiring the faculty of self-government. The Tenth Census shows a great reduction in the measure of illiteracy. Missouri has had as wise school laws as her neighbors from an early day ; and in some localities the public schools have been excellent. St. Louis had a good system before the free school system was established in Illinois. 'But there are localities where the law has always been in advance of public sentiment and has proved but little better than a dead letter uiitil very recently, since the new impetus given to popular education. There are now six normal schools in the State, including the one in St. Louis, all doing good work. Two teachers' institutes are required annually in every county. According to State Superintendent Shannon's report for 1880, there are 8,240 school THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. 3I9 houses in Missouri, besides 298 houses rented for school pur- poses. The school property was valued at $7,353,401; and of this, $113,287 had been added in buildings erected within the year. The total receipts for school purposes from all sources, amounted to $4,020,860, and the total expenditures to 13,151,178. Out of a total school population (six to twenty years inclusive) of 681,995 white, and 41,480 colored children, sixty-four per cent, of the former and fifty-five per cent, of the latter were enrolled in the public schools under instruction of 11,659 teachers. The significance of these figures becomes more distinct when we compare a few of them with the corresponding statistics of 1878. Then the amount expended for public schools was $2,406,133 for the entire year, against $3,151,178.47 this year: then the school houses, including rented buildings, amounted to 8,255 ; now, to 8,547 : then all the children enrolled, numbered 428,975 ; now, 460,090 : then the colored children in attendance on the public schools numbered only 4,704 ; now, 22,896, or nearly five times as many. The school funds reach the grand aggregate of nine million dollars — the township school funds amounting to $1,950,732.89; the county funds, to :$2,392,723.67; the special school funds, to $1,523,903.19; the State school fund, $2,909,457.11 ; and the seminary fund, $122,000. A State University is a part of the State educational system, including an Agricultural College and School of Mines. On the 1st of November, 491 students were in attendance at the University, 513 at the Normal School at Kirksville, 237 at War- rensburg, 184 at Cape Girardeau, 105 at the Lincoln Institute, and 71 at the School of Mines. The deaf and dumb and the blind have special State schools ; and there are one or two sustained by denominational benevolence. Added to all the public institutions named are a very large number of what might be called secondary schools — neither primary nor collegiate — controlled by various denominations in the larger towns and cities, under the names of academies and seminaries. Gov. Chittenden says there are more than one hundred of these. The Roman Catholics have a large number of such schools in St. Louis. Of collegiate institutions, the Methodists have three ; the Christians, two ; the Catholics, four ; the Con- gregationalists, one ; the several Presbyterian denominations, three ; the Protestant Episcopal, one ; the Baptists, one ; and one is non-sectarian. 320 THE WEST m 1880 — MISSOURI. The press of St. Louis has been a potent force in shaping the destinies of that State, particularly during the past thirty years. It has improved greatly during the past fifteen years. Kansas City and St. Joseph have several strong public organs. The total number of newspapers in 1880, was 471 ; of which forty- two were dailies, publishing annually 37,791,460 copies, besides their weekly or other editions issuing 14,660,696 copies more. Missouri, in nearly everything that constitutes or concerns a State, is a peculiar subject for study. Her rich natural resources are remarkably diverse. Still more diverse were the elements which have entered into her social, political, industrial and commercial existence. Nowhere else within the West — • perhaps nowhere else within the United States — can the social scientist and the political economist find the effects of race and class differences, political organizations, border disputes, and outside prejudices, so plainly recorded in the history of a State. Missouri presents an exhibition of the energy and the trans- formations of the present era ; working in the midst of, and contending with, race prejudices, political animosities, and the most pertinacious old-time worshiping conservatism. On one side of the same highway, she shows us farmers in their home- spun and home-dyed garments, driving ox-teams, and plow- ing with the old-fashioned wooden mould-board plows ; and, on the other, the thrifty man of our own times, equipped, with im- plements of the latest and best manufacture. In one place, she presents us the humble French peasantry, content in the abun- dance of food and clothing, and in the good will of neighborly associations gathered around the village church.- In the next village all is astir with the spirit of modern times. In early days, when, with the exception of the trading stations at G-reen Bay, Mackinaw, and Detroit, all the other States that now sur- round her lay asleep in the savage wilderness, the Indian traffic, her fertile soil, and her mines attracted fearless adventur- ers, shrewd traders, and hardy laborers. A little later, and her forests, alive with game, and her prairies, overrun with ante- lopes, deer, and buffalo, drew such spirits as consorted with Daniel Boone, the typical frontiersman, who, when the settlers of Kentucky had frightened the game from the neighborhood of his cabin, quickly emigrated to Missouri, where game was still abundant, and the domain was not parceled oif by land titles. Here flocked the poor men of the South, crowded but THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. 321 by slave labor, yet, in hopes of becoming plantation owners themselves, choosing to extend the domain of slavery. Tempted by the rich bottom lands of the river borders, wealthy Southern proprietors sold their estates, transferred their mules, their negroes, and their plantation customs to the new Territory. St. Louis gathered upon her levee the most heterogeneous elements that ever entered into the composition of a pioneer trading mart. The keen,, vivacious Frenchman ; the plodding, sagacious Grerman; that strange mingling of passion and languor, cupidity and extravagance, th« Spaniard — all joined or contended with the best and worst representatives, civil and military, of native Americanism out of the South and out of the North, to build up a great commercial metropolis — a centre from which, for many years, radiated the operations of the government for all the vast region beyond the Mississippi. It was from St. Louis that Lewis and Clarke set out in 1804, under direction of the government, on the exploring expedition which confirmed our disputed claim to the Upper Missouri and Oregon. It was at St. Louis that John Jacob Astor maintained his Western fur station. It was between St. Louis and Santa Fe that, for many years, the Mexican caravans toiled to and fro across the great plains, freighted with Mexican, Indian, and American goods, and silver and gold. Then opened the era of railroads and telegraphs. The first locomotive west of the Mississippi was set to running, on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, in 1852 ; new energies appeared ; and a stronger infusion of Northern capital and enterprise mingled with the activities of the city. The types of the various classes ' which have made Missouri what she is, can be seen within her borders to-day ; but surely, although in some places slowly, the strongest lines of difference are fading, and in most locali- ties the elements are being rapidly fused together in the cruci- ble of common interest. The late war, with all its losses and hardships, was one of the most powerful agencies to break up the old refractory elements of the State. Everybody was roused to action on a broader arena ; and, when the strife was over, men could not shrink to what they had been. Just enough of the contracted ideas of former times, like fossils in polished encrinital marble, still peep out of some of the narrow streets inherited from the old village of St. Louis, to remind the million passengers over the great bridge, and the stirring 322 THE WEST IN 1880 — MISSOURI. throng, of what the modern city, with its telephonic messages and its world-girding telegraphs, has outgrown. Free Missouri has a new history. Land grants have aided in the construction of a railroad across her northern prairies ; of another from St. Louis to the southwest corner of the State ; of yet another cross- ing Southeast Missouri, as part of a system uniting St. Louis, Chicago, Little Rock, and New Orleans. There has been a tre- mendous putting forth of energy, independent of these aids. With the advance of railroads, emigration filed into the vacant lands of the northern border, renewing and revivifying the stag- nant life of old settlements, and, pouring into Southwestern Mis- souri, has turned it into fruitful farms, heavy orchards, and thriving cities. Indeed, three of the fourteen cities of over 5,000 inhabitants are in this angle of the State. Great trunk lines project from St. Louis down the Mississippi to her mines, and stretch southward for the sugar and cotton of Arkansas, Ten- nessee, and the Grulf States. Others have pushed out into the Indian nation for the beef and cotton of Texas ; others to the western border, where they wage eager competition at Kansas City with the great trunk lines that come down through Iowa. Other new lines stretch into the utmost north, and are reaching far into the Northwest. The roads of higher latitudes- come to a focus in Western Iowa ; those of the lower centre in Kansas City — the western emporium of Missouri, which is growing with great rapidity. With this putting forth of the energies of a new and vigorous existence, and its legitimate fruits — a greater develop- ment of its mines, agriculture enlarged, manufactures ex- panded, education quickened, and religion, roused as by a new inspiration, increasing its efforts to enlighten and elevate society — Missouri looks into the future, radiant with the hope of yet realizing the great expectations of her early history. THE WEST m 1880 — KANSAS. 333 CHAPTER XII. STATE OF KAISTSAS. Kansas is coterminous on the east, north, and west, respect- ively, with Missouri, Nebraska, and Colorado, and on the south with the Indian Territory. The original west line of Missouri was the meridian of the confluence of the Kansas and Mis- souri rivers. Had this been maintained, Kansas would be a regular rectangle, bounded by the parallels of 37° and 40° north latitude, and the meridians of 94|-° and 102° west longitude. But the subsequent grant to Missouri of the 3,168 square miles between her old line and the Missouri river makes a small, irregular notch of this extent in the nor'theastern corner of the younger State. The total area, as determined by the Tenth Census, is 82,080 square miles, or 52,531,200 acres ;* that is, almost exactly twice the area of Ohio, and more than fifteen per cent, greater than all New England. Minnesota is situated in the centre of North America ; but the centre of the Union is in Kansas. The general topography of the State is that of an elevated plain, sloping gradually from the northwest and west towards the east and south — the general direction of all the principal rivers. The highest land is in the extreme northwest county, Cheyenne, some 4,000 feet above tide level. At Monotony, some eighty miles farther south, near the Colorado line, the eleva- tion is 3,792 feet ; and at Syracuse, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, sixty miles still farther south, it is 3,247 feet. Along the Missouri line, it is from 650 to 1,200 feet. The average elevation of the State, as determined by calculations based on the list of elevations published by Mr. Henry Gannett, of Hayden's U. S. Geological Survey, is 2,375 feet; or about four times the average elevation of Illinois. So gradual is the descent from the higher portions of this elevated plateau to the southern and eastern limits of the State, that, according to the * The report of the CommiBsioners of the General Land Office eays 80,891 square miles. 324 THE WEST IN 1880 — KANSAS. report of the State Board of Agriculture, the average fall of the Arkansas river is only six feet to the mile, that of the Smoky Hill, running almost due east centrally through the State, is seven feet, and that of the Solomon is about ten feet. There is no rapid or waterfall on any of the rivers exceeding seven feet. There are no mountains. The general surface is that of a gently rolling prairie, with few abrupt elevations, or deep, rugged ravines or canons ; so that, even in the unsettled parts of the country, the emigrant finds his way over the grassy plains and swelling knolls and ridges, with little difficulty. There is very little wet or swampy ground anywhere, even along the rivers ; and it is officially stated by Professor Mudge, the State geologist, that there is not a peat bed of fifty acres in extent in any part of the State. Much the greater portion of the luxuriant pastures and wheat- goldened acres of Kansas are ribboned with beautiful creeks and rivers. The Republican, rising in Colorado, crosses the northwest county into Nebraska ; runs eastward, keeping in the southern line of counties of that State for nearly two hundred miles, draining the borders of both States ; and finally, turning abruptly to the southward, re-enters Kansas in the northwest corner of Jewell county. More than a hundred miles further to the southeast, at Junction City, it unites with the Smoky Hill river to form the Kansas, a broad, beautiful, though shallow sheet of water, which pursues an almost due east course thence to the Missouri river at Kansas City, about 120 miles away. The Smoky Hill river comes out of the extreme western border, flowing eastward centrally through the State, receiving out of the region between it and the Nebraska line two very considerable streams, the Saline and the Solomon, and collecting tribute from at least fifty smaller branches. Sixty miles or more south of the Smoky Hill, the broad-breasted Arkansas enters Kansas from Colorado ; flows gently southward for more than 120 miles ; then to the northwest for nearly seventy-five miles, to Grreat Bend ; thence to the southeast for almost 150 miles, through the best winter wheat region, to where it crosses into Indian Territory, still hundreds of miles away from where it empties into the Mississippi. The Cimarron, and a multitude of minor feeders of the Arkansas, drain all the southern tier of counties west and east of this main stream, which receives at last, out of Southeastern Kansas, the fair Neosho, winding THE WEST m 1880 — KANSAS. 325 through, nearly two hundred miles of its most fruitful counties. The geology of Kansas exhibits no violent uplifts, no signs of igneous action. Professor B. F. Mudge thinks that the uplift- ing of this State and the adjoining country from beneath the ocean must have been slow, uniform, and in a vertical direction, leaving the strata almost horizontal. Beginning at the northwest- ern or highest angle of the State, and descending to the southwest- ern or lowest angle, one first travels over a considerable area covered to the depth of 100 or 150 feet with alluvium and loose drift of the Post- Tertiary age, underlaid by sandstone of the Pliocene formation from 1,200 to 1,500 feet in depth ; then, for about seventy-five miles, over Cretaceous rock, the soft Niobrara and Port Benton limestone and , shale, and the Dakota sandstone (the first 200 feet, the next 260, and the last some 500 feet in depth); then the limestone and shale of the Upper Carbonifer- ous formations, 2,000 feet in depth ; and finally the Coal Measures and the Sub-Carboniferous rocks, the former about 600 feet, and the latter 150 feet, thick. Alluvial deposits, from five to fiftj'' feet in thickness, cover nearly all the river valleys and the depres- sions between the higher swellings of the prairies; particu- larly the abandoned beds of rivers, such as cover large surfaces in some parts of the country. Along the banks of the Missouri, extending back into the prairies from 50 to 100 miles before it finally disappears, the Bluff, or Loess, formation (common to the Missouri river on both sides far up into the Iowa, Nebraska, and Dakota countries) covers the land to a depth of from 100 to 125 feet. Professor S. Aughey, of the University of Nebraska, has analyzed the sediment of the Missouri, and shown conclu- sively that it is of the same nature as the silt of this swift and muddy stream, consisting of fine sand and lime, with clay, and very little coarse material; indicating that these bluffs were deposited at a time when the waters of this mighty river flowed on a higher level, and spread like a broad inland lake over leagues of land on either side of the channel it has worn out for itself. The fossil remains of the mastodon giganteus, the ele- phas Americanus, a species of horse, and various smaller mam- mals, abound in some parts of this formation. The drift — consisting of quartzose bowlders, greenstone, granite and syen- ite (the last two comparatively rare), pebbles, and gravel— is scattered over most of the region north of the Kansas river, nearly to the Republican, but extends very little, if any. 326 THE WEST IN 1880 — KANSAS. to the westward, beyond that stream. The Cretaceous forma- tion, consisting of what are called the Niobrara, Benton, and Dakota rocks, covers an area of about 40,000 square miles. If we had space, there is much of interest in these rocks to describe. They abound in fossils. The fossil florae, especially, are peculiarly novel and interesting, and have led geologists to modify some of their previous theories in regard to the geology of the West. Here are those singular concretions, which never fail to attract the attention of tourists — "Pulpit Rock," "Rock City," "Table Rock," and other mural oddities, so often de- picted in the descriptions of travel on the "Western plains. The Coal Measures cover an area of about 9, 000 square miles, under- lying the greater part of . seventeen counties, in every one of which coal exists in greater or less quantities. It is estimated, however, that not more than half of this area — possibly not more than one-third — will afford profitable veins. The geolog- ' ical exploration of the Kansas Coal Measures is still far from complete ; and this estimate may prove too low. There are three principal seams now being worked, and two of them profitably : the Osage, the Cherokee, and the Fort Scott seams. The first lies in Osage county, mainly, extending into Franklin, being in all about fifteen miles broad, and thirty long, and from fifteen to thirty inches in thickness. It is mined at the surface where it outcrops, and also in shafts from twenty to thirty feet deep. This is a good gas coal, and cokes well. The Fort Scott seam appears at or near the surface in many places, but has been so imperfectly explored that it is impossible, as yet, to estimate its extent or value. The thickest, and, all things considered, the best, bed of coal in Kansas, is that found in Cherokee, Crawford, and Labette counties. It enters the State from the Indian Territory, near Chetopa, runs across the southeast part of Labette county, the west and north part of Cherokee, and the southeast part of Crawford, into Missouri. The thickness of the coal is from fif- teen to fifty-four inches. It cokes well, and is a good gas pro- ducer. It is used at the Joplin mines for smelting ; and it is said by some to be as good as, or better than, the Indiana block coal, for reducing the obdurate zinc ores. It is used for this purpose at the zinc furnaces in this neighborhood. A partial idea may be obtained of the product of most of these mines from the number of cars of coal shipped from various points. In 1877, there were 9,022 car loads sent out from stations on the Mis- THE WEST IN 1880 — KAJSSAS. 327 souri river, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad ; and, from stations on the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad, the ship- ments were 590 car loads. The best coal mined at Leavenworth is obtained by sinking shafts some 700 feet through the Upper Carboniferous rocks, into the lower formation. Seams of coal of inferior quality, seldom more than twelve inches thick, are found in Leavenworth county, in the Upper Carboniferons rocks ; and similar seams are worked in Jackson, Atchison, Doniphan, Brown, and Jefferson counties. The product of the Leavenworth mines of all kinds, amounted to 534,000 bushels in 1871, and had risen to 1,500,000 bushels in 1878. Wells of burning gas have been discovered in various parts of the State, when boring for coal or petroleum. Some of these are yielding a steady outflow, sufl3.cient to illuminate towns of from 5,000 to 30,000 inhabitants, or capable of running furnaces and engines. Lead and zinc are found in several of the southwestern counties • but, although many shafts have been sunk, mining has not proved profitable, except at what are known as the Short Creek diggings, covering an area of less than twenty square miles on the east side of Spring Creek, near the mouth of Short Creek, which flows into it from Missouri. There are two zinc furnaces, one at New Pittsburg, in Crawford county, and one near Chero- kee, both located over rich coal mines. The zinc is brought to these furnaces from the mines above referred to, and a few other places. From 11,000 to 12,000 pounds of spelter are usu- ally obtained from twelve tons of mineral. In the Missouri- Kansas lead and zinc region, as in the Dubuque and Galena dis- tricts, these ores are found closely associated in the Keokuk limestone of the Sub-Carboniferous formation. The minerail is found, not in the limestone itself, but in interposing strata, or irregular masses of chert. This lead ore is mainly of the galena, or sulphuret of lead, variety. The lead and zinc mines of the Short Creek, and adjoining mineral district of Newton and Jasper counties, Missouri, are among the most prolific, the most economically exploited and easily worked, mines of these ores in the United States. The lead districts of Colorado, and the vast mineral regions west and south of that, are of course broader and richer, but are too far removed from coal to be economically reduced. Only as the lead is associated with the precious metals, is it likely to be transported ; as the base bull- ion of Leadville and other far- Western mines is now brought 30 328 THE WEST IN 1880 — KANSAS. to Omaha, Chicago, and St. Louis, in large quantities, to be desilverized. The production of lead in the United States in 1878, expressed in tons, was as follows : Utah (desilverized) 19,310 Nevada (desilverized) 37,735 California (desilverized) 3,857 Montana, Colorado, etc. (desilverized) 6,500 Total (desilverized) '. 57,403 Missouri-Kansas 14,318 Galena '. 4,011 Hard Missouri 9, 391 Total United States product 85,133 In 1879, a careful estimate showed that nearly, if not quite, three-fourths of all the Missouri-Kansas lead product came from the Short Creek, Kansas, mines. From the discovery of these rich deposits in May, 1877, down to Dec. 1, 1879, the total product of this locality was estimated at 36,000,000 lbs. In some instances, as much as 800,000 lbs. of mineral were taken out in a single day. The precious metals have not been found in Kansas in paying quantities, and, from all the geolog- ical indications, are never likely to be. Salt springs and salt marshes are numerous in this State; and there is no reason why enough of this article should not be produced to supply all the Missouri valley. Twelve salt springs have been conveyed by Congress to the State, and now constitute a part of the endow- ment of the State Normal School. The Tuthill salt marsh, in Kepublic county, covers a thousand acres, much of which is entirely covered with a dazzling white incrustation of salt. Large deposits of crystallized salt exist along the south line of the State, south of the great bend of the Arkansas, some of them from a foot to thirty inches in depth. In various places the peo- ple manufacture all the salt they need for home consumption, in common household utensils. Quarries of good building ma- terial are common. Limestone occurs in all forn^ations, except the Pliocene and the Dakota ; and these contain an abundance of sandstone. The Junction City limestone, common in the Sub-Carboniferous region next east of the Missouri line, can be sawed with an ordinary cross-cut saw, and planed with a car- penter' s plane, and i^ at the same time firm enough for building purposes, hardening with exposure. Gypsum exists in the upper valleys of the Saline and Smoky Hill rivers. Some of these formations cover from one hundred to two hundred THE WEST IN 1880 — KANSAS. 329 square miles, in layers two to fifteen or twenty feet in thickness. Near the confluence of the Little Blue with Big Blue river, is a gypsum bed of several square miles in area, and from three to ten feet thick. Here it is manufactured in considerable quanti- ties. Quick-lime, of good quality, is made from almost any of the limestone rocks of the State ; and hydraulic cement, of fine quality, is manufactured on a large scale, at Fort Scott. Hy- draulic limestone exists also at Leavenworth, Lawrence, and other places. The bottom lands of Kansas, varying in the different coun- ties from five to twenty-three per cent, of the entire acreage, are covered with a rich alluvial soil, from four to ten, and even, in some places, twenty feet deep. On the benches of the rivers (the abandoned portions of their ancient channels), the loam, varying from two to seven feet in depth, is of much the same character, affected somewhat more by the native soil of the uplands, or high prairies, which are overlaid with a fine black or chocolate-colored loam, from one to three feet thick. This latter soil varies with the nature of the underlying rocks. Most of the limestones which underlie a large proportion of this region are so soft and so fine grained that they will easily yield their ingredients to the disintegrating forces of nature to enrich the loam above them. The extreme fineness of these ingredi- ents has much to do with the remarkable richness of the soil all over the greater part of the State. The parts excepted lie over the Pliocene sandstone, and in the saline districts, embracing the most elevated counties of the extreme north- west, and those drained by the Cimarron, in the southwest. These parts certainly appear to be less highly favored as regards soil and climate, and are more subject to the grasshop- per plague than the rest of Kansas. For the present, at least, they seem to be adapted for little besides herding cattle and pasturing flocks. The popular notion, however, that the lands lying near the Colorado line are quite generally covered with alkaline deposits, I am assured, on the testimony of the State geologist, is erroneous. He declares, that, during fifteen years' acquaintance with that portion of Kansas, he has discov- ered but two alkaline springs, and has never seen ten acres of land in one place where the vegetation has been iiijured by it. The native woodlands of Kansas originally covered less than five per cent, of its entire surface. The forests, if there is any- 330 THE WEST m 1880 — KANSAS. thing answering to this name in the entire State, are in the eastern counties, the timber belts growing narrower and lighter towards the west, where trees appear only along the borders of the streams, in fringes from a mile and a half to less than half a mile wide. In some counties the State Agricultural Report estimates the timber area at less than one per cent, of the whole. The principal native trees are black walnut, hickory, oaks of several varieties, cottonwood, sycamore, elm, hard and soft maple, ash, mulberry, hackberry, willow, and pecan. Timber culture has been encouraged by State enactments, as well as by timber culture acts of Congress. At first, tree planting was attended with but little success ; but, with experience, better results have followed, and there are now many counties dotted over with miniature forests of from one to thirty acres on a farm. The Farmers' Institute of the State Agricultural College has published a list of twenty four varieties of trees suited to the climate of different portions of the State. As prairie fires become less frequent, and the hygrometric condition of the country improves with the advance of cultivation, the wooded fringes of the water-courses extend by self-planting. Dr. L. Stenberg says : "On many of the small streams, there is a m.6re dense growth of timber than when the country was first opened to settlement. The necks of creeks, formed by their numerous windings (having a narrow lining of timber) are being gradually covered with trees ; and the shading and mulching afforded by these trees produce congenial conditions, under which numerous others are constantly springing up." The buffalo, or American bison, still pastures in Western Kansas ; and occasionally a herd of wild horses dashes into the southwestern counties. Antelopes and d^er bound along the picturesque bluffs and hide in the tall grass and woody selvedges of the bottom lands. In the more densely wooded portions of Eastern Kansas the wild-cat and the lynx are found. Bears are sometimes seen. Wolves, although not so numerous as for- merly, are far too common for the welfare of the sheep raisers. Villages of prairie dogs divert the traveler in the western coun- ties ; although these are now extremely rare. The mink, the fox, squirrels and rabbits, are numerous in some lotialities ; and field rodents of various species abound. The State permits counties to offer a bounty of $1 each for the scalps of wolves, coyotes, wild-cats, and foxes, and five cents for each rabbit THE WEST IN 1880 — KANSAS. 331 scalp. Under this law, $1,036 was paid for wolf scalps, $485 for coyotes, $356 for wild-cats, $51 for foxes, and no less than $21,468.90 for rabbits, in twenty- seven eastern counties,, during the year 1877-78. Flocks of pigeons are seen rarely on the plains ; but great bevies of grouse feed in the grain and stubble fields. The plover, snipe, and quail are easily found in the eastern coun- ties. The predatory birds common to Missouri and Southern Iowa are all common to most parts of Kansas. The Missouri, Kansas, Neosho, and Arkansas rivers abound in fish. A few of the choicest varieties of the Upper Mississippi are not found here, or are very rarely taken. The principal food fishes are striped bass, white perch, pike of several varieties, bass and sun-fish, eels (sometimes of six pounds' weight), cat-fish (often from 100 to 200 pounds' weight), buffalo fish, and other members of the sucker family, and several kinds of herring. A fish commission has been established by the State, and laws passed, requiring the construction of fish-ways, and regulating the taking of fish, especially during the spawning season. Large quantities of eggs of the California salmon, shad, German carp, and other fish, have been deposited in the Kansas streams. The climate is liable to greater extremes of heat and cold than that of the States on the same parallels east of it. While the annual mean temperature of all but a very small portion in the central district of Southern Kansas corresponds with that of Kentucky, Southern Ohio, and the most of Missouri south of the Missouri river, ranging from 50° to 60° Fahr., the greatest heat of summer and the greatest cold of winter vary considera- bly more than in the States named. The average temperature of the hottest week of 1872 in Kansas City, 90°, corresponded with the average temperature for the same period in Central and Northwestern Missouri, Central Illinois, and Eastern Kentucky ; but the mean temperature of the coldest week of the ensuing winter, zero, was the same as that of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Northern Michigan,* from three to six degrees farther north. During the spring and autumn, high winds prevail more fre- quently than in States east of the Missouri. The rainfall, which is usually abundant in the counties along the Missouri line, decreases very materially as we go west. Professor Frank H. Snow, the State Meteorologist, classifies his observations in three tables ; one for the " eastern rain belt," extending west to Fort * Chart of the United States Signal Service', iu tl. S. Statistical Atlas. 332 THE WEST IN 1880 — KANSAS. Riley ; another for "the middle belt," reaching beyond this to the west line of Ellis county ; a third for " the western belt," extending to the Colorado line. The mean rainfall for the twelve months 'ending Oct. 31, 1877, was 44.49 inches in the eastern belt, 30. 04 inches in the middle belt, 25. 63 inches in the western belt, and 33.39 inches for the entire State. For the twelve months ending Oct. 31, 1878 (an nnnsually dry year), the hygro- metric markings were 37.38 inches, 27.89, and 21.73, for the several belts above named, taken in the same order. It is main- tained by close observers that the rain belt travels westward with the line of settlements. The following figures, taken from Mr. F. B. Hough's Report upon Forestry for 1877, showing the average annual rainfall for a series of years ending with 1874, favors this theory. The average rainfall in the eastern rain belt for the time referred to was 38. 03 inches ; in the middle belt, 23. 61 j and, in the western belt, 18.47; showing from SJ to 4f inches less rainfall in the middle and western belts at that time than in the unfavorable season of 1878. and over seven inches less than in 1877. Not until the vital statistics of the several States for the past decade are compiled and published, can any fair compar- ison of the salubrity of Kansas be drawn, based upon mortality lists. In 1870, 564 out of every 1,000 deaths were among chil- dren ten years of age and under, which was slightly more than in the adjoining States of Missouri and' Iowa. The same year the deaths from consumption were from five to nine in every 100 decedents, for all the State except Doniphan county, where they were between nine and fourteen in every hundred decedents. From five to nine in every hundred deaths resulted from intes- tinal diseases, except in the lower parts of Wyandotte, Worth, and Shawnee counties, and the six counties next south of these, where the mortality from this cause rose to from nine to fourteen in every 100 decedents ; and excepting, strangely enough, the next six counties below these, in which the mortality from this cause fell to only two to five in a hundred. The deaths from enteric cerebro-spinal meningitis and typhus diseases, in no part of the State rose to more than from five to nine in a hundred decedents. Such is the broad domain mapped over the very heart of the American States in a grand plateau of prairie two hundred miles in breadth, four hundred miles in length ; with a soil, in THE WEST m 1880 — KANSAS. 333 the language of Charles Sumner, " of unsurpassed richness, and a surface of fascinating, undulating beauty ; with a health- giving climate, calculated to nurture a powerful and generous people, worthy to be a central pivot of American institutions." Such is Kansas by nature, just as she lay when the orator thus described her in the American Senate, barely twenty- six years ag6 — when she was, as yet, merely a luxuriant pasture for countless herds of biiflEalo, and a hunting ground for the wild tribes of the " Great Plains." Such slight conception had the United States government of the great attractions of this por- tion of its territory, such unconsciousness of its own inherent powers of expansion, that the rulers never dreamed that this region would be wanted for civilized settlements for at least a generation to come ; and, even so late as between 1840 and 1850, they removed remnants of Indian tribes from Territories east of the Mississippi into this Territory, and deliberately conveyed to them broad belts of the Kansas prairies, in what is now the most populous portion, "in fee simple forever." In this way came the Kickapoos, the Delawares, the Wyandots, and other tribes. A few whites came with them, as government agents and mis- sionaries, or as traders. It was not until after 1850 that white settlers began to venture into Kansas in any appreciable numbers, to pre-empt lands and make permanent settlements. All of this State east of the lOOth meridian was included in the Louisiana purchase. The portion west of that came to the United States by cession from Mexico and Texas. By the ' ' Missouri Compromise ' ' of 1820, it was agreed that all of the territory of the United States north of the parallel of 36° 30' should be free soil. As settlers began to take possession of this country, among them went a few families from Missouri, taking slaves with them, or claiming the right to do so. They asserted, that the "Compromise Act" of 1850 was virtually a repeal of the Compromise of 1820, as far as Kansas was concerned. In this claim they were encouraged by public sentiment in the slave- holding States, and by the pro-slavery party in the North. On the other hand, the anti-slavery element of the North resolved to resist the extension of slavery by all legitimate means. Emigration aid societies were organized and chartered in Massa- chusetts and Connecticut ; and companies of colonists, supplied with means of self-defense, were sent out as fast as they could be induced to go, with the intention of overwhelming the pro- 334 THE WEST IN 1880 — KANSAS. slavery settlers at the ballot-box as soon as the new Territory should be organized. A partisan conflict of the most violent character immediately ensued, and was maintained for several years, with the great parties of the nation as lookers-on and abettors. Congress passed the celebrated "Kansas and Nebraska Act," May 30, 1854, practically abrogating all restric- tions as to slavery, and providing for the organization of two Territories ; that of Kansas to embrace all of the present States of Kansas and Colorado. The new Territory was christened in blood ; and strife and blood- shed did not wholly cease until the close of the " War of Secession," which this conflict materially helped to initiate. In spite of every obstacle and discourage- ment to its growth, Kansas became a State Jan. 29, 1861, with a population of about 110,000. Since then it has grown, as shown in decennial periods by the following table, at a rate remarkable even in the history of the West ; closing the nineteenth year of its existence as a State, with a population of nearly a million. Periods. Total. White. Colored. Indians. Ratio of Increase. I860 107,306 364,399 995,966* 106,390 346,377 952,056 637 17,108 43,096 189 914 792 1870 248 1880 166 By far the largest proportion of the population of Kansas is engaged in agriculture. Of the 52,531,200 acres in the entire State, over 9,000,000 are now under cultivation ; the acreage in farm crops having increased during the past two years at the rate of more than a million acres per annum. In 1879, the number of acres planted in Indian corn was 2,718, 800f — a gain of 437 per cent, in ten years ; while the increase of population, remarkable as it was during the same period, amounted to only about 170 per cent. The same year, the number of acres planted in wheat was 1,644,500, a gain of 973 per cent.; in rye, 111,000, a gain of 1,422 per cent.; in oats, 480,600, a gain of 1,216 per cent.; in barley, 45,000, a gain of 5,415 per cent. ; in buckwheat, a decrease of nearly fifty per cent.; in potatoes, 52,300, a gain of 416 per cent.; in hay, 897,844, an increase of 628 per cent. The following table, compiled from the statistics of the Census * Of whom 109,705 were foreign horn. + Statistics of the Agricultural Bureau. THE WEST m 1880 — KANSAS. 335 Eureau, shows the principal cereal crops of Kansas in 1879, and for the two census years next preceding : Ckops. I860. 1870. 1880. Wheat 194,173 3,838 88,335 6,150,737 41,575 4,716 3,391,198 85,207 4,097,925 17,025,525 27,836 98,405 17,324,141 413,181 8,180,385 105,729,325 34,421 300 273 Rye Oats Indian corn Barley . Totals 6,483,349 23,726,086 131,971,726 Occasionally an unfavorable season, like that of 1878, mate- rially reduces the average yield per acre ; and this may or may not be partially compensated for by an appreciable rise in price. There is only one way of approximating a correct knowledge of the rewards of farming — particularly in a new country. This is by averaging the yield and the prices of farm products for a series of years, as I have done in the following table, which shows the annual yield and value of the principal farm crops of Kansas, averaged for the five years ending with 1879 : Crops. Total yield of crops of 1869 in busli^a,potinds or tons. Average annual yield in bush- els, pounds or tons for 5 yrs. ending 1879. Avg. price per bush- el, pound or ton for 5 years. Average annual value of crops for 5 years end- ing with 1879. Av Tge an- nu'l yield p'r acre f r Syrs.end- ing 1879. Ave. ann'l value per acre for 5 yrs. end- ing 18T9. Indian com Wheat 34,500,000 2,800,000 30,000 1,500,000 25,000 150,000 1,500,000 85,943,960 17,784,100 3,386,080 13,480,800 1,499,640 108,380 4,337,800 532,500 1,301,680 $ .33+ .80+ .42 .21 .41 .83 .52 .08.9 3.74 119,603,439 14,043,129 990,585 2,611,316 585,148 83,548 2,237,834 49,335 4,441,919 37.5bu. 14.4" 19.5 " 83.7 " 31.9 " 16.5 " 90. + " 685 fts. 1.53T $ 8.53 11.56 Bye 8.34 Oats 6 87 9.05 Buckwheat Potatoes Tobacco 13.98 45.59 61.13 Hay 250,000 5.66 Total 144,685,083 In addition to the crops above named, the sweet potato crop of 1879 amounted to 197,407 bushels, valued at as many dollars ; the yield of sorghum to 2,721,459 gallons, worth $1,224,656; the castor be,an crop to 766,143 bushels, worth $1 a busiiel; the cotton to 33,589 pounds, worth $3,023; the flax to 622,256 bushels, worth $1 per bushel ; the hemp to 557,879 bushels, valued at $33,473 ; the broom corn to 8,095,145 pounds, valued at $283,330; and farm garden produce valued at $236,311.69. 336 THE WEST IN 1880 — KANSAS. The total acreage under cultivation in 1879, amounted ta 7,769,926.26 acres, a gain of 1,349,514.43 in a single year ; yet this was only about one-third of the assessed lands, and about one-fifteenth part of the total land area of the State. Great attention is given to orchard planting. Some of the finest fruit exhibited at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, was from the region designated in certain maps scarcely thirty years old as "The Q-reat American Desert." Sixty-six counties reported 1,530,275 apple trees, 57,829 pear trees, 5,069,579 peach trees, 123,479 plum trees, and 461,237 cherry trees in bearing ; and 3,546,200 apple trees, 138,795 pear trees, 3,238,361 peach trees, 195,811 plum trees, and 571,562 cherry trees not in bearing. The abundance of nutritious native grasses, and the luxuri- ant growth of tame grasses, together with the mild winters which make it possible for herds and flocks to live upon the range or in the pasture fields with little or no grain or fodder, have peculiarly adapted Kansas for a stock raising State. Ac- cordingly we find that there has' been a rapid and steady increase of farm animals ; the number of horses in Januarj^, 1880, being 299,700 — a gain of 138 per cent, in ten years ; mules, 57,000 — a gain of 1,040 per cent, in the same period; cows, 351,400— a gain of 149 per, cent ; oxen and other cattle, §47,700 —a gain of 203 per cent. ; sheep, 371,990 — a gain of 210 per cent. ; hogs, 1,208,700— a gain of 132 per cent.* On these dry prairies, stock seems to be comparatively exempt from epidemic diseases. Hog cholera appeared in only four counties in 1879. A disease called "black leg" aflected the calves to some degree in eleven counties. Texas, or Spanish, fever, affected a few cat- tle in two counties, where some Texas cattle had been pastured. Se^^ere laws exist against importing diseased cattle ; and these are strictly enforced. It may be seriously doubted if the fatal pleuro-pneumonia, so much dreaded by stockmen the world over, and which has led to such rigorous restrictions upon the traffic in live stock in the principal European countries, has ever existed in Kansas. The following tablet shows the number of farm animals of Kansas, averaged for the five years ending Jan- uary, 1880, compared with the number in February, 1870 ; also the price per head, and the total annual value, averaged for five years : " Based on the Agricultural Bureau's figures. + From the Annual Eeports of the Agricultural Bureau. All estimates of the numher of -lock. upon the Western cattle ranges are more or less conjectural. THE WEST IN 1880 — KANSAS. 337 Farm Animals. HoiSBS Mules •. Oxen and other cattle. Milch cows Sheep Hogs Totals . Number in February, 1870, Aunual number or anima s averaged for five yesirs, end- ing Jan., 188J 135,000 5,000 213,300 140,700 120,000 516,000 254,70D 86,280 554,540 289,480 221,460 667,140 2,033,600 Price per head averaged for the five years, ending Jan., 1880. Total annual vaiue averaged for five years. $49.96 64.28 18.79 23.04 2.40 6.23 §12,699,482 2,319,617 10,337,562 6,715,935 518,113 3,460,094 $36,050,792 Dairy farming has not received as much attention as it is des- tined to command. Eastern Kansas, particularly, is well adapted for this business ; and here the product has been rap- idly increasing. Cheese factories have been established in a number of counties ; and there are instances in which the increase of cheese manufactured has been 300, 400, and even as great as 800, per cent, in three years. The butter produced in the whole State in 1878 amounted to 13,790,374 pounds, and the cheese to 1,005,958 pounds. In 1880 the cheese product had increased about 182 per cent., amounting to 2,836,801 ; and the butter twenty-four per cent., reaching a total of 17,100,063 pounds. The poultry and eggs sold in 1878 brought over $382,000, and in 1880 more than $450,000. The hives of bees numbered over 21,000 in 1880, producing about 250,000 pounds of honey and wax, worth not less than $68,000. The grand total of farm products in 1880 — the crops, the increase of farm animals, the products of live stock, and the products of the market gardens, orchards, and apiaries — aggregated not less than $82,000,000. It is interesting to unroll the map of Kansas, and, with the official statistics of counties in hand, trace across its rolling prairies and along its fertile valleys the agricultural districts of richest growth. The most prolific winter wheat producing sec- tion lies along the Arkansas river, between Great Bend and the line of Indian Territory ; directly north of this, along the Kansas, Smoky Hill, and Saline rivers ; and on the divide between these. The cluster of twelve contiguous counties — Saline, Dickinson, Marion, McPherson, Rice, Barton, Reno, Harvey, Sedgwick, Butler; Cowley, and Sumner— within this section, produced in 1878 fifty-nine per cent, of the winter wheat harvest of the 338 THE WEST m 1880 — KANSAS. entire State. The richest spring wheat district lies directly north of this, beyond the Kansas, on lands watered by the three lead- ing northern tributaries, the Solomon, the Republican, and the Big Blue. In the year last named, the cluster of seven contigu- ous counties — Smith, Jewell, Republic, Washington, and Mar- shall, next the Nebraska line ; and Mitchell and Cloud, immedi- ately south of these — produced fifty-nine per cent, of all the spring wheat raised in the State. These may be still regarded as the banner winter and spring wheat sections of Kansas. The rolling prairies of Southeastern Kansas, and the prolific wheat- bearing counties on the Republican, Solomon, and Smoky Hill rivers, are flecked with, flocks of sheep. Draw a line from Kansas City due southwest to Indian Territory. The twenty- three counties in the southeast angle of the State, cut off by this line, contained, according to State statistics, 96,251 sheep,' against 78,633 in a cluster of seventeen counties, embracing the lower reaches of the rivers above named, and the Kansas river, at, and immediately below, their junction with it ; and these two districts contained more than seventy-one per cent, of all the sheep in the State. The great herds of cattle and hogs are found in Northeastern Kansas. If we mark off just, such a corner in this part of the State as I outlined in the southeastern portion when pointing out the principal fields of sheep hus- bandry ,j it appears that there were 280,000 milch cows and other cattle, and 337,000 hogs in the former locality, against 130, 000 milch cows and other cattle, and 151, 000 hogs in the latter. Where the cattle and hogs are found, there are the great corn fields. Turning again to the two districts pointed out, the northeastern one produced in 1878 nearly twice as much corn as the one in the southeast. But, in fact, there is not a valley in Kansas where corn will not grow luxuriantly ; and there is no place within its limits where cattle will not thrive. The increase in the manufacturing industries of Kansas during the last decade will be a surprise to the most sanguine citizens of that flourishing State. According to the Census report of 1880, there are 2,762 manufacturing establishments, with a capital of $10,183,800 ; the greatest number of hands employed at any one time during the year was 15,174 ; the value of the materials consumed was 120,122,327, and the value of the production was $30,489,093. The total amount paid in wages during the year was $3,769,126. Subtracting this, and the value of materials THE WEST IK 1880 — KANSAS. 339 consumed, from the total product, leaves nearly $6,600,000 for other expenses and net profits. The above does not include the industries taken by special experts, such as mining, brewing, distilling, silk, cotton, wool, coal, etc. — all of which are treated in the general review. The following table presents the principal statistics of some of the important industries in the State of Kansas : S to 1 6 15 Capital, Dolls. ii m S « 0) 2 0.-9 Average number of hands employed. Total Amount Paid in Wages during the year, Dolls. Materials, Dolls. Business. g g . ja Products, Dolls. Agricultnral implements Bnck and tile . . - . 16 106 45 314 144 73,950 137,725 74,815 3,986,911 258,925 115 1,336 160 1,922 911 98 1,003 93 1,416 676 "26 26 5 6 1 80 10 7 10 28,504 157,689 10,322 560,568 108,219 25,949 92,717 45,103 10,184,569 306,703 76,565 374,723 76,195 13,285,560 636,975 Cheese and butter Flour and grist mill products . Lumber, sawed Totals 625 4,538,328 4,444 3,286 57 108 865,302 10,655,041 14,450,008 In 1850 the United States Census makes no mention of the industries of the State of Kansas — the columns are blank. Ten years later, it seems, 1,735 hands were employed ; in 1870, this number had increased to 6,844; and in 1880, it had reached 15,174. I have compiled the following statement, which exhibits at a glance the condition of industrial enterprise in 1860, in 1870, and in 1880 : it also shows the percentage of growth, of capital, materials used, and value of products manufactured : Hands employed Wages paid Per capita wages Capital Materials Products Net prodncts 1,735 $ 880,346.00 507.40 1,084,935.00 1,444,975.00 4,357,408.00 2,032,077.00 6,844 $ 2,377,511.00 347.89 4,319,060.00 6,112,163.00 11,775,833.00 3,386,159.00 Percent. Increase overprev. Decade. 2!)8-|- 323— 173— 67— 15,174 $ 3,769,126.00 248.39 10,183,800.00 20,122,327.00 30,489,093.00 6,597,640.00 Percent. Increase 1,:) 220-1- 159— 95— III brief, the increase of capital in the first decade was 298 per cent. ; in the second, 135 per cent ; the increased value of material used, 323 per cent, in the decennial period ending 1870, and 229 per cent, in that ending 1 880 ; the value of the products manufactured increased 173 per cent, in the first, and 159 in the 340 THE WEST IN 1880 — KANSAS. second ; but the net value of the products, after deducting the value of the materials used, and the wages paid, exhibits an increase of sixty-seven per cent, in the ten years ending in 1870, and no less than ninety -five per cent, iu the last ten years ; an actual gain in the increase of net products of the second over the first decade, of twenty-eight pdr cent. Well may Kansas be proud of the rapid development of its manufactures. Undoubtedly the excellent natural roads, broad and unob- structed as the path of the wind across the prairies, have done much to facilitate the settlement of the country. Navigation, except through the Missouri river, has rendered little aid. The long, winding rivers of the interior, often broad, and even majestic looking as they sweep between their picturesque borders of grassy bluffs and valleys waving with wheat and corn, are too shallow for steamboats and heavily laden barges. The railroads have been the principal engineers and carriers in the work of opening Kansas to the world, and leading in the myriads of settlers who have flocked hither from all quarters of the globe. They have not waited for immigrants to develop the country and create business for them ; but they have cast up highways before them, and led them into this goodly heritage, filling the world with astonishment at the results, as shown in the increase of the population from 373,299 to 995,966 in the past ten years, and the augmentation of wealth in a still greater ratio. Situated, as this region is, at the most remote dis- tances from all the great commercial and industrial centres of the globe ; hidden, as it were, in the inmost bosom of the conti- nent ; devoid of any interior river system of transportation — it would have taken ages to develop it as it has been developed within the last twenty years through the instrumentality of the , railways, conj oined with the intelligence and energy of its pioneers and their immediate successors. In 1865, Kansas had but forty miles of railroad. The roads of other States and the Missouri river had brought the immigrant to her borders and left him to complete his journey as best he could. Five years later the number of miles of railroad had increased to 1,501. In the next five years, 649 miles were added ; but in the last five years, more than twice that increase has been made — or 1,318.50 miles of new road — until now she stands united to all the great trunk lines binding the Atlantic States to the overflowing granaries and swarming stock farms of the West, to the grand artery of THE WEST IN 1880 — KANSAS. 341 traffic between the Pacific and the Atlantic, to the Gulf and all the intervening wealth of Texas ; and, as I write, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company is laying the last rails and driving the last spikes on the iron path that is to open to her Mexico, Arizona, California, and all the tributaries of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The railways operated in whole or in part in this State, enumerated in Poor' s Railroad Manual for 1880, were thirty-five, of which only four reported the num- ber of passengers, 584,758, and the tons of freight, 1,621,436, . t % n . 1 o 3 o i ^ e ^ S o ! s u g >> O o o o b '^ ft ^ s a o o Latitude 37° 33' 37° 32' 38° 08' 40° 15' 39° 00* 39° 35' 39° 4.5' 39° 45' 38° 65' 41° 12' Longitude 105° 23' 105° 40' 102° 60' 103° 46' 106° 00' 105° 40' 105° 20' 105° 04' 104° 58' 104° 42' Height, feet 8,365 7,945 3,725 4,606 10,783 5,729 6,244 6,032 6,075 January .34 .11 .32 31 4 55 39 15 05 .86 .21 .12 1.00 .25 29 37 March .61 .33 .16 3.70 .97 .84 .67 .55 1.25 1.19 .34 .33 2.09 4.84 ""2;55' 5.56 11.73 .60 "i'.io 1.78- 3.92 2.03 4.87 69 May... 2.14 JuDe .71 .77 1.40 .73 3.60 1.52 1.04 1.07 July 2.01 2.04 1.80 1.29 1.27 .76 2.53 .37 .04 .52 .60 3.94 .60 2.20 3.22 1.35 1.71 3.44 1.10 1.87 2 48 1 54 September 88 October .87 .33 .19 4.00 .54 .13 .54 3.6t 1.07 .24 .13 .07 .15 3.20 .71 .47 1.19 .29 .35 December 2.10 05 Spring 2.95 1.00 7.09 20.99 6.54 7.87 3.28 5.58 6.28 2.27 3.33 1.32 .45 4.30 .11 .59 1.85 7.94 6.19 2.96 1.15 5.68 3.19 .81- 5.09 1 77 Winter 16 Tear 17.06 6.11 12.09 16.84 17.15 10.30 Proceeding westward over the plains from the Eastern bound- ary of the State, the rainfall decreases markedly in amount and becomes more variable in character as far as the base of the mountains. Entering the mountains, the precipitation increases in quantity very much, but without changing its character. The winter precipitation is husbanded, in the mountains, in the form of snow, which, in the late spring and summer, melts, and, swelling the streams, is utilized for irrigation. The mount- ains thus play, to a certain- extent, the part of reservoirs. Farther west, on the lower plateaux, the rainfall is reduced to a minimum, and the country has all the aspects of a desert. The following tablef shows the monthly and annual mean temperatures at a number of stations in the State : * Hayden's Annual Keport, 1876, p . 315. + Id., p. 316. 378 THE WEST IN 1880— COLORADO. 6 i 1 > a 0. CO o •§ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Latitude 39° 45' 105° 00' 5,250 38° 50' 104° 49' 6,032 38° 08' 102° 50' 3,725 40° 15' 103° 46' 4,500 38° 15' 104° 12' 4,300 40° 68' 102° 23' 3,600 38° 28' 105° 15' 5,400 39° 13' Longitude 106° 00' 6,100 9,964 Jaruary 23.8 30.7 26.8 42.4 50.6 60.8 64.0 63.2 B6.0 47.9 30.3 33.4 26.57 32.75 31.85 46.90 60.28 67.13 72.68 67.70 61.26 48.78 39.22 22.45 28.2 34.9 33.5 46.5 54.9 64.0 64.6 65.3 57.9 51.3 37.1 35 4 26.01 35.65 39.68 49.72 64.74 74.80 79.65 76.13 64.33 49.08 39.08 27.37 19.78 33.67 30 52 47.20 58.25 71.00 78.99 79.85 70.65 57.41 '29.31 32.26 36.23 41.67 51.73 63.13 72.50 78.79 73.94 64.38 50.98 39.78 27.06 26.23 31.60 34.65 46.25 59.49 70.88 78.81 72.21 60.62 49.62 40.20 28.51 24.2 34 6 36.4 45.5 20 21.8 19 5 April 33 3 Muy 44 (> June 57 4 July August 57.0 56 September October 49.1 36.6 44.1 48.13 47.8 52.02 52.70 49.92 3 1- ■s g > 'ft o 1 1 3 g 1 1 ■^ b 1 i 1 1 37° 22' 108° 05' 8,633 89° 58' 107° 48' 6,491 38° 12' 106° 50' 9,290 39° 00' 106° 00' 10,783 39° 44' 105° 13' 5,729 37° g2' 105° 40' 7,945 39° 48' 105° 30' 8,300 38° 60' 105° 02' 14,147 89° 21' Elevation, feet 14,200 January 21.8 2ti.2 28. B 41.0 54.7 64.4 63.9 64.8 5S.3 49.0 35.8 26.8 17.86 24.45 19.78 29.75 41.28 : "49.77 61.00 67.57 73.33 74 73 65.80 18.46 23.37 33.63 42.75 52.41 62.23 66.61 64.34 55.61 43.97 30.88 20.05 24.05 ■"38.53 49.27 62.73 67.90 "56'.33 "35.83 37.30 2.1 4.5 4.5 14.9 21.4 31.0 85.7 35.9 32.1 25.0 10.8 9.7 6 March May July 55. S 46.2 43.0 September 36 28.0 November 18.0 Deceniber . 19.58 15 Tear*. 44.6 42.86 19.0. At only nine of the eighteen stations here named do the observations cover the entire year. Of these White River Agency, Col., shows nearly the same annual mean temperature as Cheyenne, Wyo. ; and Fort Lyon almost the same as Fort Sedgwick, the slight differences corresponding nearly to the ratio of the differences of altitude. But Colorado Springs, although 782 feet higher than Denver, shows a mean tempera- ture but one-third of a degree lower. The highest mean temperature is that of Fort Reynolds, 52.7° (although this station is 700 feet above Sedgwick, with an average of 49.92°). Such differences are due chiefly to conditions of exposure. THE WEST IN 1880 — COLORADO. 379 The following table* shows the monthly and annual mean relative humidities at a few stations : Months. i o 1 o 1 o o c 1 i i 3 ■§ a E o i s S 5 01 1 Hi O s iq o O d a a i 6 1 66.3 63.2 62.6 60.6 42.5 32.7 58.4 52.0 57.3 40.4 62.9 51.4 63.7 73.4 53.5 53.6 45.3 42.3 68.3 63.4 64.4 48.0 55.9 44.9 56.3 46.6 48.4 46.8 38.4 28.0 55.7 46.7 51.3 33.5 59.8 43.8 63.8 72.3 59.8 63.9 62.7 58.5 67.1 66.6 62.7 52.9 53.0 58.4 70.0 72.7 61.4 66.2 59.6 56.7 66.4 59.2 60.0 55.4 67.8 64.3 51.1 48.4 36.3 24.1 25,3 19.8 54.9 46.8 56.1 28.7 54.1 47.7 44 58 40 March iSiy :.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.:.: 51 50 60 55 63 54 65 72 July 69 57 46 61 8e]|ember 44 49 . 50 54.2 56.4 46.3 61.8 63.3 40.7 "Of these stations, Cheyenne, Denver, Colorado Springs, Ports Lyon, Morgan, Reynolds, and Sedgwick, are situated in the plains ; Cheyenne, Denver, and Colorado Springs are, however, within a very few miles of the foot-hills ; Canon City is in a well-sheltered bay in the mountains, but open to the plains. Its temperature is abnormally high. Of the other stations, (xolden City is immediately under the foot-hills ; Fair Play, Los Pinos agency, Montgomery, Fort Garland, Central City, Mount Lincoln, and Pike's Peak are in the mountains. Parrott City is at the southwest foot of the San Juan Group, while the White River agency is in the plateau region." " Of the mountain stations. Fair Play is situated in the north- western corner of South Park, under high mountains on the north and west. Montgomery is at the extreme head of the South Platte, about twelve miles north of the latter station, in a closely encircled mountain valley. The Los Pinos agency is in a broken country, between the Sawatch and San Juan Ranges. Fort Garland is situated on the eastern side of San Luis Valley, with high mountains on the north and east. Central City is in a narrow mountain valley. Pike' s Peak and Mount Lincoln are among the highest peaks in the State." * The general flora of the State is simple, and is distributed according to well-defined laws. The mountains and higher * From Hayden'8 Aonual Report, 1876, p. 317. 380 THE WEST IN 1880 — COLORADO. plateaux are covered with forests. In general, the valleys and plains are bare of timber, but produce nutritious grasses. A few of the higher valleys, especially if in close proximity to mountain ranges, are clothed in forests. Tree growth seems to be almost purely a question of elevation, or, what is here the same thing, of temperature and moisture. While the various species of bunch grasses are the peculiar growth of the valleys and plains in the more arid regions, sage- brush {artemisia), cacti, of a number of species, and the yucca (or Spanish bayonet), usurp its place to a greater or less extent. The lower timber on the mountains usually consists of quak- ing aspen {populus tremuloides), a tree of no value except as furnishing a very indifferent firewood. Above this, and extending to the timber line, which in this State is at 11,000 to J.2,000 feet above the sea, are found spruce, fir, and pine forests. The timber is of good quality for almost all purposes, excepting those for which hard wood is needed, and is of incalculable value to the people of the State. The more arid plateaux and valleys of the western part of the State support a growth of piiSon pine and dwarf cedar, both species peculiar to this arid region. They are of no economical importance, except as fuel. In the river bottoms everywhere, are groves of cottonwoods and willows, which in some localities grow to an astonishing size. The only hard wood in the State is a species of scrub oak, which grows to a height of but ten or twelve feet. This is distributed commonly upon the base of the mountains, and over the lower foot-hills. Out of the total area of the State — after excepting seven per cent., or 7,323 square miles, which is the estimated area of till- able land — 52.6 per cent., or 55,000 square miles, has been esti- mated as being valuable as grazing land. The area covered by valuable coniferous forests is 19.1 per ceiit., or 20,000 square miles. That covered by inferior timber, such as qiiaking aspen, pinion pine, and cedar, is 13,500 square miles, or thirteen per cent. ; while 6.3 percent., or 6,535 square miles, may be classed, for all industrial purposes, as barren and irreclaimable. Bat very little of the land at present covered by forests can, under any circumstances, be utilized for agriculture or grazing, except that in river bottoms occupied now by willows and cottonwoods; and, therefore, the destruction of the forests can lead to no use- ful results. But, while large amounts of timber are annually THE WEST IN 1880 — COLORADO. 381 used in theSta,te, still the depletion of the forests probably goes on no faster than it did when the country was occupied by Indians. Forest fires then were frequent, arising either from carelessness^ or intention, in efforts to drive out game. One such fire might, and often did, destroy more timber in a few hours than a whole mining district would use for years. As the forests appear to have held their own in past times, there seems no present cause for alarm regarding the supply of timber in the State at large. It is impossible to obtain, at present, any figures regarding the amount of timber used. The abundant supplies of coal which have been discovered in various parts of the State, have reduced the consumption of wood, as a fuel, to a minimum. The fauna of Colorado is very varied, corresponding with the surface of the country. Excepting in the unsettled regions, game is becoming very scarce. In the mountain regions, elk (wapiti), the mule and the white-tailed deer, the mountain sheep {ovis montana), and the antelope, or prong-horn (in the summer), are the principal ruminants. The grizzly, cinnamon, and black bear are not unfrequently met. The coyote, a small prairie wolf, is abundant ; and the large gray wolf, the wild-cat, the wolverine, the North American panther, or cougar, and the red fox, are occasionally seen. In the winter, all the ruminants above mentioned migrate to the plains, where they join the bison on his peculiar range. The characteristic animals of the plains are the bison, now fast disappearing, the antelope, and the prairie dog. The communi- ties of the latter curious little rodent, with his constant compan- ions, the small owl and the rattlesnakes, are very characteristic of the plains of North America. Coyotes, and gray wolves too, here find their natural habitat. On the lower plateaux, the fauna is as plainly indicative of the climate as the flora. Large quadrupeds are unknown. MaJ. Powell's description* of the animal life of this region is as true as it is vivid. ' ' On the lower terraces rattlesnakes crawl, lizards glide over the rocks, tarantulas stagger about, and red ants build their play-house mountains. Sometimes rabbits are seen, and wolves prowl in their quest ; but the desert has no bird of sweet song, and no beast of noble mien." Among birds, the blue, pinnated and ruffed grouse, and the sage hen, are abundant throughout the plains and mountains. * Eepo-t on Exploration of Colorado River, p. 175. 382 THE WEST IN 1880 — COLORADO. In the Alpine regions, the ptarmigan is plentiful. Eagles and various species of hawks, magpies, ravens and crows, and two or three species of jays, are seen everywhere. The avifauna of the State is abundant and varied, but by no means char- acteristic. Agriculture is everywhere dependent upon irrigation, and, ultimately, will in many localities be directly proportional to the amount of water available in the streams. At present but very few of the streams, even under the prevailing wasteful system, or want of system, in irrigation, are used up to their full capacity. An estimate, made by members of Dr. Hayden's survey, from the best data which could be collected during the survey of the State, gave 7,323 square miles, or seven per cent, of the area of the State, as the total amount of irriga- ble land. This estimate was based on the amount of. land suita- bly situated for irrigation, and on the amount of water flowing in the streams during the months when irrigation is needed. By storing the water from the spring floods in reservoirs, the area may be increased to ten per cent. On the other hand, unless the methods of irrigation are greatly improved, the first amount will be found to be largely in excess. The area in the State now under cultivation in cereals, as given by the Tenth Census, is 116,042 acres. ^ The elevation above the sea is an important factor in judging of the agricultural capabilities of the State. This sets immova- ble limits to the culture of certain crops. Thus, wheat does not ripen above 7,500 feet. Barley and oats are safe crops only up to about 8,000 feet. Corn can be raised in only a few of the . lowest, warmest parts of the State, such as the valleys of the Arkansas, Fontaine qui Bouille, and Rio Grrande. Potatoes are not a safe crop above 9,000 feet. Turnips, peas, and the other hardy garden vegetables can be easily cultivated up to 7,500 feet, and in some localities much higher. Q-rapes will ripen up to 5,800 feet. These figures are subject to slight variation on account of local climate, and latitude ; but in general they hold good over the State. On the plains, the sole limit to the amount of arable land is set by the supply of water. The whole amount brought from the mountains by the South Platte and Arkansas and their branches, can be utilized to the fullest extent, and yet but a small proportion of the land bordering upon them will be brought THE WEST IN 1880 — COLORADO. 383 under cultivation. By far the larger part must remain forever the domain of the grazier. Estimates of the amount of water carried by the principal streams at the critical period of the irrigation season — i.e., near its close, when the streams are running low — have been made ; but they aflford but a poor indication of the capabilities of the streams, if the total annual flowage were carefully husbanded, and used to the best advantage. The following table gives estimates, most of them based iipon measurements, of the amount of water, in cubic feet per second, carried by the principal streams which water the plains, at the critical period, and the amount of land, in square miles, which can be irrigated by them, supposing that it requires three cubic feet of water per second to irrigate a square mile, the average duty usually allowed : Stebams. Cable Feet oer Second. Duty, Sqi". Miles. South Platte river Cache Ir Poudre and Box Elder creeks Big Thompson creek Little Thompson creek St. Train's creek Clear and Ralston creeks '. . Cherry creek East Plum creek West Plum creek. ; Arkansas river •. Purgatoire river Apishpa river Huerfano river Cucharas river St. Charles and Greenhorn rivers Pountaine qui Bouille river Turkey creek Beaver creek Hardscrabble creek Totals 3,800 522 348 132 622 702 133 133 216 3,610 485 261 261 435 465 435 90 45 111 933 174 116 44 174 234 44 44 72 870 145 87 87 145 155 145 30 15 37 10,654 3,551 Besides the above, a certain amount of land, by no means insignificant, can be irrigated by means of the minor streams and springs directly at the base of the mountains, an amount sufficient to swell the total by 1,000 square miles. Of the streams mentioned in the above table, the South Platte, the Arkansas, and the Huerfano flow through fine val- leys in the mountains, in which a portion of their water would be used, so that the above estimate is in excess ; but to what 384 THE WEST IN 1880 — COLORADO. extent, it is impossible, of course, to form an estimate. It may be safely said, however, that not more than 4,600 square miles, or about, ten per cent, of the area of the plains, can be brought under cultivation without the use of reservoirs. In the larger valleys of the mountain region, as on the plains, the supply of water limits the amount of arable land. In the case of the North Park, which is drained by the North Platte, the great elevation, 7,500 to 7,700 feet, coupled with the latitude,, renders agriculture, at least in the case of most crops, somewhat hazardous ; and it may be dismissed as not likely to attract the attention of farmers. The Middle Park, so called, is properly a collection of valleys, separated by mountain ranges. The principal of these, such as those of Willow, Troublesome, and Muddy creeks, and Frazier, Williams, and Blue rivers, contain considerable areas of land well suited for raising the , hardier cereals and vegetables. The streams traversing these valleys furnish an abundant supply of water. The total area of arable land within this park is estimated as seventy-four square miles. The South Park lies at an elevation of 8,000 to 10,000 feet above the sea, and consequently, from its elevation, can not become of importance as an agricultural region. Still, in the lower parts, along the South Platte, there are a number of fine ranches where cereals and hardy vegetables are ripened. The San Luis valley is much the largest of this series of parks, is situated farther south, and its elevation is much less. The latter ranges from 7,400 to 8,000 feet ; and, as it is situated in the southern part of the State, the climate is quite mild. The total area is 6,300 square miles, of which the lower third lies in New Mexico. It is watered by the Rio Grande and its tributaries. The soil in the northern part is clay, which gradually changes southward into a loose sand. The streams which enter the northern part of the valley, San Luis and Saguache creeks, lose themselves in a group of stagnant lakes or sinks, opposite the debouchure of the Rio Grrande, and never reach that stream. The San Juan Mountains, which limit this valley on the west, have an enormous rainfall ; and consequently the Rio Grande and its western tributaries bring down large bodies of water. As there is an abundance of land favorably situated for irrigation, a considerable proportion, probably one-fourth of the part of the valley in Colorado, can be reclaimed and cultivated without reservoirs. THE WEST IN 1880 — COLORADO. 385 The San Juan river heads in the southern slopes of the San Juan Moiintains. Its branches have narrow, fertile valleys, walled on both sides :by high mountain ridges. The main stream has most of its course in an arid country ; and, although not in canon in that part of its course which is in Colorado, little land outside of its immediate bottoms can be irrigated by the river. The total area wMch can be irrigated by this stream and its branches is estimated at 392 square miles, which is distributed in small patches. Grand river, one of the forks of the Colorado, is the largest stream in the State. On the main river, there is little irrigable land; as the course of the stream is a succession of canons from its head, in Middle Park, to its mouth. This is caused by the stream flowing in a direction at right angles to the trend of the ranges, and hence being compelled to cut its way through them. Its main tributary, the Gunnison, has much the same character of course ; but, in the alternation of ranges and valleys, it crosses two fine valleys of considerable extent. The upper one, near its head, is that in which the town of Gunnison is situated. Although at a considerable elevation (7,800 feet), still the hardier crops are cultivated with fair success there. The other is the well-known Uncompahgre valley. The Gunnison river crosses its foot, while it is traversed by the Uncompahgre river, a stream of considerable size, carrying at the critical period about 600 cubic feet of water per second. This stream is of far more importance in the irrigation of this valley than the Gunnison, as the fall of the latter is not sufficient to allow it to irrigate more than the bottom land, a strip from one to two miles in width. The volume of the Uncompahgre can be used entirely, as the surface of the valley is very level, and the river has a rapid fall. Probably about 250 square miles of the valley can be reclaimed by the two streams. Besides the above-mentioned areas, there are, all over the mountains and plateau regions, small valleys, contai^iing from a few hundreds of acres to a score or more of square miles, which can be reclaimed, swelling the total amount to the figures above given. The total cereal products of this State, as given by the Census Bureau, rose from 863,871 bushels in 1869, to 2,648,573 bushels in 1879— an increase of more than 200 per cent. , proportioned among the six principal crops as follows : 386 THE WEST IN 1880 — COLORADO. Crops. 1870. 1880. Wheat .... . . . . 358,474 5,335 333,940 231,903 178 35,141 1,435,014 19,465 640,900 455,968 110 Rye Oats . . . . . Indian corn 107,116 Totals . 863,871 2,648,573 The business of raising cattle is one of the safest and most profitable which is carried on in the State. The only risk attend- ing it is from loss of cattle from excessively cold weather and deep snows. It requires considerable capital, however, to start with a herd sufficiently large to make it profitable. Usually, Texas cows, yearlings, and two-year-olds are purchased in the first instance. The former now cost seven to eight dollars, the latter ten to twelve dollars. These are of an inferior grade, but are crossed with blooded bulls ; and the grade is thus raised year by year. Usually, no stock is sold during the first three years ; after that, two and three year old steers are sent to market. While the cows are preserved. The cattle run loose on the range, mingled with those of other owners, being known only by their brands. Annually, in May or June, comes the "roundup;" when all the cattle on the ranges are collected, and those of each owner culled out ; the calves, which are still with their mothers, are branded ; and, after taking out such as are wanted for immediate sale, all are turned loose again for the year. The expenses of a cattle farm are very light. Except at the time of the "round up," when a large number of men are re- quired, but one or two men are needed to manage a large ranch. The pasturage costs nothing, as the cattle range on government land. Sheep husbandry is even more profitable than cattle raising, and is almost as safe. It requires, however, much more care and attention. Each band, while on the range, must be constantly watched ; and, for the winter, feed and shelter must be provided- On the other hand, sheep are more prolific than cattle, and ma- ture sooner, thus yielding more immediate gains ; while the yield of wool is a very important item of profit. The latter is gener- ally estimated to pay, at least, all the expenses of keeping them. THE WEST IN 1880— COLORADO. 387 The following estimate of the amount of live stock owned in Colorado is from the returns of the last Census : Cattle, 800,000 ; sheep, 1,000,000; swine, 20,000. The plains are the great pasture of Colorado. The grasses which cover them, buffalo and gramma, are the most nutritious in the world. The quality of the pasturage, however, differs very much in different localities, ranging from the richest meadows to a comparative desert. Again, there are portions of the plains absolutely without water, even in quantity sufficient for the use of stock, which renders a portion of the area value- less. Still, by far the greater portion, probably nine-tenths, of this great region, is a valuable stock range Anywhere in this region, stock can winter out of doors with almost absolute safety. . Besides the plains, there are many large valleys in the mount- ains which are also well suited for stock ranges. The North, Middle, and South Parks, and the San Luis valley now support large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. The thousands of smaU valleys scattered among the mountains, the lower, bare slopes of the mountains, and such of the high plateaux as are not covered by forests, add iinmensely to the grazing area of the State. The geology of the region of the plains is very simple. With the exception of areas of Tertiary formation in the ex- treme northern part, and on the Arkansas divide, the whole region is Cretaceous or Post-Cretaceous. The latter formation appears along the course of the South Platte, below Greeley, and in a broad belt, 60 to 80 miles in width, on both sides of the Arkansas, extending from the mountains to the east boundary of the State. At the base of the mountains, the strata are upturned, forming " hogbacks," in which Post- Cretaceous and Jura Trias are exposed. In the latter forma- tion, at the base of the mountains, numerous seams of coal have been discovered and worked, which now furnish a supply of that combustible to the State. The geology of the mountain region is as complex as that of the plains is simple. All the formations are represented. The Colorado, nearly all of the Park, all the Sawatch and Wet, and a portion of the Sangre de Cristo Range, are of granite and allied metamorphic rocks. The southern portion of the Park Range is Carboniferous and Silurian. Portions of the Sangre de 388 THE WEST IN 1880— UOLOKAJ^O. i Cristo Range are Carboniferous ; while here and there anintrusion of volcanic rocks makes its appearance. The San Juan mount- ains are volcanic, with an area of quartzite peaks in the midst. This range is flanked on the south by an area Carboniferous and Cretaceous in character. The Elk Mountains are a medley of volcanic peaks, interspersed among Silurian and Carbonifer- ous, and flanked by Cretaceous, areas. North and Middle Parks are floored with the Tertiary forma- tion, through which have burst ap mountains of volcanic rock. South Park presents too varied a grouping of formations to attempt to sketch. San Luis valley is buried deep in the most recent formations. The high plateaux about the head of White river are capped with volcanic rocks, below which, on the north, west, and south, is found every formation down to the Tertiary. Thence west- ward to the boundary of the State, and northward from the crest of the Book Cliffs, the plateaux are of the Tertiary forma- tion, with the exception of that portion of the Uinta Mountains which projects into the State. The latter consist of rocks of the Cretaceous, Jura Trias, Carboniferous, and Silurian ages. South of the crest of the Book Cliflfs, the plateaux are mainly Cretaceous. Within the bend of the Grand river, about the Sierra La Sal, and in certain other limited localities, the Jura Trias comes to the surface ; and, in the canons of the Grand and Dolores, even the Carboniferous is exposed in narrow belts. In several places in this plateau region, small groups of igneous mountains have been uplifted through the sedimentary rocks. South of the San Juan Mountains, on the San Juan and its tributaries, is a large area of the Tertiary formation, enclosed with the Cretaceous beds. The mining of the precious metals is to-day, and probably will continue to be, the principal interest of the State, and the one upon which its prosperity will mainly depend. In the last three years its population has more than doubled, and its wealth has increased manifold, owing to the development of this interest. The precious metals have been found in nearly all parts of the mountain regiou of the State, in many varied forms of combination, and in every form of occurrence, including placers, fissure veins, contact veins, segregated deposits, pockets, and in anomalous forms which defy the classification of the books. THE WEST IN 1880— COLORADO. 389 The first mines worked in the State were naturally the placers. These were soon exhausted ; but quite recently attempts have been made, with the hydraulic system, to rework the old dig- gings, and with some degree of success. The first vein mining of importance was in the neighborhood of Central City, Black Hawk, and Georgetown. The localities may be better defined as being located on .the north and the south forks of Clear Creek. In the first locality the metal is gold. The ore is principally iron and copper pyrites, which are the most refractory of ores. They were not worked to advantage until the introduction of the Swansea process, since which the mines have returned a profit. On the south fork of Clear Creek, the metal is silver, and the ore mainly galena. The deposits are fissure veins. At many localities in the Colorado range are mines of a similar character to the two above mentioned. In the neighborhood of Boulder City deposits of ore containing tellurium and other rare metals ^ have been discovered ; but, economically, they seem to have proved a failure. In the mountains on the northwestern border of South Park, much mining has been done, but without profit, except in the case of a group of mines on Mounts Lincoln and Bross, where silver has been extracted profitably from galena ores. But the results of the great discoveries in and about Leadville ■eclipse all other mining in the State. They consist of a contact vein of carbonate of lead, with more or less galena, and chloride of silver. The deposit is overlaid by an intrusion of trachyte ; and the foot-wall is limestone, probably of the Carboniferous age. It is " pockety," swelling into lenticular masses, and then, perhaps, pinching out entirely. The mines are at the base and on the slope of a series of high hills, foot-hills of the Park Range, into which the beds dip at an angle of about twenty degrees. With perhaps one or two exceptions, no outcrop has been discovered, •owing, doubtless, to the soft, friable nature of the ore. Discov- eries have been made by sinking shafts at points presumed to be above the ore bed. In this way it has been traced for a dis- tance, north and south, of ten or twelve miles. Countless claims have been staked out, and numberless shafts have been sunken, while comparatively but few claims have proved really valu- able. The production, however, in the short time which these mines have been worked, has been marvelous. 390 THE WEST m 1880 — COLORADO. Custer county is the scene of another great discovery, which was made a few months later than that at Leadville., The deposits here seem to have the form of chimneys, as though the crater of an old volcano had been filled up loosely with boulders, ashes, and other mountain debris, and then the whole mass filled in and cemented by the ore. The deposits are enormous in ex- tent"; but the ore varies greatlyin quality. This district has not yet been developed very extensively ; but there are a number of mines which are already paying heavily. The silver deposits in the San Juan Mountains were discovered many years ago ; but it was not until 1873, when the Utes relin- quished their title to these mountains, that it was possible to work them. The whole range is metalliferous, veins of ore having been discovered in all parts. The deposits probably resemble the ideal "true fissure vein " as closely as any known. Transportation has heretofore been difficult ; for everything has required to be packed in and out on the backs of mules a hundred miles to and from the railroad ; therefore, although hundreds of claims have been filed, very few of the mines have done more work than sufficient to secure their property. At this writing, however, the railroad has just reached Baker's Park, in the heart of thiis region; and development will go on rapidly. Since the Leadville excitement, the rush has been to the Elk Mountains. In this new El Dorado, 30,000 men have beeu mining, prospecting, and trading during the summer of 1880. That rugged group of mountains has been thoroughly examined for precious metals : such an army of prospectors would leave no stone unturned. As a net result, we see an amount of work laid out for capital and labor, in the form of undeveloped mining claims, that is perfectly appalling. Little has been done on any mines west of the Sawatch Range, because of the diffi- culty of transpoj-tation, and poor smelting facilities. The above comprise the leading mining districts. But, besides these, there are thousands of mines scattered over the State. The Sawatch Range contains several promising camps ; and the Park Range, besides containing the Leadville and Mount Lincoln districts, is literally honeycombed with prospect holes. On the whole, the mining interests of Colorado, despite the fact that some of its deposits have been worked for nearly twenty years, are yet in their infancy. There is an immense number THE WEST m 1880 — COLORADO. 391 of valuable properties lying practically untouched for want of capital. It is truly an emharras de richesses. On the other hand, an immense amount of capital has been sunken in unprofit- able schemes, many of which were but too plainly worthless to any one who would take the trouble to examine them. It is a singular phase of human nature which prompts one to put money blindly into investments, that at the best, and with the fullest possible knowledge, are more or less uncertain ; and these cases of foolish and careless investment, with their natural con- sequences, do more to retard the development of the mining interests of the West than any other cause. It is extremely difficult to obtain full and accurate figures regarding the production of precious metals in the Western States and Territories. The following exhibits, which are from the reports of Wells, Fargo & Co., approximate the true amount produced in 1879 and 1880 in this State : Pkoduct roR 1879. Gold dust and bullion $ 3,459,166 Silver bullion 1,594,349 Ore and base bullion 9,860,000 Total $14,413,515 Product fob 1880. Gold dust and bullion $ 3,278,989 Silver bullion 1,706,000 Ore and base bullion 17,300,000 Total .- $31,284,989 This is an increase over the production in 1878, of over $8,000,000, the principal part of which is from the Leadville district. The product for 1880 exceeds that for 1879 by nearly seven millions. •Besides its precious metals, Colorado possesses large deposits of iron, copper, lead, and coal. A large proportion of th& area of the plains in the State is underlaid by the Cretaceous or Tertiary beds, in which this coal is found. These outcrop along the base of the mountains ; and in many places beds of workable thickness have been discovered and are being worked. At present, the coal supply of Colorado, Eastern Wyoming, and much of New Mexico, is from these mines. The coal, like the Tertiary coal everywhere throughout the West, is lignitic and friable. While suited for most economic purposes, it will not answer for many classes of smelting operations. In 1879, the total production of coal in Colorado was 400,000 tons ; worth, on an average, about five dollars per ton. The minjes near Canon City produced 78,000 tons ; those at El Mora, 34,000 tons ; and those at Walsenburgh, 10,000 tons. 24 392 THE WEST IN 1880 — COLORADO. Huerfano 4,134 JefEerson: 6,810 Lake 33,814 La Plata 1,110 Larimer 4,892 Las Animas 8,904 Ouray 3,670 Park 3,970 Pueblo 7,615 Rio Grande 1,944 Routt 140 Saguache ; 1,973 San Juan 1,087 Summit ; 5,459 Weld 5,646 The population of Colorado, according to the Census of 1880, is 194,649, an increase of nearly 400 per cent over that in 1870, when it reached but 39,864. The present population by coun- ties, is as follows : Arapahoe 58,645 Bent 1,654 Boulder 9,746 Chaffee 6,510 Clear Creek 7,846 Conejos 5,605 Costilla 3,(579 Custer 8,083 Douglas 3,486 Elbert 1,709 El Paso 7,953 Fremont 4,785 Gilpin 6,489 Grand 417 Gunnison 8,337 Hinsdale 1,499 Of the total population, 129,471 were males ; 65,178, females ; 154,869 were native ; and 39,780, foreign born. This population is in great measure a floating one, migrating from point to point, as new fields of mining discovery are opened. The prin- cipal cities are : Denver, the capital and metropolis of Colorado, situated on the South Platte, ten miles from the base of the mountains, with a population of 35,630 ; Leadville, in the Ar- kansas valley, with a population of 14,820 ; Central City and Black Hawk, on North Clear Creek, in the oldest gold mining region ; Georgetown, on South Clear Creek, the scene of some of the earliest silver mining ; Colorado Springs, on the Fontaine qui Bouille, a colony town, founded by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Co. ; Pueblo, on the Arkansas river, forty miles from the base of the mountains ; Silver Cliff, in the Wet Mountain valley ; and Golden City, just west of Denver, at the very base of the mountains. There were in the State in 1880, fourteen national banks, with a capital of $1,295,000 ; seven State banks and trust companies, with a capital of $259,250, and over half a million in deposits ; and thirty-one private bankers, representing a total capital of $325,667. In 1870, there was not a mile of railroad in use in the State ; in 1880, there were no less than 1,208, of which 753 miles were ordinary gauge, and 458 narrow gauge. These represented a total capital of about $56,000,000. At the close of the year 1880, the number of miles constructed had increased to 1,531. The THE WEST IN 1880 — COLORADO. 393 developments in mining are creating necessities for ample and rapid transportation to distant points ; and these necessities are being supplied witli an energy and enterprise that is truly wonderful. The mountainous nature of the country has been overcome by the originality and fertility of resources of the engineers ; so that it seems that a railroad can be built almost anywhere. There is no longer a limit to grades or radii of curves ; for railroads have been built up mountain slopes and over passes heretofore impassable to any being without wings. The railroad up the gorge of the Arkansas is suspended, for miles, from the cliffs on the sides — a longitudinal bridge. The State has an excellent school- system, supported mainly by direct taxation. The law provides that a county tax of not less than two nor more than five mills on the dollar, shall be assessed for school purposes. In addition, there are the pro- ceeds from the sale of school lands, which, however, in this State amount to but little, and the proceeds of fines, etc. The officers of the system are : The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a county superintendent in each county, and a district board in each school district. The State Superintendent, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General constitute a State board. In cities and towns, schools are maintained from 120 to 200 days in the year ; in the rural districts, from 60 to 120 ; and in some districts, 200 days. Besides the common schools, the State supports a University, located at Boulder, an Agricultural College at Fort Collins, and a School of Mines at Grolden City — all of which are in flourishing condition. The following statistics regarding the school system are from the report of the State Superintendent for 1880 : Number of school districts 414 Total school population 35,566 Total number enrolled 23,119 Average daily attendance 12,618 Number of school houses 292 Value of school houses and property $683,410 Total number of teachers 678 Income |522,581 Expenditures $395,221 The financial condition of the State is excellent. From the report of Gov. J. L. Routt, at the close of the year 1878, the following statement is made up : Total outstanding debt $172,060.70 Amount of revenue due, but not paid 176,539.52 Balance 4,468.83 3^94 THE WEST m 1880 — COLORADO. Gov. Routt remarks : " For a new State, this is unprecedented; and that its credit is good is shown by the fact, that State war- rants, which less than two years ago were selling for seventy-five cents on the dollarj are now one per cent, above par." The total assessment of all property for 1878 was $43,072,648. This is probably about one-third of the true valuation of the State, i. e., about $120,000,000, of which the city of Denver alone proba- bly made up one-third. Since 1878, the valuation of the State has increased enormously. The greater proportion of this increase has been in the mining regions (where the value of property is to a large extent hypothetical) ; while the cities and towns have likewise contributed a large quota. Below will be found an interesting statement showing the assessed valuation of property and the indebtedness of the principal cities of Colorado in 1880, as reported by the Tenth Census : Towns op Less than 7,500 Inhabitants. Assessed Valuation in 1880. Total Indebtedness in 1880. 1 60,000 63,653 547,330 903,245 995,554 1,560,000 262,005 173,500 80,000 1,103,458 700,000 501,880 350,000 250,000 700,000 335,905 303,070 209,000 350,000 156,373 124,853 1,083,482 330,000 443,355 750,000 $ 7,353 68,000 8,333 87,300 i"o,6oo 4,000 62,000 1,500 5,500 689 1,000 515 130,000 4,486 13,000 $12,025,558 $403,535 Alma Animas City Black Hawk City Boulder Central City . . . , Colorado Springs Crested Butte Del Norte Evans Georgetown Golden City Greeley Gunnison Idaho Springs. . . . Kokomo Lake City Longmont Manitou ISTevadaville Ouray Saguache Pueblo Silver ClifE South Pueblo. . . . Trinidad Totals Finally, I show the population in 1860, 1870, and 1880, of the two cities of 7,500 inhabitants and upwards, the total assessed value and the estimated true value of real and personal prop- erty in 1880, the total tax levy, and the total debt : THE WEST IN 1880 — COLORADO. sas Cities. Popul'n 1860. Popul'n 1870. Popul'n 1880. Total As- sesa'd Value of Real Estate and Personal Property. Ksttmated True Value of Real Estate. Total Esti- mated True Value of Real Estate and Person'I Property. Taxation. Total Levy Total Debt. 4,749 None. 4,759 None. 35,630 14,820 $16,194,092 2,433,327 $25,989,648 2,252,212 $34,652,864 3,002,949 $607,278 89,335 S 20,000 112,000 Leadville Totals 4,749 4,759 49,450 $18,627,419 $28,241,860 $37,655,813 ' $696,613 $132,000 When Colorado was first settled, the motintain region was occupied almost exclusively by Indians of the Ute nation, while the plains were a debatable ground between this tribe, the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and Dakotks. The progress of settlement has swept all these warring factions from the plains, and has crowded the Utes back, across the mountains, into the plateau region. Cession after cession of land has this tribe made to the whites ; and still the cry goes up, "The Utes must go." There is reason in it. These Indians, numbering about 3,700, hold 11,724,800 acres— 18,320 square miles-^or more than one-sixth of the State. Tl^is is about fivje square miles for every man, woman, and child in the Ute nation. A large pro- portion of it is valuable agricultural land ; another large part is reputed to contain mineral deposits ; while most of the remain- der is useful for grazing, or for its forests. The Indians make no use whatever of it. Fed and clothed by our paternal gov- ernment, why should they turn the hand to the plow? The streams run to waste ; the rich soil remains untilled ; thp rich ores and the coal lie undisturbed in mother earth. The parable of the talents teaches us that all good gifts should be the pos- session of those who will use them to the best advantage ; and certainly this desirable end will never be attained by leaving this land in the hands of these Indians, who are among the lazi- est and least progressive of any on the continent. Efforts have been in operation for the past twenty-five years, under our mis- taken policy, to civilize them, with the net result of a decided backward movement. Under the system of free food and cloth- ing, they have given up the little indigenous civilization they once possessed, without imbibing anything from the whites but their vices. 396 THE WEST IN 1880 — DAKOTA. CHAPTER XV. TEEEITOET OF DAKOTA. Lying partly within the humid, partly within the arid, region, this Territory presents us with the greatest diversities and con- trasts of climate and of industries. The northeastern corner, comprising mainly the Red River valley, and the southeastern corner, which consists of the valleys of the Missouri, Big Sioux, and James rivers, are, par excellence, agricultural regions. The soil is rich, the climate sufficiently moist, and not too severe, for the cultivation of cereals. The western half of the Territory is within the arid region, and can never assume prominence as a bread -producing area ; although as a grazing field it is prob- ably destined to prove of great value. The southwestern part is occupied by the Black Hills, which are now, and will probably continue to be, large producers of the precious metals. Dakota is limited on the north by the 49th parallel of latitude, on the east by Red river, the meridian of 96° 25', and the Big Sioux river ; on the south by the Niobrara and Keya Paha rivers and the parallel of 43°, and on the west by the 27th merid- ian west of Washington.* Its neighbors are, on the north, the British Possessions ; on the east, Minnesota and Iowa ; on the south, Nebraska; and on the west, Wyoming and Montana. Its area is 149,100 square miles. It is the third in size of the political divisions of the country, Texas and California only ranking above it. It is twice as large as the entire Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and larger than the Republic of France. Were it settled as densely as Holland, it would contain half the present population of the United States. Originally a part of the Louisiana purchase, it was organized first as a portion of the old Missouri Territory. It was set off by itself, with a Territorial organization, in 1861, and then included a portion of what is now Wyoming, and all of the plains por- tion of Montana. In 1863 the latter was taken from it, to form * Or the 104th meridian west of Greenwich, nearly. THE WEST IN 1880 — DAKOTA. 397 the originail Territory of Idaho ; and in 1868 the present Terri- tory of Wyoming was formed, cutting Dakota down to its present limits. Previous to settlement, this Territory was the range of several bands of Sioux, or Dakota, Indians. Other tribes, as the Poncas and Omahas, occupied portions of the country for brief periods; but they were soon driven out by their more powerful neighbors. It has been the theatre of several very active campaigns against the Dakotas, notably that which followed the Minnesota massacre, in 1862. In that year and the one following, the eastern branch of the Dakota nation was thoroughly whipped in several fights, by United States troops under Gejierals Sibley and SuUy. The progress of settlement has been very slow until within the last four years. Ten years ago, in 1870, practically the only settlements were in the south- eastern corner, where they had progressed gradually from Iowa. Latterly, however, the course of settlement has been from three different directions, and has been extremely rapid : first, from Iowa and Nebraska, working up the Missouri into the south- eastern corner ; second, over into and beyond the Red River valley, and along the Northern Pacific Railroad, in the north- eastern quarter ; while, third, the discovery of gold in the Black HiUs has brought a swarm of gold hunters from the south. The effect of this triple immigration is shown in the growth of the Territory from 14,181 in 1870, to more than 135,000 in 1880— a tremendous rate of increase, and one predicting a great and powerful State in time to come. With the exception of the Black Hills, Dakota contains no mountainous country; and its surface is comparatively level. Its average height above sea level is estimated at 1,950 feet. The lowest part is about 1,200 feet ; 78,000 square miles are estimated to be between 1,000 and 2,000 feet above the sea ; and 62,600 between 2, 000 and 3,000 feet. The remainder, all of which is comprised within the Black Hills region, ranges from 3,000 to 7,000 feet above the sea. Almost the whole area of the Territory lies between 1,500 and 2,500 feet elevation. The Territory is cut into nearly equal parts by the Missouri river, which crosses it diagonally from northwest to southeast. East of the river the country consists mainly of elevated table lands, the Coteaus du Missouri and des Prairies. The former, which is the most western, comes down in a long tongue from the British Possessions, occupying the space between the Mis- 398 THE WEST m 1880— DAKOTA. souri and the James rivers. On the north, it is slightly above 2,000 feet above the sea, with a gradual descent southward. Its surface is somewhat uneven and broken, with numerous " sinks" and ponds of alkaline water. Vegetation is scanty ; and of timber there is practically none. The other plateau lies east of the James river, extending over into Western Minnesota. Its elevation is slightly less than that of the Missouri Coteau ; but its surface resembles very closely that of the latter in its sinks and alkaline lakes. The vegetation is rather more abundant ; with a marked increase of timber. In general, these coteaus are limited sharply by lines of bluffs. Devil's Lake, a large sheet of salt water, having no outlet, is the principal one of the many lakes which dot these coteaus. In the northeast the Coteau des Prairies breaks down to the valley of the Red River of the North, so called to distinguish it from the Red river of Louisiana. This valley has become, within two or three years, one of the greatest wheat-producing regions of the Northwest. Southward the coteau sinks gradu- ally to the fertile country near the Missouri. West of that river, the country as a whole assumes a more forbidding aspect. On the lower course of the Little Missouri and the Lower Yellowstone, much of the country is what is known as " Bad Lands." This is the worst section. Aside from it, the whole region resembles the rest of the Great Plains, of which it forms a part. The surface is level or gently rolling. There is no timber excepting in very narrow belts along the streams. The vegetation is mainly bunch grass. As we pro- gress southeastward, however, beyond the Cheyenne, we detect a marked amelioration in the vegetation, consequent upon reaching a less arid climate. The Niobrara has considerable large timber along its course ; and the grasses grow much more luxuriantly in this neighborhood. The Black Hills, the only group of mountains in Dakota, lie within, and closely embraced by, the two forks of the Cheyenne river. This group has an elliptic shape, its longer axis lying northwest and southeast. Its highest peaks range between 6,000 and 7,000 feet above sea level. Its core is of granite, around which the sedimentary formations are arranged in con- centric ellipses, forming long and beautifully curved ' 'hogbacks," between which are beautiful valleys carpeted with luxuriant grasses and gay with flowers. THE WEST IN 1880 — DAKOTA. 399 Aside from the Black Hills, tlie surface geology of Dakota is simple. The formations represented are mainly Cretaceous and Tertiary. In the eastern portion, the principal part of the €oteau des Prairies consists of the Azoic formation. This ex- tends southeastward over into Minnesota ; its outlines on the east, south, and west, being co-extensive with the coteau. It is surrounded on all sides by Cretaceous beds, which occupy the Eed River valley from its head nearly as far as the British line, the valley of the Missouri as high up as Fort Clarke, and the Missouri Coteau nearly to the boundary line. It covers a broad belt west of the Missouri river ; and, extending up the Cheyenne, it widens out so as to embrace the earlier formations around the Black Hills. The remainder of the Territory is covered by the Tertiary formation. This consists of the northwest quarter, a considerable area south of the Cheyenne river, and numerous patches on the plains and coteaus, where the erosion of its beds has not been complete. In the north- eastern Corner, occupying a small part of the Red River valley, the Silurian comes to the surface. As has been stated before, Dakota presents a great variety of climate, both as regards moisture and temperature. The eastern part lies within the humid region, where the rainfall is sufficient for the needs of agriculture ; while the plains of the western part are arid, and some parts of them are desert. Between the two is a belt of debatable land, the Coteau du Missouri and the valley of the Missouri, which in some seasons is amply watered, in others, very scantily. Measurements of the actual ambunt of rainfall have been made for extended periods at only nine points in the Territory. These give the following results : Raiktall in Inc^s. Spring, Summer. Autumn. Winter. Tear. Pembina 4.02 5.18 4.80 7.00 3.76 4.73 3.63 3.41 6.52 7.24 7.17 8.67 10.25 4.06 6.23 4.87 4.97 7.18 2.71 3.50 3.46 8.98 2.01 3.40 1.54 3.15 1.70 1.53 1.59 1.85 3.93 2.01 1.18 1.35 1.31 1.14 15.50 I^ort Totten 16.44 Fort Abercrombie 18.78 Fort Wadsworth. 34.15 Fort Buf ord 11.84 Fortl^ndall 15.53 Fort Rice 11.39 Port Stevenson 11.84 Fort Sully 16.54 400 THE WEST IN 1880 -DAKOTA. It will be noticed that a rainy season is well marked ; seventy- three per cent, of the year' s precipitation falling in spring and summer, when it is most needed in agriculture. In treating of the agricultural capabilities of this Territory, this fact is generally overlooked ; and direct comparison on the basis of the annual rainfall is very misleading. The mean annual temperature is highest in the southeastern corner, whence it decreases northward and westward. Extremes of temperature increase in the same direction. The following table, compiled from those published by the Smithsonian Institute, illustrates the temperature and its range, in degrees Fahrenheit r Stations. Mean Annnal Temperature. Maximum Temperature. Hinimnm Temperature. Range. Fort Abercrombie 40 41 46 40 47 43 43 46 39 89 48 104 106 '"m"" 108 —40 —40 II29 —32 144 Fort Buf ord 14(> Fort Pierce Fort Ransom 182 Fort Randall 140 Port Rice Fort Stevenson Port Sully 114 -30 144 Port Totten Fort Wadsworth 102 —35 137 Yankton Indian Agency It should be borne in mind, that in this dry climate, as every- where in the arid region, the cold is not as penetrating as in the moister regions of the East. On the other hand, many parts of the northwest are subject to what are popularly known as " blizzards." These are very high winds, accompanied by low temperature and fine snow, which, on these level plains, make a combination very trying to man and beast. The forests of Dakota are confined almost entirely to the Black Hills region. Among these mountains there is an area of some 3,800 square miles covered with valuable timber. The ordinary species are the Douglas pine and spruce. Aside from this section, there is no forest, properly so called. The southeastern corner is prairie, where trees are found only, along water-courses and on the faces of bluffs and tops of knolls. On the west border of the Red River valley, there is a little scattered timber, and also on the summit of the Coteau des Prairies. On the Missouri Coteau and the plains west of the Missouri river, timber is ex- tremely scarce. The prairies, plains, and coteaus are covered with grasses ; luxuriant on the former, stunted and mixed witt THE WEST IN 1880 — DAKOTA. 401 sage and prickly pear on the latter. On the coteaus, the grasses vary in abundance with the undulations of the surface and the variations of soil. Much of the soil is stony or gravelly ; and here the product is scanty. The all-absorbing interest of Eastern Dakota is agriculture ; and the Territory is destined, in the near future, to play a lead- ing part in the bread production of the country. By far the principal product is wheat, for the culture of which the soil appears to be wonderfully well adapted. The valleys have a dark, loamy soil, from three to seven feet in thickness. The subjoined table shows that more than seventy-seven per cent, of the cultivated area of the principal counties in 1880 was in wheat. It states the cultivated area, wheat area, and breaking, in acres ; the valuation of personal property, and the number of farms in Dakota counties along the Northern Pacific Railroad, for 1880 : COUMTIBS. Cultiyated Area, Area in Wheal. Breaking. Number Farms. Assessed Valuation of Per. Prop'ty. Cass 143,000 36,000 33,000 36,350 13,050 3,690 14,000 130,000 25,000 30,000 18,000 6,000 1,850 5,000 60,000 13,000 30,000 18,000 10,000 3,000 10,000 2,000 1,060 750 600 235 3 400 $837,733 57,974 Traill Richland Barnes 65,644 78,000 35,000 Stutsman Kidder Burleigh Totals 264,990 205,850 143,000 5,037 The wheat raised in the same counties in 1880, was 1,852,200 bushels. This amount is produced by estimating the average per acre at nine bushels, as given by the Census. The Census Bureau states the cereal product of Dakota in 1859, 1869, and 1879, in its tables for 1860, 1870, and 1880, as below : Crops. 1880. 1870. 1880. Wheat 945 700 3,540 30,369 115 170,663 2,830,289 Rye 24,359 2,217,132 Oats. . '. . 114,337 133,140 179 4,118 Indian corn 2,000,864 Buckwheat 2,521 Barley . 277,424 Totals . 24,569 433,426 7,352,589 402 THE WEST IN 1880 — DAKOTA. During the months of September, October, November, and December, 1880, the shipments of wheat over the Northern Pacific Railroad were 3,800,000 bushels ; of which seventy- six per cent. was of the highest grade, apd sold at seventy-five to eighty -five cents per bushel. Nearly all of this went to Dulnth, Minnesota. The Red River valley is wonderfully well adapted to the culture of wheat ; and there it is cultivated on an immense scale by the aid of the most improved agricultural machinery. It is raised so cheaply as to compete successfully even in the English market, after paying the cost of transportation for nearly 5, 000 mUes. The valley of James river is now attracting great attention as the coming wheat field of Dakota. Its soil is said to be fully as deep and rich as that of Red river ; while the ease with which land may be acquired there, large areas being yet untouched, is attracting settlers to this section in large numbers. There is probably no portion of our country which offers to- day as flattering inducements to immigration as the eastern por- tion of this Territory. The amount of capital required to embark in wheat raising is not large ; while, barring grass- hoppers, the profits are certain and great. Besides the cost of the land, which differs with the location as regards railroads and contiguous settlements, it is estimated that the total cost of breaking, seeding, harvesting, threshing, and delivering at the railroad, averages $10 per acre, which, after the first year, is reduced to $7.50. While wheat is at present, and probably will long continue to be, the principal grain product of the Territory, owing to the immense profits to be realized from it, other cereals are equally well adapted to the soil ; oats yield twenty-six bushels per acre ; barley and rye do equally well ; potatoes grow to an astonishing size ; corn is somewhat of an experiment as yet, and it may be that the climate is too severe to allow it to ripen. Probably the largest wheat farm in the Territory is one con- taining 100,000 acres, situated in the James river valley. It is in two sections, 40,000 acres lying 30 miles south of Jamestown, and 60,000 about the same distance north. Teams, seeders, harvesters, and threshers by the score are needed for the cul- tivation of these tracts, besides a small army of men. Even the telephone is brought into requisition for the management of such an estate. THE WEST IN 1880 — DAKOTA. 403 The western part of the Territory contains little arable land. Over most of the part west of the Missouri river, irrigation is nec- essary. The amount of water in most of the streams is limited ; while in the case of the Missouri and Cheyenne, which are the only streams that carry much water, the bluffs are so high and the fall of the stream so slight that the water can not be carried to the top of the bluff, and therefore is available only for the narrow belt of bottom land. The exemption laws of Dakota allow each man $1,500 of per- sonal property, together with his homestead, not to exceed six acres of land in a town, or a farm of 160 acres. The tools and implements of a mechanic, to the value of $200, and the books and instruments of professional men, to the value of $600, are exempt from taxation. The amount of live stock in the Territory, as returned by the last Census (1880), is as follows : Cattle, 200,000; sheep, 50,000; swine, 75,000. The cattle interest is but commencing its devel- opment. There are fine ranges on the plains adjacent to the Black Hills on the south, east, and north ; and they are rapidly being occupied by cattle driven up from Colorado and Wyo- ming. In the eastern part of the Territory little attention has been given to the raising of cattle for beef. The mineral wealth of Dakota is centred in the Black Hills. For many years it had been a current tradition that there was gold there ; but this report did not assume tangible form until 1874, when some miners connected with General Custer' s expe- dition found gold in placers, in paying quantities. The United States army attempted to stop the rush that ensued, upon the ground that the Hills were a part of the Sioux Reservation ; and for a time they succeeded in keeping the miners off. This attempt was soon abandoned, and the Hills given over to the miners. The first discoveries of gold were in placers, which were speedily worked out. Then followed, in due course, the discovery of the sources of the placers, which are now yielding largely and steadily. The mines of the Black Hills produce gold only. In form the deposits are true fissure veins. The ore is native gold, in quartz, and is, in most mines, of a very low grade. This is compensated for by the great breadth of the veins and the fact that the ore can be worked in stamp mills, and does not require smelting. With some of the mines • the production is simply a question of the number of stamps 404 THE WEST IN 1880 — DAKOTA. that can be run, as the ore can be quarried with any degree of rapidity. From 100 to 400 stamps is not an uncommon plant. Mining the ore is very cheap thus far, as few mines have got to any great depth below the surface, and it is simply a question of quarrying. The total production of this section in 1879, from the circular of Wells, Fargo & Co., was $3,208,987. In 1880 the production was considerably increased, amounting to $4,123,081. These mines have a degree of certainty and permanence which is wanting in most investments of a like nature, and, under good management, should .continue to be remunerative for many years to come. Coal of good quality and in workable quantities, is found in many localities west of the Missouri river. It is lignitic, from the Cretaceous or Tertiary beds, which cover or underlie most of this part of Dakota. The population of the Territory, according to the Census of 1880, was 135,180, having increased in ten years 120,999, or 853 per cent. The following statistics regarding the population are from the returns of the Census : Population. 1880. 1870. Population. 1880. 1870. Total White Colored . 135,180 133,177 2,003 83,387 14,181 12,887 94 9,366 Foreign Male Female 51,793 83,303 53,878 4,815 8,878 5,303 Native The Territory is divided into ninety-three counties. The majority of these are unorganized, having little or no popula- tion. A number of them are included in the Sioux reservation. Fargo, the metropolis of Northern Dakota, has a population not far from 5,000. It is an enterprising city, doing an immense business, running up into the millions annually. It has the Holly system of water- works, and gas and street railways are about to be introduced. Yarious plans for subdividing the Territory have been agitated for some time past ; and it would seem very proper that some subdivision were made before the Territory is admitted as a State. It contains three centres of population, differing widely in their interests and the origin and genius of their people, and distant from one another by almost the length or breadth of the THE WEST IN 1880 — DAKOTA. 405 Territory. First, there is the southeast corner, which was earliest settled, and which, up to 1870, contained ^-^ of the population. The settlers here are mainly Americans, who had emigrated from the neighboring States of Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. Their sole occupation is farming. Separated from this section by an almost uninhabitable stretch of coteau, and with no rail- road communication save the circuitous route via St. Paul, is ^a centre which may be located in the Red River valley, but which has spread westward along the Northern Pacific Railroad as far as the Missouri river. This people is largely foreign, a considerable proportion being raw immigrants, the balance being the overflow from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Like the former, thfeir occupation is almost entirely farming. The third and most distinct group is that of the Black Hills. A great stretch of inhospitable plains separates this from each of the others — a gap that can never be filled by settlement. The people of this group are Far- Western in their genius and type. The principal occupation is, and will long continue to be, mining. Agriculture will never assume any prominence in this region ; and, while it may become a stock raising section, this interest will never bring a large population. Certainly, nature never indicated a plainer division of political organizations. It is proposed to cut off the second group by a line along the 45th parallel, then to divide the southern portion on the 24th meridian west of Washington. This would leave the Black Hills practically by themselves, as the area of plains included with them can support but a sparse population of cattle-men. All the agricultural lands would be placed in the first and second sections. The populations of the three sections would be, according to the Census of 1880, as follows: First, 81,671; second, 36,909 ; third, 16,600. Aside from party considerations, the advantages of such a subdivision must be obvious. Considering that there were less than 15,000 inhabitants in Dakota in 1870, and that a very large proportion of the present population have arrived within the past five years, the fol- lowing statement from the Tenth Census, showing eighty-three manufacturing establishments engaged in the three principal industries only, with a product of nearly $1,800,000, denotes a remarkable degree of enterprise, full of promise of an early and rapid increase of wealth, destined to be greatly accelerated by the extension of railways into Montana and Wyoming : 406 THE WEST m 1880 — DAKOTA. Bnsii7Ess. si Capital. •a aj ■a >> a o Kg Amount Paid in Wages. Materials. Products. Bi'icks 14 30 39 $ 25,600 289,500 113,750 89 93 323 $ 31,672 43,874 138,379 $ 16,161 994,191 175,470 S 76 685 Flouring and grist mill products. Lumber, sawed 1,248,006 411 513 In 1880, the Territory contained six National banks, represent- ing a total capital of $425,000, with a circulation of $302,290; and eighteen private banks, with a capital of $127,511, -holding nearly $400,000 in deposits. In 1879, there were 17,000 new farms taken up, and recorded in the United States land offices. These were in addition to the large amount of land purchased from the railroad companies. The year 1880 saw a much larger amount of settlement than 1879. During the twelve months ending June 3, 1880, there were 8,819 entries at the United States land offices of Fargo, Bismarck, and Grand Forks, amounting to 1,321,682 acres. Besides this, the Northern Pacific Railroad sold 224,842 acres ; making a total in this northern section of 1,546,524 acres. The Missouri river, which traverses the Territory diagonally, is navigable during medium and high water for steamers of con- siderable size, and serves as a highway for a very large traffic, not only to the settlements and military posts along its course, but to the settlements of Montana. The Red river, which forms a part of the eastern boundary, is navigable for small steamers to Fargo and beyond. The stream is sluggish, with little current. The James river, formerly known as the Dakota, is the third in magnitude and importance in the Territory. It is an affluent of the Missouri, from the left ; and its valley separates the two coteaus, the Missouri and Prairie, from one another. It has a broad, fertile valley. Its course is about 330 miles in length. With an average fall of three feet per mile, it furnishes abundant water-power. The next stream in point of importance to' the Territory's the Cheyenne river, which, with its two branches, the Belle Fourche and the South Fork, nearly encircles the Black Hills. It is not navigable. The Big Sioux river forms a part of the eastern boundary of the Territory. It rises in the eastern part, and has a course nearly south, to its junction with the THE WEST IN 1880 — DAKOTA. 407 Missouri. It has a rapid fall, especially at Sioux Falls, where the descent is 110 feet in a single mile. Other streams of importance are the Niobrara, White, and Little Missouri, all branches of the Missouri from the right. The following statement regarding the financial condition of the Territory in 1880 is from the returns of the Tenth Census, and presents the latest and most authentic information : Eeal estate (assessed valuation) $11,163,168 Personal property (assessed valuation) 9,159,365 Total assessed valuation 30,331,528 From incomplete returns received at the Census office, it would appear that this is about fifty per cent, of the true val- uation, which is, therefore, about $40,000,000. The amount of Territorial tax is $60, 145. The Northern Pacific E.a:ilroad crosses Dakota from east to west, nearly on a parallel of latitude. It has a length within the Territory of 294.9 miles. The importance of this road in settling the Territory can not be over-estimated. Mainly by its agency the wonderfully rich wheat lands of the Red River valley have been opened up to settlement, while now emigrants are taking up farms all along its route, from the Red river to the Missouri. In the southeastern corner, the Dakota Southern Railroad connects Yankton with the settlements of Iowa. There are still large numbers of Indians in the Territory,, nearly all of whom are located upon reservations. Of these, by far the greater part belong to the various bands of Dakotas or Sioux. The number is given as follows, by the last report on Indian aiSairs : Dakotas 33,930 Arickarees 654 Mandans 373 Gros Ventres. 473 Total in Territory 35,330' The number of Indians out of tribal relations, within the Territory, is very small. There are allotted to these Indians, in various parts of the Territory, no less than 34,841,900 acres, or 54,440 square miles,, of land as reservations. This is more than one-third the area of the Territory, and is an average of 1,377 acres to every man, woman, and child, or more than two square miles to each. The Dakotas have, until very recently, made no progress whatever towards civilization. Within a year or two, however, 25 408 THE WEST IN 1880— DAKOTA. several of the bands have made a start in that direction. The Arickarees, Gros Ventres, and Mandans were originally in a state of semi-civilization. They lived in fixed villages, and busied themselves largely with agricultural pursuits. At pres- ent, protected from their hereditary enemies, the Dakotas, they are prospering. THE "WEST IN 1880 — MONTANA. 409 CHAPTER XVI. TEERITOET OF MOl^TAI^A. In considering the future of our Western States and Terri- tories, there is probably no one which presents a more attractive picture than Montana. It has immense areas of cultivable land ; its pasture lands are boundless ; while its mineral wealth, the development of which is but just beginning, is almost inex- haustible. Its climate is magnificent ; its air like wine. The Territory is bounded on the north by the British Posses- sions, the parallel of 49° north latitude forming its northern hmit. On the east lie the great plains of Dakota, the line following the 27th meridian of longitude west of Washington. On the south the boundary line is the parallel of 45% its southern neighbor being the Territory of Wyoming ; while on the southwest and west, lies Idaho, the boundary being the sinuous crest of the Bitter Root Mountains. The a^ea of the Territory is not exactly known ; but it is approximately 146,080 square mUes. Its mean height above the sea is estimated to be 3,900 feet. The greatest elevation, in the peaks of its mountain ranges, is probably about 11,000 feet; while the lowest point in the Territory, which is on the Missouri, at the eastern boundary, is about 2,000 feet. The areas between the different curves of elevation, at intervals of 1,000 feet, are as follows : Elevation, ft. Sq. miles. 2,000 to 3,000 40,700 3,000 to 4,000 51,600 4,000 to 5,000 19,700 5,000 to 6,000 17,100 Elevation, ft. Sq. miles. 6,000 to 7,000 9,000 7,000 to 8,000 4,500 8,000 to 9,000 1,100 9,000 to 10,000 100 The history of this Territory, thoilgh extending back but a few years, is full of incident. The area was a part of the Louisiana purchase, and was originally apportioned to Nebraska and Oregon. The Territory was formed, with its present bound- aries, in May, 1864. Prior to 1861, it contained no settlers, and 410 THE WEST IN 1880— MONTANA. no white inhabitants excepting the omnipresent trapper and Jesuit missionary. It was not, however, wholly unknown. In the early part of the present century, those intrepid explorers, Captains Lewis and Clarke, traversed it twice ; and their narrative gave to the world a tolerably correct idea of the Missouri and the Columbia rivers. Later, from 1850 to 1860, numerous expeditions, having in view the selection of a route for a Pacific railroad, crossed it from east to west in a number of places ; and their work, though necessarily crude, gave us a map of the country which was in the main correct. The first settlers came there in 1861, discovered the rich placers on Little Prickly Pear creek, and founded the town of Helena, the present capital of the Territory. Placer gold' has a wonderfully attractive power for mankind ; and soon the new diggings were swarming with miners — men of all classes and degrees. Emigrants from Utah and Nevada discovered the placers at Bannack ; and, later, in 1863, the enormously rich ones of Alder Gulch, which in a few months produced $25,000,000 in gold dust. Among the multitude attracted to this new El Dorado, were some of the worst characters in the West. Many of them were desperadoes who had escaped the hands of the vigilance committees of California, and who came here to repeat their crimes. This class of men formed a regular organization for the purpose of preying upon the community. Their organ- ization comprised men in all positions, express agents, bank cashiers, hotel keepers, etc. ; while the leader of the gang was the sheriff of the principal county, which gave them certain escape from punishment. Matters grew so bad that it was not only unsafe, but was almost certain death, to travel with any money in one's possession. The community was in a state of blockade. No one who was supposed to have any money could get out of the Territory alive. Moreover, it was dangerous to attempt to cope with the gang ; for it was very large, well organized, was made up of desperate men, and ramified throughout society, so that no man knew whether his neighbor was or was not a member. At last, however, the decent citizens took the matter in hand, and organized a Vigilance Committee, enrolling all whom it was believed could be trusted. That done, their action was prompt and decisive. A number of members of the gang, including the leader, were well known ; and they were instantly arrested. THE WEST IN 1880 — MONTANA. 411 had the form of a trial, and were hung to the nearest tree. Nine were hanged at one time in Virginia City ; the remainder of the gang were stupefied— stunned, at this turn of affairs, and hastily decamped, leaving the country for the country's good. Prom that time, law and order have ruled in Montana. The placers exhausted, a large part of the floating population left the Territory for new fields. The best element, however, remained to develop the other natural resources. Since then the growth of the Territory has been steady but not rapid. The want of railroad connection with the world outside has been the one great drawback. This want is now being rapidly supplied ; and we may look forward to a rapid progress. The mountain region of Montana forms the western part of the Territory. The eastern part comprises a portion of the great plains. North of the Missouri, there is nothing to break their monotonous roll, between the Dakota boundary and the 113th meridian, excepting two or three amall groups of hills, such as the Sweet Grass Hills, and the Little Rocky Mountains. For nine degrees of longitude extends this gentle, uniform slope, rising from 2,000 feet above the sea at the Dakota bound- ary, to 4,000 at the base of the mountains. South of the Missouri river, the mountains extend much farther east. Between this river and the Yellowstone, they extend in detached masses and short ranges, east of the Judith liver, so as to include its valley ; and the area of the plains is correspondingly decreased. South of the Yellowstone, the Yel- lowstone Range, in longitude 110° west of Greenwich, forms the western limit to the plains. Near the mountains, their inclina- tion is greatest, and their surface is more broken. As we go eastward, they become more nearly level, and the local vari ations of the surface become less. Their relative sterility, too, is a matter depending, other things being equal, upon their proximity to the mountains. Near the latter, they are clothed with an abundant and luxuriant growth of buffalo grass. Re- ceding from their neighborhood, the grasses become sparser, while artemisia and cacti, in a measure, take possession of the soil. The mountain region comprises the western part of the Terri- tory. It is composed of the same parallel arrangement of ranges and valleys which have heretofore been noticed as being almost universally characteristic of the West. The ranges 413 THE WEST IN 1880 — MONTANA. trend a few degrees east of south, and west of north. The northwestern part of the Territory is made up of a number of these ranges, in close order, and separated by narrow val- leys, beginning on the east with the Missouri Range, and ending on the west with the Bitter Root. South of latitude 46° the Missouri and all the other ranges end abruptly, leaving only th^ Bitter Root Range, along which the boundary line of the Terri- tory passes, to represent the group. Farther eastward the great branches of the Missouri, the Jefferson, Madison, Gallatin, and Yellowstone, are separated from one another by short ranges ; while east of the latter river rises the broad and rugged Yellow- stone Range. The principal rivers of Montana are the Yellow- stone, Missouri, and Clarke's Fork of the Columbia. The first two of these are navigable at high water through a great part of their length. The Missouri, indeed, is navigable to its head, where the three great branches, the Madison, Jefferson, and Gal- latin, unite. There is, however, one break in its navigability, caused by the Great Falls, near Fort Benton. This can be remedied, however, by a short canal. The Yellowstone is navigable by small steamers, at high water, as far as the Gate of the Mount- ains ; and' by mackinaws, or flat-boats, 100 miles farther, at all stages of water. The branches of Clarke's Fork of the Colum- bia, which flow through narrow valleys and mountain gorges, are too rapid to be navigable. The climate of Montana is one of the most attractive features of the Territory. The effect of its high latitude is more than compensated for by the fact that its elevation is less than that of the country lying to the south : so that its average tempera- ture is higher than in Wyoming, and no lower than in Colorado. The following table, abstracted from the Smithsonian Tempera- ture Tables, shows the average temperature, in degrees of Fahrenheit, in the valley and plains portion of the Territory : Stations. Mean Annual Temperature. Maximum, Single Obeer'n. Minimum, Single ObB'n. Camp Cook 45 47 41 47 49 45 46 43 Cantonment Stevens Deer Lodge 98 105 —32 Tort Benton —38 Fort Smith Fort Ellis 102 112 —53 Fort Shaw —43 Helena Camp Baker 98 —43 THE WEST m 1880 — MONTANA. 413 Both rainfall and atmospherie hnmidity are .markedly above the average of the arid region. Of the latter, we have no exact figures. The former is well illustrated by the following table from Powell's " Arid Lands" and the Smithsonian Bain Tables : Stations. Eaihpall in Inches.* Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter. Tear. 5.34 3.76 2.18 8.26 3.56 4.48. 4.06 2.30 4.40 1.74 1.65 2.01 1.34 4.91 5.24 1.79 2.01 1.13 4.57 2.59 13.26 Fort Buford, D. T 11.84 "Pnrt Shaw 6.95 22.14 "Pnrt. Smith 13.13 The flora of the Territory is, in its main features, very similar to that of other parts of the West. The plains are covered with grasses ; luxuriant in some localities ; sparse, and intermixed with ar^emisia and cacti, in others. In the spring and early sum- mer the moister plains are gay with countless blossoms. The mountains are everywhere covered with dense forests of coniferse, fringed at the base with quaking aspens. Pine and spruces grow to a large size, and will furnish immense quantities of valuable lumber. The mountain valleys are carpeted with rich grasses, or, at the higher altitudes, covered with forests. The fauna is varied and abundant : that of the plains is similar everywhere. The buffalo and antelope, and, in the winter, the deer and elk, and several species of wolves, prairie dogs, and rattlesnakes, are the commonest. A large part of the northern band of the buffaloes still ranges over these plains ; although they are fast approaching extinction. Among the mountains, large game, such as mountain sheep, elk and deer, are still very abundant in the unsettled localities. The moose is found in the damp, cool forests, especially in swampy tracts of country. On the mountains of the northern part, neighboring on British Columbia, that rare animal, the Rocky Mountain goat, is occa- sionally found. Bears of all species are numerous. Wolves, wild-cats, wolverines, and occasionally a panther, are to be found. The resources of Montana, present and prospective, lie in its agriculture, stock raising, and deposits of precious metals and coal. The first is, as everywhere in the West, dependent upon * The figures of the last two stations depend upon observations taken for one year only. Those of the first three stations are the mean of five years or more. 414 THE WEST IN 1880— MONTANA. irrigation ; so that the extent and importance of this industry must be measured by the amount of water. It is estimated that eight per cent, of the area of the Territory, or 11,500 square miles, can be placed under irrigation, by using the water carried by the streams in an ordinary season, to its fullest extent. All the land suitable for cultivation in the valleys of the streams flowing to Clarke's Fork can be irrigated. Among them are the beautiful valleys of the Bitter Root and Deer Lodge. In the former the climate is mild ; ripening every crop which can be cultivated in a temperate climate. The climate of the latter is, owing to the greater elevation, rather severe, and only the hardier cereals can mature. The larger part of the valleys of the Jeflferson, Madison, and Gallatin, can also be placed under irrigation. The latter is one of the finest valleys in the West. At its foot the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin unite to form the Missouri. Thence it extends southeast and south twenty-five to thirty miles, with a breadth at the south of fully thirty mUes. Its elevation ranges from 4,000 to 5,000 feet. Its climate is mild, and adapted to nearly all cereals and vegetables. It contains now several small towns ; and a considerable portion is under cultivation. The Missouri flows for seventy-five miles through a broad valley, much of which can be irrigated from it and its numerous small branches, and be rendered highly productive. Entering the plains, the question of utilizing all. its water becomes simply one of choosing the land to which the water can be most cheaply and profitably applied. The case is the same with the Teton and Sun rivers, and the numerous smaller streams which head in the Missouri Range and flow directly out upon the plains. From the south, the Missouri receives numerous tributaries, each of which will water its quota of land. The principal among them are Smith's, Judith, and the Muscleshell rivers. Judith river flows through a flne valley, which promises to be one of the best agricultural valleys in the West. The Muscle- shell is a long stream, and flows for the most of its course through a comparatively barren country. In the dry season, it has water only in its upper part. Above the Gate of the Mountains, the Yellowstone flows through a long valley, seventy-five miles in length, and two or three in average breadth. Below, it enters the plains ; and the case there is similar to that of the Missouri. The immediate *■ THE WEST IN 1880— MONTANA. 415 bottom lands of this stream are described as very fine ; and they are sufficiently extensive to utilize the larger part of the water of this river. In 1877, it vs^as estimated that there were under cultivation, in the Territory, 265,000 acres. The table below shows the cereal products of Montana in 1869 and 1879, as given by the Census Bureau : Crops. ■1870. 1880. Wheat 181,184 1,141 149,367 320 988 85,756 469,688 Rve 430 Oats 900 915 Indian com "Buckwheat 5,649 437 39,970 Totals 418,756 1,417,089 The grazing interest of Montana is already of considerable importance ; while the possibilities for its future increase are very great, judging from the vast areas of unoccupied grazing land. The great extent of the plains is practically untouched by the herdsman ; while many mountain valleys, especially in the northwestern corner of the Territory, are, thus far, untrodden by the hoofs of cattle. There is scarcely any part of the Territory excepting upon the mountain ranges, where the climate is not sufficiently mild and the snow-fall sufficiently light for cattle to winter out of doors with almost absolute safety. Occasionally, however, there comes a severe storm or a period of very cold weather which destroys a large number of cattle. To guard against such occurrences, most ranchmen keep on hand a supply of hay, and many provide shelter for their stock. Such a period occurred in the winter of 1871-72, when, on two occasions, the temperature fell to — 52°, and it was estimated that one-tenth of the cattle in the Territory were destroyed. Such weather, it is perhaps needless to add, is very expeptional. Out of the total area of the Territory, it is estimated that fully 100,000 square miles, or more than two-thirds, are valuable as grazing lands. Of course the grazing differs greatly in quality in different sections ; and it should be added, that, in all probability, most of the best quality of grazing lands is already occupied. 416 THE WEST IN 1880 — MONT ANA. In 1877, it was estimated that there were in Montana 220,000 head of cattle, 40,000 of horses, and 120,000 sheep. The number has since then largely increased, as the movement of the grazing interest has been in that direction. In 1880, the Census returns showed, that, in round numbers, there were 489,500 cattle, 512,600 sheep, and 29,000 swine held in the Territory — a tremendous increase over 1877 ; although it should be said that the figures for 1877 are, in all probability, much too small. The surface geology is by no means well known, even in its general features. The early government expeditions made no study of this subject. For almost all that is known to-day we are indebted to that indefatigable explorer, Dr. F. V. Hay den ; and his work was confined almost entirely to the eastern and southern parts. In general terms, we may say, that the eastern two- thirds of the region of the plains are covered with Tertiary formations. Of this formation are the ' ' mauvaises terres" of the Lower Yellowstone. Here, the suiface rock is a soft clay-stone, which disintegrates rapidly upon exposure, covering the lower ground to a depth of several feet, it may be, with a soft, powdery soil, which supports little or no vegetation, and into which, in dry weather, animals sink as in soft snow. ;. while, when wet, it becomes mud of incalculable depth, and inexpressible stickiness. This formation is, in most localities (for it is found far and wide over the West), a perfect mausoleum of strange forms of extinct animals. In some places, the soft clay is literally filled with their bones. West of the Tertiary, the Cretaceous formation rises to the sur- face, and extends nearly to the base of the mountains. It i& broken in several localities by little ranges and groups of hills, which bring to the surface the earlier formations, usually sur- rounding a core of granite. The mountain region is mainly gran- itic ; but in the valleys and along the base of the ranges, are out- crops of the older stratified rocks, the Silurian preponderating. The placer mines of Montana, so far as discovered, have long been exhausted ; while vein mining, although it has been going on for several years, is yet in its infancy. It is estimated that $100,000,000 have been taken from the former class of deposits^ one-fourth of which was from Alder Giilch. Vein deposits of gold and silver have been discovered in the mountains of almost every part of the Territory. Few of these THE WEST IN 1880 — MONTANA. 417 discoveries have been fully developed as yet, owing mainly to the want of capital. The product for the year 1879 was $3,629,000. Of this about two-thirds was gold, and one-third silver. That of 1880 showed a slight increase, being a total of $3,822,379, of which two-thirds was silver and one- third gold. It is probable, that, with the impetus recently given to the whole mining of the country, the rich mineral resources of this Territory will soon be developed to such an extent as to place it among the principal producers of the precious metals. The only railroads at present within Montana are the Utah & Northern and the Northern Pacific, which have been constructed for a few miles over the southern and eastern boundaries. It is probable that the former road will soon be built as far as Helena, the capital of the Territory, thus connecting it with the Union and Central Pacific Eailroads at Ogden, Utah. The Northern Pacific will eventually cross the Territory from east to west, coming up the Yellowstone river, and passing down some branch of Clarke's Fork of the Columbia. It is being pushed forward with vigor. The manufacturing industries are at present of small but growing importance. They are, in the main, confined to-smelting works, flour and lumber mills. The number of establishments, capital, and hands employed, products, and other particulars in relation to these industries, are given below, from the Tenth Census : Busnotss. Capital. 13 Amount Paid in Wages. Materials. Products. Flouring & grist mill products. Lumber, sawed 36 $159,500 208,200 52 350 1 28,056 181,656 $365,542 167,205 $485,137 556,329 Ores smelted The population of the Territory by the last Census (1880) was 39,157, an increase over the previous Census of nearly 100 per cent. The population by counties is as follows : Beaver Head 3,712 Choteau 3,058 Custer , 2,510 Dawson 180 Deer Lodge 8,876 Gallatin 3,648 Jefferson 3,464 Lewis and Clarke 6,521 Madison 3,916 Meagher 3,744 Missoula 2,533 418 THE WEST IN 1880 — MONTANA. The total population is classified as follows : Male 28,180 Female 10,977 Native born 37,643 Foreign born 11,515 White ' 35,468 Colored (including Indians) 3,689 Helena, the capital, is situated at the east base of the Missouri Range, a few miles west of the Missouri river. Other towns are Butte, a mining camp at the head of Deer Lodge river ; Deer Lodge City ; Bannack ; Virginia City, on the once celebrated Alder Gulch; and Bozeman, in the Grallatin valley. In 1880, there were in operation in Montana three National banks, with a capital stock of $350,000, having an outstanding circulation of $286,497 ; and thirteen private banks, with a capital of $446,708. The Territory contains a large Indian population. The tribes represented there, are the Blackfeet, Blood, Piegan, Crow, Flathead, Pend' Oreille, Kootenai, G-ros Ventre, Assinniboin, and Dakota, numbering, in the total, nearly 20,000. All these Indians are theoretically upon reservations ; and probably most of them are practically there. These reservations cover a large proportion of the area of the Territory, amounting, altogether, to no less than 34,156,000 acres, or 53,370 square miles — more than one-third of the TeMtory. Nearly all of this great area is, however, in the plains region, where the land can never be of much value. The Census of 1880 furnishes the following data regarding the wealth, debt, and taxation : Total valuation $18,609,803 County debt, bonded' 339,196 County debt, floating 1 401,703 Territorial tax, for general purposes 55,839 County tax for general purposes 344,785 County tax for school purposes 73,300 School district taxes ; 9,383 School district debt 33,753 The assessed valuation is probably about seventy per cent, of the true valuation. THE WEST IN idSo — "WYOMING. 419. CHAPTER XVII. TEEEITOET OF WTOMIE^G. It is now more than ten years since the southern portion of Wyoming Territory was opened to settlement by the Union Pacific Railroad ; but, beyond the small towns along the line of the road, which were built mainly to supply its necessities, settlement has made little progress. The reason of this is not difficult to discover : the railroad traverses its most worthless portion. The country is high, and the climate severe : for this reason, agriculture is difficult and precarious, and cattle are not safe in winter without shelter and provision. The western half of the road from Port Steele, at the crossing of the North Platte, to the western boundary, is, for most economic pur- poses, a desert. Water is extremely scarce and bad. There is practically no grass, the only vegetation being greasewood and sage. The northern half of the Territory, which is fertile and well watered, and possesses a much milder climate, besides being almost inaccessible, has, from time immemorial, been occupied by the Sioux Indians, who have held it against the encroachments of the whites with the most jealous care. These dogs-in-the-manger have been recently expelled from this region ; and it is rapidly filling up with ranch and stock men. The Territory was mainly a part of the Louisiana purchase. It was formed from portions taken from adjoining Territories, and organized in July, 1868. The first settlements were the trading posts of Forts Laramie and Bridger. Until the Union Pacific Railroad opened its doors, settlements were very few and far between ; and its progress since that time has been by no.means rapid, owing to causes detailed above. Wyoming is bounded by the meridians of 27° and 34° and the parallels of latitude of 41° and 45°. It is in shape very nearly a rectangle. On the north lies Montana, on the east Dakota, on the south Colorado and Utah, and on the west Utah and 420 THE WEST IN 1880 — WYOMING. Idaho. Its area is 97,890 square miles; its mean elevation above the sea, 6, 400 feet. The lowest point in the Territory is 3,500 feet above the sea; while its highest peaks tower to an altitude of nearly 14,000 feet. The character of the country as respects elevation is shown by the following table : Elevation, ft. Sq. miles. 3,000 to 4,000 3,000 4,000 to 5,000 19,000 .5,000 to 6,000 20,000 6,000 to 7,000 34,000 7,000 to 8,000 17,000 Elevation, ft. Sq. milee. 8,000 to 9,000 7,200 9,000 to 10,000 4,300 10,000 to 11,000 2,300 11,000 to 12,000 900 12,000 to 13,000 190 The greater part of its area lies between 4,000 and 8,000 feet. The highest country lies in the southern and western part ; while towards the north and east there is a general slope downwards. The eastern part of the TeMtory makes up a portion of the Great Plains. The continuity is broken in the northeastern corner by the Black Hills of Dakota, which lie about one-hallf in Wyoming and one-half in Dakota. They are an elliptical mass of mountains, the axis trending about N. N. W. and S. S. E. They rise about 6,000 feet above the sea, and half that height above the surrounding plains. North, south, east, and west from them, extend the rolling, billowy plains, for hundreds of miles. The high ranges of Colorado extend northward into Wyoming, occupying a part of the area included within the bend of the North Platte, sinking into the plain before reaching that river. They are all of much less altitude than in Colorado. The Laramie Range, which represents all that is left of the great Front Range of Colorado, has an elevation of about 9,000 feet. It is crossed by the Union Pacific Railroad at Sherman, at a height of 8,269 feet. The Medicine Bow Range, which is an offshoot from the Front Range, has about the same elevation as the Laramie Range. Be- tween them lie the beautiful Plains of Laramie. The Park Range is the third and last of the series. Beyond these, the country con- sists of a series of high, cold, desert plateaux. The first swell in this plateau, beyond the North Platte, separates the w^aters of the Atlantic from those of the Pacific, the Platte river from the Green. Thence the country descends to the Green river basin, the arid valley, upon which that fugitive name "Great American Desert" has finally been bestowed, and where it will probably remain. A second rise of the plateau separates the waters of the Pacific from those of the Great Basin, the Green THE WEST IN 1880 — WYOMING. 421 river from the Bear. These divides are broad and flat, the water partings are ill defined, and they contain numerous salt lakes without outlets, and streams which flow nowhere. The great system of ranges known as the Rocky Mountains is composed of two sections, separated by this great extent of plateaux, stretching northwest and southeast for 800 miles. The trans-continental traveler on the Union Pacific Railroad, crosses this great depression between the ranges, and sees little or nothing of the Rocky Mountains. Toward the northern part of Wyoming, the mountain system suddenly starts again into being, with a great breadth of alternate mountain and valley. On the east, the Big Horn Range rises from the plains to a height of 12,000 feet above the sea level. Then follow the Big Horn basin and the valley of Wind river, upon which frown the lofty, snow-capped peaks of the Wind River Range, with their glaciers and eternal snows, and the rugged, volcanic peaks of the Yellowstone Range. West of the former lies the upper part of the Green river basin, at whose head are the Gros Ventre and other mountains and hills about the head of the Snake river. Here the country is all on edge. There is but little valley country. Excepting Jackson' s Hole, a valley at the base of the Tetons, the valleys are mere gorges and canons. Beyond the Yellowstone Range, which marks roughly the eastern boundary of the Yellowstone Park, the country is mainly a high plateau, about 8,000 feet above the sea, densely timbered and abundantly watered. The Yellowstone National Park, embracing a large tract of this plateau, is one of the most remarkable sections of the globe, full of natural wonders. It is briefly described further on in this chapter. Wyoming has several climates, which differ materially from one another. The high country in the northwest has, in common with the high mountains everywhere, a moist climate, with a very large rain and snow fall. The summer begins with July, and ends with August. Frost may occur on any night during the year ; and the mean annual temperature is low. On the plateaux of the south and southwest, the climate is arid, the precipitation is light, and the mean annual temperature low, while the constant wind conspires to render the atmosphere anything but pleasant to the unfortunate who is condemned to spend his days there. The climate of the eastern part is very 422 THE WEST m 1880— WYOMING. mucli like tliat of the plains of Colorado. Northward it is, perhaps, more temperate ; but there is the same dry atmosphere, light rainfall, great difference in temperature between snmmer and winter, and day and night, while the mean temperature is about the same. The fauna and flora of Wyoming are almost precisely the same as those of Colorado. Buffalo are still found in small bands upon the plains and in the valleys of the Big Horn and Wind rivers ; while moose are seen, though rarely, in the high, moist region in the northwest. The plains and the less arid valleys, as well as the lower slopes of the mountains, are covered with bunch grass ; while the plateaux of the southwest are scantily clothed with sage and greasewood. The mountains are everywhere covered with forests of coniferse. The trees are large, and will ultimately be useful for lumber. Thus far, they have scarcely been touched by the woodman' s ax. The only purposes for which they have been used are for railroad ties, and, to a limited extent, for smelting, at the mines on the eastern base of the Wind River Range. Of the agricultural resources of the Territory, there is little to be said, for the reason that so far there has been but little effort to develop them. The amount of land under cultivation is very small. The arable, i. e., irrigable, land is nearly all confined to the eastern half, the western half lying too high or having too small a supply of water, to make it valuable as an agricultural country. A rough estimate, based upon the amount of water available for irrigation and the fact that there is an abundance of land for using it all, gives a proportional area of one-tenth of the Territory as irrigable land. This is an extreme estimate, and presupposes the use of reservoirs for storing the water, and the 'utmost economy in its use. The regions to be irrigated are as follows : A part of the plains east of the Laramie Range, the Laramie Plains, the valley of the North Platte, the valleys of Tongue and Powder rivers, the basin of the Big Horn, the Wind river valley, the Green river basin, and last, but by no means least, for it is one of the finest valleys of the West, the classic valley of the Sweetwater. Thus far, according to the Census reports, only 1,000 to 2,000 acres have been improved. The cereal products in 1869 and in 1879, as given by the Census tables of 1870 and 1880, were : THE WEST IN 1880 — WYOMING. 423 Crops. Wheat Rye Oats Indian com , Buckwheat . Barley Totals . 1870. 100 100 1880. 4,674 78 32,513 37,364 The grazing interest is large and rapidly increasing. The great extent of land suitable for carrying on this industry will make it always a very important one, perhaps the most important one in the Territory. The plains east of the Eocky Mountains, the Laramie Plains, with the country west of them as far as the North Platte, the Sweetwater and Wind river valleys, and the Big Horn basin, are all covered with rich grasses. The borders of the Grreen river basin, and most of the narrow mountain valleys, can also be utilized as grazing grounds. The southern part of the Territory near the railroad is quite well stocked with cattle already; while the cattle men are fol- lowing fast upon the heels of the departing Sioux into the northern part of the Territory. In 1877, the total number of cattle held in the Territory was estimated at 300,000 ; of sheep, 200,000 ; and of horses, 20,000. These figures are now largely increased, as cattle have been moving into the Territory rapidly during the past three years. In 1880 the Census returns showed 575,000 cattle, 350,000 sheep, and 4,000 swine. The surface geology of Wyoming is detailed and complicated. Excepting in the neighborhood of the mountains, where there is a narrow strip of Cretaceous, the plains are Tertiary. The Black Hills are an island of granite; while Cretaceous, Jurassic, Carboniferous, and Silurian strata are uptilted, in succession, in ellipses about the granite core. The Laramie, Medicine Bow, and Park Ranges have summits of granite, flanked by the upturned edges of sedimentary beds of nearly all ages. The Sweetwater Mountains, south of the Sweetwater river, are of granite. The plateaux south and southwest of them and the Green river basin, are composed of the soft and friable beds of the Tertiary and Cretaceous formations. In the northwestern part of the Territory, we find the central part of the ranges composed of granite, while the flanks and 36 424 THE WEST IN 1880 — "WYOMING. foot-hills are of the earlier, stratified beds. Exception to this should be made in the case of the Yellowstone Range, and most of the other mountains of the Yellowstone Park, which are volcanic throughout ; while the high level country of the Park is almost entirely floored with trachyte or basalt. The mining interests of the Territory have not yet assumed much importance, excepting in the matter of coal. Gold has been mined for several years at the southeastern base of the Wind River Range, but without much success, as is attested by the present abandoned condition of the workings and the depopulated towns. Silver mines have been discovered and are now being worked in the Park and Medicine Bow Ranges, near the south line of the Territory. Mines have also been worked in the Sweetwater and Seminole Mountains and about the base of Laramie Peak. The principal deposits of coal are found in the southwestern part, near Evanston, Rock Spring, and CJarbon stations, on the Union Pacific Railroad, and on a branch of Bear river, a few miles north of the road. The deposits are lignitic, contain fifty to fifty-four per cent, of carbon, and are of the Tertiary or Creta- ceous age. These deposits are extensively worked, and furnish nearly all the coal used by the Union Pacific Railroad and by the settlements for hundreds of miles east and west. The total production in 1877, which is about the same as the years immediately preceding and following, is estimated at 175,000 tons. The only railroad, practically, within the Territory, is the Union Pacific, which crosses it near its southern boundary, in a general east and west direction. Four hundred and fifty-four miles, or nearly one-half of its total length, are within this Territory. Besides this, small portions of the Colorado Central and Denver Pacific, which connect Cheyenne with Denver, Colo., are within its limits. A railroad is projected to connect Cheyenne with the Black Hills. This will open up a fine grazing region. Also, a line is projected as a branch of the Union Pacific, to start from Granger station, at the junction of Black's and Ham's Forks, and, by a generally northwest course, up Ham' s Fork, down the Bear and Snake rivers, connect with the settlements in Western Oregon. The population of Wyoming in 1880 was 20,788. Of these, 14,151 were malfes, 6,637 females ; 14,943 were natives, and THE WEST IN 1880 — WYOMING. 425 5,845 foreign ; 19,436 were white, and 1,352 colored, including 974 Chinese and 139 Indians and half-breeds not in tribal relations. The total population by counties was as follows : Albany 4,625 Carbon 3,438 Crook 239 Laramie 6,409 Pease 637 Sweetwater 3,561 Uinta 2,879 The report of the Territorial Auditor for the year 1878, regarding the finances of the • Territory gives the assessed valuation at $10,066,220, which was reduced by a board of equalization to $9,602,720, and the Territorial tax at $28,808. From incomplete returns received at the Census office, it is indicated that the above assessed valuation is about sixty-six per cent, of the true valuation, which therefore, is approxi- mately $15,000,000. In 1880, there were in the Territory two National banks — with a capital of $150,000, and a circulation of $57,600 — and four private bankers. Until within the last three or four years, the whole northern half of Wyoming has been occupied by Indians. Nearly all of this great area has been held by Sioux, who have been very jealous of the encroachment of whites. Their recent expulsion leaves but a comparatively small part of the Territory occupied by Indians. The only reservation is that of the Shoshones and Arapahoes, in the valley of Wind river. It has an area of one and a hall millions of acres ; and upon it are congregated 1,250 Shoshones and 900 Arapahoes. The Shoshones have, from time immemorial, been at peace with the whites, and, in the various wars with the Sioux, have furnished to the army, corps of scouts, who have done valuable service. The Arapahoes have but recently been moved to this reservation from their old range in Southern Dakota and Nebraska. Besides these Indians, Bannacks sometimes wander into the Territory from Idaho, and Utes from Colorado ; while small scattering bands of Sioux sometimes appear in the country about the Big Horn Mountains. THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK occupies an area nearly as large as the State of Connecticut, in the northwestern corner of Wyoming. It is by far the most marvelous collection of geysers, hot springs, and other volcanic phenomena, upon the globe. This region was, by act of 426 THE "WEST IN 1880 — WYOMING. Congress, passed in the winter of 1871 and 1872, reserved from settlement, and constituted a National Park. The area so reserved is between 3,500 and 3,600 square miles: nearly all of it is in Wyoming, a narrow strip extending westward over into Idaho and Montana, and northward into the latter Territory. Its surface is mainly a high rolling plateau, broken by several isolated groups of mountains, while along its eastern border rises the high and rugged Yellowstone Range. The mean elevation of the Park above the sea is al^ut 8,000 feet ; while the highest mountains rise to elevations between 11,000 and 12,000 feet. Almost its whole extent, both of plains and mountains, is covered with dense forests, so dense that for days one may travel without seeing a landmark, and is guided only by the sun or the compass. In these high plateaux and mountains, the Snake, Yellowstone, Gallatin, and Madison have their utmost sources, whence they flow ofi to the arid plains below. In these forests and mountain recesses still remain in abundance the large game of the country — moose, elk, deer, mountain sheep, bears, panthers, and wild-cats. It is the hunter' s paradise. Within very recent geologic times, this region has been the scene of remarkable volcanic activity. It is almost entirely overlaid by volcanic rock, outflows of lava from some copious rents now concealed. The Yellowstone Range is one of the chips from old Vulcan' s workshop, but pared, trimmed, and carved by frost and water. The wonderful phenomena now presented there, are but the last expiring efforts of the god of fire. The country is honey-combed with hot springs — they are omnipresent : on the plains, in the deepest recesses of the forests, on the mountains, even on their loftiest summits, on the walls and in the beds of the canons, and even in the beds of the lakes and streams, they are boiling and bubbling. There are springs of water and of mud ; there are calcareous, siliceous, sulphurous, and iron springs, in infinite variety. They agree in only one particular ; they are all hot. Their name is legion. While there is scarcely a square mile of the Park that does not contain more or less springs, there are certain localities where they are grouped in large numbers, and show greater activity than elsewhere. It is in these places that geysers are found. The principal of these localities are : the White Mountain, or Mammoth, Hot Springs, the Gibbon, Lower and THE WEST IN 1880 — WYOMING. 437 Upper Geyser basins, the Shoshone basin, the Heart Lake group, and the Mud geysers. The first named of these is near the northern boundary of the park, on Grardiner's river. The springs (there are here no geysers) are calcareous ; and the waters deposjit- freely, having built a hill a hundred feet' or more in height, of a dazzling whiteness, except where striped by bands of yellow, red, and green, from the sulphur and iron deposited. The springs issue from the top of this mound, the water flowing down its sides, through a succession of basins, all beautifully bordered and scalloped. The Gibbon basin, near the head of one of the branches of the Madison river, is rather a congeries of groups of springs, scattered over a large area. This basin contains a number of geysers of considerable power, throwing water to nearly or quite a hundred feet. The water contains very little matter of any kind in solution; and consequently the deposits are very slight. The Upper and Lower Geyser basins are situated on the Pirehole, a head branch of the Madison river. They are about ten miles apart ; but there are springs all along the valley con- necting them. Imagine a valley with the shape of an hour- glass, the northern bulb, corresponding to the Lower basin, being much the larger. These bulbs are floored throughout with a white, siliceous deposit, of unknown thickness, the deposit from the geysers and springs. Down the valley winds a small river, whose water is lukewarm from their contributions. All over the valley rise clouds of steam from the springs, which, on frosty mornings, forms a dense fog, filling the valleys. It is in these basins that the greatest activity in the region is mani- fested. They contain thousands of hot springs, from the size of a horse's hoof to hot lakes covering several acres. The geysers are numbered by the score. They throw columns of water to various heights, ranging from a few feet only, up to 260 feet. Some of the minor ones are perpetual spouters ; but most of them, and all the powerful ones, play only ,at intervals ranging from an hour to several days. One of the most ppwerful, and perhaps the most interesting, is that known as ' ' Old Faithful," whose interval between eruptions is almost exactly fifty.-eight minutes, and which throws water to a height of 150 feet. Another most beautiful one, known as the. "Beehive," 428 THE WEST IN 1880 -WYOMING, from the shape of its cone, plays at irregular intervals, and throws water sometimes to a height exceeding 200 feet. Another, the "Castle," has built about itself an immense mass of deposit, from which ordinarily it throws an irregular mass of water twenty to thirty feet ; but on special occasions, it sends an enormous column up, fully 250 feet skywards. Of the many geysers of this valley, each possesses an individuality ; but space forbids any further mention of them. Further south, on the shore of Shoshone Lake, one of the many beautiful sheets of water which diversify the surface of the Park, is another groiip of springs and geysers, possessing many unique features. The Heart Lake group lies in a narrow- belt along a gulch leading down to Heart Lake. There are but two or three geysers in this group, which is remarkable chiefly for the beauty of the deposits. Near the west shore of Yellowstone Lake is a boiling spring, which originally burst forth in the bed of the lake, but has now built up a mass of deposit above the surface of the water. On Yellowstone river, a few miles below the outlet of the lake, is a group of geysers and springs, in which the liquid is not water, but boiling mud, of about the consistency of paint. There is but one geyser in the group : this plays at intervals of about four hours, throwing its nasty compound to a height of forty or fifty feet. A few miles farther down the river, at a locality known as the Sulphur Hills,. is a group of large boiling sulphur springs. The hot springs and geysers are not the only wonders and attractions of this remarkable region. To the lover of natural scenery, it is almost without a peer in its mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and canons. Yellowstone Lake, at an elevation of nearly 8,000 feet above the sea, is the largest body of water at that elevation on the continent. It has a very irregular shape, with long arms, reaching far inland, and enclosing mountains in its grasp. Shoshone, Lewis, and Heart Lakes are beautiful sheets of water, lying hemmed in by the hills, their deep blue color contrasting finely with the black green of the forests which surround them. At the distance of a day' s drive down the Yellowstone from the lake, the river, heretofore calm and peaceful, becomes fretted by rapids, and then suddenly plunges over a cliff 112 feet in height. A half-mile of quiet meandering follows, when THE WEST IN 1880 — WYOMING. 429 the great stream suddenly, and without warning, rolls over a second cliff 300 feet in height, into a deep gorge 1,000 feet from top to bottom, down which it rushes and roars in a madly tumultuous course. These are the Great Falls and the Grand Canon of the Yellowstone. The latter is carved out of a vol- canic plateau ; its walls are the most rugged of cliffs, unscalable except in one or two places. Their colors are among the most vivid known to art — white, yellow, red, and brown, a barbaric association. This canon extends some twelve or fifteen miles down the river, and is closely followed by others, so that, throughout the balance of its course in the Park, there are few points at which this stream reaches the sunlight. Besides these, there is a fine fall of more than a hundred feet upon Tower creek, a large branch of the Yellowstone, and other smaller ones in various parts of the Park. To the mineralogist, this region presents unusual attractions in the variety of volcanic products everywhere found. Silicified wood — in all degrees of petrifaction, from that having, to the eye, all the semblance of the original, to that changed entirely into quartz crystals, amethyst, or opal, is abundant. Great trunks of trees, several feet in diameter, and a score or more in length, project in bas-relief from the cliffs on the East Fork of the Yellowstone. Obsidian, red, black, and variegated, is plentiful on the volcanic plateaux ; and. in one locality, a large dyke of it has been found. The Park is not at present easily accessible. It can be traversed only on horseback and with a pack train ; and con- sequently comparatively few have yet seen its wonders. But, with the extension of railroads towards it and the construction of wagon roads and hotels within it, there is every prospect that it will soon become as well known as the Yosemite, and that ladies, dressed in the latest civilized fashions, will soon be watching for an eruption of Old Faithful, or climbing down the canon of the Yellowstone on rope ladders — which the gods forbid. 430 THE WEST IN 1880 — IDAHO. CHAPTER XYIII. TEEEITOEY OF IDAHO. One of the Nortliwestern Territories, Idalio is bordered on the south by Utah and Nevada, on the west by Oregon and Wash- ington, on the north by British Columbia, and on the northeast and east by Montana and Wyoming. Its limits are : south, the parallel of 42°; west, the Boise meridian, the course of Snake river, and the meridian which passes through the mouth of the Clearwater ; north, the parallel of 49° ; east, the meridian of 39° west of Washington, the winding crest of the Bitter Root Range, which generally trends in a southeast direction, and the meridian of 34°. This gives a shape roughly approximating to a right-angled triangle, running nearly to a point at the north, where its width is but a degree of longitude, and with its hypothenuse on the northeast. This Territory was a part of the Louisiana purchase. Up to 1863, when it was organized, it formed a part of Oregon Terri- tory. When first formed, it was much larger than at present, a part of it having been given subsequently to Montana. Pre- vious to 1850, few whites, and those few consisting of trappers, prospectors, and missionaries, had come within its boundaries. In 1852, gold placers were discovered in the northern part ; but they attracted little attention. The discovery of rich diggings on the Boise river, and of mineral veins in Owyhee county, made somewhat later, induced considerable immigration, yet not what could be called a stampede. Since its first settlement, the growth of the Territory has been steady, but slow, owing to its inaccessibility, and the want of railroad communication with the outside world. The area of Idaho is approximately 84,800 square miles. Its mean elevation above the sea is 4, 700 feet. Its area, classified as to elevation, is as follows : THE WEST IN 1880 — IDAHO. 431 Blevation, ft. Sq. miles. 1,000 to 3,000 1,000 3,000 to 3,000 12,900 3,000 to 4,000 15,600 4,000 to 5,000 21,600 5,000 to 6,000 18,600 Elevation, ft. Sq. miles. 6,000 to 7,000 9,100 7,000 to 8,000 4,000 8,000 to 9,000 1,500 9,000 to 10,000 400 10,000 to 11,000 100 The Territory lies almost entirely within the area of Pacific drainage, a small portion only, in the southeastern corner, drain- ing to the Great Salt Lake. The northern part of Idaho is very mountainous, the valleys are narrow, and both mountains and valleys are covered with dense forests of coniferse. Farther southward, upon the waters of the Clearwater and Salmon rivers, the valleys become broader, and the forests are confined to the mountains. The principal ranges are the Bitter Root, whose ■crest forms the boundary with Montana, and whose spurs and offshoots constitute the mountain region of the northern part of the Territory; and the Salmon River Mountains, which consist of a succession of parallel ranges, trending nearly north and south, which separate the primary branches of the Salmon river. These mountains rise to heights of 8,000 to 10,000 feet ; while 'a few peaks stretch skyward above the latter limit. South of these mountains, stretching nearly across the Terri- tory, is the Snake River Plain. This is a bed of basalt, which in comparatively recent time has overflowed the country from some source at present unknown. Its surface is, in general, level or gently undulating, but is seamed here and there with great crevasses, like a field of old ice. There is little water on the surface. The streams from the mountains soon find an opening, and disappear, to flow underneath the rocky floor, re-appearing, perhaps, at intervals farther down their courses. In the midst of this rocky desert, rising abruptly from the plain 2,500 or 3,000 feet above it, are three lone mountains, known from time out of mind as the Three Buttes. They are visible from all parts of the plain, and have always served as landmarks to the traveler upon this waste, as the lighthouse to the mariner. The prevailing soil of the Snake River Plain is a loose, drifting sand, which, under the action of the prevailing westerly winds, has been drifted into dunes, on its eastern border. The vege- tation consists of a mammoth growth of artemisia, among which is a sparse growth of bunch grass. East of this plain, towards the Wyoming boundary, the country rises into hills and mountains ; while south of it the succession of narrow valleys and sharp, abrupt ranges, so 482 THE WEST IN 1880 — IDAHO. characteristic of Western Utah and Nevada, makes up the face of the country. The mountains are almost entirely without timber, the vallej'-s covered with artemisia and grasses. The principal stream is the Snake, or Lewis Fork of th& Columbia. This river heads in Wyoming, in the Yellowstone Park. Entering Idaho as a great rushing torrent, it pursues a tumultuous course, earning its old name of "Mad" river. Its course is near the margin of the Snake River Plains ; at first south, then west to the western border of the Territory, thence northward. In its westerly course, it makes three falls of very considerable height — the American, the Shoshone, and the Salmon, or Fishing, Fall. It has several large branches, such as the Salmon, Clearwater, Owyhee, Raft, and Portneuf rivers, and Henry's Fork. Altogether, Idaho is a well- watered Territory. In regard to temperature and rainfall, there is great difference between the northern and southern parts of the Territory. The valleys of the extreme northern part enjoy sufficient rainfall for the cultivation of the soil without irrigation ; while, down on the Snake River Plains and the country to the southward, the precipitation is reduced to a minimum. The temperatures of the two parts of the Territory differ in quite as marked a degree ; while the moister climate of the northern part lessens the difference between the temperature of day and night, and between summer and winter. Few meteorological observations have been taken within this Territory ; but the general facts, a» above stated, are apparent to the most superficial observer of the aspect of the country. The only observations on record are at Forts Hall, Boise, and Lapwai, in the middle and southern parts. The net results are as follows, in decrees Fahrenheit : Stations. Mean Annual Temperature. Haximum Temperature. Minimum Temperature. Fort BoisC 52 121 102 110 —10 Fort Hall —13 Fort Lapwai 53 — 15 The fauna and flora are very similar to those of Montana : indeed, the species are practically the same throughout. The mountain region of the north having a greater rainfall and a moister climate than the corresponding portion of Montana, the forests are denser, and the lumber larger and more valuable. The flora of the desert region, too, though not more varied than THE WEST IN 1880 — mAHO. 433 in the neighboring Territories, is more luxuriant. Upon the Snake River Plains sage brush grows to an enormous size. I have seen logs of sage, six inches thick, cut and corded up for firewood. Indeed, at the stage and railroad stations on these plains, sage brusli furnishes the only available fuel; and it is not by any means a bad make-shift, li&rge game is, of course, very scarce in the southern part of the Territory. The northern part, which is as yet almost unin- habited, is teeming with all th.e kinds of large game found upon the mountains or in the forests of the Northwest. The arable land of Idaho is estimated at seven per cent, of its area, or about 6,000 square miles. Some of the small valleys in the northern part can safely be cultivated without irrigation. Throughout the balance of the Territory, irrigation is necessary. There are fine valleys on all the streams flowing into the Snake from the east — the Clearwater, Salmon, Weiser, Payette, and Boise — with an abundance of water. In the south, there are a number of fine valleys ; but the water supply is limited, and only a portion of them can be irrigated. The Snake river itself can be of little value for irrigation ; as, through, most of its course, it is confined within rocky walls of basalt of considerable height, so that, althougb the fall is great, the water can not be brought to the surface. The total cereal products of this Territory, according to the statistics of the Census Bureau, rose from 255,591 bushels in 1869, to 1,298,324 bushels in 1879, proportioned as follows : Crops. 1870. 1880. Wheat 75,650 1,756 100,119 5,750 540,589 Rye 4,341 Oats. 463,336 Indian corn . 16,408 Buckwhpat Barley 73,316 374,750 Totals 355,591 1,398,834 The pasturage lands of Idaho cover a large proportional area, especially in the southern part. With the exception of the more desert parts of the Snake River Plains, all the level country is available for pasturage. To this should be added also the mountain ranges of the southern and southeastern part, which 434 THE WEST IN 1880 — IDAHO. contain little timber and are covered with btmch grass. Most of the ranges of the Territory are practically untouched ; although now cattle are being brought over from Oregon and Washington, and the Territory will soon be stocked by the overflow from the neighboring country. In 1880, the Census reported 209,000 cattle, 62,900 sheep, and 16,300 swine. The surface geology of the Territory is quite varied. The valleys of the southern part are very largely floored with basalt, which has either flowed down them, as in the cases of the Bear, Blackf oot, and Portneuf valleys, or has run up into them from the Snake River Plains. The other valleys of this section are covered with Quaternary or Tertiary deposits; while the ranges are mainly made up of Silurian and Carboniferous rocks. North of the Snake River Plains, the mountains are mainly composed of metamorphic rocks. Little is known, however, of the geology of this part of the Territory. Its mineral resources are as yet but slightly developed ; although mines have been worked in certain parts of the Territory for twenty year^. Those of the Owyhee district, in the southwestern corner, were for a time very productive. In various portions of the Salmon River Mountains, a number of valuable metalliferous deposits have been discovered. The most promising field for mining operations, perhaps, in the country at present, is what is known as the Wood River District, on the southern slope of this range, at the headwaters of one of the branches of the Malade river. The deposits have but recently been discovered, and hence little development has been effected ; but, from the surface indications, many of the leads are very valuable. The production of the Territory for the year 1879, was $2,091,300, the greater part of which was silver. The pro- duction for 1880 was slightly less ; being given as $1,894,747, about three-fifths of which was silver. Until within two years', Idaho had not a mile of railroad within its limits, but was dependent upon mule and "bull" teams for all its transportation. Since then, the Utah & Northern Railroad has been built across the southeastern part of the Territory, on the route from Ogden, Utah, to Helena, Montana. A branch is projected,, if it is not already in progress of con- struction, from some point on this road, probably Blackfoot Station, to Boise City, passing through or near the celebrated Wood River Mining District. The intention is to carry this road THE "WEST IN 1880 — IDAHO. 435 througli to the Columbia river. With the completion of this railroad we may expect a rapid growth of the Territory. Manufactures are very limited, and are confined chiefly to the production of flour, the smelting of ores, and the sawing of lumber. Of the extent of these industries, the Tenth Census furnishes the following statistics : Business. Capital. "a Amount Paid in Wages. Materials. Products. Flouring & grist mill products. 10 48 $387,000 193,460 49 344 $17,855 91,356 $451,670 143,641 $544,630 394,505 Ores smelted The population of Idaho by the last Census was 32,611, an increase of 17,612, or 117 per cent., over that in 1870. The pop- ulation by counties is as follows : Ada 4,674 Alturas 1,693 Bear Lake 3,335 Boisg 3,314 Cassia 1,313 Idaho 3,031 Kootenai 518 Lemhi 3,230 Nez Perc6 3,965 Oneida 6,965 Owyhee 1,426 Shoshone 469 "Washington 879 The principal settlements are, Bois^ City, the capital, Idaho City, Lewiston, Silver City, Malade City, and Florence. The largest proportion of the population is engaged in mining. In the southeastern part, the area drained into the Great Salt Lake, consisting mainly of Cache and Malade valleys, is almost entirely peopled by Mormons, who are engaged principally in farming. They are grouped in small towns, around which spread their farms. In 1880 the Territory contained but one National bank, located at Boise City, and two private banks. From the Census returns for 1880, are taken the following statistics regarding the valuation, taxes, etc. : Total assessed valuation $6,408,089 Territorial tax 109,451 County tax 31,037 It is estimated that the assessed valuation is about two-thirds of the true valuation. The latter, on this basis, is about $9,612,000. 436 THE WEST IN 1880 — IDAHO. The Indians located within the Territory are principally of the following tribes : Nez Perces, Bannacks, and Shoshones. The former have a fine reservation of 1,344,000 acres on the Clearwater river, toward the northern part of the Territory. The number of Indians inhabiting this reservation is stated as 2,807. The two latter tribes jointly occupy a reservation in the southeastern part, on the Snake and Portneuf rivers, of 18, 000 acres. These Indians are reported, in round numbers, as 1,500 ; there is also a small reservation near Lemhi, in the Salmon River Mountains, where 677 Indians are reported as having their home. THE WEST IN 1880 — UTAH. 437 CHAPTER XIX TEERITOEY OF UTAH. The Territory of Utah lies between the parallels of latitude of 37° and 42°, and the meridians of longitude of 32° and 87° west of Washington. In shape, it is nearly a rectangle ; but from the northeastern corner, Wyoming has cut a piece two degrees in breadth east and west, and one degree from north to south. The area, computed carefully from its known dimensions, is 84,970 square miles. Its mean height above the sea is 6,100 feet. Its surface is thus distributed between the thousand-foot curves of elevation : Elevation, ft. Sqnare miles. 9,000 to 10,000 3,500 10,000 to 11,000 1,400 11,000 to 13,000 600 13,000 to 13,000 300 Elevation, ft. Square miles. 4,000 to 5,000 31,100 5,000 to 6,000 35,300 •6,000 to 7,000 19,600 7,000 to 8,000 9,570 8,000 to 9,000 4,800 The eastern and southern parts of the Territory are drained by the Colorado, through a marvelous system of canons and plateaux. The remainder is a part of the Great Basin, whose waters have no outlet save evaporation. A series of high mountains and plateaux traverses Utah from its northern to its southern border. The Wahsatch Mountains •constitute the northern part of this series, rising in their peaks to 12,000 or 13,000 feet above the sea. The southern portion is formed by the High Plateaux, which extend in an unbroken series southward to the Grand Canon of the Colorado river, with heights ranging from 8,000 to 11,000 feet. Eastward from the Wahsatch, in the northern part of the Territory, stretches the Uinta Range, a high, broad, plateau-like mass, with many peaks projecting above it. Some of the latter rise to nearly 14,000 feet above the sea. Southward from the Uintas lie in succession two inclined plateaux, sloping gently to the northward and breaking off abruptly towards the south. The cliffs at the southern face of 438 THE WEST IN 1880 — UTAH. the soutliern one are tlie well-known Book or Roan Cliffs, which extend far eastward into Colorado. The Uinta Mountains, and both these plateaux, are traversed at right angles by Green river, forming a succession of tremendous gorges. South of the Book Cliffs, and east of the High Plateaux, is the Caiion Land, a desert, almost void of animal and vegetable life, but peopled with strange and grotesque forms carved in solid rock by the rains and the winds. In this land the surface is waterless ; all the streams, and they are few in number and contain little water, are buried thousands of feet below the surface, in canons, where, perhaps, the sunlight never penetrates. In this region the Green and Grand rivers unite to form the Colorado, which follows its course thereafter for many hundreds of miles, at 3,000 to 7,000 feet below the level of the plateaux. Every stream entering it in this region is in a canon ; and, besides these living streams, there are thousands of dry canons cutting the country in every direction, merely cast-off shells of once living streams. Their name is legion ; and they make of the country a skeleton. West of this elevated central region, is a broad extent of arid valleys, separated by narrow, abrupt ranges, all trending north and south, and scarcely less arid than the deserts which they overlook. This a part of the Great Basin, that great interior region which has no outlet for its water to . either ocean. In reality, it consists, not of one great basin, but of a great number. Every valley is a sink for its own waters. The little streams trickling down the arid mountain side sink in the sand at its base, or, perhaps, flow off into some salt lake or lagoon, there to be returned to the clouds by evaporation. The largest of these sinks is the well-known Great Salt Lake, 83 miles in length by 53 miles in width, and covering an area of 2,290 square miles in 1872. The water is nearly a saturated brine, containing one part of salts to five of water. It is so salt that only the lowest forms of animal life can exist in it. This lake collects the water from the whole western slope of the Wahsatch Range. The climate of Utah is arid. On the mountains of the Wah- satch and Uinta, and the High Plateaux, there is an abundant rainfall ; and, in the spring and summer, vegetation is luxuriant there. But these are the highlands, above the possibility of cultivation. In the valleys and on the plateaux and deserts- the THE WEST m 1880 — UTAH. 439 rainfall is very light, as shown by the following table, abstracted from Maj. Powell's able report on the " Arid Lands of Utah :" Stations. Kainfall, in Inches. Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter. Year. Camp Douglas, Utah Salt Lake City, Utah Camp Halleck, Nev. Fort Bridger, "Wyo. . 7.20 6.25 3.66 3.99 3.18 6.38 1.19 9.05 3.34 4.71 3.3] 1.68 6.20 7.57 3.82 1.71 18.82 34.81 10.98 8.43 The two last stations, though not within the Territory, are quite near the boundary line ; and the data from them may be taken as illustrative of that part of the Territory near them. ' As the least amount of rainfall which is sufficient for the majority of crops is about thirty inches per annum, it follows, , that, as everywhere in this region, irrigation is universally necessary for successful agriculture. The temperature ranges, with the latitude and altitude, through wide limits. In the settled valleys, however, it is mild, both winter and summer ; and a more delightful climate can not be imagined. At Salt Lake City, the extreme range is from 95° in the summer to — 8 in the winter. In Cache valley the climate is somewhat colder, as the latitude and elevation are greater; while southward it is warmer, reaching an almost tropical climate in the valleys of the Rio Virgen. The dryness of the atmosphere is even greater than in Colorado ; and its peculiar effects are much more marked. The general surface geology of the Terri- tory is not complicated. The Wahsatch Range and its western foot-hills are Eozoic. The Uinta, trending eastward from its junction with theWahsatch, is mainly Carboniferous, with more recent beds tilted up on its flanks. The plateaux of the eastern part are of the more recent formations, — Tertiary, Cretaceous, and Jurassic — while the enormous canons have cut sections through the strata down, in some localities, even to the granite. West of the Wahsatch, the parallel ranges of the desert are, in general, of the older formations ; though they exhibit great variety in age, as well as structure. The desert valleys are deeply covered with the most recent deposits. 37 440 THE WEST IN 1880 — UTAH. The fauna of Utah is poor and sparse. Even in the mountains, game is very scarce ; and, on the plateaux and in the desert valleys, only those forms peculiar to an arid region are found. Coyotes, centipedes, lizards, and owls may well be taken as representatives of the animal life. The flora is equally characteristic. On the mountains and high plateaux, there is an abundance of fine coniferous timber, wliile the openings are carpeted with luxuriant bunch grass. Several of the higher valleys, too, make excellent grazing grounds. But the lower plateaux and the valleys of the western part, fall under the general condemnation. Artemisia is their most valuable product ; and many great areas are destitute of all vegetation. The history of Utah since 1847, is the history of the Mormon Church, or, as this people prefer to call themselves, the Church of Latter-day Saints. The Territory was a part of the area ceded to the United States by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 1848. Utah, as originally constituted, comprises an area of more than. 220, 000 square miles, which has since been cut down by portions given to Colorado, Nebraska, and Nevada. Up to 1847, it was practically unsettled, and only a few hunters and trappers had found their way within its limits. The only information which the world possessed concerning it was from the semi-trapping, semi-exploring expedition of Capt. Bonneville, and from the highly colored narratives of those old romancers, the Jesuit Missionaries. In 1847 and 1848, the Mormons, expelled from Nauvoo, 111., made their way to the valley of Great Salt Lake,' and there settled ; although it was at the time, apparently, one of the most desert portions of the country. Their selection of this spot was undoubtedly diie to its similarity, in certain respects, to the land of Canaan. The resemblance of the Great Salt Lake to the Dead Sea, Utah Lake to the Sea of Tiberias, with the River Jordan connecting them, furnished a coincidence sufficiently remarkable to indicate to them that the hand of the Lord had guided them to this place. They had many troubles in founding their infant colony. The first year starvation stared them in the face ; but thereafter they had abundant crops. Their Indian neighbors at first caused them much trouble ; but, by a wise policy, they soon gained THE WEST IN 1880 — UTAH. 441 their confidence ; and latterly they have had little trouble with them. The Mormons increased rapidly, both by natural increase and by proselyting, and spread over most of the fertile parts of the Territory. Their attitude towards- the United States has been, for the most part, hostile ; though they have always avoided an open rupture. More than one band of emigrants have, however, been massacred by them, or by Indians at their instigation. Of late years, however, as the power of the United States has become rnore firmly established in the Territory, and as the " Gentile element" has become greater in their midst, the utterances of their chief men have become milder and less demonstrative. Up to the year 1854, Brigham Young, the head of the Mormon Church, was the Territorial governor — since then, the temporal government has been in the hands of Gren- tiles, appointed by the president of the United States. The Mormon population is very largely a foreign one, or •of direct foreign descent. The proselytes are mainly from the peasant classes of England, Wales, Germany, and Scan- dinavia ; and thousands are added every year to their number from this source. Add to this the natural increase (and Mor- mon women are very prolific), and it is not strange that this peculiar people is rapidly increasing in number. The community is largely an agricultural one. Farming is usually prosecuted on a small scale, as few of the people possess much property. Accumulation of this world' s goods, excepting in the hands of a few of the .church leaders, has never been countenanced by the rulers of the church ; and the system of tithes, i. e., an annual income tax of ten per cent., is admirably calculated to prevent undue accumulation of wealth. Still, very many of the people are in comfortable circumstances. They own good farms, large enough to support their large families comfortably. Many of them haie handsome liouses, constructed of the blue limestone common in the Wahsatch Range. Communism in business matters is a common feature among them. Most of the wholesale and retail trade throughout their -settlements is monopolized by one large company, known as "Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution." There are also many large co-operative irrigation, farming, and dairying companies. The policy of the church has always been to discountenance mining within the Territory ; as the shrewd, 442 THE WEST IN 1880 — UTAH. far-sighted leaders saw that this interest would at once bring upon .them a cloud of Grentiles, of the most objectionable stamp. Altogether, the Mormon people, considered apart from their peculiar beliefs, and especially their belief in and practice of polygamy, is one of the best that could be obtained to settle our unoccupied territory. They are (I refer to the mass of the people, not the leaders) honest, sober, simple, and industrious. Ignorant and bigoted they may be ; but that is a fault that is easily corrected. Take away from them the domination of the Mormon priesthood, and they will form a very valuable element of our population. Since the completion of the Pacific Railroad, in 1870, Gentiles have emigrated to Utah in considerable numbers ; and at present they form probably about one-fifth of the total population. Most of them are in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and the other principal cities of the Territory, where they form a powerful element. The greater part of them are engaged in mining and commerce ; comparatively few in farming. The irrigable lands of Utah are estimated by Major Powell at but 2.8 per cent, of the area of the Territory. I am inclined to disagree with this well-known authority, and to assign a much higher value to the arable land of the Territory. Using reser- voirs, and economizing the water to the utmost extent, I am persuaded that nearly six per cent, can be brought under irrigation, or nearly one-sixteenth of the entire area of the Territory. The arable lands lie mainly in the region drained by the afflu- ents of Great Salt and Sevier Lakes. Most of the valleys on the Colorado river and its tributaries, excepting the» great valley of the Uinta, and that of the San Rafael, are small, and of little consequence. The Uinta valley, lying at the south base of the Uinta Mountains, contains, probably, 500 square miles of irrigable land ; that of the San Rafael, at least 300 square miles. In the northern part of the Territory, the valleys watered by the Bear river and its tributaries, including Cache valley, "the garden of Utah," can be irrigated throughout; while the strip of land along the west shore of Great Salt Lake is abun- dantly watered by the numerous springs which break forth from the base of the Wahsatch Range. Nearly all of the valley lying south of the Great Salt Lake, as far as the head of Utah THE "WEST IN 1880 — UTAH. 443 Lake, can be watered from that lake and the numerons streams from the Wahsatch Mountains. Farther south, a considerable portion of the valleys of the Sevier can be watered by that stream ; but the latter is by no means sufficient for the reclama- tion of all the area of its valleys. In the western portion of the Territory, there is practically no water ; and the desert valleys must forever remain desert, unless some great climatic change should intervene. The amount of land under irrigation in 1877, was ascertained by Major Powell to be 494.1 square miles, or 316,224 acres. The table below gives the principal cereal products of Utah in 1859, 1869, 1879, as shown in the Census tables of 1860, 1870, 1880 : Crops. 18B0. 1870. 1880. "Vyheat 384,893 754 63,211 90,482 68 9,976 558,473 1,312 65,650 95,557 178 49,117 1 169 199 Rye ' 9,605 Oats . 418,083 Indian ooru 163,342 Ravlev . 317,140 Totals 549,383 770,387 1,977,368 The grazing interest is not as important, proportionally, as in the neighboring States and Territories. This is due in part to the conditions of settlement and the genius of the people, in part to the comparatively small amount of land suitable for this purpose. The Census of 1880 returns 175,000 cattle, 495, 000 sheep, and 4,000 swine. The mining industry is mainly confined to the Gentiles. Very few Mormons have embarked in it. The mines thus far discovered and worked are in the Wahsatch Mountains, east and southeast of Salt Lake City. The metal found is almost . entirely silver, and the ores are mainly galena and chlorides of silver, and the deposits are in the form of fissure veins. During the year 1879, the production of Utah was $5,468,879, all but $211,640 of which was silver, the remainder being gold. The production in 1880 was $6,450,953, an increase of nearly a million. Of coal, the principal sources of supply are the deposits in the valley of the Weber river. In this valley there are a number of openings or beds of a good quality of Tertiary or Cretaceous coal, which, although soft and lignitic, answers well for nearly 444 THE WEST m 1880— UTAH. all purposes, excepting for use in smelting furnaces. It is reported that large deposits of bituminous coal, in the Upper Coal Measures, have been discovered in Castle valley, and in the canons of Grand and Green rivers. The total production of coal in the Territory in 1879, was reported as 225,000 tons^ Iron ores, also, are reported to exist in immense quantities in various parts of the Territory. The population of Utah by the last Census (1880) was 143,907, of which 74,471 were males, and 69,436 were females ; 99,974 were native born, and 43,933 foreign born. The following is the population by counties : Beaver 3,918 Box Elder 6,761 Cache 12,561 Davis 5,026 Emery 556 Iron 4,013 Juab 3,473 Kane 3,085 Millard 3,737 Morgan 1,783 Piute 1,651 Rich 1,363 The railroad system has not yet been highly developed ; yet, since the construction of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads adross the northern part, considerable progress has been made. From Ogden, a road has been built northward and eastward into Cache valley, as far as the Territorial line. Southward from the same 'point, a road runs to Salt Lake City, and thence south by connections, into the southern part of the Territory. The following figures show the extent of the lumber and flouring interests in the Territory : Salt Lake 31,978 San Juan 204 San Pete 11,557 Sevier 5,138 Summit 4,340- Tooele 4,497 Uinta 799 Utah 17.918 Wahsatch 3,937 Washington 4,335 Weber 13,597 Business. Capital. II Amount Paid in Wages. Value of Materials. Value of Products. Flouring & grist mill products. Lumber mills 93 98 $649,950 223,750 265 584 % 90,013 129,349 $1 257,484 203,518 $1,531,738' • 444,843 The class of people inhabiting Utah is not one to encourage railroad building. Each little hamlet is almost entirely self- supporting, and has little to export. Again, they are not, like the average American, a migratory people. There are now 770 miles of railroad in Utah, of which 546 are here tabulated : THE WEST IN 1880 — UTAH. 445 Railboads. Union Pacific, medium gauge Central Pacific, medium gauge Utah Central, medium gauge Utah Southern and extension, medium gauge Utah & Pleasant Valley, medium gauge Utah & Northern, narrow gauge Salt Lake & Stockton, narrow gauge Wahsatch & Jordan Valley, narrow gauge . . Summit County, narrow gauge Total miles Miles Cost Worked. Per Mile. 71.5 $118,200 151. G 119,459 36.5 68,499 158.0 35,000 60.0 30,000 80.0 24,000 37.0 44.0 7.5 546.1 Salt Lake ('ity, the capital and principal city of the Territory, stands on the bench land, a few miles south of the south shore of Great Salt, Lake, and at the western base of the Wahsatph Eange. It is a beautiful city, even if seen by Eastern eyes ; and, when contrasted with the gray waste of sage brush stretch- ing around it, the effect is doubly pleasing. It is regularly laid out, with broad streets, shaded by rows of trees, and watered by little streams on each side. Excepting in the business portion, the houses have ample grounds, planted as orchards or gardens. The features of the city are the great Mormon Tabernacle, which will seat 8, 000 people, and cost $500,000 ; the magnificent temple which is now nearly completed ; and the former residences of the late Brigham Young. It has gas, street railways, and a fine system of graded schools, including the University of Deseret. The place of next importance is Ogden, at the junction of the Union and Central Pacific, the Utah Northern, and Utah Central Railroads.. It is a rapidly .growing. place. Besides being an important railroad centre, it is in the midst of a rich agricult- ural region. Much attention has always been paid by the Mormon priest- hood to education. In 1875, there were in the Territory 260 school houses, in which 398 teachers were employed. Out of a total school population of 33,168, the average daily attendance was 12,916. There is one so-called "University," that of Deseret, located at Salt Lake City. It was organized in 1879, but has not yet developed more than a preparatory department. In 1875, it had eight teachers and 179 students. It is wholly under Mormon management. 446 THE WEST IN 1880 — UTAH. By far the larger proportion, probably at least four-fifths, of the inhabitants of Utah, are Mormons ; and nearly all the church property is theirs. The rest are distributed among other religious denominations, including Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists, in the above order. In 1875, there were twenty newspapers published in Utah, of which five were dailies. Of these, four were published in Salt Lake City. In 1880, there were in the Territory three National banks, with a total capital of $200,000, and outstanding circulation amount- ing to $192,544, besides eleven private bankers, using $206,000 capital. ^ From the returns of the Tenth Census, the following figures regarding the valuation and taxation of the Territory are taken : Total valuation (assessed) $24,985,072 Temtorial tax for general purposes 74,958 Territorial tax for school support 74,958 School district tax 67,326 No county tax is levied for school support. These taxes are exclusive of and additional to the system of tithes which the Mormon church collects from all its devotees. The progress of Salt Lake City in population since 1860, the total assessed value of real estate and personal property, the estimated true value of the same, the total tax levy, and the total debt in 1880, is shown as follows : City. Popul'n 1860. Popul'n 1870. Popul'n 1880. Total As- sess'd Value of Real Estate and Personal Property. Estimated True Value ol Real Estate. Total Estimated True Value of Real and Personal Property. Taxation. Total Levy Total Debt. Salt Lake City . 8,207 la,854 aO,T68 ST,304,325 $7,746,131 $10,328,174 8124,174 $67,000 There are but few Indians in the Territory ; and, excepting the Uinta Utes, most of them are of a low type. The Uinta Utes, numbering 430, occupy a large reservation on the Uinta river, at the south base of the range of the same name. Besides these, there are a few small bands allied to the Shoshones, and popu- larly known as "Diggers." They are found scattered over the plateaux in the south and east, and in the desert valleys of the western part of the Territory. A few Bannacks, who have been converted to Mormonism, lead a semi-nomadic life, in the northern part, about the head of Great Salt Lake. The total number in the Territory is estimated by the Indian office at 820 ; but this is probably far below the truth. THE WEST IN 1880 — NEW MEXICO. 447 CHAPTER XX. TEEEITOET OF IfTEW MEXICO. The traveler in New Mexico feels that he is in a foreign land. Nearly all of the people are of Spanish descent, speak the Spanish language (though by no means pure Castilian), and have the manners and customs of the Spanish of two or three 9,000 to 10,000 3,200 10,000 to 11,000 1,800 11,000 to 12,000 700' Elevation, ft. Square miles. 3,000 t > 4,000 2,000 4,000 to 5,000 53,000 5,000 to 6,000 .38,20lJ 6,000 to 7,000 23,180 7,000 to 8,000 6,500 Nearly one-half of the area of the Teiritory is between 4,000' and 5,000 feet above sea level. New Mexico has a very varied, uneven surface, with great extents of plains, broken by small ranges and groups of mountains. The northeastern portion consists of a part of the great plains. South of the Canadian river, these rise into the THE WEST IN 1880 — NEW MEXICO. 449 great plateau known as the Llano Estacado, which ranges in elevation from 3,500 to 5,000 feet. The surface is grassy, but is almost absolutely without water. W-est 6f this plateau is the narrow, fertile valley of the Pecos, between which and the Rio Grande the country is mainly dry and sterile, while water is extremely scarce. The surface is nearly level, but is broken here and there by a few groups and short ranges of low mountains, themselves nearly as sterile as the desert at their bases. The Sangre de Cristo range, which in Colorado has an elevation of about 14,000 feet in many of its peaks, extends southward half way through New Mexico, with a gradual diminution of altitude, separating the plains on the east from the valley of the Hio Grrande on the west. The northern part of the Rio Grande valley consists of the southern portion of the San Luis park, or valley, the greater portion of which is embraced in Colorado. In this Territory, the soil of this valley becomes yet more sandy, and the vegetation sparser and more desert-like than in Colorado. At its foot the valley is terminated abruptly by an outflow of volcanic rock, through which the river has carved a narrow course. Below this canon the river has a narrow valley, which extends ^O'^n to Fort Craig. Thence it is in canon, or a very narrow valley, beyond the limits of the Territory. West, of the Rio Grande, in the northern part, the great Southern spur from the San Juan Mountains of Colorado enters the Territory, and extends southward in a broad mass as far as latitude 35° 30'. The rest of this western half of the Territory consists of plains and plateaux, broken by numberless ranges and groups of mountains, some of considerable height. Among them the range known as the Zuni Mountains is perhaps the most important, rising to a mean height of about 12,000 feet. These plains and plateaux are for the most part covered with grass, but become more arid and desert-like toward the northwest. The higher mountains are everywhere covered with forests of coniferse. The rivers of the Territory are few and unimportant for other purposes than irrigation. The Canadian heads in the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Range, and flows off to the eastward. The Rio Grande, which Is by far the largest stream, heads in the San Juan Mountains, in Colorado, and pursues a course nearly due south down the Territory. It receives nearly all 450 THE WEST IN 1880 — NEW MEXICO. its supply of water from the mountains about its head, and is joined by no tributary of any magnitude in its long course through New Mexico. Indeed, the net result of its journey across this Territory is a considerable loss of water owing to evaporation and sinking in this arid region. It has been known to sink entirely into the sands of its bed, in the southern part of the Territory. In the southwestern part are the sources of the Gila, and, farther north, those of the Colorado Chiquito, both of which are branches of the Colorado of the West. The leading feature of the climate is its aridity, which, owing to its more southerly position and less altitude, is much greater than that of Colorado. The mean annual temperature ranges from 45° to 64° in the plain and valley portions, decreasing, of course, on the mountains. The rainfall in the valleys and on the plains is very slight, ranging from eight to twenty-two inches annually, an amount nowhere sufficient to produce any useful crops, except the grasses, without irrigation. Snow very rarely falls, except on the mountains ; indeed, a fall of four inches, in the level country, in the winter of 1880-81, was a phenomenon almost unprecedented. With so arid a climate, it is a singular fact that New Mexico has very little desert land ; nearly all the plains and plateaux are covered with gramma grass, that most nutritious of food for cattle and sheep. While there is an abundance of sage brush for all practical purposes, it does not, as in other parts of the West, even in those which are much less arid, crowd out the useful grasses. The higher mountains are covered with forests ; but they are by no means so extensive as in Colorado ; nor do they furnish as large or as valuable timber. Some of the plateaux are par- tially covered with pinon pine and a stunted species of cedar, both of which trees are peculiar to an arid climate and are of little economic value. Throughout the Territory, large game is scarce. The species found are not characteristically different from those of Colorado, excepting that those peculiar to an arid climate become rela- tively more abundant. The short, sharp bark and prolonged wail of the coyote are heard more frequently ; and the traveler must take greater heed to his steps to avoid treading upon rattlesnakes. The climate of New Mexico is adapted to the growth of all THE WEST IN 1880 — NEW MEXICO. 451 cereals and fruits of the temperate zone. Corn, which can be cultivated in only a few localities in Colorado, can here be ripened almost anywhere. The extent of arable land being here, as almost everywhere in the West, a question of water, it is thereby limited. The utmost amount possible to place under irrigation, by utilizing aU the contributions of the streams with the utmost economy, is estimated to be not more than five per cent, of the area of the Territory, or 6,060 square miles. This is distributed along the bases of the higher ranges of mountains and the valleys of the few streams of the Territory. Agriculture will probably never be a leading industry of New Mexico. It will be, as now, far eclipsed by the grazing interest, which, even under the lazy Mexican regime, is a large and important industry. In 1880, there were in the Territory no less than 400,000 head of cattle and 5,000,000 sheep. The climate is so mild that neither cattle nor sheep require shelter or feed during the winter. The table below presents the statistics of cereal products of New Mexico in 1859, 1869, and 1879, as given by the Census Bureau : Cbops. I860. 1870. 1880. Wheat 434,309 1,300 7,346 709,304 6 6,099 353,823 43 67,660 640,833 10 3,876 706,641 Rye Oats 240 156,257 Indian corn 633,786 Bailey 50,053 Totals 1,158,264 1,065,233 1,546,977 The surface geology of the Territory is quite complicated ; and to give a sketch of it in any way approaching detail would far transcend the space allowed in this work. More than half of the Territory, including the Llano Estacado, the plains, and a large proportion of the plateau region, is covered by the Cretaceous formation. In many of the canons of the latter, the Trias, and even the Jura, is exposed. The plateaux of the southwestern portion are Eozoic, as are also most of the mount- ain ranges of the Territory, with the earlier stratified formations exposed at their bases and on their flanks. There are outbursts and fields of volcanic rock covering considerable areas at the 452 THE WEST IN 1880 — NEW MEXICO. foot of San Luis valley, between the Rio Grande and the Guada- lupe Mountains, and in the western part, about Mount Taylor Under the old Mexican and Indian regime, little was done toward a development of the mineral resources of the Territory. The comparatively small white population, which has been but slowly increasing since the acquisition of the Territory by the United States, has been hampered very much in this direction by the countless land grants which have been continually crop- ping up to disturb and invalidate titles. The grants appear to be of two kinds ; those which, in terms, convey the min- erals to be found on the grant, and those which do not. The latter form by far the larger proportion of the whole ; and recent rulings of the courts are to the effect that they do not cover min- eral land, even if it be included within the limits of the grant. It is unnecessary to say that these decisions are supported heartily by the Anglo-Saxon element of the population. There is no longer any danger threatening the.titles to mineral lands, from an unconfirmed grant of this class. From this and other causes, among them the great interest in mining- which has recently arisen, and the extension of railroads into the Territory, the development of the mineral wealth of New Mexico has been commenced in earnest, and with the most flattering results. The Territory contains a number of very rich placers, among them "the "Old" and "New Placers," which tave been worked in only a small way, owing to a scarcity of water and want of capital. The latter is now forthcoming ; and great works are in progress to bring water from a distance to these deposits. Thousands of mineral lodes have been discovered and located ; and many are already being worked with profit. The most pro- ductive district at present is probably that of Silver City, toward the southwestern part of the Territory. The total production for the year 1879 is estimated by Wells, Fargo & Co. as— gold, $19,800; silver, $603,000. In 1880, they report a total of $711,300, nearly all of which is silver. Besides the precious metals, New Mexico is destined to be a large producer of copper. Several rich mines of this metal have been discovered, and are now being worked. Among them is one on the San Pedro Grant, which consists of a bed thirty feet in thickness of ore which runs about fifteen per cent, of copper. THE WEST IN 1880 — NEW MEXICO 453 Until within a year or two, the Territory was without railroads. Now, at the beginning of 1881, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Ye road, entering at the north, over the Raton Hills, has traversed two-thirds of the width of the Territory, following generally the course of the Rio Grande. The Southern Pacific Railroad, coming from the west, has reached a junction with the former. Other roads are projected, which, if completed, will afford easy communication with all parts of the Territory. In 1880, the Territory contained four National banks, with a total capital of $400,000 and an outstanding circulation of $355,670, and five private bankers. The population of the Territory is 119,563, of which 64,499 p,re males, and 55,064 females. Of the total number, more than one-half are Mexicans, and about 9,000 are Pueblo Indians, who, by the terms of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, are American citizens, although still under tribal organization. The population by counties is as follows : " Bernalillo 17,325 Colfax 3,398 Dona Ana 7,612 -^, cootO'-'CDoot-ioo 5 :o t- eo t- Tp o o IS 03 ■g»Sg Si?!!) « 0) d . 3) ~ d ?^-^ O'" §m o o t-io lO p 1-1 iQ 00 t-i t* OJ O QD 55 o) in tJi -T? a 300a-i- ^C^iA 5i OS 00 Oi -^ QO c ■^ S '* 00 T-l (-^ incDrHi-iCOMTHfiOffl t-THiA ^ iH iH ITS QD *> «s (K in o CO i£5 oi CO t- oi so oiin tH OD S OD ?D OD -la ooiQgoininowoooooioiniftOiooQQO ^_ocoooscocci-iiOrHOJ d >■ d So ^ thm -t-e* -(N ■ •THOt^'^ -th -coiNieo t- O g t- -r" Q « lO iH r-l in SD t- so Sf? «3 ifS ■'^ OO t- IN rt t- 1-1 (O 00 "* t- c5 in -^ T-H o o CO o* (o ©S w ■^ i-H Oi so 00 co S ;^ ®_ fl p 3 "^a;W°- (N-r-l MOti-t a-iKMascot-qsTHMt-intDcOrtQ i^QD|proo>gTttt-® (Dinin 25 3iOiOQ«DOQOQQOOOQinQOQQOOOO 3C*mincnoincooomooot-o<=iOQQmoo 3(NOi-i'*OaO(NCOt-OOcDOQOT-iOTin^QOi-it-M (!coOiio»— T-iinOCTtoooiOc^t-eoir >l C- m lO 04 OD tT to O CO in » t- r-1 C* f i-H ■*«N »n TPODT-<(N7-l««THOCO-i- DOOlO'-'OiinCST 30 saa E _2J eJ fO M 0) so 1 03 >d a -tj"a3 .2 a IP ■ 9 I 141411 5 e-s e ■ CO 3 ■a a 1) tp a> s oj'o s o a S 0) «s S S ft I f^ J jI? Ph CO 02 03 e IS ? 488 THE WEST IN 1880 — OREGON. The salmon fisheries constitute an important interest to the State. It has been developed but a short time, and yet has grown into an extensive business ; a large amount of capital is invested ; and it affords employment to a great number of persons. Fish prepared for market, has become one of the principal exports of the State, and an important part of its commerce. According to Professor Goode, special agent of the Tenth Census on Fisheries, 538,587 cases of salmon were packed in Oregon in 1880. This number represents, on an average, three salmon to the case, or 1,615,761 salmon. Each salmon, when fresh,' weighs about twenty-two pounds, a total of 35,546,742 pounds. Adding the salmon salted, or consumed fresh, and we have a total of 36,600,000 pounds as an estimate of the total product of the Lower Columbia for the year 1880. Not half a million pounds of this is made of species other than the Quinnat Salmon (Oncorhynchus chouicTia). The total sum paid by the canners to fishermen in 1880, for salmon, is about $807,880, or fifty cents each. The total value of the pack, estimated at $4.50 per case, would be $2,423,641.50. Below is a table showing the number of cases of salmon packed in 1878, 1879, and 1880, tabulated by rivers or districts : NLMBBB OF CASES PACKED.' EiTEBs oft Districts. ]878. 1879. 1880. Columbia 445,000+ 34,017 120,000 448; 000 1.8,855 ' 74,000 9,000 4,000 539,587 Sacramento 70,000 80,000 10 000 Frazer's Rogue Smith's 4,277 10,500 7 500 Eel 6,250 Umnqua 1,000 Linslow 12,000 5,420 5,000 Gray's Harbor 5,000 Seattle 3,000 ' 10,000 Alaska 7,750 12,000 Totals 643,964 566,855 . 727,387 Much of the area of Oregon has been, within quite recent times, the scene of active volcanic disturbances. It is said that several peaks of the Cascade Range are still smoking. This range is entirely built of volcanic material. The series of • Many of these figures are merely approximations. + Cases of 48 pounds each. THE WEST IN 1880 ^OREGON. 489 valleys lying west of it are floored mainly with the Tertiary formation ; while the Coast Range and the spurs connecting it with the Cascades are of the Eozoic age. The narrow strip of low land along the coast is overlaid by the Tertiary formation ; while Cretaceous beds appear in the valleys of many of the streams cutting through the Coast ranges. The volcanic mass of the Cascade Range extends eastward up the Columbia, forming the floor of its valley, nearly up as far as the Blue Mountains. This volcanic area, which here in the lower country takes the form of basalt, follows up the Snake river through the gorge by which the stream passes the Blue Mountains, and Spreads above this point to a considerable breadth, following up the valleys of many of the branches of the river. The region drained by the Malheur and Owyhee rivers is nearly all overlaid by basalt. The Blue Mountains are Eozoic ; while Tertiary appears in several places along its base, including the valley of the <3rrande Ronde. The region between the head of the Deschutes and John Day rivers is Cretaceous. Most of that part of the State included within the Great Basin is overlaid with Tertiary, through which rise short, isolated ranges of Eozoic rocks. The surface geology of the State is quite complicated, and has as yet been studied only in its general features ; as all the informa- tion which we have on the subject is derived from a few hurried explorations. The mineral wealth of the State has not as yet been developed to any great extent. Grold placers have been worked for a long time in Jackson and Josephine counties ; and large amounts have been realized from them. In Grant and Baker counties extensive placers and quartz lodes have been discovered. The product of gold and silver averages at present a little over $1,000,000 annually. Copper has been found at several points in the southwestern part of the State, both in combination and native. Iron ore is abundant all over the State. Coal is found in beds of great thickness at Coos Bay, on the Umpqua river, on the Yaq[uina, at St. Helen, and in several other localities. 490 THE WEST IN 1880— CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER XXV. STATE OF CALIFOENIA. California was one of the earliest settled regions of the United States ; but it was only when it became a part of the United States that its enormous resourceSj both of the precious metals and of its soil, were developed. Its rapid settlement, which is without a parallel among the States and Territories of the country, has been due to its enormous deposits of the precious metals ; while its present prosperity and the assurance of its continuance are given by its marvelously rich soil. California is bounded On the north by the parallel of 42° north latitude ; on the east by themeridian of 120° west of Greenwich, and by a line drawn from the point where this meridian inter- sects the 39th parallel of latitude southeastward to the Colorado river, near Mojave City, and the course of the Colorado river. The southern boundary is ia line driawn from Fort Yuma, slightly south of west, to the Pacific coast ; while the Pacific ocean forms the western boundary. The neighborihg States are : On the north, Oregon ; on the east, Nevada ; and, on the south, the peninsula of Lovrer California. This part of the present atea of the United States was first discovered by Ciabrillo, a Portuguese navigator in the service of the Spanish government, in the- year 1542: He explored the coast as far north as Ga,pe Mendocino. Thirty.six yeiars later, Sir Francis Drake, an Englishman, landed on the coast, and took possession of it ip the name of Queen Elizabeth. This claim, however, was never ahstaihed ; as the Spaniards continued the work of exploration; and rapidly settled in thfe country. The first settlers entered the country from Sonora, Mexico, by way of Arizona and the deserts of Lower California. The first settle- ment was made at San Diego, from which colonies were rapidly pushed 'northward as far as Monterey and the Bay of San Francisco. With these parties of colonists, there were a number of Jesuit fathers, zealous in preaching and proselyting, who THE WEST IN 1868— GALIFORKIA, 491 found aa ample field for tkeir labors aaaeng the mild and peace- able Indians along the coast. Under the infliaence of these priests the Indians were rapidly converted, and instructed in the arts of civilization ; an4, at the time that California became a part of the United States, these Indians were very largely in a self-supporting condition. At this time we find a patriarchal condition of society throughout the southern portion of the State, while the northern portion, north of the Bay of San Francisco, was almost without inhabitants. In Southern California the land was parceled out into huge ranches, which were devoted to the raising of cattle and sheep. Each ranchman had a small army of vaqueros, who were very largely Indians. These, with their wives and families, formed in many cases extensive settlements, over which little kingdoms the proprietors exercised a mild, patriarchal sway. Hospitality was their cardinal virtue. The traveler, wheUier accredited or not, was sure of a welcome. Everything that the ranch afforded was at his service. Food, shelter, provisions for his journey, a fresh horse in exchange for his jaded one, were furnished him as a matter of course. The tone of the country was that of easy, affluent indolence — the condition of life to which the genius and disposition of the inhabitants, the climate, and the ease of obtaining the necessaries of life, all contributed. It was a lotus-eater' s paradise. In 1822 the Spanish power in Mexico was destroyed, and with this destruction the power of the Jesuit missions in California began to decrease ; but it was not until 1845 that they were finally abolished. Meantime American settlers had been gradually entering the State, and as gradually changing the character of the people and their habits and modes of life. The lazy and indolent Spaniard and Mexican could not hold his ovna against the resistless energy of the Anglo-Saxon. Hunters, trappers, and gold-seekers were entering the State, but not with that rush which the years of 1848 and 1849 witnessed. Still, at the time of the cession of this country to the United States by the treaty of Gruadalupe Hidalgo, in 1848, it contained a considerable element of Anglo-Saxon population. In October, 1842, Commodore Jones, of the United States Navy, supposing that war had been declared between Mexico and the United States, entered the harbor of Monterey, carried the fortifications, and declared California a Territory of the 492 THE WEST m- 1880 — CALIFORNIA. United States, He, however, soon discovered his error, and was prompt to apologise and to return the power to the Mexican, authorities. In 1846, war having been declared between the United States and Mexico, Monterey was again captured ; and after that it was held. The United States troops also took pos- session of San Francisco, Sonoma, and Sutter's Fort. During the year there was considerable fighting between the United States and Mexican troops in the southern part of the State,, which was terminated only by the treaty of peace with Mexico. The State was admitted to the Union on Sept. 9, 1850. In February, 1848, gold was discovered at Coloma, in a mUl race on Sutter's Ranch. The discovery was the signal for the greatest stampede, probably, that the world has ever witnessed. In all parts of the United States, and even in foreign countries, the merchant left his counting house, the mechanic his tools, the farmer his plough, and all joined in the rush to this new El Dorado. Men of all grades and conditions of society, of all trades and professions, and of all nationalities, flocked to the land of gold. The troops stationed in California deserted en masse ; even the officers, seized with the prevailing fever, threw up their commissions and went to the mines. , They went by sea, across the Isthmus, and around the Horn ; they made the perilous journey by land. From, a few thousands in 1848, composed almost entirely of farmers and cattle raisers, the population increased in four years to over 250,000, a large proportion of which were energetic, daring, reckless men, mad in their pursuit of gold. As a consequence of this rapid increase in population, the prices of the necessaries of ;life rose to almost fabulous proportions. Labor was in the utmost demand, and commanded extraordinarily high wages. Grambling and its attendant vices were almost universal. Whole squares in San Francisco were devoted to gambling houses; and theft and murder were common in the streets. For a time the worst elements of society had almost unlimited control. Almost any crime could be committed and go unpunished. Finally, however, when this state of affairs became unbearable, the better elements of society organized, for mutual protection, into a vigilance committee ; and, after a short, sharp contest with the disturbing element, it was conquered. Many were hung ; and the remainder were forced to leave the State to find new fields for the practice of their professions, in Nevada; Montana, and other sections of the West. THE WEST IN 1880 — CALIFORNIA. 493 It was a desperate remedy, and is only to be excnsed by the desperate condition of affairs. But, from all accounts, it appears that the vigilance committee used their almost absolute power wisely, and turned it over to the legally constituted authority as soon as this could be done with safety. The area of the State is approximately 159,000 square miles. Its mean elevation above the' sea ia, about 2,800 feet. The elevation ranges within very wide limits in different parts of the State, from sea level to nearly 15,000 feet in the highest peaks of the Sierras. The following table shows the approximate area lying between contour lines run at intervals of 1,000 feet: Elevation, ft. Sq. miles. Prom sea level to .1,000 43,000 1,000 to 2,000 37,000 2,000 to 3,000 ■ 32,000 3,000 to 4,000 18,000 4,000 to 5,000 13,500 5,000 to 6,000 9,500 6,000 to 7,000 6,000 Elevation, ft. Sq. miles. 7,000 to 8,000 3,900 8,000 to 9,000 2,500 9,000 to 10,000 1,600 10,000 to 11,000 900 11,000 to 12,000 600 12,000 to 13,000 500 Above 13,000., 300 Its surface is extremely varied. Naturally it divides itself into five great divisions : a narrow strip along the coa'st ; the coast ranges, which, running parallel with the coast, have a general northwest and southeast trend ; the Great Valley of California, drained by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers ; the great mountain wall of the Sierra Nevada, and the deserts of the Great Basin, which lie east of the latter. The Pacific coast region is, for the most part, narrow ; broadening in certain places, however, with the valleys which run up into the coast ranges. It is an extremely beautiful and fertile portion of the State. Some of the valleys south of the Bay of San Francisco are noted for their vineyards and orchards. The Coast Range, which is more or less continuous from Washington Territory to Lower California, consists of a great complexity of single ranges and ridges, in many places making up a total mountain mass of great breadth. It ranges in height from 6,000 to 8,000 feet in the northern part of the State, down to 3,000 or 4,000 feet near the Bay of San Francisco. South of the bay it again rises to heights of 5,000 feet, decreasing, however, in the southern part of the State, and falling down into mere hills. Within the system of mountains, there are many fine but narrow vaUeys. The Bay of San Francisco occupies a gap in this system, through which the great water system of the Sacramento finds a place of exit. The Great Valley of California occupies fully 494 THE WEST IN 1880— CALIFORNIA. one-tenth of tlie area of the State ; and, with the exception of the counties about the Bay of San Francisco, it contains prob- ably fifty per cent, of its population. Its surface is extremely level, excepting near the margins, where the approach to the mountains is indicated by slight undulations. Its northern half is watered by the Sacramento and its branches; its southern half by the San Joaquin. The former stream has the curious characteristic of flowing upon the summit of a slight ridge, produced by the deposits of its waters. The Sierra Nevada is the mother range of the Pacific slope. Commencing with the Cascade Range, in British Columbia, it stretches, with scarcely a break, to the southern part of California. In Washington, Oregon, and Northern California, it is a volcanic range, above which tower tall, conical peaks, the cones of living or extinct volcanoes. One of these is Mount Shasta, in Northern California. It rises above the surrounding mountains 6,000 to 8,000 feet, its summit being 14,442 feet above the sea level. A hot spring upon the summit shows that the volcanic fires are still slumber- ing not far' beneath. Westward from Shasta run off heavy spurs toward the coast, connecting with the ranges of the Coast system, and forming the northern limit of the Great Valley. Southward the range rapidly falls, and a gap gives exit to the head waters of the Sacramento, known here as Pitt river. Beyond this gap the range rises gradually as we trace it south- ward. Donner Pass, by which the Union Pacific Railroad crosses the range, has an elevation of 7,091 feet ; while peaks in its vicinity rise to 11,000 feet. The highest part of the range is near latitude 37°, where there are many peaks above 1,4,000 feet in height, and hundreds exceeding 13,000 feet. Passing this culminating region, the range suddenly falls, affording passes at an elevation of between 3,000 and 4,000 feet, and becomes confused with the Coast ranges, which here sweep around to the eastward, forming the southern limit of the great valley. In this region the complexity of the ranges is extreme, and defies analysis. Most of them are low, only "one exceeding 4,000 feet in height. This is known as the San Bernardino Range, the central peak of which looks down from a height of 6,000 feet or more upon the arid expanse of the Mojave Desert. To the westward from its crest the Sierra Nevada has a great breadth of foot-hills, descend- ing, by long, sloping spurs, from 13,000 or 14,000 feet nearly to sea level; while on the east it descends much more rajridly, THE WEST IN 1880— CALIFORNIA. 49g falling down in many places by precipices or steep slopes from the highest peaks to the arid expanse of the Great Basin. Among the Sierras are many localities of great scenic beauty and sublimity. The first of these is the famous Yosemite Valley, and the less-known Hetchy-hetchy valley. The former is a chasm, eight miles in length, with an average breadth of one mile. Its bottom is 4,000 feet above sea level. The sides are granite walls, rising everywhere very steeply, and in many places perpendicularly, to heights ranging from 1,400 to 4,600 feet above the valley. Among the scenic attractions of this valley, are a number of cliff's more than 3,000 feet in height ; eight cataracts, of which one is 1,700 feet in height ; and several dome- shaped mountains. The valley is too well known to req[uire description here. The Hetchy-hetchy is a chasm similar to the Yosemite, but twelve miles distant, upon the Tuolumne river. It is three miles long, half a mile wide, and walled in by granite cliffs, 1,500 to 2,500 feet high. There are, as in the Yosemite, several fine water-falls, among them that of Hetchy-hetchy creek, 1,700 feet high. In several localities in the westerd foot-hiUs of the Sierras, there are groves of the giant Sequoias, or Big Trees. The best- known of these are those in Mariposa and Calaveras counties ; but they have also been found in Tuolumne, Fresno, and Tulare counties. The Calaveras Grove contains 150 trees, of which ninety are more than fifteen feet in diameter at the' ground, eighty-two between fifteen and thirty feet, and ten which are thirty feet in diameter. The State grove in Mariposa county has been given by Congress to the State as a public pleasure resort. It has 427 trees, of which 134 are more than fifteen feet in diameter, eighteen over twenty -five feet, and three over thirty- three feet. The fifth district is composed almost entirely of the Mojave Desert, which stretches from the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada to the Colorado river, and is limited on the south by the San Bernardino Eange. It is an almost waterless region, if we except a few small springs and the so-called Mojave river, a trickling stream of alkaline water, which, after a tortuous course, alternately sinking and rising again, finally disappears in the sand. The vegetation is extreinely limited, being confined to stunted artemisia, cacti in great variety — the most marked 496 THE WEST IN 1880— OALIPORNIA: species being tlie strange form popularly known as the tree cactus— the Spanish bayonet, or yucca, and the other species characteristic of an arid region. The principal navigable rivers of the State are the Sacramento and San Joaquin. The former is navigable for large vessels to Sacramento, and for small steamers nearly to the head of the great valley at all stages of water : the latter is navigable for small steamers to Fort Miller, near the base of the Sierras, at times of flood. The coast of California is remarkably simple. There are comparatively few bays or harbprs. The finest and most com- modious harbor of the State, indeed, of the whole Pacific coast, is unquestionably that of San Francisco. It is thirty miles long and nine in width, and almost entirely surrounded by high hills. The entrance, through the Golden Grate, is five miles in length, by biit one mile in minimum width. The depth of water at low tide i^ never less than thirty feet at the entrance. Next in importance is the harbor of San Diego, in the southern part of the State. It is protected on all sides from violent winds by high hills. Its entrance is one-half mile in width and of a depth sufficient to float vessels of the largest size at all times. The harbor of San Pedro is inferior, being exposed to south- erly winds ; and the water near the shore is shallow, so that vessels are obliged to discharge their cargoes by means of lighters. Other harbors, which are more or less exposed, are those of San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay,, Drake's, Tomales, Bodega, Trinidad, and Crescent City. The climate of the State is as varied as its topographical features. The Sierra Nevada forms a sharp dividing line between two characteristically different climates. West of it, there are two seasons — the wet and dry — corresponding to winter and summer. Air currents coming from the equatorial regions of the Pacific, laden with moisture, are met off the northwest coast by cold currents from the Arctic ocean and Behring sea. Chilled by contact with the latter, the moisture is precipitated in immense quantities upon the ocean and upon the adjacent coast. This precipitation is greatest in Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington Territory, and decreases as we proceed southward. In the winter the area of heavy rains reaches the SQuthern part of California ; while in the summer it moves northward, leaving THE WEST IN 1880— CALIFORNIA; 497 the soutliern half of California practically without , rain, while the northern half receives but a comparatively small supply. The air currents, despoiled of most of their moisture by contact with colder currents, encounter the. Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada, and by them are drained of what little remains ; and they then continue their eastward course across the great plains and plateaux of Nevada and Eastern Oregon as arid windsj The Mojave Desert is without rain either winter or summer, being cut off from the moist currents during the winter by the Sierra Nevada. Along the coast the annual rainfall ranges from sixty inches in the north down to nine inches near the southern border ; that of the Great Valley ranges in like manner from twenty inches to twelve, nearly all of which falls in the winter and spring, when needed for the crops, while the Mojave Desert receives but four to five inches annually. The temperature also ranges: through very wide extremes, its annual mean being modified by the latitude and by the elevation above the sea. In the lower country the annual mean ranges from 53°, on the northern part of the coast, to 75° at Port Yuma, on the Colorado, in the extreme southeastern part. This is the hottest point in the United States. It is reported that a temperature of 130° in the shade has been recorded there. Along the coast, where. the influence of the sea is felt, there is but little range of the temperature between day and night, or between winter and summer. The annual mean along the coast ranges from 53° to 61°; whUe the difference between the means of the hottest and coldest months is but 15°, and between the highest and lowest known readings of the thermometer is but 73°. At San Francisco the difference in temperature between day and night is seldom greater than 15° Fahrenheit, while the extreme range between the highest and lowest observations on record is but 53°. In the Great Valley, the differences are much more marked, especially in the southern part. The . mean annual temperature ranges from 60° to 67°; the difference between the means of January and July is 33°, and, between the highest and lowest known readings, 103°.: Across the mountain barrier, in the Mojave Desert, the ranges are very great, amounting to 45° between the means of January and July; while the annual mean ranges from 68° to 75° in this region. The atmosphere is extremely arid, exceeding in this respect all other portions of the country. This aridity extends also to the 498 THE WEST IN 1880 — OALIPORNLV. southern portions of the Great Valley, where, in the dry season, the ground bakes and cracks, all vegetation becomes parched and burned under the intense heat and aridity, while the ground is covered with the bones of cattle and other live stock which were not driven to the hills for sustenance. In spite of its equable temperature, San Francisco has not the most delightful climate in the world. For the greater part of the year, i. e., from April to October inclusive, the cool sea breezes which prevail during the afternoon and most of the night, blow dense fogs in from the Pacific. Hence, the Queen City of the Slope is shrouded in mist during a large ■ part of the time. This condition of existence is shared with San Francisco by the whole coast northward to Alaska, and, though to a less extent, by the coast south of the bay. The fauna of the State is not characteristically diflFerent from that of the other neighboring States. In the southern part, it is extremely limited in number, excepting in the most unfrequented localities. In the northern part, game is still abundant in the mountains. Antelope are still to be found on the plains ; and black-tailed deer, elk, and mountain sheep are abundant in certain localities. Bears of various species, including the black and grizzly, are not unfrequently met with ; and the latter is reportea to be much more formidable than the same species in the Rocky Mountains. The flora of the State varies with the topography. In the valleys of the Coast Range the trees are principally oaks of various species, which grow to a great size and are remarkably graceful. Upon the mountains, pines and oaks predominate, while the redwood, fir, and laurel are abundant. Of the scrubby undergrowth, the manzanita is characteristic of the State ; and this, with a species of scrubby oak and other shrubs, forms what is known as chaparral. In places this growth covers the mountains so densely as to make them totally inaccessible. In the Great Valley the principal vegetation consists of nutritious grasses, upon which pasture large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. On the west slope of the Sierras, there are four well- marked belts of vegetation : the lowest is that of the foot-hills, extending up to about 3,000 feet above the sea. Of these the most characteristic species are the digger pine and black oak, which form a sparse growth, nowhere being dense enough to be called a forest. The next belt is that of the pitch pine, sugar THE WEST m 1880 — CALIFORNIA. 499 piae, cedar pine, and spruce. This is peculiarly the forest belt of the Sierras. It is in this belt that the celebrated growths known as the "big trees " are found. It extends from 3^000 feet up to perhaps 7,000 fefet above the sea level. The third zone is that of the firs and tamarack pines, which extends from 7,000 to 9,000 feet above the sea, in the central part of the State. The highest belt of all is that of the flexible pine ; and the summit of this belt marks the limit of tree vegetation in the middle alid northern Sierras. East of the Sierras, the vegetation assumes a diEEerent aspect, resembling that of Nevada and Utah. The dead bluish-gray of the sage gives the color to the landscape ; and forests disappear. The arable lands of California are of great extent. Probably more than a third of the area of the State is susceptible of cultivation. Hittell estimates this area at 40,000,000 acres. A large part of this area of "50,000 square miles lies in the Great Valley and in the valleys of the Coast Range. The climate is such that in the northern part of the State irrigation is unnecessary ; while nearly all of the land suitably situated for cultivation in the southern part can be irrigated by the abundant streams from the Sierras and Coast ranges. Careful examinations made by officers of the United States Engineer Corps and the State engineer have shown that there is sufficient water flowing into the Great Valley to irrigate its entire extent if necessary. The only parts of the State in which the supply of watet is scanty are in the counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego, and the strip east of the Sierras. In the former the water is now probably used to its fullest extent, and all the land which it is possible to bring into sub- jection to the use of man is already under cultivation. In San Diego county the supply of water is not sufficient to irrigate a tithe of that which is otherwise suitably situated for cultivation ; whUe in San Bernardino county the existing supply of water is as nothing compared to the vast extent of fertUe soil. In the first of these counties, water has become so scarce that recourse has been had to artesian wells; and by this expensive method sufficient water has been obtained to irrigate very considerable areas of garden and vineyard. The principal product of the State is wheat ; and its cultiva- tion is the principal industry of the Great Valley. In barley, California leads all the States. Other grains are cultivated, 500 THE WEST IN 1880 — CALIFORNIA. however, "to a large extent ; while the fruit orchards and vineyards of the coast valleys produce no inconsiderable share of the product of the State. The following table, compiled from the Census returns of 1860, 1870, and 1880, gives the product of the principal cereals : Chops. I860. 1870. 1880. Wheat .... . . . . 5,938,470 52,140 1,043,006 510,708 ' 76,887 4,415,426 16,676,703 36,375 1,757,507 1,331,223 21,928 . 8,783,490. 29,017 707 Eve 181,681 QpXs 1,341,271 1,993,325 Buckwheat . 22,307 Barley 13,579,561 Totals 12,026,637 28,487,124 45,135,852 - From this it will be seen that the increase from 1860 to 1870, w;as 133 pier cent. ; from 1870 to 1880, 58 per cent. ; and from 1860 to 1880, 275 per cent. The average value of cleared land in 1880 was $27.16 ; and of timber land, $8.55. The average rate of wages paid to farm hands in 1880 was as follows : Per month, without board $40 93 Per month, with board 27 13 Transient, in harvest without board, per day 3.21 Transient, in harvest, with board, per day 1 71 Transient, not in harvest, without board, per day. , 1 . 95 Transient, not in harvest, with board, per day 1.37 The principal valleys which are of importance from an agri- cultural point of view, are as follows : The Great Valley, which has already been mentioned. This is three hundred and fifty miles long, with an average breadth of forty miles, and ranges in height above the sea from tide-water to 500 feet. On the western side, it receives few streams ; while from the Sierras, on the east, many large streams combine to pour vast quantities of water into the valley. Near the middle of the valley, there is much tule swamp, which, when drained, .makes wheat land of almost fabulous richness. South of Tulare lake, there is some alkali ; otherwise the valley is almost entirely without it. The entire valley enjoys a warm summer temperature ; and most of it is bare of trees. The southern two-thirds do not receive rain enough to ensure the success of crops without irrigation. On the west side of this valley are several small valleys, land- THE WEST IN 1880— CALIFORNIA. gOl locked by the Coast ranges, and tributary to tlie Great Yalley. Among them are the Snisin, Pleasant, Putah, and Cache ; while tributary to the Putah are the Berreyesa, Pope, and Coyote valleys ; and to that of Cache creek are the valleys of Clear Lake and Long, Bear, and Indian creeks. On the east, the streams from the Sierras have practically no valleys until they debouch into the Great Valley. Among -and west of the Coast ranges, there are many very fine and large valleys. In the southern part of the State, however, but a small proportion of the valleys can ever be cultivated, owing to the scarcity of water. In San Diego county, there are valleys of note on the following streams : Sweetwater and Santa Margarita creeks, and San Diego, San Bernardino, and San Luis Rey rivers. In Los Angeles county, the principal valleys are those of the San Juan and Alisos creeks, and the Santa Ana, Coyote, and San Gabriel rivers. The Santa Ana is the largest stream in the county ; and yet its bed is dry for many miles in the dry season. The San Gabriel river also disappears from the surface for a considerable distance during the dry season. The Santa Clara river, too, with a total length of seventy miles, is dry for four- sevenths of its course during a part of the year. The Buena- ventura river has a long, narrow valley, twenty miles in length, with an average breadth of not more than one-fourth of a mile. The valley of the Santa Inez river is about thirty miles long and two wide. The Salinas valley is the largest of all of the coast valleys, ninety mUes long, and from eight to fourteen in width. Others in this neighborhood are the Pajaro and the San Lorenzo. These are the principal valleys south of the Bay. North of the Bay, is first the valley of Russian river, forty mUes long and three wide. To this, there are a number of tributary valleys — Green, Dry, Santa Rosa, and others. Several of the valleys north of Russian river are covered with redwood forests, which are practically ineradicable ; and hence the land is of no use for agriculture. The Klamath, which rises in Oregon, has most of its course in this State. The greater part of its valley land, however, is high above sea level, and is more or less exposed to frost. The San Francisco Basin, lying west of the Diablo Range, is the richest agricultural portion of the State. It extends a dis- tance of 130 miles north and south, with a width of about 502 THE WEST m 1880— CALIFORNIA. twenty-five miles. It is broken np by spurs of the Coast Range into many small and beautiful valleys, generally well wooded, and having very rich soil. Of these the valley of Santa Clara is the largest, being thirty miles long and ten wide at its mouth. The Alameda Plain, lying between the Contra Costa Range and the Bay of San Francisco, has a deep, rich soil, well adapted to the growth of cereals and fruits. Between the Contra Costa and the Diablo Ranges, lies a long valley, known in different parts by different names, as Amador, Livermore, San Ramon, Alamo, and Pacheco. It is drained by a number of different streams, in its different parts, from which the above names are derived. South of the Straits of Carquinez, is the Napa valley, forty miles long, by two in average breadth. Next to Santa Clara, this is the richest and fairest of the coast valleys.' Sonoma valley, fifteen miles by two, has a thin, sandy soil, well adapted to the culture of grapes ; while the soil and cliniate of Petaluma valley adapt it particularly for cereals. In the Colorado Desert, there is but very little land suitable for farming, owing to the lack of water for irrigation. The Carriso, San Felipe, and Cohuilla valleys have a very dry climate, ' small rainfall, and are intensely hot in the summer. In the latter, there is a large area, about forty mUes long by ten in width, which is below sea level. At times of very high water in the Colorado, this area is filled by the water of this river over- flowing the low divide which separates them. A plan has been on foot for some time for cutting a canal through this divide, and thus keeping a lake permanently in this valley, with a con- fused idea, that, somehow, its presence will lessen the aridity of the climate and increase the rainfall. How it is to effect this desirable result, however, is not so clear ; and, reasoning from analogy, it does not appear probable that such a result will follow. The presence of the Gralf of California does not appear to ameliorate the climate of Southern or Lower California or Arizona. Indeed, although bordering upon the sea and the gulf, Lower California is as arid a region as there is on the globe. In the Mojave Desert, also, there is little arable land. The narrow valley of the Mojave, that of Tehachipl, Owen's valley, and Mono vaUey, all have small areas of good land. The Amargosa, which sinks in Death valley, has no arable land of any consequence. THE WEST IN 1880— CALIFORNIA. 503 The principal disadvantage of farming in California, which it ■shares with all the States and Territories of the Cordilleran region, is the necessity of irrigation. This is an absolute neces- sity in the southern half of the State ; and,, in the northern half, while not a necessity during a majority of seasons, still farmers are finding that it pays to insure their crops against drought by providing means for artificial watering. Wheat is sown from November 1 to April 1 ; but the bulk is between January 1 and February 15. The most certain crops are those sown early, as they get the full benefit of the winter rains ; while the largest crops are generally those sown late. It is usually sown broadcast ; the harvest is from the middle of June to that of July. The sowing of barley gener- ally precedes that of wheat, taking place at any time during the latter part of the fall and the winter ; and it is usually sown broadcast. The harvest just precedes that of wheat. As a fruit-growing State, Calif ornia ranks very high, as far as quantity is concerned. The quality, however, of many fruits, is decidedly inferior to the Eastern fruits. Apples, peaches, strawberries, pears, plums, apricots, grape^, and olives are pro- duced in large quantities. Of the fruits of temperate climatefe, there are about 400,000 trees, distributed as follows : Apple 2,446,000 Peach 835,000 Pear 356,000 Plum 243,000 Cherry 123,000 . Of the sub- tropical fruits and nuts, there are about 250,000, including almonds, walnuts, figs, oranges, olives, and lemons. The grape and wine interest of the State is a very important, one, and is rapidly growing. The grape region extends from the southern boundary northward to latitude 41°, with an average breadth of 100 miles. It is estimated that there are 21,000,900 grape vines in the region roughly outlined above. They are distributed by counties somewhat as follows : Los Angeles ' 4,000,000 Sonoma 4,000,000 Napa 2,000,000 Sacramento 3,000,000 ElDorado 1,500,000 Solano 1,500,000 Tuolumne 1,500,000 Santa Clara 1,000,000 Amador 1,000,000 Butte bOO.OOO Placer 800,000 San Joaquin 800,000 The following table shows the production of wine for several years preceding 1872, in gallons : 31 504 THE WEST IN 1880 — CALIFORNIA. 1869 2,000,000 1K70 3,700,000 1871 ■. 4,542,000 1860 400,000 1863 800,000 1867 1,800,000 1868 2,600, 000 The grapes ripen about the middle of September ; and wine making immediately takes place. There are several kinds made, among them the "dry," "sweet," "still," "sparkling," "mission," and "foreign." Most of them are strong, and wanting in delicacy of flavor. The " sparkling" wine, or Cali- fornia champagne, is now being produced quite extensively. The area which is fitted to produce these wines is larger than that of France, which produces 20,000,000 bottles annually. Before the discovery of gold in California the State was given over mainly to the raising of cattle and sheep. The flocks and herds pastured over the whole "extent of the Great Valley and the hills and valleys of the Coast Range. Cattle were so abundant and the market so distant that they were valued only for their hides. With the advent of the gold-seekers, this industry languished; and, while it is still a pursuit yielding great and certain profits, it no longer has a primary importance. The great pastures of the State are being rapidly transformed into vineyards and wheat fields. Still, with the growth of other industries, this has not bfeen neglected. The yield of wool in 1872 was 23,000,000 pounds, an increase of 3,700,000 pounds since 1870. In 1873, the State contained 4,000,000 sheep, whose clip was 30,000,000 pounds, according to the. State statistical report. In lt:80 the Census showed that there were in the State six and a quarter millions of sheep, a greater number than in any other State or Territory. The number of cattle has been decreasing since 1860, when the number was 1,100,000. The cattle region at present is in the southern part of the Great Yalley ; though there are many thousand head scattered about the other sections of tlie State. In 1880, the number reported by the Census was 800, 000, being less than in Texas, Kansas, or Nebraska, and the same as that of Colorado. The dairy products of the State amounted, in 1872, to 7,500,000 pounds of butter. The principal dairy section consists of the counties about the Bay, which are accessible to a market. The annual product of cheese is 3, 400, 000 pounds. Of swine, the State contained, in 1880, 1,100,000. In this branch of live stock, it was exceeded only by the States of Texas, Nebraska, and Kansas. THE WEST USr 1880 — CALIFORNIA. 505 The following figures have been obtained by the State Commission of California as the total number of pounds of salmon taken in the Sacramento river for the six years ending Aug. 1, 1880 : 1875 (Aug. 1, 1874, t(5 Aug. 1, 1875) 5,098,781 1876 5,331,423 1877 6,493,568 1878 6,520,768 1879 4,432,250 1880 10,837,400 Bee culture has attained to considerable importance as an industry in the State, although at first it was not supposed that these insects would. thrive in so dry a climate. There were, in 1877, about 30,000 hives, and their number was increasing rapidly. It is not rare for a single hive to make 200 pounds of honey in one season. The geology of the State, in its great general features,, is comparatively simple, and is indicated to a large extent by the topography. A glance at the map of the State shows three broad belts parallel to the coast, roughly outlining severally the Sierra Nevada, the G-reat Valley, and the Coast ranges. As was stated above, the Cascade Range, which enters the State from Oregon, and extends down to the gap of the Pitt river, is a volcaHtc range. Beyond the gap of Pitt river, for a distance of fifty miles or more, basalt predominates in the range. Farther southward the mountains are made up of Eozoic rocks, with here and there an outflow of volcanic material and an occasional outcrop of the Silurian formation. Below the foot of the Great Valley, the Coast ranges also are of Eozoic rocks — as well as the minor ranges which traverse the Mojave Desert. The Great Valley of California is entirely overlaid with the Tertiary forma- tion, excepting that near its upper end outcrops of Cretaceous are seen at the base of the Sierras. The northern part of the Coast ranges are also Eozoic ; while from the latitude of 40° southward they are made up of Cretaceous as far as the southern end of the Great Valley. The valleys in the Coast Range are mainly, like the Great Valley, of Tertiary rocks. To its mineral resources, California owes mainly the proud position which she holds to-day in the sisterhood of States. To that is due directly, not only its rapid growth and development, but the energetic character of her population, which has ■enabled her to overcome the obstacles in the path of her growth 506 THE WEST IN 1880 — CALIFORNIA. and development which otherwise might have proved insurmountable. To that element is due her magnificent system of railroads which to-day connect the most distant parts of the State as well as unite her to the rest of the country. . The first mines discovered were, as everywhere else, placers. The principal of these have been found at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, from the middle to the northern part of the valley. During the rush from 1849 to 1853 and 1854, the yield from these mines was enormous ; while many of them are still worked with profit by the hydraulic process. The cream, however, was long ago skimmed ; and profits from the placers, even in moderate amount, are now to be obtained only by large expenditures of capital. The principal quartz mines are found in the Sierras ; and, while they do not at present constitute the principal wealth of the State, still the gold and silver product of California makes her rank among the first as a bullion- producing State. The gold mines of California were discovered in January, 1849. They reached their greatest production, which was $65,000,000, in 1853. The total production of gold in the State, up to June, 1878, is estimated by Hittell at $1,000,000,000. The following table, taken from the circulars of Messrs. Wells, Fargo & Co. , gives the total production of gold, silver, and lead, during the past four years : 1877 $18,174,716 I 1879 $18,190,973 1878 18,920,461 | 1880 18,276,166 showing an average of between eighteen and nineteen millions, which has been very constant. Of this, at least nine-tenths is gold. The following are the mining counties of the State : Amador, Klamath, Butte, Mariposa, Calaveras, Mono, Del Norte, Nevada, El Dorado, Placer, Kern, Plumas, Siskiyou, Saa Bernardino, Stanislaus, San Diego, Trinity, Shasta, Tuolumne, Sierra, Yuba. These counties, it will be noticed, are distributed very generally over the State, with the exception of the Pacific coast, which is almost without representation. This State has been, and is yet, the scene of the most extensive placer mining upon the continent. Not only has more gold been taken out of these mines than from those of any THE WEST IN 1880— CALIFORNIA. 507 otter state ; but, also, it may be as confidently asserted that more money has been sunken in great hydraulic schemes than any^where else. Placer mines may Ibe grouped into many classes. The first and most apparent classification is into shallow and deep ones ; *. e., those in which the pay-dirt is at the surface, and those in which it is , covered to a considerable depth. Again, they may be classified, according to their position, as hill, flat, bench, or bar placers. The first are those in which the pay-dirt is in or on a hill. Flat diggings are on a flat ; bench diggings, on or in the river bench or bluff ; and bars are parts of the high water channel of streams, left dry by the recession of the water. Placers have also been extensively worked in the beds of streams, by diverting the channels. Placers may also be classified by the means employed to' work them. There , are sluice claims, hydraulic claims, tunnel claims, dry washings, etc. Placer mining is entirely mechanical, if we except the chemical action of the mercury in the sluices, in dissolving the gold. The sluice is a long, narrow box, open at the top, set on a slight incline, and with cleats across the bottom at shory intervals. The pay-dirt is thrown into the head of the sluice, along with a stream of water, sufficient, with the slope, to wash the gravel and sand down. As the stream carries the dirt down, the particles of gold, being heavier than the dirt; falltQ the bottom, and are caught against the cleats or "riffles" where mercury is placed to dissolve them. To bring water to a valuable placer, in many cases, very extensive works have been constructed. Wooden flumes, many miles in length, have beeti built ; while at present, iron pipe seems to be coming into use for the purpose of making flumes. In 1871, according to the report of the State Surveyor General, there were 516 mining ditches; with an aggregate length of 4,800 miles, and giving a daily supply of water of 171,000 miner's inches. There are single hydraulic claims which use 3,000 miner's inches daily, or 60,000,000 gallons per day. The methods of breaking up placer ground and getting it into the sluices, vary with circumstances : on the one hand, we have the laborer with pick and shovel; on the other, a stream of water, under a pressure of several scores of feet head, projected* against the face of the bank. The latter, known as the hydraulic method, is by far the most effective for operating upon 508 THE WEST IN 1880 — C ALIFOKNIA. a large scale. Many placers which, worked in a small way, could not be made to pay, have proved very remunerative under this system. On the other hand, it requires a heavy expenditure of capital before anything is realized. Gold quartz mining is carried on very extensively in various sections of the State. It is probably quite as important in its product as placer mining. It is one of the most uncertain of occupations ; and no amount of experience, scientific knowledge, or prudence, will fully insure the investor against loss. Among the quartz mines which have paid largely may be mentioned the following : Mines, Counties. Total Production. MlHES. Counties. Total Production. Princeton Mine. . . Morgan Mine Eureka Mine Allison Mariposa. Calaveras Nevada. . Nevada. . Nevada. . Nevada. . Nevada. . $4,000,0'9fl 2,800,000 3,000,000 3,300,000 5,600,000 1,000,000 4,000,000 Empire Mine. . . . Houston Hill OsbornHill Gold Tunnel Sierra Buttes .... Eureka Nevada. . Nevada. . Nevada. . Nevada. . Sierra . . . Plumas. . Plumas. . |1, 300; 000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 Massachusetts Hill Fellows Mine .... 2,500,000 1,600 000 ^-JoldHill Mammoili 1,000,000 Silver has been found in many parts of California ; but the only paying mines are east of the crest of the Sierra Nevada. Of these^ the most productive are at Cerro Gordo, Inyo county. Others are in Alpine and Mono counties. Coal is found at several points, but not in quantity sufficient for the needs of the State. The principal mines are in Monte Diablo, which produced, in 1872, 175,000 tons ; and at that time • the production was rapidly increasing. Copper is abundant in various .localities ; while one of the principal sources of mercury in the world is in a few mines located in the Coast Range, known as the New Almaden and New Idria Mines. Lead, in the form of galena, is abundant in most parts of the State. Petroleum has also been discovered in a few localities. In 1850, the population of California was given at 92,597; in 1860, at 379,994 ; in 1870, at 560,247; and in 1880, at 864,686.' Of this number, 572,006 are native born, and 292,680 of foreign Jjirth, there being no less than 51,167 foreign born to every 100,000 native. Over two-thirds of the 105,717 Chinese in the United States are in Calif6'fnia. THE WEST IN 1880— CALIFORNIA. g(j9 Ataong the foreign element are a number of Irish, Germans, Anstrians, English, British colonists, Spaniards, Spanish Americans, and French. It is said oh good authority that not one in twenty of the adult Califo'rnians to be met with in the larger towns is a native of the State ; and nearly all of those who occupy prominent and influential positions in society and business have come from a distance. Every State in the Union every country in Europe, all the British colonies in North America and Australasia, all the countries of Spanish America, and many of the Polynesian islands, are represented. The long and costly journey demanded either money or an adventurous disposition, or both. The people as a class are unequaled in their general intelligence and enterprise. The journey in pioneer times was in itself sufficient to educate a man; and, after his arrival in California, he found himself among a mixed population who had to make allowances for strange customs, and in new conditions, which required new modes of working and new habits of life. The migratory habits of the miners, the large profits of the business, and the small proportion of women (there being, in 1880, only 66,841 women to 100,000 men), have all exercised a strong influence on California society, which, even among the poorest and most ignorant class, has a liberal and cosmopolitan tone. According to Hittell, persons who have lived in California from fifteen to twenty-five years are proud of their State, and carry their pride so far that it is observed as something exceptional in the United States. It is perhaps partly on account of their State pride that the Californians are cordial and hospitable. They want travelers to carry away good impressions of the country. The enjoyment of life is a prominent purpose of Califomian society ; while religion, social display, and the accumulation of money are less noticeable than in most other countries. The prevalent mode of living is luxurious ; and the habits are expensive. In no place is society more free and cordial and ready to give a friendly reception to a stranger than in California. The new comer is looked upon with favor ; and nobody cares whether he belongs to a distinguished family, has moved in a fashionable circle, or possesses wealthy or influential friends or relatives. In no part of the world is the individual more free from restraint. High wages, migratory habits, and bachelor life are not favorable to the maintenance of stiff social rules among men ; and the tone of society among women must 510 THE WEST IN 1880 — CALIFORNIA. partake, to a considerable extent, of that among men, especially in a country where women are noticeably in the minority and therefore much courted. Life in California is very pMblic. Many of the people live in hotels and at large boarding houses. Travelers are numerous ; theatres and balls are abundant, and well attended ; the popula- tion is excitable ; all take the newspapers and are interested in the events of the day ; and the history of the country is full of eventful incidents. Money is abundant and easily earned, and of course spent freely ; and the favorite method of spe.nding it is in public festivals and attending places of amusement. It is gratifying to get at some truth on the Chinese question. The reader will remember, during the agitation of 1876 and 1877, the ridiculously exaggerated statements relative to the increase of Chinese immigration. About that time, Gibson, in his "Chinese in America," declared that there were 200,000 Chinese in California, and at least 75,000 in the city of San Francisco. Others came out with "careful estimates" showing from 150,000 to 275,000 ; and other authorities said that the yearly excess of arrivals over departures was not less than 18,000, and that the ratio of this number was annually increasing. As late as 1879, it has been asserted in Congress that "these people have come in hundreds and thousands, until their number has been increased in the State of California to 15Q,000." Without undertaking to discuss the merits or demerits of Chinese immigration, I call attention to the facts in the case as revealed by the Census, which will enaible the reader to decide for himself whether or not there is any cause for serious alarm, and whether it is probable, as one anti-Chinese orator asserted, that in half a century the Asiatics will outnumber the Americans on this continent.' The utter worthlessness of these exaggerated declarations is shown by the returns of the Census, in which the total number of Chinese in the United States is given at 105,463. Almost without exception, they are engaged in indus- trial or commercial pursuits ; are an orderly, law-abiding people ; and are entirely self-supporting, scarcely ever found in alms- houses, jails, or penitentiaries. These observations are verified by official statistics, municipal. State, and National. So that all valid objections against Chinese immigration must be sought outside of the Census. The following table shows the distribu- tion of Chinese in 1870 and in 1880 : THE WEST IN 1880 — CALIFORNIA. 511 Statb. 1870. 1880. State. 1S70. 1880. California .... 48,790 4,267 3; 326 3,143 1,943 445 234 143 75,025 3,378 9,'513 5,420 1,764 501 3,182 914 1,630 924 Colorado 610 Idaho Louisiana 481 Massachusetts . 237 Nevada Illinois 210 Dakota 238 Utah Washington Other States &Ter. 383 1,436 Wyoming Totals 62,674 105,463 New York. As regards the Chinese population in Oregon, the increase has been much greater, being 186 per cent. ; in Nevada the increase has been seventy-two per cent. In Washington Terri- tory the number of Chinese increased from only 234 in 1870 to 3,182 in 1880— an augmentation of 2,948. In Idaho, a decrease of twenty per cent, is noted ; in Montana, there has been a small decrease of two per cent. In 1870, so far as the Census revealed, the total number of Chinese in all States and Territories other than those mentioned above was only 383. Since then the industrious Chinaman has forced his way into the mining camps of Arizona, where 1,630 were enumerated; into the back alleys and basements of the great metropolis of the country, where nearly 1,000 have been found; and into the silver mines of Colorado, where 610 are given. North Carolina and Vermont are the only two States in which no Chinese are returned. California has an excellent system of State schools, open without charge to all children between five and fifteen years of age ; and the system of instruction and the general management of the departments are reported to be little if any inferior in manner to those of Massachusetts. The teachers are mostly natives of the Eastern States, and are highly capable. The State school tax, according to the Census returns of 1880, amounts to $1,362,005 ; and the county school tax, exclusive of San Francisco county, was $572, 555. The report of the Tenth Census shows that the total assessed valuation of real estate is $466,273,585, and of. personal property, $118,304,451 ; making a total of $584,578,036. This valuation is according to the assessment made by the county assessors, and equalized by the county boards of equalization under the direc- tion of the State Board., In it every species of property is given. Under the head of personal property is included every- 512 THE WEST IN 1880 — CALIFORNIA. thing which is a subject of ownership, which is not included under the heads of real estate and improvements. Hence the franchises of corporations are included in this total. The revenue laws of California declare that "all property must be assessed at its full cash value." By this term is meant the amount at which the property would be taken in payment of a just debt due from a solvent debtor. This definition was taken from the Revised Statutes of New York, and incorporated in the Political Code. Personal property is probably assessed at fifty per cent, of its true value ; and probably not more than one-half of all the personal property is discovered by the assessor. The amount of fire insurance written up in the State on December 31, 1879, and continuing in force on the first Monday in March, 1880, was $225,664,839. The assessed value of improvements in 1880 was $111,536^922 ; the assessed value of insurable personal property was $104,874,755 ; making a total of $216,411,677. According to these figures, the improvements upon real estate and insured personal property were insured in 1880 for $9,253,162 more than they were assessed. Taking the assessed value of real estate to be seventy-five per cent, of its true value, and the assessed value of personal property to be fifty per cent, of its true value, and not counting the personal property which has escaped assessment, the total estimated true valuation of property in California would be $858,307,014. The average per capita assessed value of property in the different counties of California is $676.05. The richest county is Kern, with a per capita of $1,072.21 ; next comes San Francisco, $1,045.60 ; next, Alpena, $1,002.33; next, Colusa, $946.81; Merced, $938.51. The bonded indebtedness of the counties in California, exclusive of San Francisco county, in which the county and city are co-extensive, is $5,621,212, and the floating indebt- edness, $1,992,932; making a total of $7,614,144. State taxation for purposes other than schools aggregates, for 1880, $1,853,112. Taxation for county purposes amounts to nearly double this sum, or $3,486,818. The following tabular statement shows the population of the cities of California of 7,500 inhabitants and over for the last three decennial periods, the total assessed valuation of real estate and personal property in 1880, the estimated true valua- tion, the total tax levy, and the total debt : THE WEST IN 1880 — CALIFORNIA. 513 Cities. Popul'n 1860. Popul'n 1870. Popul'n 1880. Total Asses'd Value of R. E. and Personal Property. Estimated True Value of Real Estate. Total Esti- mated True Value of R. E. and Personal Property. Taxation. Total Levy. Total Debt. Los Angeles . Oaklana Sacramento.. San Fi-ancisco San Joa^ — Stockton 4,378 1,549 12.797 56,802 ' 3,67!)' 5,728 10,500 16,283 149.473 9,089 10,066 11,311 34,556 21,420 ■233,956 12,567 10,287 $ 5.814,141 28,:M8,778 10,504,235 244,477,'360 9,005,658 6,011,098 S 9,550.746 S6,9W,6B7 10,'2»2.3a0 237.851,012 10,107,833 4,081,391 $12,734,328 49,302,222 13,723,093 017,134,682 13,477,110, 5,441,85 $ 168,610 604,;161 420,189 6 449,539 196,889 159,388 $ 810,177 669,128 1,573,000 4,180,000 Totals 79,305 301,139 324,097 $304,161,252 $308,859,969 $411,813,289 $7,998,476 $7,116,918 The bonded indebtedness of the cities of California is very small. Below it is given, irrespective of any sinking fund or credits (the city of San Francisco alone having some $900,000 credit for the payment of debt) : Los Angeles $ 304,000 Oakland 654,000 Sacramento 1,550,000 San Francisco 4,161,500 San ,Ios6 $ Blockton 385,615 Total $7,055,115 Below, I present in parallel columns the amounts of bonds issued since 1860, and the amounts maturing each year until the next century. The following table shows the amounts of bonded debt issued and maturing in years named : Amounts Issubd in Yeaks Named. Previous to 1860 $3,084,000 1860 1861 1862 1863 434,500 1864. 379,000 1865 215,000 1866 197,000 1867 246,000 1868 67,500 1869 68,000 1870 431,000 1871 170,000 1873 ' ' ■ 390,500 1873 360,400 1874... '..■ 701,000 1875 1,036,000 1876 8,000 1877 190,215 1878.;. '. 70,000 1879 11,000 1880 : 6.00 Total $7,055,115 Amounts Maturing in Yzabs Named. 1880 1881 $197,000 1883 110,500 1883 493,000 1884 90,000 1885 173,000 1886 1887 346,000 1888 . 934,000 1889 15,000 1890 355,000 1891 . 210,000 1892 50,000 1893 645,400 1894 843,000 1895 291,000 1896 75,000 1897 365,215 1898 400,000 1899 , 746,000 1900 After 1900 817,000 Total $7,055,115 514 THE WEST IN 1880 — CALIFORNIA. It will be interesting to note the purposes for which this bonded debt was issued. Following are the amounts of bonded debt issued for the purposes named : Funding floating debt $ 1,487,500 Improv'ment of harbors,rivers, and water power 130,000 Parks and public places 475,000 Public buildings 1,156,000 Railroad aid. ; 783,500 Refunding old debt $1,985,615 Schools and libraries 842,500 Sewers 195,000 Total $7,055,115 Following are the amounts drawing rates of interest named : 6 Per cent $3,715,000 10 Per cent $ 281,000 8 " " 768,615 7 " " 2,340,500 Total , $7,055,115 The following table shows the principal industries of Cali- fornia in 1880 : i Business. a Capital, Dolls. Average number ■ of hands employed. Total Amount Paid in--WageB during ttie year, Dolls. Materials, Dolls. ProductB, DoUs. Flouring and grist mill products Gun powder and high explosives Leather curried Leather tanned Machinery Sugar and molasses, refined Totals 149 8 62 77 54 4,346,285 2,434,000 424,150 1,799,900 1,046,689 1,700,000 843 266 218 657 1,143 310 548,777 123,706 127,653 357,093 692,766 205,000 10,847,833 918,816 1,673,881 3,098,163 1,113,931 5,532,000 138,860 ,155,868 .934,350 ,128,723 ,174,548 ,962,000 11,741,024 2,054,995 23,183,524 29,544,349 There are 2,220 miles of railroad in the State of California. The cost of the first 1,550 miles of these railroads is estimated at $113,000,000. According to Nordhoff, one of the most notable and remarkable objects in California is the Central Pacific Eailroad. He characterizes this magnificent and daring piece of engineering as more famous than any European public work : "You take the cars of the Central Pacific Railroad," says Mr. Nordhoff, " at Ogden, at a level of 4,200 feet above the sea; and the locomotive draws your train over many miles of an alkali desert, in parts of which water had to be drawn forty miles for ; the men who built the road ; up the Sierra to a height of 7,017 feet, where the snow lay sixty feet deep one winter while the road was building, and where they actually dug tunnels through the snow and ice to work on the roadbed ; down from the summit, around cliffs, along the edge of precipices, through miles of snow-sheds, through tunnels and deep rock-cuts, across \ \ THE WEST IN 1880 - CALIFORNIA. 515 chasms where yoa shudder as you look down Into the rushing torrent far below— and all this, until you reach the plain of the Sacramento, through a country even yet almost uninhabited, believed ten years ago to be uninhabitable, presenting at every step the most tremendous difficulties to the engineer as well as to the capitalist." The story of the building of the Central Pacific Railroad is one of the most remarkable examples of the dauntless spirit of American enterprise ; and it is greatly to be regretted that the limits of this chapter prevent my going into the details of its history. The commerce of California is exceptionally active. According to Hittell, no country of Europe, and no other State of the new world, consumes so large a proportion of foreign merchandise. Her annual exports range from $65,000,000 to $75,000,000 ; and the cost of imports is the same. The value of imports from foreign countries is about $20,000,000 ; and that from other portions of the United States, about $30,000,000 ; the freights and charges on imports are $5,000,000 ; and the duties exacted by the Federal government, $8,000,000. San Francisco, in the amount of its foreign importations, is the fourth city in the Union, being inferior to New York, Boston, and Baltimore, and superior to Philadelphia and New Orleans. The commerce of this city will be treated of farther along in this volume. 516 THE WEST IN 1880 — PROGRESS OF WESTERN CITIES. CHAPTER XXVI. PEOGEESS OF WESTEEN CITIES. Population seems to seek life for the brain; and such inducement as our cities afford proves too attractive for the rural population. The tendency of modern civilization is to mass population. The strong lights and shadows of our cities, the love of society, the satisfaction of better shelter, better roads, stronger institutions, lead men to crowd together even when unable to be anything but dependents in the system to which they unite themselves. Great enterprises demand massed efforts. The individual often sinks his own will, his own property, his own happiness, present and prospective, in the tenement house of the city, when he might have been an independent man, with a fair competence, had he been content with a rural life. The pre-eminent success of the few in the vast commercial enterprises, in manufactures, in public affairs, tempts those in scattered homes to the centres of population; and hopefulness keeps them there till many of them can not get away. I have referred in the first chapter to the rate per cent, of growth of Western cities. The following table shows the total population of the cities of the entire West in 1860, 1870, and 1880, also the total assessed value of property, the total tax levy, and the total debt : States. No. Popula^n 1860. Popula'n 1870. Popula'n 1880. Total assessed value. Total tax levy. Total debt. Ohio Indiana UlinoiB Michigan 21 12 22 13 11 4 10 6 4 2 2 1 1 6 1 339,500 90,218 227,761 94,007 92,693 17,808 53,871 183,867 12,449 1,881 ■ 4,749 8,207 2,345 79,205 53.5,019 181,8(11 506,633 180,(89 149,338 44,412 112,222 382,944 39, 37 18.524 4,759 12,854 7,048 201,139 760.363 2.52,823 770,244 279 409 227,988 107,647 1.52,576 467,871 65,618 43,622 50,450 20,768 13,705 324,097 17,578 $380,089,918 132,979,1178 176,210,898 132,521,709 91,896.766 53,924,639 42,118,406 186,242,105 9,.307,488 6,995,800 18,627,419 7,304,325 4,180,400 304,161,252 13,143,425 $10,073,280 2,'; 9. ,260 7,12;,741 2.604,310 1,989,047 822,385 1,462,513 4,962 262 355,567 425,511 69i,,613 124,174 176,484 7,998,476 330,.301 $41,408,408 7,274,648 18,750,869 5,543,455 3,690,386 3.004,815 Minnesota Missouri 27,661,867 1,'845,774 477 6M Nebraska 132,000 67,000 112 000 Utah California Oregon 7,115,918 76,500 Totals 116 1,208,561 2,375,709 3,544,659 $1,559,703,526 $41,939,524 $120,419,223 THE WEST IN 1880 — PROGRESS OF WESTERN CITIES, 517 In the detailed chapters, it has been the aim to give the population, assessed value, total tax and debt of each city; and the above is simply a bringing together and presentation in compact form of these facts. At the close of the Revolutionary war the public attention had been already drawn to the rich resources of the Mississippi valley. Even before the constitution was framed, a plan of government had been adopted for so much of the Prairie States as the English owned after the French war. Virginia retained her control of Kentucky lands long enough to separate them in association and in destiny from those which she claimed north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi, but which she relinquished to form the Northwest Territory. Population had followed the water-courses, and spread over the eastern part of the region, so that a State was almost ready for organization at the opening of this century. At that time, steam travel, upon land or upon water, exercised no influence ; wagon roads were but the local convenience of the denser settlements, and had little influence in directing emigrants, who found the beautiful Ohio a highway ready for their use, to bear rudely made craft westward. The Lakes tempted- a bolder class of travel, and those who could afford to equip more permanent boats. The system of lakes upon the north, and the rivers upon the south and the west, together with their intersections, determined the course of the earlier migrations. It may be seen on a good map, that, passing from the Ohio up the Beaver, close to the eastern boundary of Ohio, we can ascend the Mahoning and approach the headwaters of the Cuyahoga. Other rivers flowing into the Ohio, rise near rivers draining into the lakes. The mouth of the Great Miami fixed the location of Cincinnati. The Great Miami interlaces its sources with those of tiie'Maumee. Going up the Wabash and the White, we shall easily get to the Maumee and to Lake Erie, or, reversing the order, pass from the lake to the Ohio. The Illinois river, as ibllowed from the Mississippi up its northern fork, the Des Plaines, would bring one within a few steps of a river that poured into Lake Michigan,' either the little Chicago creek, or the swampy Calumet, near the head of the lake. Still farther north, going from the Mississippi, only short portages were needed to cross from the Rock river or from the Wisconsin to 518 THE WEST IN 1880 — PROGRESS OF WESTERN CITIES. the streams flowing to Lake Micliigan ; a convenience to Indians and to hunters ; but such routes north of the Illinois river were of less value in directing settlers. The relations of the waters, the natural highways just indicated, determined the coui'se of early migration and of those first great efforts for better public ways, the canals. The Mahoning and the Cuyahoga being linked by a navigable artificial channel, a similar one from the Cuyahoga reached th& Ohio by way of the Scioto at Portsmouth. The spade opened ways from the Maumee to the Great Miami, and by way of- the White to the Wabash, and so to the Ohio. The early French explorers, the first traders with the Indians, the pioneer shippers of pork and flour, made use of tbe waterway by the Illinois to the Des Plaines and the Chicago streams in high water; and years later, a canal, enlarged from time to time, has but emphasized the indications of nature. The places where the form of transportation changed had the element of prominence in prospects for future growth. Leaving this, I pass to a second general feature that determined the massing of population. In the southern latitudes of the G-reat Lakes, harbors are mainly practicable where streams have broken an outlet through the usual contour of the shore. The mouth of the Cuyahoga had an early nucleus of the present Cleveland ; the germ of Toledo was amid the Maumee swamps ; Detroit marked a break between the Gr(jat Lakes; and a trading post foreshadowed Chicago. On the Ohio river, a city might have been expected at the mouth of the Beaver; but other circumstances gave Pittsburg its advantages. Portsmouth had early promise, and is hopeful even now ; but Cincinnati has the lead as a metropolis for all that region, located by the natural reasons I have suggested. It is necessary to look for a moment at the hindrances to the operation of 'the causes named for growth of population at spots determined by these causes. Lake Superior not only reached inhospitable latitudes, but emptied by a formidable fall of some twenty feet. Cities were not to be expected oh its shores till the accumulated resources of civilization were brought to bear. The mouths of rivers were often in such swampy surroundings that pioneers must select more convenient spots, even with added travel. The niouth of the Wabash has never fixed a large pop- ulation nearer than Evansville. The mouth of the Ohio has a THE "WEST IN 1880 — PROGRESS OF WESTERN CITIES. glQ city only by enormous outlay of individuals and of corporations. The mouth of the Missouri has no city ; nor has the mouth of the Illinois : Chicago and Toledo would have been left to frogs and to rushes, had they not each been situated where advancing civilization could not pass them, and they must grade up and drain and drive piles and build wharves and warehouses. Moreover, changes come in the development of resources at first unavailable. The abundant richness of the soil exercised but a general influence in massing population in pioneer times ; and coal mines lay long unnoticed. Rich mineral wealth will tempt men to swarm like bees, even though to go again as fickle as the insects, unsatisfied with their hive. So it was.that about 1825 Galena was more than Chicago, and Dubuque, that had been abandoned after the death of the Frenchman from whom it was named, had a new founda- tion. Galena was a little removed from the great Mississippi, which gave Dubuque a double advantage ; although steamboats could reach Galena lead piled on the banks of the Fevre. Great mineral wealth, easily developed, gave the name of Potosi to a locality in Missouri which was so difficult of access that outfits and shipments of its product centred at St. Louis, adding to the prominence of that city. The precious metals drew men to the mountains and the Pacific cities ; and coal and iron mines have sometimes turned the tide of population. Something of an impetus is given to centralizing population by the selection of a locality as a State capital. Columbus, Ohio ; Vincennes and Indianapolis, in Indiana ; Kaskaskia, Van- dalia, and Springfield, successively, in Illinois ; Jefferson City, in Missouri ; Lansing, in Michigan ; Iowa City and Des Moines^ successively, in Iowa ; Madison, in Wisconsin ; St. Paul, in Minnesota; successive selections in young Kansas, resting at last with Topeka ; and first Omaha, then Lincoln, in Nebraska- each had some prestige as a capital city. I turn aside from this thought a moment to call attention to another influence that aided progress back from the water- courses, and which strongly illustrates the steps b'y which we have reached from the condition of a virgin wilderness to the present dense population, with modern roads and swift trans- portation. It was once so tedious to reach the National Capital from the remote States of the West of that day, that a National road of the most advanced type was projected at the expense of 520 THE WEST IN 1880 — PROGRESS OF "WESTERN CITIES. the government, to connect the National Capital with the Western capitals. Leaving the Ohio river at Wheeling, it was surveyed through Columbus, Indianapolis, and Vandalia, to the Missis- sippi. The device of MacAdam, to make roads with pounded stone, was then a new one : he taught the British public to make roads only so long ago as 1820. The road was completed to Columbus ; grading and bridge building were done to Yandalia, when the shriek of the locomotive on the Atlantic coast foretold a better way in the near future ; and the work was abandoned in Jackson' s administration. Communities, like individuals, must not depend upon advan- tages which they do not improve. A capital which is but a capital is soon outstripped by cities to which other advantages may be far more useful. Kaskaskia and Vandalia, for a time relatively important, never had a large population ; Springfield gains by manufactures ; Madison, most beautiful of situation, with lakes all about it, has neither manufactures not- commerce to carry it above the moderate population of a pleasant capital city. Detroit and Omaha each ceased to know any loss of pres- tige from the transfer of the State capitals to other localities, in the prodigious forces they wield in manufactures and traffic. A very curious phenomenon must not be omitted in this generalization of the older West. I spoke of population mass- ing where transfers must take place. In the Ohio river is a fall, or rapid, where, within the space of two miles, the levpl changes about twenty feet. In the spring floods, boats pass in the river channel;, but in the summer drought traffic was impeded until the government cut a channel through the solid rock around the obstruction. This led to the grouping of a large population about the falls of the Ohio. The greater part of it is out of the special boundaries treated in this volume ; but the cities of Louisville, Kentucky, and of Jeffersonville and New Albany, Indiana — separate as they are in municipal relations, and parted into two State jurisdictions— in a grand view of the laws of population, make but a unit, and that gathered about the break in- the Ohio river navigation. Jeffersonville is above the rapids ; New Albany is below. The main business part of Louisville is above the falls connected by street cars with the foot of the canal. In 1849, the glittering mineral wealth of the Pacific coast drew men thither in multitudes. The coast is forbidding. Dana's THE WEST IN 1880 — PROGRESS OF WESTERN CITIES. ggl "Two Years before the Mast" shows what the California <5oast was under Mexican occupation. Ships almost everywhere must then lie off shore, and take their scanty loading by small hoats from the land. At only a few points was th^re a claim of shelter in storins. The captains watched the weather indica- tions, and put to sea for room to meet winds in safety. On that rugged and forbidding coast the water-courses and natural forces had made one grand opening. No wonder that the navigator, wearily looking in vain for a safe inlet for hundreds of miles, was ready to give the broad passage that opened into a land-locked bay large enough to hold all the fleets of the world, the beautiful and expressive name of the Grolden Grate. 303,962 635,428 341,242 12,238 52,881 94,046 10,792 10,982 65,089 69,4.>4 29,143 6,637 602 APPENDIX. ,Next I give the census of 1880 tabulated according to tlie distinctions of race and; color. Observe that the column headed " Colored " comprises only persons of African descent. The heaviest percentage of foreign population is collected in and about the- great manufacturing and commercial centres, and in the very newest of the Western States and Territories. More than a fourth of the population of Massachusetts and New York are of foreign birth, while the ratio in Illinois is less than one-sixth. This census effectually dispels the popular delusion as to the extent of the Chinese immigration. The total Chinese population is shown to be barely 105,465, of which California contains about 75,C00. If to the Indians not now in tribal relations, above enumerated, we could add a census of the Indians of all the various tribes, including- those of Alaska and the population of- the Indian Territory, our total Indian popula- tion would be shown, probably, to be not far from 275,000. CENSUS OF POPULATION ACCOEDING TO BACE AND COLOE. States and Terbitokibs. The United States . The States . Alabama Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts . . . Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire. New Jersey New York North Carolina... Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania — Khode Island South Carolina. . . Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia West Virginia . . . Wisconsin The Territories. Arizona Dakota District of Columbia. Idaho Montana New Mexico Utah Washington Wyoming 43,475,840 43,871. 5.-)6 1,253,771 792,175 571,820 154,587 492,708 137,140 259,684 1,531,816 2,494,295 1,834,123 1,3B2,965 886,010 1,589,178 885,800 690,053 852,137 1,339,594 1,248,429 513,097 1,122,388 1,956,803 354,988 38,613 300,697 909,416 8,871,492 1,396,008 2,803,119 144,-365 3,695,063 203,538 987,891 1,535,657 1,477,133 291,3-J7 1,497,869 600,193 910,073 604,384 24,391 83,383 160,603 23,636 27,638 111,514 99,969 59,313 14,939 Foreign. 6,679,9^3 6,499.784 9,734 10,350 393,874 39,790 129,993 9,468 9.909 10,564 583,576 144,178 381,660 110,086 39^17 54,148 58,883 82,806 443,491 388,608 267,676 9,209 211,578 97,414 25,653 48,294 321,700 1,211,379 3,743 394,943 30,503 587,829 73,993 7,686 18,702 114,616 40,959 14,696 18,265 406,425 180.159 16,049 51,795 17,122 9,974 11S21 8.051 43,994 15,803 5,850 White. 43,402,970 42,714,479 663,185 591,531 767,181 191,138 810,769 130.160 143.605 816,906 3,031,151 1,938,798 1,614.600 953,155 1,377,179 454,954 646,853 734,693 1,783,782 1,614,560 776,884 479,398 2,033,836 449,764 53,556 348,339 1,092,017 5,016,033 867,342 3,117,920 163,075 4,197.016 269,939 391,105 1,138,831 1,197 237 331,218 880,858 592,537 1,309 818 888,491 35,160 133,147 118,006 29,013 35,385 108.721 142,433 67,199 19,437 Colored. 8,680,793 6,518.372 600,103 210,686 6,018 2,435 11,547 26,442 136,690 725,133 46,368 39,328 9,516 43,107 371,451 483,655 1,461 210,230 18,697 15,100 1,564 850,391 145,350 2,385 65,104 631,277 79,900 487 85,535 6,488 604,333 403,151 393,384 1,057 631,618 25,886 2,702 62,421 155 401 59.596 53 346 1,016 233 335 298 Chinese 93,782 4 133 75,132 612 123 1 18 17 309 29 33 19 10 489 8 5 229 37 24 51 91 18 5,416 14 170 909 109 9,510 148 27 9 25 136 11,883 1,630 238 13 3,379 1,765 57 601 3,186 914 Jap 141 Ind's. 66,407 44,566- 313 195 16,277- 164 255. 5. 180 124 MC 246 466 815 60- 848 < 625 15. 369' 7,249. 2,300- 1,857 113. 335 3,803: 63. 74 819- 1,330 130 1,694 184 77 131 352- 992 11 85 29' 3,161 318^1 3,4'iS- 1,391 6. 165 1,663- 9,773 807 4,405 140 APPENDIX. 603 Density of population. In a recent bulletin of the Census Office, General Walker continues his computa- *ions relating to the density of population, in comparison with the corresponding Tesults contained in his article on the Progress of the Nation, in the Statistical Atlas •of 1874. The lowest grade of settlement taken for this purpose is that which contains a population of 2 to the square mile, the Census Office regarding all the region • outside this line as practically unsettled territory. Upon the definition thus taken, the settled area of 1880 is mainly comprised in one large body, stretching from the northern to the southern limits of the country, and from the Atlantic coast westward ito the plains. In this body is comprised 95 per cent, of the total population of the •country. This region has been divided, according to the density of population, into five classes: a population of from 2 to 6 to a square mile, from 6 to 18 to a square mile, from 18 to 45 to a square mile, from 45 to 90 to a square mile, and 90 or more to a square mile. The following table shows the areas in square miles of the different classes of settlement from 1790 to 1880: Yeass. Total area of settlement; 2 or more to the square mile. 1 2 to 6 to the square mile. 2 6 to 18 to the square mile. 3 18 to 45 to the square mile. 45 to 90 to the square mile. 6 90 and over to the square mile. 1790 239.935 .305,708 407,945 508.717 632,717 807,292 979,249 1.194,754 1.272,2.39 1,569.570 83,436 81,010 116.629 140,827 151,460 183,607 2.33,697 260,866 245,897 384,820 83,346 123,267 154,419 177,153 225,894 291,819 294,698 353,341 363,475 373,890 59,282 82,504 108,155 150,390 186,503 241,687 338.796 431.601 470,529 554,300 13,051 17 734 27.499 39.004 65 446 84 451 100 794 134.722 174^036 232,010 820 1800. 1,193 1.243 1,343 ' 3.414 6,828 11,264 14,224 18,302 24,550 1810 1820 1830 1840. 1850 1860 1870 1880 The first three of these groups of population of different density indicate a predominantly agricultural condition. In the fourth and fifth gi-oups trade and manufacture arise, and the classes rendering personal and professional services are multiplied. Of the agricultural groups, the first represents a very sparse population, and this group is mainly along the frontier, in Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, 'Texas, California, Colorado, Oregon and the Territories. A highly successful agricultural condition is indicated by the third group, while •the second group indicates merely the existence of defined farms or plantations and the systematic cultivation of the ground. This latter group is still large in many of the Western and Southwestern States, and in the mountainous regions of the Atlantic slope. The third class is the predominant group in Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, 'Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. Of the New England States, Maine, New .Hampshire and Vermont also have large tracts in this degree of settlement. The fourth group — 45 to 90 inhabitants to the square mile — is found in excess of rany other in Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Now York, •Ohio and Pennsylvania, and, of course, this density of population indicates the .existence of commercial and manufacturing industry, and the multiplication of jpersonal and professional services. Less than 25,000 square miles were found populated with an excess of 90 to the square mile. This group represents a very advanced conditioa of industry, and only 604 APPENDIX. in New Jersey and Rhode Island, where manufacturing and trading villages are numerous, is this found in excess of every other group. At the first census, as th& table indicates, only a few counties were found populated to this extent. The annexation of fresh territory to the settled area has a tendency to increase the- lower groups; at the same time the increase in group 3 has been comparatively' large, while in 4 and 5 it has been larger than ever before. The following table gives the- percentages of increase during the past decade : Percent of iDcrease, Total settled area 23.4 Group 1 66.5 Groups 3.9 Per cent, o( increftEe,. Group 3 17.8- Group 4 33.3- Group 5 34.1 Instructive results may be obtained by canying the analysis further. Classified according to the order and condition of settlement, we have («) the original thirteen States, with those formed from them, Maine, Vermont and West Virginia; (J) Ken- tucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida; (c)the remaining States and Territories. The^ tables presented in the bulletin of these three groups of States show that in group a the increase in settled area was marked at each decade up to 1830, and from that time- down to 1860 the increase was little more than nominal. During this time group 1 never increased at all, the higher densities of settlement not only absorbing all the- current growth of settlement, but steadily encroaching upon No. 1, which has been, reduced from 73,386 square miles in 1790 to 13,500 in 1880, which is comprised in. Maine, New Hampshire and Georgia. In group of States b the total area of settlement has continued to increase without interruption to the present date. Group 1 increased, until 1840; lost heavily until 1870. Since then, owing mainly to the spread of settle- ments in Michigan and Florida, it has increased again. Group 5 — over 90 inhabitants, to the square mile — did not put in an appearance in this group of States until 1880. It consists of 3,360 square miles, comprised in the States of Ohio, Illinois and Ken- tucky. Before 1840 there was no settlement of any note in group of States c, and the only State that boasts over 90 inhabitants to the square mile is Wisconsin, which has 450 miles in group 5. There are many other interesting combinations , relating to the growth of population that a careful study of the bulletin affords, but space- will not permit the further extension of this article. AN INTERESTING DEBT STUDY. The total population, assessed valuation and per capita valuation of the United. States, are as follows; Population. Assessed Valuation. States and Tebeitobies. Amount. Per capita. New England States Middle States 4.010,529 11,766 053 1,5,257,393 18,524,989 606,819 $ 2,652 076 ,586 5,567 073.848 2,369 246 890 6,180 524,614 128,213,629 $.661.27 473 55 Southern States 1.55 29 S3.? 6S Territories 211 29- Total United States; .' , ... 50,155,783 $ 16,897,135,567 $ 336 89' APPENDIX. 605 Tbfi bonded. State and local debt and the annual interest change, the per capita, bonded debt and the pei- capita annual interest charge, I iave cq,ref ully worked out,, ■with the following results: States and Territories. Amount. Per capita. Amount. Per capita. New England States Middle States $ 178,664.977 488.638,665 304.887,805 343,984.183 1,656,051 $ 44.54 41.57 13 43 J3.-17 8.73 $ 9,918 278 29.58T,616 12,683,598 17,078,893 155,692 $2.47" 2.51 .83: Western Stales .98 .2& Total United States $ 1,117.821,671 $ 22.28 8 69,364,077 S 1.38, It will be seen that the annual charge of the debt on the taxpayers of the country- is about the same as that of the national debt at the present time ($69,461,244). It bears heaviest in the New England and Middle States, though the assessed valuation tables show that the per capita /wealth is far higher in the two former than in the three latter divisions. The total bonded State, county, city and township indebtedness of the United States has been analyzed by the Census OflSce. It appears that "railroad and other aid') comes first, representing- 16^^t_ per cent.; funding floating debt, ISy'yy per cent. ; water works, 13^^ per cent. ; refunding old debt, ISyVo P*"^ ''^°''- ' miscel- laneous, HtVt Psi' '=^°*- ; streets, TxVlT P^'^' ^^^^- < '^^^' expenses, e^\ per cent, j public buildings, 4^"^ per cent. ; parks and public places, 3^,-6.^ per cent. ; improve- ments of harbors, river wharves, etc., 3y\ per cent. ; bridges, 3^^ per cent. ; schools and libraries, 3^ per cent. ; sewers, Ij^-^ per cent. ; fire department, ^\ per- cent. ; and cemeteries, y§^ P^r cent. The following table shows the percentage of the purposes for whigh the entire State and local debt has been contracted in the five geographical divisions of the country: Statbs and TEBRrroBiES. New England States Middle States Southern Slates Western States Territories Totals 7.0 70 20.0 3.0 19.0 .0 34.0 040 8.0 65.0 2.0 25.0 100 7.0 63.5 12.5 16.6 0.5 100 4.0 58.0 29.0 15.0 100 SP- SS « '^ OS 22.0 .38.0 7.0 21.0 13.0 26.0 19.8 0.2 3.0 29.0 45.0 22.9 1 11.9 25.0 13.0 60.0 1 33.0 34.0 30.0 3.0 63.0 4.0 9.0 100 3.0 43.0 37.0 16.7 0.3 100 44.0 53.0 0.3 2.7 100 88.0 50.0 3.0 19.0 loa The average rate of interest paid on this debt is 6^2- per cent. Of the total bonded debt, IBYfo- per cent, is located in the New England States, but owing to the lower rate of interest that section is burdened with only 14^4^ per cent, of the total annual charge. The Middle States owe 43j^-^-^ per cent, of the debt other than national, but are liable for 43j%V per cent, of the annual charge; the Southern States, have 18y3^ per cent, of the debt and 18^ per cent, of the charge; the Westera States, owing to the higher rate of interest, have 21^% per cent, of the total debt and! 2MfV per cent, of the ann-ual charge; the Territories have ^ per cent, of the debt ■606 APPENDIX. ^and •^^'L per cent, of the annual charge. The average rate of Interest in the New- England States is 5^^^^^ per cent. ; in the. Middle States, 6 per cent. ; in the Southern States, &j\ per cent. ; in the Western States,, 7 per cent. ; in the Territories, 9A^ per cent. The following exhibit shows the per cent, of debt drawing the several rates of interest, the per cent, issued each year since 1860, and the per cent, maturing each year to 1900: Eate, per cent. Per cent. Date, Per cent. Date. Per cent. 10 2. Previous to 1860 8, Overdue 9 .0004 1860 ,B 1880 3, - 9 .005 1861 1. 1881 2. 8 4. 1863 1. 1882 2, TVi .004 , 1863 1. 1883 2. T3-10 1.6 1864 4, 1884 3. 7 81.7 1865 2. 1885 2. 6^ 1.4 18SB 2. 1886 3. >6 45. _ 18B7 3. 1887 3. by. ■ 5 1868 3. 1888 3. 5 14. 1863 4. 1889 3. 4J4 .6 1870 6. 1890 . 4. 4 .3 1871 6, 1891 4. 3 "4 1.5 1872 7. 1892 6. 3 .2 1873 5. 1893 2. 2 .6 1874 6. 1894 4. tJnspcoified 4. 1875 5, 1895 3. 1876 3. 1890 2. 100 1877 4. 1897 2. 1878 3. 1898 2, 1879 6. 1899 2. 1880 2. 1900 3. TJnepecifled 18. Sub. to 1900 22. Unspecified 18. 100 100 The purposes for which a large portion of our State and local debt has been con- tracted are very useful and beneficial ones, and in the case of railroads and water works may prove remunerative investments. It may, be that large sums of money Have been squandered, but it might be well to bear in mind the wonderful growth of the cities of the United States; that about one-quarter of the population is urban, and that many of the expenditures are but the results of massing of population in large centres of industrial energy. THE VALUE OF AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. Mr. J. R. Dodge, special agent for the collection of the statistics of agriculture, has recently made public some interesting facts relating to the method adopted by the Census Bureau in this and kindred work, and also to some extent pointed out the merits and demerits of the work of the Agricultural Bureau and of the several States which attempt to supply statistics of cereals. Mr. Dodge is unquestionably the most experienced statistician we have in this line of inquiry, and he enjoys a long public record as a most painstaking and exact worker— where exactitude has been possible— but, as he frankly admits, exactness is almost unattainable in agricultural statistics. To collect all the facts of agriculture from millions of farms, on which few records are kept, is quite impossible. A variation of 1 or 2 per cent, from the facts would he considered in a high degree successful, and results varying 5 or 10 per cent, from the facts would not be without value in Mr. Dodge's estimation; but a greater ■departure from accuracy soon brings the statistics to the point of absolute worthless- APPENDIX. 607 iiess. This result, he thinks, is frequently attained in statistics of States, sometimes —we are inclined to think " sometimes " rather mild-in those of the Bureau of Agriculture, and "it is not altogether unknown in the census.- This latter remark is a little ironical, and would indicate that, though greater progress toward accuracy has been made in the Tenth Census than In all preceding efforts in that direction, there is room for more in the future. The statistics of cotton production and cotton area, as given by the census of 1880 are undoubtedly more nearly correct than any heretofore given, and this especially applies to the production, which virtually coincided with the results obtained by private effort. In regard to cereals, Mr. Dodge says that the estimates of the Department of Agriculture are perhaps nearer the truth than the assessors' returns of States. SufiScient data for estimate and a knowledge of local conditions, with a capacity for combination and generalization, may produce more reliable results than a poor census. The facilities of the Agricultural Bureau are limited, and the public demand physical .and mental impossibilities; in place of it they get "wholesale guessing." The new census law, added to the efficiency of the enumerators and the appoint- ment of trained specialists to superintend the several branches of their work, reduce the errors of enumeration of record and of compilation. By patience and the exercise of enlightened judgment it is hoped that the larger portion of the errors may be corrected, though, Mr. Dodge rather despairingly says, "the ingenuity of some •displacements and blunders of enumerators amount almost to development of genius. '' The important facts brought out by the census inquiry in relation to cotton, tobacco and the cereals have already been widely published, but a further analysis of some of the cereal statistics brings out both interesting and instructive points showing the distribution of grain. For instance, nearly 53 per cent, of the area in cereals is occupied by corn, while the product is 63 per cent, of the grand aggregate. Wyomibg and Alaska are the only Territories where corn is not raised. Every State produces it. Illinois, Iowa and Missouri produced, in 1879, more than 800,000,000 bushels, nearly half of the whole product, and 40,000,000 bushels more than the total corn product of 1869. Only seven States ever have any considerable surplus: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. These States contribute 1,300,000,000 bushels, 68 per cent, of the crop, on 53 per cent, of the area, exceeding 56 bushels per acre, while the average yield for the remainder of the country was but 19.6 bushels. The supply of wheat per capita has been rapidly increasing: Years. Bushels. Per head. 1849 . 100,485,944 173,104,124 287,745,626 459,591,093 4 3 ia^9 . . 5 5 1869 : Y 8 1879 . . 9 The march westward, as Mr. Dodge shows us, has not been less remarkable : • Yeaks. Atlantic coast. Central belt. Trans-Mississippi. 1849 51,657,020 , 53,294,137 57,476,371 63,425,324 43,522,646 94,468,609 140,877,070 225,567,490 5,306,278 1859 25,352,178 1869 89;892,185 1879 171,598,279 608 APPENDIX. These figures denote that the largest volume of increase has been in the cenlral belt, but the largest ratio in the trans-Mississippi : 1849. 1859. 1869. 1879. Atlantic Tcoftst. .„ Ceiitral belt Trans-Mississippi Totals 61 5 43. S 5. 18 30.7 54.6 14 .-7 20 49 -31 13.6' 49,1, 37.3. 100 100 The seven surplus corn States, and, in addition, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minne- sota, and two States on the Pacific coast, with two Territories — Washingt-oii and Dakota — supply the East and Europe with wheat. Wheat culture, according to Mr, Dodge, is not passing west of tlic Mississippi and disappearing eastward, and the spring wheat regions do not supply most of the surplus. On the contrary, the winter wheat represented three-fourths of the crop in 1879. About four-tenths of the crop is produced north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi — nearly 180,000,000 bushels in the four winter wheat States, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In this region tile drainage and better cultivation are bearing fruitful results. In speaking of this improved agriculture, Mr. Dodge says: "The Ohio valley has passed the pioneer stage in agriculture, and is progressing toward true agricultural improvement, based on scientific principles and practical economic methods. The aim should be to get still further away from primitive methods and average yields of 10 or 13 bushels per acre, and to approximate 25 to 30 bushels." LIVE STOCK OF THE WEST IN 1880. Below I give the Live Stock statistics of the States and Territories treated of in- this volume, according to the Census estimates for 1880: States and Tbkritobibs. Horses. Mules and asses. Working oxeu. Milch cows. Other cattle. Sheep. Swine. Arizona 6,798 237,710 42,867 42,264 24,300 1,022,082 681.444 792,319 430,907 378.778 257,321 667,776 35.114 304,144 32,087 14,647 736,476 1^812 88,0.^ 45.836 352,664 891 28,343 2,581 2,700 610 12.3.760 51,780 44,424 64.869 5.063 9 021 192,027 858 19 957 1258 9,063 19,181 2 797 2,898 626 7,136 984 2,288 8,179 11,418 737 3,346 •i,mo 2,504 16,789 39,493 36,338 9,020 936 7,234 765 16,432 8,226 4,132 3.956 3,821 28.762 9,156 210,078 28,770 40,572 12,838 865,913 604,944 854,097 418.333 584,573 275,539 661,405 11,;308 161,609 13,319 12,955 767,044 64,353 32,705 31.362 478,374 ,34,843 451,941 315,989 88,835 71,892 1,515,093 865,136 1,754,341 1,015,935 467,060 347,161 1,410,487 160,143 613,129 158,137 137.314 1,085,317 347,736 58,680 99,356 622,005 118,107 5,644,341 994,844 47,116 39,246 1,544,728 1,614,073 669,610 733,275 3,065,583 410.168 2,19:^006 241,235 285,935 3,819' 603.33» 7,655. 63,394 14,178 5,170.168 3,186.4ia 6 034,316 1,787,969' 964,071 371 415 California Dakota Idalio Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Michigan 4,573^112 10,278 1,241,724 9,08O. 10 85T Montana New Mexico Ohio Oregon Utah 6,542,938 3,141.333- 157 362 Washington 956.451 Wisconsin 1,921,047 1,128,339' APPENDIX. 609 THE WOOL CROP OF "THE JJNITED STATES. Through the courtesy of the Superintendent of the Census, Colonel X!harles W. Seaton, 1 am enabled to publish the following table, showing the wool clip of 1880, by number of fleeces and pounds of wool, also the average weight of fleeces: States and Tskkitobies. Number of fleeces. Pounds of wool. Average weight of fleeces. Alabama Arizona ^ Arkansas California ■ Colorado Connecticut Dakota Delaware District of Columbia.. Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky .". Louisiana Maine Maryland — Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire N^ Jersey Hew Mexico New York North Carolina Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Ehode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas. Utah Vermcnt Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Totals. 347, 76, 246, 4,152, 746, 59, 30, 21, 538 ,524 757 ,349 443 279 244 967 762,207 313,698 557,368 16,798,036 3,197,391 229,333 157,025 97,946 2.19' 4.09 2.25 4.04 4.28 3.8fr 5.19' 4.45. 58, 527, 27, 1,037, i.ioo: 455, 499, 1,000. 135. 565. 171, 67, 2,189, 267, 287, 1,411, 184, 199, 133, 211. 117, 2,088, 1,715, 461, 4,902, 1,083, 1,776, 17, 118, 672, 2,411. 833, 437. 497, 292. 674. 1,386. 140. ,003 ,589 ,326 ,073 ,430 ,359 ,671 ,269 ,631 ,918 ,184 ,979 ,369 271' 453 695 ,825 ,020 ,831 180 638 486 ,162 ,598 ,2n ,889 ,117 ,887 ,121 ,991 ,289 ,883 ,769 ,807 ,225 166,645 1,289,560 127,149 6,093,066 6,167,019 2,971,975 2,855,832 4,592,576 406,678 2,776,407 850,084 299,089 11,858,497 1,352,124 784,643 7,313,924 995,484 1,282,656 655,012 1,060,689 441,110 4,019,188 8,827,195 917,756 . 25,003,;66 5.718,524 8,470,273 65,680 272,758 1,917,268 6,928,129 973,24B 2,548,216 1,836,673 1,389,123 2,681,444 7,016,491 691,650 .2.87 2.44. 4.65. 5.87 5.60 6.52. 5.71 4.59' 2.99' 4^90 4.96 4.39' 6.41 5.05. 2.55 5.18 5.40' 6.43 4.89' 5.00- 3.76 1.92 5.14 1.98 5 10 5.27 4.76 3.81 2.29' 2.85- 2.87 4.17 5.81 3 69- 4.74 3 97 5.24 4.93 35,190,866 4.42. In Texas and in California, as well as in parts of intermediate regions, there, are two clips of wool in a year, a spring clip and a fall clip. In some instances the- census returns secured the spring clip only, and in some cases the schedules were answered so as to show the clip for both -parts of the year, a variation which still needs, fuller revision. A large number of sheep are not. to be found on farms, and in their wide range ini Western Territories have not been reached by ordinary enumeration. These only reached by special investigations are known as ranche sheep. The sheep s Id as lambs and as fat sheep to butchers, carry some wool to the- shambles not returned in the wool clip, but obtained through other returns as pulled, wool. 610 APPENDIX. The investigations of the Census Office are not so far completed as to give exact ligures for tlie total wool product of the United States. The regular returns of wool clip amount to 35,190,866 fleeces, 155,580,493 pounds, 4.43 pounds average weight of fleece. To this is to be added by estimate on data, largely obtained by Special Agent Gordon, 10,000,000 to 13,000,000 pounds for the two annual clips where enumerators secured reports of but one. Five million sheep are the estimated addition for ranche sheep, and 35,000,000 pounds a possible addition ior their fleeces. From 30,000,000 to 35,000^000 pounds are likely to be obtained as pulled wool. This will give a total wool product of from 330,000,000 to 238,000,000 pounds. "We import a large amount of wool. In 1880 this amounted to 128,000,000 pounds, •a very extraordinary import. The ordinary import is in the neighborhood of ■60,000,000 pounds, and will probably fall much below that for 1881, as home produc- tion- has been somewhat stimulated, and other causes have modified the supply. At first sight the great import of wool would seem to be a serious dependence, but our farmers raise, mostly, wools of higher grades and better price, and can not afloi-d ito spend their time upon sheep that produce wool only fit for the uses of most of the imported wool. BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF OUR GOLD AND SILVER MINES. It is said that well nigh five thousand million of gold and silver have been extracted ifrom the earth since the world was startled by the discovery of gold mines in the 'distant and unknown regions of California, and, immediately afterwards, on the plains of Ballarat. The .period is past when gold finding yielded its peerless and romantic .harvests of wealth, and presented, both in California and Australia, its socially and economically peculiar features. In some of the newer States the discovery of remark- able silver mines has had a potent effect in developing the State, but not as widespread as the world's two great gold fields. But, for all this, the annual yield of precious metals has not greatly diminished, because the falling off in the gold product has been in part compensated for by the rapid increase in the production of silver. Thus, for ■example, in the United States while the yield of gold has remained about the same ■during the last ten years the silver product has more than doubled, and now exceeds "the gold in value. In this inquiry the production is, in some cases, given for the ■calendar year 1880, which explains seeming discrepancies in figures given here and ■elsewhere in this volume. The statistics for California are regarded as complete for over five-sixths of the total production of the State. They have been tabulated and arranged by counties by the Superintendent of the Mint at San Francisco. The total production of the State is put at 117,500,000 gold, and $1,100,000 silver. There are only three counties producing an aggregate of over $1,000,000 of precious metals: Amador, $1,497,006; Mono, $2,990,141, and Nevada, $3,772,506. There are eight counties producing over $500,000. There are thirty-three goldproduoing counties. The production of Nevada is still diminishing, especially in the mines of the Comstock lode. The silver production in the eastern portion of the State has increased. Since such great depths have been attained in the Comstock lode, the cost of mining has greatly increased, and several owners have ceased attempting to do more than prospect at lowest depth. The great need of Nevada at present is a means of working low grade ores. There are thousands of tons of such ores all over the State, but, by processes at present known, it is impossible to work them at a profit. During the APPENDIX. 611 latter part of 1880 many men left Nevada for Idaho and New Mexico. The summary- of bullion production for Nevada, by counties, for the fiscal year ending June 80, 1880,. as reported from the mines, is as follows: COUKTISS. Elko Esmeralda. . Eureka... . Humboldt. . . Lyon Lincoln Lander Nye Storey White River Totals Gold. $ 68, 1 1,167, 78, 3,323, 18, 953 383 994 773 ,861 760 ,572 ,840 ,396 $4,719,070 Silver. $ 885,184 1,282,800 2,290,729 271,452 146,821 444,717 1,044,546 855,432 3,084,142 547,929 Total. $10,833,752- $ 953,722 1,283,763 3,458,112 350,446- 170,594 452,578 1,045,306 884,004 6,407.982 566,325 $15,572,822; The report says that information forwarded through the assayer in charge of the Denver Mint, in regard to the production of Colorado, was so incomplete that the- details as to the production of the different mines and localities had to be gathered from reports published in the newspapers of the State and mining journals. The total production was estimated at $3,200,000 of gold and $17,000,000 of silver, and the production is steadily increasing. Since their discovery In 1878, the mines around Leadville have produced about $27,000,000 in gold, silver and lead. Not one of the mines worked has been exhausted. The production of gold and silver in the different counties during the calendar year 1880 would appear to have been : CotTNTIBS. Gold. Silver.* Total. Lake $ 58,000 2,380,000 196,000 300,000 100,000 50,000 $12,900,000 300,000 2,460,000 6.50,000 860,000 380,000 300,000 460,000 80,000 325,000 $12,968,000 2,680,000 2,666,000- 860,000 960,000 430,000 300,000- 511 000 Gilpin .-;...■ Clear Creek Custer Park Gunnison . ... . .... 51,000 31,500 40,000 111,600- 665,000- Totals $3,206,600 $18,615,000 $21,821,500' These three States, it will be seen, produced nearly $55,000,000 of the $75,000,000' worth of gold and silver produced in 1880, the remaining $20,000, 000 being distributed, with the exception of a small amount in Oregon, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, among the Territories. By far the most important of these at. the present time are Utah, Montana, Dakota and Arizona. The following is the recapitulation of a detailed statement of the amount of gold, silver and lead produced by the different smelting works and mills of Utah : 2,892,498 pounds refined lead . . 26,442,093 pounds unrefined lead 3,783,566 ounces silver t 8,020 ounces gold t Total $ 144,624-90' 661,052.32 4,161,922.60 160,400.00- $5,127,999.82 * Silver in the statement is calculated at its coining rate, t Silver valued at $1 . ip and gold at $20 per ounce. 612 APPENDIX. Utah is doing well, and though there is not so much excitement about her mines as there was a few years ago, a more healthy tone is manifest. In Montana the severity of last winter and its long continuance forbade almost all •prospecting, and interfered with mining operations; the estimate was $2,400,000 gold and $3,500,000 silver. This was produced in eight counties, Deer Lodge county :aggregating $2,300,000. The mineral-producing regions of Dakota, known as the Black Hills, cover a •country from fifty to sixty miles long, from twenty to forty in width, and contain nearly 6,000 square miles of mineral-bearing rock and gravel beds. Here nature presents many new and striking features before unencountered in mineral sections, and in no place heretofore discovered have the precious metals been found undet conditions so favorable for rapid extraction. Few mines are sufficiently developed to' form conclusive opinions as to their full extent and value when great depth shall have been attained. .The product, as estimated by the Director of the Mint for 1880, was $3,600,000 gold and $70,000 silver. • The mining progress of the other Territories may be summarized briefly. In Arizona progress has been remarkable during the past two years, the inaccessibility of the region heretofore being the main drawback. If we take the estimate for the calendar year instead of the fiscal year of 1880, the total product of Arizona would reach $5,566,601, which places this Territory in the fourth place in the production of precious metals. This estimate is considered moderate, as the local papers claim a total of $7,000,000. The yield for the present year is estimated at $8,000,000 to $10, 000, 000. The production of gold and silver of Washingt6n Territory is, annually, the least of any. The mining interests of Idaho are again attracting the attention they did some years ago, but this time, it is claimed, with better reason. The total product of New Mexico from 1848 to 1880 was $8,075,000, the last five years having averaged about $500,000 annually. This, then, may properly be called a bird's-eye 'view of our great inheritance of mineral wealth. INDEX. Academies (see Education] . Adamsj C. F 24, 25 Advertiser, Boston 193 Africa (see Diagrams). Agriculture (see separate States and Terri- tories, and Tholes) 15 Agricultural Bureau, United States.. 140, 171,215, 216, 235, 237, 238, 281, 356, 362 Agricultural Implements (see Manufactures, Tables). Agricultural Products (see Cereals, Tables, and under each State and Territory, and Ap- pendix). Agricultural Reports 170, 173, 175 Alabama 593 Alaska 26,488,496,498,552 597 Alder Gulch 410, 418 Aldrlch, Benton 362 Alkali 350 Allonez, Claude Jean 166 Alluvium 350,460 ■•'American Bottom" 159, 167,539 American Fall 432 American Fur Co 354, 480 American Gazetteer 132 American Newspaper Annual 192 American Register 132 Apostle Islands 227 Appendix 599—612 Arbor Day 352,353 Area of Land and Water of the United States, (see Appendix) . Areas (see Diagrams; also under each State and Terriiory) . Army (see Diagrams) 20, 27, 482 Aridity 376,377 Arid Regions . . . 4.38, 439, 449, 456, 465, 470, 472, 585 ■"Arid Lands " 413, 458 Arizona (see Territories). .29, 341, 447, 448, 455-462, 490, 511, 588 Agricultural Products 460 Area 455 Banks 461 Cities and Towns — Fort Buchanan . . ; 459 Fort Canby 459 Fort Defiance 458, 459 Prescott 457,461 Tucson 456, 458 Climate 458,459 Counties, Population of 461 Debt 462 Elevation.'. 456 Fauna 459 Flora 457, 458 ■Geology 459 <3old. 461 Grazing 460,461 History 455,456 Indians 462 Irrigation 4b0 Minerals 461 Population 461 Railroads 4bl Rivers 457 Euins 462 Silver ■/.=« !S -Surface ^^^'iH Timber 457 PAGE Arizona — Wealth 461 Arkansas 302, 807, 322, 573, 587, 593 "Arkansas Divide " 375 Arpent 167 Artesian Wells , 90, 637 Artisans (see Manufactures) 20 Arthur, Prof. J. C .■ 352 Asiatics 550, 553 Assessment (see Tables). Astor, John Jacob 321, 463 Atkinson, Edward 60, 675, 577 Atlantic 314, 430,520,684, 589 Aughey, Prof. Samuel. . .325, 347, 349, 350, 352, 353, 357—360 Australia (see Diagrams) ....'. 11, 18, 19, 97, 294, 509 Austria (see Diagrams) 18, 509 "Bad Lands" (see also "Mauvaises Terres"). 398 " Balance Sheet of the World, The " 16 Balboa ; 94 Banks (see under each State and Terr.). 19, 56, 553 Barbed Wire Fence -. 277 Barges 343 Barges in Grain Trade 643, 582 Barley (see Cereals). Barnes, 0. R 136 Bartlett, S. P 164 Bay of San Francisco 490, 493, 494, 502 Bees 177, 262 Behring Sea 496 Belgium (see Diagrams and Tables) 23 Beloit College 247 Bessemer Steel (see Iron, Manufactures) 21 " Bite Bonanza " : 96, 475, 476 Big Woods 253,255 Black Caiion 455,400 Black Hawk War 169, 233, 278 Blind 191, 224, 269, 275 "Blizzards" 400 "Block Coal" 135 Blodgett, James H 6 Blodgett, Lorin 106 Blue Mound 228 Board of Equalization 220 Board of Public Charities 191 Boards of Trade .... 183, 185, 523, 524, 537, 539, 635 536, 541, 543, 546, 549 Bohemia 269 , Bonds (see Debt, and Tables) 69 Bonneville, Captain.. 440 Boone, Daniel 320 Bossuet 10 Bounty on Wild Animals 330, 331 Bradstreet's 148, 310, 485, 523, 538, 543, 650 Brick (see Manufactures) 317 Bridges, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers (see Debt, Cities) 321, 513, 545, 548, 579 Briggs, J. Smith ■ 164 British Columbia (see Diagrams) 430, 494, 496 British Forts 168 British Possessions 396, 397, 409 Buckwheat (see Cereals) . Building Stone (see Geology) 207,275 Bureau of Statistics 577 Burnet, Judge 110, 124 Burt, Gov. Francis 355 Butter (see Manufactures and Dairy; also under each State). (613) 614 INDEX. C PAGE Cabrillo 490 Cache Valley 442 Cadillac, Antoine de la Motte 210 California (see Pacific States) 90, 331, 341, 354, 357, 366, 372, 373, 410, 470. 479, 481, 490, 515, 531, 587, 589 Admitted 492 Agricultural Products 499, EOO Area 490,492 Bees 605 Chinese 510, 511 Cities and Towns- Bodega 496 Cerro Gordo 508 Coloma 492 Crescent City 496 Drake's 496 Fort Miller 496 Fort Yuma 458, 459, 497 Golden Gate 496 Half Moon Bay 496 Los Angeles 513, 552 MojayeCity 490 Monterey 490 -493, 496 Oakland 513, 521, 550, 551 Pueblo de los Keina de los Angeles, " Queen of the Angels " B62 Sacramento 513, 652 San Diego : 490, 496 San Francisco (see Tables) 492, 496, 498, 510, 513, 521, 550, 551, 561 San Jose 513 San Luis Obispo 496 San Pedro 496 Santa Cruz 496 Sonoma 492 Stockton 513, 552 Sutter's Fort 492 Tomales 496 Trinidad 496 Climate 496—498 Coal 608 Commerce 515 Copper 508 Counties (Grape) 503 Mining 506 Dairy 1 504 Debt 512—514 Education * 511 Elevation 493 Fauna ".. 498 Flora 498 Fruit 493,500,603 Geology 505 Gold 492,506 Grazing 604 History 490 Irrigation 499, 502, 603 Lead 508 Live Stock 504 Mining 505-508 Population .• 508—611 Eailroads 511 Elvers 496,501 Salmon (table) 506 Silver 508 Surface 493, 495 Taxation 612 Volcanoes 494 Wealth 511—512 Wine 493, 500, 503 Wool 504, 551 Camps, lists of 458, 459, 472 Canada (see Diagrams) 61, 68, 198, 269, 864, 540 Canadians 291, 317 Canals 149, 150, 169, 183, 184, 194, 218, 219, 233, 522, 543, 554, 593 Canning 382 Caflons 30, 438 Cape of Good Hope 144 Cape Horn 94 Cape Mendocino 490 Carp Lake 196 PAGE- Carriso Valley .' 502' Cartier 232 Cascades 465, 482 Castilian 447 Castle Valley 44* Cave Dwellings 462- Census 6, 99, 147, 162, 157, 165, 166, 171, 179, 182, 187, 192, 193, 208, 214, 221, 234, 235, 237, 239, 241, 243, 246, 250, 259, 266, 271, 285, 288, 2a6, 303, 305, 307, 311, 315, 323, 3:j8, 339, 342, 356, 360, 372, 382, 385, 394, 401, 407, 417, 418, 433, 436, 443, 446, 451, 473, 484, 486. Centennial Exposition 201 Cemeteries (see City Debt Tables). Cereals (see Agricultural Products, Diagrams and Tables) 13, 38, 41 Cemuschi 577' Chaparral 498 Chevalier, Michael 16 Chicagou 183 Chinese 425, 508, 510 " Chinese in America " 510' Chittenden, Governor Sift- Churches (see under each State and Territory) . Baptist 189, 225, 292, 293, 318, 319, 344, 364 Buddhist 560' Christian 319- Congregational S92, 819, 344 Disciples 292- Episcopal 319, 446 Friends 292- Methodist. . .189, 226, 292, 293, 318, 319, 344, 446 Mormons 440, 446 Presbyterian 189, 226, 293, 318, 819, 344, 446. Roman Catholic 189, 225, 293, 818, 319, 344 United Brethren 892 Cities, Western (see also under each State and Territory) 616-653 Cities not in the West- Albany 661 Baltimore 166, 615, 558, 559' Berlin 166 Boston 166,515,558,669, 561 Brooklyn 166, 521 Burlington, N. J 577 Castile 358 Dublin 166. Fort Arbuckle 688 Glasgow 166, 54S Greenwich 227, 346, 396, 470, 490, 586 Jersey City 521 Little Kock 322 Liverpool 582- London 166- Louisville 520, 560 Lowell 294 Lyons 166, 294 Manchester, England 294 Manchester, N. H 346, 363 Mobile 562- New Orleans 166, 322, 543, 662, 580, 582 New York 26, 166, 185, 364, 515, 521, 558, 559, 561, 576, 578 Paris 166. Philadelphia 166, 353, 515, 658, 659' Pittsburg 60, 181, 559' Plymouth, Mass 232 Richmond, Va 307 Sonora 490 Washington, D. C 235, 281, 356, 396, 405, 409, 466, 519, 520, 590 Wheeling 520 Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogers 139, 168 Clear I^ake 501 Climate (see under each State and Territory) . 90. Clothing (see Manufactures and Tables). .179, 183- Goal (see under separate States) 32,54,135, 160, 161, 198, 208, 209, 275, 276, 287, 293, 298, 299, 311, 312, 325, 327, 351, 391, 404, 413, 424, 443, 444, 467, 489, 508, 537, 541, 543, 546 Cobalt 299' Cohuilla Valley 602 CoUett, Hon. John 136, 141, '146. INDEX. 615 PAGE Colorado 6, 90, 323, 327, 329, 332, 334, 348, 349, 355, 357, 372—395, 403, 419, 420, 425, 439, 440, 447, 448, 462, 490, 504, 511, 550, 577 Agricultural Products 380 Area..-. 372,380 Banks .392 Churches 373 Cities (table) 394, 895 Cities and Towns- Black Hawk 389 Caflon City 391 Central City 389 Denver 100, 373, 549 El Mora 891 Georgeto\vn 389 Greeley 375 Gunnison 385 Leadville 100, 373, 390, 549 Pueblo.. 875 Walsenburgh 891 (See also lists, pp. 377—379, 894, 895.) CUmate 876 Coal 391 Counties, Population of 892 Debt 893 Elevation (table) 374 Fauna 381, 383 Flora 379, 380 Fruit 383 Geology 387, 389 Gold 373, 391 Health 378 History 372, 873 Humidity (table) 879 Irrigation (table) 382, 885 Leal 373,391 Live Stock 386, 887 Mining 372, 373, 388, 391 Organization of State 373 Organization of Territory 372 Petks 379,388 Population 393 Railroads 393,393 Rainfall (table; 377 Rivers 374,876,882,385 Schools (table) 393 Settled 373 Silver 378, 391 Surface 374, 376 Timber 380 Wealth 394 Colfirado Desert 503 Commerce (see Tables and Cities; also under each State and Territory) ... 19, 26, 42, 44, 213, 314, 218, 219, 314 Commissioner of Railroads 319 Commissioners of General Land Office 333 Companies. Water 89 Company of the West •■• 167 Competition in Transport ation 577, 6Sd Compromise Act 333 ComstockLode 474, 475, 477, 478 Congress 351, 354, 357, 436, 495, 555 Congressional Township ;• ^- •„■,•.; 5^1 ConSecticut 168,237,^5 coos Bay....... «« Cone, Prof. E. D I"8 Copper 299, 391, 452, 489, 508, 540, 566 Coteaudu Missouri SI' 159' !SS Coteau des Prairies 89, , 400, 406 Cotton (see Manufactures, and Missouri). County Lieutenants ■■• 16» " County System " ™' i S . Coorthemanche, Sieur Cox, B. T Cuming, Thomas B Curley, Edwin A --; Custer, Gen •*"<' 109 135, 143 .... 835 Dairv (see under separate States) 174, 216, 241 uairy (.see uuue y ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ Dakota :......-: 396-r Agricultural Products 401, 402 38 Dakota— page Area 396 Banks 406 Census (table* 404 Cities (see list) 399,400- Fargo 404, 406- Fort Buford 413 Climate 399' Coal 404 Counties, Cultivated Area, etc 401 Blevation 398- Exemption Laws 403 Flora 398 Geology 399' Gold 403, 404 History 396,397' Indians (table) 407^ Lands 406' Live Stock 403 Lumber 406 Manufactures (table) 405, 406 Mining 397,403,404 Railroads 407 Rivers 406 Surface 397 Timber 400 Wealth (tablel 401,407 Wheat, Counties, list of 401 Dalles 482 Dalles of St. Croix 328 Dalles of Columbia 465 Dana, R. H 530 Dedication 3 Darien, Isthmus of 94 Darius 576 Davidson and Stuv^ 163 Dead Sea 440 Deaf and Dumb 224, 269, 275, 298, 319, 370 Death Valley 502 Debt (see Diagrams, Tables and Appendix) . Cities 67, 69, 127, 152, 231, 223, 245, 896 National 16.26,68,69 State 62, 63, 70 Delaware 213 De Lisle, Guillaume 166 Denmau, Matthias 110 Denmark (see Diagrams) 33 Devil's Lake (Dak.) 898 De Wolf, Dr. Oscar 166 Diagrams — L Grain of the World 13 II. Forest of the World 13 III. Gold and Silver of the World. . . . 14 IV. Manufactures of the World 17 V. Industrial Product of the World 18 VT. Railroads of the World 344- VII. Telegraphs of the World 24i Vin. National Income v6. Armies of the World 37 IX. and X. Prairie States, Population 28 XI. Areas U. S. and European Countries. 37 XII. Cereals, U. S. in five Divisions 38 XIII. Wheat, V. S. in five Divisions 48 XIV. Com, U. S. in five Divisions 44 XV. Wealth, National 61 Diagrams of Township in Government Survey. 589 Distilling (see Manufactures) 588 Dogs (or Sheep) 175 Donner Pass 494 Douglas, Stephen A 589 Drake, Dr. D 107 Drake, Hon. E. F 206 Drake, Sir Francis 490 Drummond, Willis, Jr 592 Drummond's Island 307 Dubuque, Julien 377, 294 Durham 357 Duty, Water 383 K "Earth and Man" 368 Edinburgh Review 96 Education (see under each State and Terri- tory, and Tables) 73. 616 INDEX. Education — page JJormal Schools... 165, 191, 334, 347, 318, 319, 328, 369, 542 Edwards, Ninian 168 Eldorado 373, 390, 410 Emigration 391 Emigration Aid 333 England 33, 369, 441, 676 English 291,317,509 Europe 16, 19, 20, 37, 37, 238, 294, 801, 318, 358, - 609 (For European Countries, see Diagrams and Tables). Exemption Laws 264, 403 Exports (see Tables). Factory, Butter and Cheese, (see under sepa- rate States, and Manufactures). Failures 26, 58 Fairbank, N. K 164 Falls of St. Anthony S57, 364, 365, 542 Palls of St. Mary (see Sault Ste. Marie) 310 Falls of the Ohio 530 Farmers' Institute 330 Farms 213, 259, 576, 577 Fauna (see under each State and Territory). Feeble Minded (see Education) 191 Field, The 363 Filson, Mr 110 Finance 244 Fink (see W. D. T. Tables) 582 Fire Department (see tables of City Debts). Fish- Bass 231, 266, 277, 331 Buffalo 801 Carp, German 331 Catfish 256, 277, 301 Cisco (Siskawit) 231 Eels 331 Muskallonge 331,377 Perch 331, 256, 301, 831 Pickerel 266 Pike 256, 277, 301, 331 Salmon 331, 463, 466, 488, 562 Shad 331 Sturgeon 231, 277 Sucker 801 Sunfish 256,301,831 Trout 231 Whiteflsh 231 Fish Culture 164 Fisher, Secretary 177 Fisheries 20, 46, 47, 123, 466, 488, 652 Fishermen 12 FishingFall 432 Fissure-Veins (see Mining) 83 Flax 174, 216, 361 Flaxseed 238 Flora (see under each State and Territory) . Florida 233,685, 593 Flour (see Manufactures and Tables). Food, Cost of 10, 13, 264 Foreign Population (see Population) 98 Forest Fires 381 Forests 13, 16, 200, 363, 354, 40O 460 Fort Dearborn Massacre 168 Fortnightly Review 575, 576 Forts (see Cities and Towns). France (see Diagrams) 18. 23, 61, 143, 167, 267, 308, 358, 396, 479, 509, 644 Franciscan 550 Fremont, John C 364 French 139, 277, 393, 304, 320, 331, 364 French, Prof 163 Fruit (see under the separate States) 174, 216. 216, 260, 368 Furnas, Eobt. W 867, 361 Furniture (see Manufactures) 49, 60, 578 Fur Trade 314 G- Gadsden Purchase 447 Gulpin, Dr. S. A 279 Gannett, Henry C g 333 Gate of the Mountains 412' 454 Gear, Gov .'.'.' .'284,' S86 Gentile 443 443 Geology (see under each State and Territory—' Azoic 198 300, 399 Carboniferous... 198, 376, 300,326, 327, 351,368 „. . ,. • 434,439 Cincinnati 198,239 Clmton 239 Cornif erous jgg Cretaceous. 275, 335, 326, 351, 391, 399V4i6,' 483 439,443,469,505 galoot? 326, 338 Devonian I6I, 329, 276, 300 Dnft-. 265,326 Eozoic 439 459 505 Fossils 336,327 granite 255 Hamilton 229 Helderberg .198, 229 Hudson 106 Huron .'.'igs, 339 Jurassic 387, 388, 423, 461 Keokuk 327 Laurentian 198 229 Loess 335] 350 Niagara 135. 193 Niobrara 325 396 Permian '351 Pliocene 335, 328 Post-Tertiary 325 Potsdam 229 Quaternary ! 434 Silurian. . . 134, 135, 159—162, 276, 300, 399, 416, 423, 434, 459, 460, 505 Sub-Carboniferous 325 Tertiary 361, 391, 399, 404, 423, 424,' 434, 489, 443, 505 Trenton jgg Triassic 451 German (see Diagrams) 317, 331, 509,"541, 627 Germany 20, 23, 61, 68, 256, 3'69, 368, 441 Geysers 425, 428 Gibson, "Chinese in America " 510 Gillott, Joseph ■ .10 Glass (see Manufactures) 61, 182, 311, 537 Glucose 287 Gold and Silver Mines, Birds-eye View (see Mines, also Appendix). Goode, Prof. G. Brown 12, 210, 488 Goodhue, James M 268 Grain (see Cereals and Tables) . Grand Canon 429, 437, 456 Grand Chain 168, 159, 163 Grand Prairie 163 Grant, The San Pedro 462 Grape Sugar Works 638 Grasshoppers 362 Gratiot, Brig. Gen. C : 634 Gray, Capt 463,479 Grazing 372, 415, 423, 443, 604 Great American Desert 430 Great Basin.. 30, 420, 437, 438, 470, 481, 483, 493, 495 Great Bend 321 Great Britain (see Diagrams) 20, 61, 68, ai7, 396 Great Falls 412, 429 Great Plain 29, 295, 333, 420, 465 Great Salt Lake 431, 435, 438, 471 Great Salt Lake Desert 471 Great Valley 493, 605 Greece (see Telegraph Diagram). Grindstones 207 Guadalupe Hidalgo, Treaty of .440, 447, 455, 490, 491. Gulf of California 502 Gulf of Mexico 250 Gulf of St. Lawrence 260 Guyot, Arnold 358 Gypsum 207, 217, 275, 641 H Hall, W. H 87 Harmar, General 112, 139 Harrison, Wm. Henry 139 INDEX. 617 PAGE Hayden, F. Y 323, 377, 379, 382, 416 Health (see under each State and Territory). . . 649 Heart Lake 428 Hennepin. Louis 161, 857, 303 Henry, Patrick 168 Herding (see under separate States and Terr.) HerdLaw .• 277 Hetchy-hetchy Valley 495 High Plateau 437, 438 Hittell 499,606,509,515 Hogs (see Live Stock, and under each trtate and Terr tory). Holland (see Diagrams) .....' 19. 61, 68 Honey 177. 31", 337 Horses (see Live Stock, and under each State and Territory). Hot Springs 425, 428, 494 Hough 801 Hudson's Bay 260,867 Huron, Lake 196, 197 Hussey, John 105 Ice 542, 6S1 Idaho (see Territories) 397, 409, 430, 436, 463, 465, 470, 479 Agricultural Products 433 Area 480 Banks 435 Boisd City 434, 435 Florence 435 Fort Bois^ 432 Fort Hall 438 Fort Lapwai 432 Idaho City 435 Lewiston 435 Malade City 435 Silver City 435 Climate 432 Counties, Population of 435 Elevation (table) 430, 431 Fauna 432, 483 Flora 488, 433 Geology 434 History 436 Indians 436 Lumber 485 Manufactures 485 Mormons 435 Population 435 Haikoads 484,435 Eivers 432 Silver 434 Surface 431 Taxation 435 Three Buttes 431 Timber 432 Wealth 435 mini 138 niini, River of l°8 Illinois 31,76,77, 137, 150,167-194,218,359, 275,296,307,312,818,331,522, 630, 565, 557. 576, 677, 591 Agricultural Products 169, 171, 172 Area l^"** Canals..-. 158,169, 184,194 Cereals IJl Cession by France 167 Cession by Virginia 168 Churches 189 Cities and Towns— Alton 174, 180, 181, 187, 189, 539, 561 Aurora ■■■■■ 187,189,636 Belleville 160,187,189,537 Bloomington 181, 187, 189, 561 Cahokia/. 167, 168 Cairo 157, 165, 181, 187, 189, 637, 561 Centralia 163,174 Champaign l^'.iv.l Chicago.: 23, 60, 160, 161, 166, 169, 17b, 179, 180 181, 182, 183, 185, 187, 189, 191, 192, 206, 307, 238, 341, 842 895, 315, 328, 331, 366, 518, 619, 523, 633, 536, 579, 580, 691 Illinois— PAQE Cities and Towns — Chicago— "American Venice " 534, 559, 562, 676 Cobden 174 Creve Coeur 166 Cuba 160 Danville 181, 187, 189, 537 Decatur 187, 189, 537 Bast St. Louis 187, 189, 537 Elgin 185, 187, 189, 536 Fort St. Louis.. 167 Freeport 187, 189 Fulton : 622 Galesburg 187, 189, 537 Harlem 185 Hewlett 160 Hyde Park 179 Jacksonville— "Athene of the West ". 187, 189, 637, 657, 561 Joliet 181, 187, 189, 537 Kaekaskia 168, 519 Lake 179 Lake View 179 La Salle 187, 189 Meredosia 185, 557 Moline 181, 187, 189, 622. 689 Nauvoo 169, 440 Ottawa 187, 189, 637 Peoria 167, 180, 181, 182, 187, 189, 523, 687, 538, 579 Peru 369 quincy 180, 182, 187, 189, 539, 661 Kockford 185, 187, 189,639 Eock Island 168, 181, 187, 189, 387, 623. 539, 644, 661 Shawneetown 168 Springfield.. 166, 182, 185, 187, 189, 519, 636 Vandalia , 619 Climate 165 Coal 157, 160 Commercial 187 Cotton 178 Counties, List of. Wheat 173 Counties, List of, Milling 180 Dairy 174, 176 Debt 186, 189 Drain Tile 178 Education 247 Fauna 164 Fruit 174 Geology 169, 160 Health 165. 166 History 166, 170 Iron Rails, (manufacture) 179 Jurisdiction on the Ohio 168 Lead 168, 169 Lumber 163 Manufactures 178, 183 Mounds 168 Newspapers 191, 192 Population (table) 31, 170 Railroads 170,185 Revolutionary War 167 Rivers 158 Salt 162 Schools 189, 191, 847 Slavery 167 Soil 159 Summary 192, 194 Surface 158 Timber 162, 163 Wages 170 Wealth 186, 189 Wool 175 Zinc 162 niinois Agricultural College 163 "Illinois, Lac des" 166 Illiteracy 165, 291 Immigration 36, 344, 364, 371, 397, 404 Imports (see Commerce under States and Cities) . Income of Nations 26, 27 India (see R. R. Diagram). Indian Relics B44 Indian Territory 5, 26, 296, 297, 302, 383, 326, 837, 673, B74, 688 618 INDEX. Indiana Territory 233, 304 Indian Treaty 858 Indiana 60, 51, 113, 132—166, 157, 296, 307, 312, 523, 533, 555, 558, 586, 590, 598 Agricultural Products 141, 142 Banks 151 Canals 150 Cereals 141 Cession by Virginia 109, 139 Cliurclies 164 Cities and Towns— Bloomington 155 Cambridge 557 Cassville 134 Charleston 134 EvansTille 150, 152, 164, 518, 532 Fort Wayne 109, 112, 152, 164, 158, 583 Hanover Landing 134 Indianapolis 137, 138, 152, 154, 519 , 520, 523, 532 Jeffersonville 162, 154, 520, 522 Lafayette 137, 152, 164, 155, 566 Large Cities 632, 633 Lawrenceburg. 138, 557 Leavenworth 134 Logansport 152, 154, 533 Madison 134, 136, 152, Michigan City 133, 137 New Albany 152, 154, 520, 538 Portland 148 Port St. Vincent 683 Eichmond 162, 164, 533 Rome 135 South Bend 138, 139, 162, 164, 633 Terre Haute 138, 152, 154, 165 Vernon 657 Vincennes 137, 139, 152, 154, 157, 166, 519, 583 Williamsport 135 Climate 137, 138 Coal 136, 136 Commercial 143, 149 Counties — Coal 186 Tobacco 144 Wheat 143 Dairy 145 Debt 152, 153 Education 154, 155 Elevation 184 Fauna 137 Flora 136 Fruit 148 Geology 184 Health 188 History 138, 140 Iron Manufacture 179 Live Stock 142, 143 Manufactures 145, 149 Population 31, 140, 166, 156 Railroads 150 Slavery 140 Surface 183 Taxation 152 Timber 136 Wealth 145, 151, 152 Wine 143, 144 Wool 143 Indians 164, 166, 168, 169, 212, 267, 278, 854, 856, 373, 618, 527 Arapahoes 395, 425 Arickarees 407, 408 Apaches 453, 461, 462 Aesinniboins 418 Bannacks 425, 436, 446 Blackfeet 418 Blood 418 Cheyennes 395 Chimehueva 462 Chippewas 268 Coahuila 462 ■y Coeur d' Alene 468 Cocopa 402 Crow 418 Dakotas 396, 397, 407, 408, 418 Delawares 3-33 Indians — page Diggers 446, 47T FlatheadB 41S Foxes 169, 233, 27» Gros Ventres 407, 408, 418 Hualapai 462 lowas 279 Kickapoos '. 383 Kootenai 418 Mandans 407, 408 Maricopa 462 Modocs 481 Mojave 462 Moquis 456, 462 Navajocs 453 Nez Perces 436- Omahas 397 Papago 462 Pend^ Oreille 418 Piegan 418 Pima 462 Poncas 397 Pueblo 453, 46-2 Sacs 169, 233, 279- Shoshones (see Snake). Sioux 268, 897, 407, 419, 425 Snake 436. 477 Spokane 468- Utes 895,426, 446,462, 477 Winnebagoes 258 Wyandottes 333 Takimas 469- Yuma 462 Industrial Schools 248- Industrial Products 15, 17, 20 Infirmary, Eye and Ear 191 Insane 131, 191,224, 269,275 Insurance (see Tables) 59 J uternal Revenue (see Tables) 69, 60, 387 Introduction 5, 6- Iowa (see Prairie States) 157, 213, 233, 369, 272, 295, 310, 318, 332, 331, 346, 352, 363, 355, 396, 406, 407, 519' Agricultural Products 280, 281 Area 273 Banks 389' Canals 288 Churches 393 Cities (table) 290, 291 Cities and Towns- Adair 668 Alta 568- A rcadia 568 Burlington '.'.'.'.'.'. '.37B, "388," 390,' 291,'532, 544 561, 568, 569> Cedar Rapids 384, 386, 290, 391 Clinton 373, 287, 290, 291 Council Bluffs 378, 389, S91, 632, 544 Creston 569' Davenport 373, 390, 291, 544, 560> Des Moines 278, 290, 291, 519, 543. Dubuque .... 228, 282, 273, 278, 283, 294, 827, 519, 522, 644, 562, 568, 591 Fort Madison 278 Iowa City 278, 61* Lansing.... 287 Large Cities 543,644 Lyons 532, 644 McGregor 668, 669' Muscatine 290, 291, 544 Ottumwa 290, 291, 643 Euthven 568, 66* Sioux City 281, 287, 357, 622 Climate 278,274 Coal 275, 376, 387 Dairy 176, 283, 284 Debt 390 Education 393 Fauna 277 Flora 276. Fruit 281, 283 Gardening 381, 382 Geology 275, 276 Government 278, 279- Gypsum 27.i Health 273, 275 INDEX. 619 Iowa— PiSE History 277 373 Immigration 291 Live Stock 282, 284 Lumber 287 Manufacture 284, 286 Oatmeal 287 Population (table) 31, 280 Poultry 284 Railroads 288, 289, 294 Rivers 272, 273 Soil 273 Steamers 288 Tax 290 Timber 276 Tree Planting 276 Wealth (table) 289, 291, 294 Ireland 269, S96 Irish 291, 317 Iron (see Tables and Manufactures) 21, 22, 26 120, 181, 198, 209, 229, 299, 311, 312, 391, 489, 537, 511, 547, 566 Bessemer Steel 179, 312 Ore 135, 160, lh2 Rails 47, 179 Iron Resources of-the U. S 48 Isle Royale 195 Italy (see Diagrams) 18, 20, 61, 68 Jackson, Andrew 520 Jackson's Hole 421 Jenney, Hon. Wm 216 Jerome 210, 216, 219 ■Jerseys 283 Jesuits 410,440, 490, 491 Jetties 581 Johnston, Andrew 355 Johnston, Harrison 349 Joliet, HI 232, 293, 303 Jones, Commodore 491 Jones. Wm. P 6 Jornada delMuerto 90 Jute ". 552 It ^aibab plateau 456 Kansas (see Prairie States) 296, 298, 311, 323- 345, 350, 354, 355, 357. 372, 465, 504, 519, 573, 587, 592 Agricultural Products 334, 385 Area 323 Banks 341 Cereals 334, 338 Churches 344 Cities and Towns — Atchison 343, 548, 574 Cherokee 327 Chetopa 326 Fort Riley 332 Junction City 328 Large Cities 348, 349 Lawrence 327, 329, 343, .548 • Leavenworth.327, 329, 343, 521, 522, 548, 549 Monotony 323 New Pittsburg 327 Syracuse 323 Topeka 343, 548 Wichita 549 Climate 331, 332 Coal 326, 327 Commerce 213 Cotton 335 Counties^ Coal 326, 337 Spring Wheat 338 Winter Wheat 337 Crop 334, 335 Dairy 337 Debt (tables) 343, .343 Education 344, 345 Fauna 330, 331 Free State Struggle 548 Fruit 336 Kansas — page Geology 325, 326 Gypsum 328, 329 Health '. 332 History 333 Immigration 36 Indians 333 Iron 179 Lead 327, 328 LjTe Stock,, 336, 338 Manufactures (table) 338, 339 Newspapers 345 Population (table) 31, 334 Railroads 340, 341 Rivers, , 324, 326 Salt 328 Soil 329, 332, 333 Surface 323, 324 Taxation 341, 343 Timber 329, 330 Wealth 341, 342 Wheat, Winter ;.. 361 Zinc 327 Kansas and Nebraska Act 334 Kentucky 139, 157, 168, 330. 331, 520 Keweenaw (canal) 219 Kewaunee River 228 King, Clarence 358, 359 Knapp. H. S 109 Knox, Hpn. John Jay 56, 243 Laclede, Pierre Lagrange Lake of the Woods Brie 124, 125, 150, 184, 195, 196, 517, Erie, tributaries of Michigan.. 157, 159, 166, 195, 196, 238-831, 542, 577, Mono 368, Owens St. Clair Superior. . . .197—198, 218, 226, 232, 250, 251, 256, 264, S65, 518, 530, Traverse Vieux Desert Winnebago Land- Commissioner United States 305, Grants (canal) Grants (railroads) Offices, list of 363, 371, State and United States.. 177, 178, 186, 217 271,310,312,345,351,369, 406, 452, 667, 578, 574, U. S. Surveys, sales, grants, meridians, base lines, townships, sections, land war- rants, bounty scrip, swamp lands, school lands, homesteads 586— Land and Water of the United States, Area of, (see Appendix). Laramie Plains La Salle, Chevalier de 138, 166, 183, 184, Lava Beds Lawrence University Laws. 303 10 250 558 102 634, 690 195 253, 540 260 228 593 598 406 346, 371, 577 597 303 481 247 83 Lead (see Metals).. ..9B, 162, 169, 229, 230, 232, 303, 311, 337, 328, 373 Legras, Col. J. M. P 139 Le Honton 257 Le Sueur 253, 257 Letters Mailed 75 Lewis & Clarke 311, 410 Lewis Lake 428, 479 Lignite , .391, 404 Lime 356, 266 Limestone 275, 829 Liquors (see Tables) 121, 181 Little Point Au Sable 196 Livermore Valley 603 Live Stock (see under each State and Terri- tory, Tables and Appendix) 11, 36 Cattle- Ayrshire 176, 283 620 INDEX. Live Stock— pake Cattle— Aldemey 283 Devon 383, 309 Hereford 176, 383, 309 Holstein 176, 283. 309 Jersey 309 Short Horns 283, 309 Hog Cholera 383 Hogs- Berkshire 283 Chester White 283 Poland China 283 Sheep 504 Swine 504 Llano Bstacado 449, 451 Local Government 279 Locomotives 394, 314, 321, 530 Logging 305 London Times 95 Louisiana 187, 333, 593 Louisiana Purchase 277, 304, 333, 354, 372, 409, 430, 463, 479 Lower Calif omia 490 Lynde, Wm. P 541 Lumber (see Manufactures and Tables) 540, 543 Mac Farlane, James 135, 161 McGulpin Point 196 Mackinaw Straits 196, 220, 325 Madeira 144 Manitou Islands 534 Manufactures (see under each State and Terri- tory) 514, 535, 638, 547 Maple Sugar 315 Marble 217 Marquette (Father) 166, 326, 233, 393 Marsh,Hon. G. P 87 Marvine 458 Maryland 212 Massachusetts 333, 346, 511, 576 Mastodon 325 Maumee Bay 311 ** Mauvaises Terres " (see Bad Lands) 398, 416 Mediterranean 583 Metals, Precious (see Mines and Tables). Gold. ... 15, 16, 94, 96, 97, 3-30, 356, 354, 355, 389, 391, 397, 403, 416, 417, 424, 430, 443, 461, 506, 549, 550, 552, 577 Mercury 507, 51)8, 551 Nickel 299 Silver . '. '.'.96, 97','2i(),' 330, 399,' bii', '355,'373, 389, 390, 391, 416, 417, 424, 434, 443, 46] ,'467, 606, 508, 540, 549, 577 Tellurium 389 Mexico 333, 447, 491, 497, 521, 645, 550 Michigan 31, 77, 195—226 Agricultural Products 213, 214 Area 196 Banks 220 Boundaries 195 BoundarleB Disputed 211 Canal 218, 219 Churches 325 Cities and Towns — Adrian 219, 221, 233 Allegan 318 Alpena 197, 326 Ann Arbor 321,233, 640, 556 Bay City 231,233, 225, 540 Cheboygan 303,204, 306 Coldvvater 334 Copper Falls 199 Detroit 196, 197, 199, 318, 219, 221, 223, 225, 320, 518, 520, 523, 540, 566, 660, 679 Eagle Harbor 197 Bast Saginaw 321, 223, 640 Escanaba 197, 209 Flint 221, 223, 640 Forestville 196 Grand Haven 197, 199, 203, 804 Grand Hapids 199, 307, 317, 221, 223, 641 Hancock 658 Houghton 558 Ionia 307 Michigan— paob Cities and Towns— Ishpeming ■ 226 Jackson 231, 333, 5il Kalamazoo 319, 321, 323, 641 L' AnSB 307 Lansing 224, 221, 333, 226, 519 London 20T Ludington 203, 304, 336 Mackinac 193, 320 Manistee 303, 306 Marquette . •. 197, 199, 200, 207, 326, 566 ' Muskegon 203, 206, 331, 333, 541 Ontonagon 197, 199 Oscoda 208 Parma 207 Pontlao 656 Port Anstin 308 Port Huron 197, 318, 231, 323, 641 Saginaw City 221,333, 540 St. Joseph 132, 134 Sturgeon Bay 242 Tecnmseh 556 Ypsilanti 656 Climate 199 Coal » 198, 308, 219 Commerce (tables) 219 Copper 309, 210 Counties — Coal 198 Barley 215 Fruit 216 Manufacturing 318 Salt 208 Water-shed 196 Dairy 216 Debt (table) 321, 222, 223, 555 Education 224, 247 Elevation 196 Fisheries 210 Flora 20O Frnit 313, 215, 216 Furniture 217 Geology 198 Gypsum 207 Harbors 197 Health 199, 200 History 310, 211 Iron 209, 210, 217 Lakes 196, 197 Lands 216 Live Stock (table) 216 Lumber 197, 200, 207 Manufacture" 216, 217 Mines 198, 208 Newspapers 325 Population (table) .' 31,312 Quarries 207 Kailroads 219, 220 Kevolution 167 Kivers 196, 197 Salt 198, 208 Silver 210 Soil 198 Steamers (table) 219 Surface 196 Taxation 220, 224 University 223, 234 Water Power 197 Wealth 220,224 Migration of Industrial Centres 193 Milling (see Manufactures) 180, 642 Mineral (see Mines). " Miner's inch " 86 Mines. . .83, 327, 388, 392, 403, 404, 416, 417, 441, 443, 470, 476, 577, and Appendix. Mines, Particular. . . .' 476, 508 Minnesota (see Prairie States). ..39, 327, 233. 250— 271, 272, 278, 281, 300, 315, 818, 323, 354, 396, 398, 399, 402, 406, 519, 660, 585, 587, 691, 693, 69S Agricultural Products 259, 260 Amber Cane 262, 263 Area 260' Bees 262 Churches 269 Cities (table) .270, 271 INDEX. 621 Minnesota— pase Cities and Towns- Belle Plain 253 Cannon Falls 365 Crookston 363 Duluth 231, 252, 263, 267, 403 Fergus Falls 863, 265 Fort Snelliug 257, 543 Hastings 265 Lanesboro 265 Minneapoli8..265, 268, 289, 522, 52S, 542, 543 NortMeld 265 Pembina 252, 253 Red Lake 253 Red Wing 365 Sauk Center 265 St. Cloud ■ 353, 263 Stillwater 258, 265, 542 St. Paul.... 257, 258, 235, 289, 519, 623, 542, 579, 583 St. Peters 257 Winona 522, 542 Climate 252 Commercial 267 Cost of Provisions (table) 264 ■ Counties — ■ Amber Cane 262 Butter and Cheese 261 Sheep 262 Wealthy 271 Wheat 263 Dairy 261, 262 Debt (table) 270 Education 268, 269 Elevation ',...250, 251 Farms 259 Fauna 256 Flora 253 Flour Mills 265 Fruit 260, 261 Geology 265 Health 262 History 256, 258 Immigration 369 Indians 258 Lakes 256 Lands 263, 264 Live Stock 261, 262 Lumber 263, 259, 365 Manufactures 215, 217, 365, 366 Massacre 397 Newspapers 368 Park Region 254 Population 31, 259 Press 368 Quarries 256, 269 Railroads 366, 267 Rivers 253, 256 State Fair 583, 587 Steamers 267 Stone 256 Surface 250, 251 Taxation 270 Timber 253, 254 Tree Plantmg 854 War, Indian 258 Water Power 264 Wealth (table) 270, 871 Wheat raising (table) 864 ' Wool.'. ..••• 268 "Minor Political Divisions of the United States" 279 Mississippi (State) 137 Mississippi valley 167, 295 Missouri (See Prairie States) . . . .157, 878, 394, 896— 382, 327, 331, 333, 345, 351, 354, 405, 522, 687, 691, 592, 593 Agricultural Products 306 Area 296 Banks 315 Castor beans 30° Churches 318 Cities (table) .' 316, 317 Cities and Towns- Canton 300 Cape Girardeau 308, 303, 319 J Missouri — page Cities and Towns— / Hannibal 300, 303, 303, 307, 316, 317 Iron Manufacture 318 Jefferson City 301 Joplin 326 Kansas City (see Tables).301, 302, 303, 307, 313, 315, 317, 380, 322, 331, 338, 538, 547, 661, 673, 674 Kirkville 319 Lexington 899 Louisiana 555, 661 Mexico 561 Potosi •. 899, 619 Sedalia 316, 317, 548 St. Charles 316,317,548, 656 St. Genevieve 303 St. Joseph 301, 313, 316, 317, 320, 521. 523 548 St. Louis (see Tables 160, 166). . . .398,' 301, 303, 304, 307, 314, 318, 330, 383, 681, 523, 542, 544, 5 17, 556, 559, 560, 573, 578, 679, 583 Warrensburg 319 Wellington 299 Climate 301, 302 Coal 298, 300, 310, 311 Commercial 818, 314, 321 Cotton 307 Counties, prices of Laud 310, 311 Lead and Zinc 387 Manufacturing 313 County System 879 Dairy 309, 310 Debt (table) 316, 817, 555 Education 318, 319 Elevation 396, 297 Fanna 301 Flora 300 Fruit 308 Geology i 898, 300 Health 303, 303 History 303, 305 Iron 161, 179, 299, 311 Land Value 311 Lead 899, 311 Live Stock -3.08, 309 Lumber 300, 301 Manufacturing 311, 313 Mining 398, 300, 318 Newspapers 320 Railroads 314, 815,381, 322 Rivers 296, 898 Schools 318, 319 Slavery 303, 304 Soil 297 States 305 Steamers 314 Surface 896, 897 Territory 31, 77, 346, 348 Ti mber 300 War 304 Wealth .- 310, 311, 315 Wine 308 Zinc 299 *' Missouri Compromise " 333 " Mitchie Sauguenaw " 195 Mojave Desert 494,497, 502 Mono Valley 602 Montana (see Territories) . . . .405, 406, 409—418, 419 430, 432, 434, 492 Agricultural Products 415 Area 409 Banks 418 Cities and Towns- Alder Gulch 410 Bannack 410, 418 Bozeman 418 Butte 418 Camp Baker 412 Camp Cook 412 Cantonment Stevens '..., 413 Deer Lodge 412, 418 Fort Benton 412, 413 Fort Ellis 412 Fort Shaw , 413, 413 622 INDEX. Montana— page Cities and Towns — Fort Smith 412, 413 Helena 410,413,413, 434 Virginia City 418 Climate 409, 412, 415 Counties, list of 417 Debt 418 Elevations (table) 409 Fauna 413 Flora 413 Geology 416 Gold 410, 416 History 409 Indians 418 Irrigation 414 Live Stock 415, 416 Lumber 413, 417 Manufactures (table) 417 Mining 410, 411, 416, 417 Population 417, 418 Railroads 417 Rivers 411, 414 Silver 416, 417 Surface 411 Temperature, Exceptional 415 Timber 413 Vigilance Committee 410, 411 Wealth 418 Mormons 169, 354, 435, 441, 440, 445, 582 Morse, Jedidiah 133 Mountains — Adams 464 Allegheny 5, 26, 39, 133, 331, 354 Appalachians 350, 251 Baker 464 Big Horn 431, 425 Bitter Root 413, 430 Blackfoot 434 Black Hins.366, 396—400, 403-405, 430, 433, 560 Blue 465, 480-481, 482, 489 Blue Ridge 123 Book Cliffs 388, 438 Bross 389 Calapooya 481 Carrizo 456 Cascade ... .39, 30, 84, 464^^467, 480-482, 489, 494, 505 Coast 464, 466, 489, 493, 499, 502 , 605 Colorado 387 Great , 375 Contra Costa 503 Cordilleras 29 Coeur d' Aline 465 Davidson 96, 477 Diablo 601, 503 Diamond 471 Egan 471 Elk 378, 376, 388, 390 Front Range 375, 430 Gosi-ute 471 Greenhorn 375 Gros Vtntro 421 Hood 464, 481 Humboldt 471 Iron Mountain 299 Keweenaw 197 Laramie Peak 424 Range...., 875, 420 Lincoln 389, 390 little Rocky 411 Long's Peak 375 Medicine Bow Range 420 Menominee 209 Missouri Range 412 Ozarks 300,303, 305, 307 Pah-ute 471 Park 375, 390, 423, 434 Range 376 389, 420 Pierce 587 Pike's Peak 855, 375 Pilot Knob 297,299, 303 Pinal 468 Porcupine 197 Post 458 Rainier 464 Mountains— pasb Roan Cliffs 438 Rocky 5, 26, 39, 85, 94, 350, 348, 354, 375, 421, 423 Rogue River 481 Salmon River 431, 434, 486 St. Helen's 464 San Bernardino 494, 496, 587 San Francisco 456, 457, 459 Sangre de Cristo 375,387, 388 San Juan 373, 376, 379, 383, 384, 385 Sawatch 376, 387, 390 Seminole 434 Shasta 494 Shepherd Mountain 397 Sierra Nevada.... 39, 30, 84,471,493-495,499, 505, 606, 608 Sierra La Sal 388 Siskiyou 481 South Park 389 Sulphur Hills 428 Sweet Grass Hills 411 Sweetwater 423, 424 Taylor 452 T^tons 421 Three Buttes -431 Toyabe 471 Uinta 388, 437, 438 TJmpciua 481 Wahsat* 30, 437—439, 441-443 Washoe 96 Wet 376,387 Wind River 421,432 Yellowstone 411,421,424,426 Zuni 449 Mudge, Prof. B. P 324, 335 Miiles (see Live Stock.) Mulhall 6, 11, 12, 16 Muscatine Island 282 Nails 60 Napoleon, Bonaparte 303 Narrow Gauge 445, 571 National Butter, Egg and Cheese Associa- tion 284, 286 National Park (see also Yellowstone N. Park) 426 National Road 133, 519, 530 Nebraska (see Prairie States).... 39, 213, 214, 323, 338, 346—371, .873, 396, 409, 435, 440, 504, 519, 678, 685, 587 Agricultural Products 356, 361 Area 346 Banks 367 Churches 370 Cities and Towns — Bellevue 354 Clifton 363 Dixon 851 Fremont 365 Ft. Kearney 350, 354 Hastings 365, 367 Lincoln 350, 361, 365, 369, 519,649 Nebraska City 364, 365 Ogdeu 367 Omaha 50, 346, 354, 365, 367, 519. 521, 533, 522, 5^9 Plattsmouth 354, 365, 367 Ponca 351 ' West Point 365 Climate 353, 354,- 360 Coal 276, 351 Counties- Corn ^ 361 Fruit 362 Spring Wheat 361 County System 279 Debt 368 Education 369 Flora 352, 363 Fruit 361, 362 iGeology 847, 350 361 Health 354 History 354, 366 INDEX. 623 2^el)raska — i-age Live Stock (tables) 362, 364 Mannf actures 865 Peat 3S2 Population (table) 31, 355, 856 Eallroads 366, 367 Elvers 347, 349 Salt 351 Sheep 364 Soil 349, 367 State 355, 356 Surface 346, 347 Timber 852, 358 Wealth (table) 368 ^'Nebraska, its Advantages, Eeaonrces and Drawbacks " 363 Negro 318, 321 "Nevada (see also Pacific States).. ..6, 90, 373, 410, 430, 440, 470—478, 479, 490, 492, 499, 550 Agricultural Products 473 Area 470 Banks 477 Boundaiies 470 Cities and Towns- Camp Halleck 439 Fort Churchill 472 Fort Kuby 472 Virginia Citv.... 96, 100, 411, 418, 477, 550 Climate 472 Counties, Population of 477 Debt 478 Education 478 Elevation (table) 4T0, 472 Fauna 473 Flora 473 Geology 474 Gold 475, 476 History -. 470 Irrigation 472, 473 Manufactures 476, 477 Mining 470, 474, 478 Population (table) 477 Bailroads 477 Elvers 472 Surface 470, 471 Taxation 478 Wealth 478 Newberry. Professor 48, 49 New England 50, 323, 576, 578 New France 167, 233 New Jersey 212, 353, 577 New Mexico (see Territories) 364, 372, 384, 447^54, 455 Agricultural Products 450, 451 Area 448 Banks 453 Cities and Towns — Albuquerque 453 El Paso 448 Fort Bayard 458, 459 Fort Craig 449 Las Vegas 453 Santa Fe 321, 453, 574 Silver City 452, 453 Climate 450 Copper 452 Counties, Population of 453 Debt 454 Elevation 448 Fauna 450 Flour 454 Forests 450 Geology 451, 452 Gold 452 History 447, 448 Indians 453 Irrigation 449, 451 Land Grants 452 Live Stock 451 Lumber 454 Mining 452 Population 453 Bailroads 453 Eivers 449 Enins 462 New Mexico — page Silver 452 Spanish 447 448 Surface 449 Taxation (table) 454 Timber 449, 450 Wealth (table) 454 Newspapers (see States separately) 74 New York (State) 263, 513 New York World 683 Nicollet, John 233 Nimmo, Joseph, Jr 577, 683 Nordhoff 614 Normal Schools (see Education). North Carolina 139, 168 North, S. D. N 74 Northwest Territory Ill, 182, 1,39, 167, 210, 211 233 Northwestern Lumberman .' 230 Norwegians 291, 317 Oats (see Agricultural Products). Oatmeal (tables) 287, 643 Ochre 351 Ohio (see Prairie States) 103—113, 196, 213, 307, 331, 519, 522, 565, 656, 658, 669, 586, 686, 589, 593 Agricultural Products 114, 115 Area 101 Banks 126 Boundary Dispute 211 Building Stone 118 Canals 124 Cession by Great Britain 109 Cession by Virginia 109 Churches 164 Cities and Towns — Akron 128, 533, 566 Athens 656 Bellaire 532 Canton 128, 532 Chilllcothe 128, 129, 533 Cincinnati 110, 111, 126, 129, 517, 518, 521, 538, 556, 559 Cleveland 103, 120, 126, 129, 518, 521, 630, 533, 658 , Columbia Ill Columbus 126, 128, 519, 531 Dayton 127, 128, 533 Defiance 127, 128, 556 Eastport 556 Granville 556 Hamilton 138, 632 . Ironton 532 Lancaster 656 Large Cities 537, 632 Lima 532 Losantiville Ill Manhattan 566 Mansfield 532 Marietta Ill, 112, 556 Milan 556 Norwalk 106 Oberlin 106 Portsmouth 124, 128, 518, 656 Sandusky.. 106, 123, 128, 129, 681, 556, 659 Springfield 126, 128, 532 Steubenville 128, 631, 632, 666 Tiffin 566 Toledo.... 106, 123, 126, 139, 150, 211. 518, 621, 53.3, 531, 660, 679 Urbana 105, 107 Youngstown 128, 63^ Zanesville 126, 128, 532, 556 Climate 105, 108 Coal 118, 119, 161 Commercial 120, 136 Counties- Coal 118 Iron 119 Manufacturing 120, 122 Petroleum 119 Salt 119 624 INDEX. Ohio- Counties — Stoneware 119 "Water Cement 119 Dairy 116, 117 Debt 137, 129 Education 110, 113, 139, 130 Fauna 108, 109 KbIi 132, 133 Fruit 116 Geology. . .> 103, 104 Health 107, 108 History 109, 113 Indians 113 Iron ". 119, 130, 179 LlTe Stock ■ 117 Manufactures 121, 122 Newspapers 130, 131 Petroleum 119 Population (table) 114 Principles of Government 113 Kailroads 135 Elvers 102 salt 119 Steamers 134, 125 Surface 101 Taxation 128 Timber 104, 106 Vessels 125, 218 Wealth 136, 128 Wine 116 Wool 117, 118 Ohio Company 110 Ohio Falls of 139 Ohio Gazetteer 123 Ohio, Statistics 558, 559 Oil Wells 558 Ordinance of 1787 109, 118, 140, 167, 311 Oregon (see Pacific States) 357, 366, 409, 480, 43 4, 463, 466, 479-489, 490, 494, 675, 588, 589 Agricultural Products 483 Area 480 Cities and Towns — Astoria 463, 563 Portland 100, 486, 552 St. Helen 489 Climate 483 Coal 489 Copper 489 Counties, Population of 484 Elevation (table) 480 Fisheries 488 Geology 488, 489 Gold 489 History 479, 480 Iron 489 Land 483 Livestock 484 Manufactures.- 486, 487 Mining 489 Population 485 Railroads 485 Rivers 483 Silver 489 Surface 480, 482 Taxes 484 Yolcanoes 488 Wages 484 Wealth 485 " Origin of Railroads " 34 Osage Orange (hedge) 163 Owen, David Dale 255 Owens Valley 503 Owyhee District 434 Oxen (see Live Stock). F Pacific Coast 550 Pacific Ocean... 5, 420, 463, 466, 490, 493 496, 553, 575, 584, 586 Pacific Slope 36 Pacific States 94—100, 525, 636 Artesian Wells 90 Cereals 99 Irrigation 90 Manufactures 100, 635, 526 Pacific States— pasb Railroads 100 Packing (meats) (see Tables) 643 Paine, Byron 584 Pajaro Valley 601 Park, Baker's 390 North 375, 887 Middle 375, 385, 387 San Luis 375 South 373, 884, 387 Parks (see City Debt tables ; Yellowstone National Park) 254 "Pastoral Marvels " 363 Patterson, R. H 94 Peat 162, 334, 352 Penitentiary (see in each State, also States Prison) 191,224, 248, 269 Pennsylvania 179, 209, 299, 530, 558, 576 Peoria Lake lii'9, 166 Peoria Sugar Refinery 588 Petroleum 26, 119, 327, 630, 531 Pinet, Father 166 Pioneer Press 230, 265, 287 Placer (mine) 40.3, 410, 411, 452, 489, 506, 608 Plateau, Oordilleran 39 Du Coteaux dea Prairies 272 Region 29 Platte Mound 338 Plows 60 Point aux Barques 207 Poland 269 Political Code 513 Polygamy 522 Pools 678, 679 Poor's Manual 267, 289, 659, 660, 567 Population (see Tables, also Appendix) — Center 25 Elevation 86 Growth 55 Native or Foreign 26 Sex 25 Temperature 26 White or Colored 25 Portage Lake 219 Porter, R. P 6 Portugal (see Diagrams). Portuguese 490 Postofflce 246 Potter, O. W 535 Potter's Clay 311 Pottery (see Manufactures) 266 Poultry 177, 239, 284, 310, 337 Powell, Major J. W. . .84, 381, 413, 439, 442, 443, 585 Prairie 251 Prairie States (see Diagrams and Tables)... 69, 78, 524, 626 Principal Meridians 586, 588 Progress of Western Cities 6 Pueblos (Villages) 447, 453 Puget's Sound 465, 469 Pulpit Rock 326 Pumpelly, R 32 Purdue University 155 Purdy, T. C 241 Pui-poses of Debt (see Tables). Putnam, Gen. Rufus 110, 124 Pyramid Lakes 477 Q Quartzite ..307, 317 Quebec 306 Queen Elizabeth 490 n Railroad Land Grants (see E. E. Chapter) 186 " Railroad Problem, The " 677 Railroads (see under each State and Terri- tory, also Diagrams and Tables) 25, 554, 563, 664, 570, 671, 584 "All Rail" 580 Atchison & Neliraska 367 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Pe.. ..194, 323, 841, 574, 575, 592 Atlantic & Pacific 461, 692 INDEX. 625 Kailroade — page Bnrlington & Missouri Eiver 366, 371, 644, 561, 568, 669, 672, 692 Baltimore & Ohio 26. 531 Canadian Grand Trunk 560 Central Pacific. 417, 444, 445, 471, 477, 514, 674, 575, 592 Chicago, Alton &St. Louis 561 Chicago Burlington * Q,uincy.l76, 561, 568, 673 Chicago, Columous & Indiana 151 Chicago, Clinton, Dubuque & Minnesota. 569 Chicago & Eastern 176 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. . . 176. 560, 565, 568, 569, 573 Chicago & West Michigan 220 Chicago & N orth-Western 176, 560, 568 Chicago, Rock Island & Paciflc.176, 560, 568, 578 Chicago&St. Lonis 176 Colorado Central 424 Covington, Columbus & Black Hills 367 Denver Pacific 424, 593 Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee . . 220 Detroit, Lansing & Northern 220 Detroit, Mackinaw & Marquette 217 Eureka & Palisade 477 Flint & Pere Marquette 203, 204, 205 Fort Scott & Gulf 327 Fremont, Atchison & Nebraska ; 367 Galena & Chicago Union 185 Grand Bapids & Indiana 220 Illinois Central... 63, 170, 176, 186, 194, 561, 668, 569, 591 Kansas Pacific 574 Keokuk, i't. Des Moines & Minnesota , . 690 Lake Shore & Michigan Southern.161, 220, 558 Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston. .327, 592 Madison & Indianapolis 557 Mad Eiver & Sandusky City 656 Michigan Central. . . . 161, 186, 219, 220, 656, 660 Michigan Southern 219, 220 Milwaukee & St. Paul. 560 Missouri Eiver, Fort Scott & Gulf 327 Missouri, Kansas & Texas 593 Missouri Pacific 321, 691 Nevada Central 477 Northern Cross 185 Northern Pacific 397, 401, 402, 406, 407, 417, 467, 667, 692 Northwestern & Grand Trunk 320 New York Central 25 Omaha & Northern Nebraska 367 Pacific 410, 442, 593 Pittsburg & Ft. Wayne 151 Sioux Ci ty, Chicago & St. Paul 573 Sioux City & Pacific 367, 569, 673, 692 St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba 263 St. Paul & Pacific 366 Southern Pacific 194, 341, 461, 674, 592 Texas & Pacific 592 Union Pacific... 346, 351, 357, 365, 366, 367, 871, 875, 417, 419, 420, 424, 444, 445, 549, 560—662, 674, 594 Utah (see list, p. 445) 417, 445 Utah & Northern 417, 434 Virginia &, Truckee 477 Wabash System 560 Wabash, St. Lonis & Pacific 151, 185 " Eailroads and the Farmers " 685 " Eailway Age " 243 Eainy Lake 250 Ranch 363, 364 Eandolph, Charles 182, 535 Bange, Stock 387 Rebellion (see War). Reform School 224 Keligion 269 Eevolutionary War 167, 517, 585 Rice, Wild 238 Einault, Philip Francois 167 Elvers— Alamo 502 Alisos Creek 601 Amador 502 Ajnargosa 502 Arkansas . . .324, 338, 331, 337, 374, 876, 383, 388, 387, 392, 393, 649, 587 Elvers— pagb Au Sable 197 Bad 196, 197, 229 Bad Axe 233 Bear 431, 434, 442 BearCreek 601 Beaver 518 Beaver Creek 383 Belle Fourche 406 Berreyesa 501 BigBlack 397 Big Blue 339,338,349, 352 Big Horn 421—423 BigMnddy 158,160 Big Sioux 373, 396, 406 Big Thompson Creek 383 Bitter Eoot 412 414 Black 102, 238, 380, 666 Blue 349, 384 Bois Brule 195, 329 Boise 480, 433, 479 Box Elder Creek 383 Brush / 102 Buenaventura 601 Buffalo 228 Cache Creek 501 Cache de Poudre 383 Calamus 352 Calumet 517 Canadian 448, 449 Cass 197, 206 Cedar 197, 374, 378, 281,291, 543 Chagrin 102 Chariton 273, 396, 397, 300, 301, 307, 317 Cheboygan '. . . . 197 Cherry Creek 383 Cheyenne 403 406 Chicago 166, 169, 183, 184, 517, 518, 657 Chippewa '. . 197, 328. 230 641 Cimarron 324, 339 Clarke 412,417, 465 Clarke's Fork 412 Clear Creek 383, 389, 392 Clear Lake Creek 601 Clearwater 430—433, 436 Colorado .... 381, 437, 438, 443, 460, 456, 466, 469, 460, 470, 497 Colorado-Chiquito 450, 456,467,459, 460 Columbia.. 410, 412, 417, 436, 463, 465, 479, 480. 483, 483, 488, 631 Coyote 501 Crow 353 Crow Wing 353 Cucharas 383 C uivre 297 Current 300, 305 Cuyahoga 102, 108, 517, 618, 658 Deer Lodge 414 Deschutes 489 DBS Moines . . . .351, 270—276, 378, 288, 289 291, 296, 298, 303, 543, 669, 590 Des Plaines 161, 165, 166, 183, 228, 517, 518, 637, 557 Detroit 195, 198 Dolores 382 Dry 501 Eau Claire 541 Bel 488 Elkhorn 348, 349, 362 Embarras 168 Fevre 619 Firehole 427 Flint 197, 206 Floyd 568 Frazer's 488 Frazier 384 Fountaine qui Bouille 383, 392 Fox..., 158, 161, 162, 237—339, 232, 241, 243, 636, 537,541, 557 Gallatin 412, 414, 418, 436 Gasconade 807, 317 Gila 450,456,457, 461, 688 Grand. .102, 196, 197, 206, 208, 214, 315, 326, 298, 300, 302, 307, 308, 385, 438, 539 Grande 272 Grand Wash 457 626 INDEX. Rivere — page Grande Ronde 489 Great Miami 102, 103, 110, 111, 184, 517 Green 420, 423, 438, 501 Greene 375, 420, 423 Greenliorn 383 Gunnison 385 Hardscraoble Creek 383 Henry's Pork 432 Hocking 102, 103, 110 Huerfano 383 Humboldt 471, 473 Huron 102,214, 540, 556 Hlinoi8....132, 139, 158, 159, 161, 163, 165, 166, 168, 169, 173, 176, 183, 184, 228, 297, 305, 314, , 517, 519, 537, 545, 557, 560, 586, 587, 590 / Indian Creek 501 ' Iowa 272, 276, 278 James 396, 398, 402, 406 Jefferson 412, 414 Jolm Day 489 Jordan 440 Judithi : . A 411, 412 Kalamazoo 196—198, 214, 541 Kankakee 132, 138, 139 143, 158, 166 Kansas 297, 304, 324, 335, 331, 337, 547, 548 Kaskaskia 158,166, 167, 173 Kettle 253 Kewaunee 228 Keya Paya 346, 349, 353 Klamath . . . . ; 481, 501 Left Hand 229 Lewis 482, 465 Licking Ill, 527 Linslow 488 Little : 265 Little Blue 339, 349,352,364, 586 Little Miami 102, 103, 110, 111 Little Missouri 407 Little Nemaha 349 Little Prickly Pear Creek 410 Little Sioux 272, 278, 568 Little Scioto 103 Long Creek 501 Loup 347, 349 Mad 432 Madison 412, 414, 426, 427 Mahoning 517, 518 Malade 434 Malheur 489 Manistee 197 M anitowoc 228 Mankato 278 Maple 196, 272 Maquoketa 272 Maumee....l02, 109, 134, 139, ISO, 158, 198, 517, 518, 556 Menominee 195, 209, 227, 228 Meramec 397 Miami 103, 110—112, 139, 527, 586 Milwaukee 233 Minnesota 169, 250—253, 255, 257, 265, 267, 270, 543 Mississippi 94,113, 124, 132,139,157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 163—165, 167—169, 170, 173, 183, 184, 194. 301, 227—239, 230—233. 239, 241, 242, 250—253, 255, 267, 258, 264, 265, 267, 268, 370-274, 276—278, 288, 322, 542, 544, 545, 548, 560, 568, 569, 575, 579, 581, 585, 687, 591 Missouri ... .85, 272, 274, 276—278, 287, 288, 291, 300, 305, 307, 309, 310, 314, 817, 331, 340, 346, 348, 349, 353, 357, 361, 363, 364, 396, 397, 899, 403, 406, 407, 410^12,414, 519, 532, 539, 644, 645, 547, 548, 555, 562, 568 Mojave 495, 502 Monougahela 112, 124 Montreal 195, 239 Muddy Creek 384 Muecleahell , 414 Muskegon 197, 235 Muskingum 102— lOB, 110, 119, 532 Napa 502 Nemaha 349 Neosha 324, 331 Nile 583 PASS 346, 347, 349, 352, 396, 407 Rivers — Niobrara Niehnabatona . Nodaway 273, 275 Ohio 5, 29, 33, 101—105, 110-112 119, 124, 132-134, 137—139, 144, 149, 150, 157, 158 160—162, 168, 169, 186, 314, 517, 518, 520, 531, 533, 537, 586, 589, 590, 591 Ontonagon 197 Osage 297, 301, 305, 307, 309, 318 Ottawa 210 Owyhee 432, 48J, 489 Payette 433 Pecatonica 158, 537 Pecoe 449, 453 Pere Marquette 2(16 Petaluma 502 Pine 197 Pitt 494 Platte. .346, 348, 350, 352, 369, 360, 364, 374, 420 North 384,420, 432, 433 South. ...87, 374, 375, 382, 383, 387, 393, 549 Pleasant 601 Plum Creek 375, 383 Pope 501 Portage 102 Port Neuf 434, 436 Powder 423 Prairie Creek 349 Purgatorio Creek 388 Putah 501 Raccoon 643, 590 Raft 432 Rainy Lake 250—252, 255 Raisin 196, 640 Ralston Creek 383 Red. . . .250, 252, 255, 265, 267, 270, 271, 396, 398, 399, 402, 405—407, 577 (La.) 398 Cedar 273 Republican 324, 325, 338, 349, 351, 352, 359, 364, ,374 Rhine (Europe) 255 Rifle 205, 206 Rio de Chelle 457 Rio Grande 384, 448, 4.53, 586 Rock 158, 160—163, 169, 237, 228, 333, 348, 517, 639, 542 Rocky 102 Rogue 481, 483, 488 Rum 253 Russian 501 Sacramento 30, 488, 493, 494, 496, 575 Saginaw .... 196, 197, 201-203, 205, 206, 208, 315, 225, 226, 540, 641 Saguache Creek 384 St. Charles 383 St. Clair 195, 198 St. Croix. . . .227— 229, 241 351, 253, 258, 365, 267, 270, 642 St. Francis 296,297, 587 St. Joseph 132, 134, 138, 139, 143, 196-198, 219 533 St. Lawrence .... 124, 167, 183, 184, 210, 298,' 660 St. Louis 229, 263, 365 St. Mary 132 St. Vrain's Creek 383 Salina ; 501 Saline 324,328, 337 Salmon 431-433 Salt 197, 297, 688 Salt Creek 349, 351 San Bernardino 601 San Diego 501 Sandusky 102 San Gabriel 601 Sangamon 158, 164, 173 San Joaquin 30, 493, 494. 496, 575 San Juan 385, 4')6 San Juan Creek 501 . San Luis Rey 501 San Luis Creek 384 San Rafael 442 San Ramon 602 Santa Ana 501 Santa Clara 501 INDEX. 627 Eivers— PiaE Santa Inez 501 Santa Margarita 501 Santa Eoea 501 Sank 258, 265 Scioto 102, 103, 518, 681 Sevier 443 Sheboygan 228 Shell Creek 349 Shiawassee 197 Short Creek 827, 328 Sioux 273 Six Mile Creek 209 Skunk 273 Smith's 488 Snake. .253, 421, 426, 430, 465—467, 479, 482, 587 Smoky Hill 324,828, 337, 338 Spring Creek 327 Solomon's 324, 338 Sun 414 Sweetwater 4S2 Tequamenon 197 TSton 414 Thunder Bay t. 197 Tittibawassee 197, 208 Tongue 422 Tower Creek 429 Trempealeau 228 Troublesome Creek 384 Tuolumne 495 Turkey 272 Turkey Creek 388 Two Eivers 228 Uinta 442 Umatilla 483 Umpqua 481, 483, 488, 489 Uncompahgre 385 Upper Iowa 272 Vermillion 102, 158 Virgen 439, 470, 472 ^ Wabash.... 124, 132—184, 136—139, 143, 149, 150; 167, 158, 160, 163, 168, 169, 173, 186, 517, 518, 5.33, 556, 590 Walla Walla 463, 466, 480 Walhonding 556 Wapsipinicon ; 272 Weiser 438 White 132, 134, 136—138, 143, 206, 297, 383, 407, 517, 618, 582 Whitewater 1.34, 189, 143, 144 Willamette 30, 481, 482, 553 Williams 384, 460 WiUow Creek 384 Wind 421—423, 425 Wisconsin 227—230, 232. 233. 241, 517, 590 Wolf 2-30 Wood 349, 434 Yamhill 482 Yaquina 489« ' Yellowstone 398, 411, 412, 416, 417, 426, 428, 429 Youghiogheny 124 Znmbro 265 .'lEockCity " (rocks) 326 Rock Eiver Valley 169 Roman Catholic (see Churches). "Bound up" 362, 386 Eoutt, Gov. J. L 393, 394 Eussia (see Europe and Diagrams) 97, 583 Eye (see Tables and Agricultural Products). S Saginaw Bay 196 St. Clair, Gov Ill, 112, 139 " St. Francis Bottom " 807 St. Mnry, Straits 195 St. Papl. 267, 268 Salmdn Fall 432 Salt 208, 328, 351, 540 Illinois 162 Lake Desert 470 Michigan 208 New York 208 Springs 119 Sandwich Island (sugar product) 551 San Felipe Valley 502 San Francisco Basin 501 San Francisco Bay 575 San Lorenzo Valley 501 San Luis Park 449 San Luis Valley 462 Santa Clara Valley 502 Sargent, Winthrop 139 Sault Ste. Marie 197 Saward, Fred. B 53 Saw Mills 201-203, 205 Scandinavian .371, 441 Schaffler, Hon. John E 281, 284 Schools (see Education, also Tables). ..70, 71, 74 Scotch 371 Scotland 23, 269, 543 Sea of Tiberias 440 Selkirk Settlement 257 Sewers (see Tables, Purposes of Debt). Shannon, Hon 318 Sheep (see Live Stock) 262 Michigan 216 Shoshone Falls 432 Lake 426, 428 Sibley, Gen 397,448 Signal Corps 137, 138 Service 231, 331, 368 Silver Islet 256,640 Silver Smelting , 549 Sinsinnewa Mound 228 Sionx Reservation 403, 404 Slade, James P 190 Slavery, Indiana 140 Smith, Gov 241 Joseph 522 Smithsonian Institute.. 278, 400, 412, 413, 469, 544 Snakeheads (E. E.) 567 Snake Eiver Plain 431—433 Snow, Frank H 381 Soil 349,360 Soil and Climate 357', 360 Soldiers' Orphans' Home 191 Sorghum 177,215 South America (see Diagrams). South Carolina 355 Spain (see Diagrams) 30.3, 479 Spaniard 298, 821 Spanish 277, 304, 447, 479, 491, 609, 550 Spanish America 97 Spirit Lake 272 Spoflord,A. E 76 Staked Plains 90 Stamp Mills 403, 404 Stanley, Dean 192 State Agricultural College 292 State Agricultural Eeport 330 State Agricultural Society 238, 281, .367 State Board of Agriculture .346, 361 State Historical Society 248 State Horticultural Society 367, 361 State— Buildinga> 319, 324, 352, 366, 361 Library 248 Meteorologist 378 Prison 541, 542 Public Schools 224 Surveyor General 507 University 231, 247, 292, 319, 369 Statistical Atlas 281, 279, 331 Statistician, State (Ind.) 140, 141, 145 Staves 207 Steel (see Iron). Steel Rails 573 Stenberg, Dr. L 830 Stone Quarries (Ind.) 138 Straits of Carquinez 502 Sub-humid Region • ■• 84 Subsidy S75 Sully, Gen 397 Surveyor General 259 Sutter's Ranch 492 Swamp Lands 133 Sweden (see Diagrams). Swedes 291,317 Swine (see Hogs). 628 INDEX. PAGE Swiss IH 2S7 Switzerland (see E. E. Diagram). Symmes, Jolin Cleves 110i m T Table Eock 336 TaWeS— , „ , ^^^r <-1 A Ericultural Productions fseeCereals)115, 141, 142, 172, ai3, 235, 237, 260, 280, 281, SOB, 335, 360, 535 Areas 35, 79, 97, 401, 4U9 Banks 19. 56 National 5B State 56 Bonded Debt, Cities '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 270, 316, 513 Issue and Maturity 188, 316, 513 Purposes 188, 270, 316, 342, 614 Kate 188, 270, 316, 317, 843, 514 Kegistered 57, 127 Canals and Eailroads 557 Cereals (see Ag. Prod.). .39, 40, 81, 98, 115, 141, 170, 213, 235, 260, 880, 306, 336, 356, 386, 401, 415, 423, 443, 460, 467, 473, 483, 500, 561 Cereals, Acres in 81, 98 Cbinese Immigration 511 Cities, Growtbof 55 Coal ,54 Commerce, etc 19, 532, 535, 646 California 551 Commercial Estimates 485 Comstock Lode 476 Corn 41, 82, 99, 236 Cost, Living 364 Wheat Culture 264 Dairy 361 Debt 70, 187, 290, 393, 894 City 187, 245, 2T0, 290 Classified 221, 244 Bonds 221 Purposes 153, 222, 342 Kate 153,222, 343 Issue and Maturity 153, 343 State 63, 64 Debt and Taxation 454 Elevation. . .374, 409, 420, 431, 437, 448, 466, 464, 472, 480, 493 Exports 486 Education 268, 269 Funds 247 Schools .- 73, 154, 224, 369, 893 Territories 92 Failures 58 Fisheries 46, 47, 123, 505 Food, Price of 24 Freight Receipts 532 Fruit Trees, California 503 Glass 51 Gold 15 Grain Eeceipts, and Shipments 638. 539, 547, 582 Distillation ■ 538 Trade 523 World's 15 Humidity 379 Indians 407 Industries 487, 514, 528, 529, 646 Insurance 59 Internal Eevenue Tax 530 Irrigation 383 Iron and Steel 21, 22 Land Grants for Canals 593 Eailroads 593, 594 Swamps 595 Lead 328 Letters mailed 78 Libraries 76 Live Stock 46, 82, 99, 116, 142, 175, 216, 239, 261, 283, 308, 337, 363, 363, 461, 536 Local Indebtedness 66, 69, 342 Lumber 202-206, 230, 265, 640 Manufactures 48, 63, 91, 100, 146, 149, 240, 266, 885, 286, 339, 365, 406, 417, 435, 444, 454, 486, 487, 614, 624—626, 628, 529, 530, 634 Metals 83, 96, 328 Tables— page Mileage, Bailroad 24, 47 Mines- Bonanzas " 475 (Juartz 508 Mining Counties, California 506 T'Tewspapers 74 Ore and Grain 125 Population.. 32, 80, 97. 98, 114, 140, 170,812, 834, 259, 280. 305, 334, 366, 392, 404, 417, 418, 425, 435, 444, 453, 461. 468, 477 Classified 259 Sex 36, 80, 98 Colored and Foreign 36, 80, 98 Prau-ie States .> ■. 31 Wealth and Debt 154, 291, 395 Wealth and Taxation 290 Wealth, Taxation and Debt.. .128, 152, 189, 223, 246, 270, 317, 343, 368, 395, 446, 477, 487, 513, 516 Precious Metals 83, 96, 97, 391, 506 Progress, World 16 Public Lands, Disposal of 596 Eailroads 84, 100, 445 Built 564, 666 And Canals 557 Earnings 562 Freight 663, 566—567, 570, 671, 582 Miles of road 559 Eainf all 377, 399, 413, 439, 468, 472 Salmon Fisheries 488, 505 Salt 640 Spirits 638 Steamers 219, 242, 288 Taxation 66, 128 Classified 244 Land 870 Temperature 378, 400, 412, 432, 459, 472 Timber 136 Tobacco 540 Transportation 390 Valuation 62, 65 Vessels 125, 185 Wages 23, 484, 500 Wealth 63, 187, 290 342, 407, 454, 461, 484 and Debt.... 368 Debt and Taxation 189, 418, 478 and Taxation 435, 446, 468 Wheat 11, 41, 45, 82, 99, 236, 401 Wine 12, 144 California 604 Vines 603 Tanner's History of Canals and Eailroads 557 Tartary 583 Tax (see Tables). Taylor E. C 161 Taylor, Zachary 168 Teachers (see Education). ^Teachers' Institutes (see Education). Tehachipi Valley 602 Telegraph (see Diagrams). Telephone (see Diagrams). Temple Block 587 Tennessee 246, 322 Territories 5, 6, 79. 94, 210, 211 Texas 90, 333, 336, 341, 364, 372, 376, 447, 448, 504, 673, 678 Thompson, Hon. S. E 369 Thunder Bay 206, 207 Tile Drain 178 Timber (see under each State and Territory). Culture 830 Culture Laws 595 Tithes 446 Tobacco (see Agricultural Products). Todd, Col. John 168 Tonti, M 167 Towage 581 Town Government 278, 2i9 Township, Congressional 588. 591 Transportation (see Vessels, Eaihroads and Canals) 123 Traverse Bay 199 Tree Planting 163, 253, 876, 362, 353, 595 Turkey (see Diagrams). Tuthill Salt Marsh 328 INDEX. 629 PAOE "Two Years before the Mast" B31 Tyler, Jolin (President) 278 TJ UnitedStates (see Diagrams and Tables). 19, 34, 40 Navy 491 Bngineer Coi-ps 499 Union Stock Yards B36 "University (see Education), Utah (see Territories)... 354, 357, 366, 374, 410, 419, 430, 433, 434, 439—446, 459, 470 Agricultural Products 443 Area 437 Banks 446 Cities and Towns — Camp Douglas 439 Ogden 434, 442,445, 514 Salt Lake City 439, 442, 445, 446, B22, 550, 587 Climate 443 Coal 443, 444 Counties, Population of 444 Education 445 Elevation 437 Fauna 440 Flour 444 Gold 443 History 440 Indians 446 Irrigation 442, 443 Live Stock : 443 Lumber 444 Manufactures 444 Mormons 440, 446 Population ■ 444 Eailroads 442, 444 Silver 443 Surface 437 Wealth 446 Tanderbllt, Wm. H 576 Vasey, Dr. Geo 163 Vasquez de Coronado 447 Vauban 10 Vein, True Fissure (see Mines) '. 474 YermllUon Lake 256 Vermont 511 Vessels (see Tables) .... 124, 135, 150, 184, 185. 218, 314, 543 Vigilance Committee 410 Vilas, Col. Wm. F 583 Virginia 307, 585 Cession by 139, 168 Vital Statistics (see Health under each State). Volcanoes 488, 494 VonCoellnC.W 292 "W" Wages (see Tables) 24 Waite, Dr. Henry Eandall 6 Wales 441 Walker, Hon. Francis A 266, 279 War, Civil 83 War of 1812 168, 304 Washburn Observatory 247 Washington, General 139 Washington Territory (see Territories) . . . 430, 434, 463—469, 479, 480, 493, 494, 496, 511, 552 Agricultural Products 467 Area 468 Banks . • 468 Cities and Towns — Bellingham Bay 467, 468 Fort Colville 468 Gray's Harbor 466, 468 Muckilteo 488 Seattle 488 Shoalwater Bay 466 Climate : 463, 466 Washington Territory- page Coal 467 Counties, Population of 468 Fauna 466 Msh 463, 466 History 463 Indians 468, 469 Irrigation 466 Lumber 466 Mining 467 Population ', , .. 468 Eailroads 467 Elvers 465 Silver 465 Surface 464, 467 Taxation 468 Temperature 463, 466 Volcanoes 464 Wealth 468 Watch-making, (see Manufactures) 636, 539 Water, Cubic feet 85 Duty : : 86, 383 Power (see under States). 264, 541 Works (see Purposes of Debt in tables.) Wayne, Gen Anthony 112 Wealth of Nations (see Tables andDiagrams). 62 " Webfeet " 465 Welle, Artesian 89, 90 Wells, Fargo and Co 391, 452, 461, 474, 506 Welsh 291, 317 West, The, defined 26, 29, 50 Western Eeserve 110 West Indies 167 West Virginia 165, 530, 559 Wheat (see Tables, Diagrams, Agricultural Products and Cereals)... 11, 43 Spring 838, 361 Winter 307, 337, 503, 552 Whitford,W. C 246 Wilber, CD 367, 358, 360 Williams, Geo. T 536 Williams, M. G 105 Winchell, Alex 208 Wine (see California) 143, 144, 503 Wines,P. H 191 Winnebago Lake 238, 555 Wisconsin (see Prairie States) 77, 157, 195, 197 198, 227—249 257, 275, 300, 405, 560, 584, 585, 587, 590, 593 Agricultural Products 235, 289 Area 237 Banks 243 Boundary Dispute 212 Canals 228, 242 Charitable Institutions 248 Churches 248 Cities and Towns — Appleton 245 246, 541 Ashland 564 Belmont 555 Bau Claire 245,246, 541 Edgerton 237 Fond du lac 245, 246, 348, 541 Green Bay. .195, 204, 227, 232, 242, 345, 346, 248, 320, 541 Janesville 345,246. 348, 543 LaCrOBse....231,241, 243, 345, 346, 532, 543 Lafontaiue 555 LaPointe 383 Large Cities 541, 543 Madison. . . .154, 228, 231, 245, 346, 248, 519, 620, 541, 555 Menasha 564 Milwaukee 231, 232, 238, 241, 242, 245, 246, 248, 523, 541, 555, 579 Mineral Point 333, 555 Oshkosh 245, 246, 543 Portage City 228 Prairie du Chien 231, 232 Eacine 345, 246, 248, 542 Sheboygan 248 Watertown 245, 246, 248, 542 Climate 231 Commercial 241 Counties — , Corn 236 630 INDEX. Wisconsin— page Counties- Tobacco 237 Wheat 236 Dairy 176, 339 Debt 344 Education 346, 247 Elevation 327, 239 Fauna 230, 231 Pish 231 Flora 230 Fruit 238 Geology 339, 230 Health 232 History 232. 333 Indians 333 Iron 179, 229 Lead 229, 230 Lumber (table) 230 Manufactures 239 Navigation 241,242, 243 Newspapers 246 Population (table) 234 Eailroads 242, 248 Eivers 238, 241 Steamers 343 Surface 227 Territory 278 Timber 230 Tobacco 337, 238 Zinc 239 Wool 117, 175, 218, 263, 651, 652 Wool Crop of the United States ^see Ap- pendix). World Manufactures (see Diagrams) . World's Progress (see Diagramsj. WortUen, A. H 160 Wright, A. H 176 Wrieiit, Chas. B 309 Wyclroff, Wm. C 21 Wyoming (see Territories) 90, 346, 349, 358 397, 403, 409, 412, 419-439, 430, 431. 437, 587 Agricultural Products 422, 423 Area 420 Banljs 425 Cities and Towns — Carbon 424 Wyoming— paoe Cities and Towns- Cheyenne 323,378, 379, 424 Evanston 424 FortBridger 41«, 439 Fort Laramie 419 Fort Steele 419 Granger 424 Eock Spring 424 Sherman .S75, 430 Climate 421, 422 Coal 424 Counties, Population of 425 Elevation (table) 420 Fauna 422 Flora 422 Geology 423, 424 G old 434 Grazing 433 History 419 Indians 419, 425 Irrigation 432 Live Stock 423 Mining ^ Population 434, 425 Eailroads 419, 424 Eivers 421 Silver 421 Surface 420 Taxation .' 435 Timber 422 Wealth 425 Yellowstone National Park 435, 429 "Jacht 219, 242 Yellowstone Lake ...,....■ 428 Yellowstone National Park 421, 423 439, 432 Yosemite Valley 495 Young, Brlgham 441, 445 Z Zinc 162, 229, 330, 299, 311, 326. " Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution". 441 POCKET MAPS AND GUIDES FOREIGN COUNTRIES AND CITIES. 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