) Click to view |
Persons with families should not come West entirely destitute of means, to brave the hardships of pioneer life. Many have done so, and have succeeded, and in a few years have been numbered among the most influential and well-to-do citizens of the State, but it more frequently leads to disappointment, homesickness and discontent. A capital of $200 or $300 after the land is secured, with which to commence operations, would be of very great advantage. An expenditure of $50 will complete a cabin in which a family can be comfortably sheltered. A neat one-story frame house with from two to four rooms can be built at a cost of from $200 to $600. Good stabling for stock may be constructed with but little expense by the use of a few posts and poles covered with straw or hay.
Settlers coming West and having a long distance to travel, should dispose of their farming implements and heavy or bulky furniture. Bedsteads, tables, chairs, mattresses, crockery, stoves, etc., etc., stock, teams, wagons, tools of all kinds, and farming implements better adapted to this country than those left behind, can be purchased here at reasonable rates, frequently at less than would be the cost of transportation. Clothing, bedding, table linen, books, pictures, and other small articles may be brought with advantage.
The prices at the West, as in older states, are regulated by the supply and demand. As a general rule, all supplies, except the common necessaries, and articles of domestic use that can be dispensed with, are dearer; meats, flour, grain, potatoes, etc., are cheaper than in the Eastern states. The following may be taken as average prices at this date—October, 1870:
| Work cattle, per yoke | $125 00 | to | $175 00 |
| Horses and mules, per pair | 200 00 | " | 400 00 |
| Driving horses, each | 150 00 | " | 300 00 |
| Farm wagons | 100 00 | ||
| Harness, double set | 40 00 |
)
Click to view
Page 23
| Yearlings | $12 00 | " | $15 00 |
| Two years old | 20 00 | " | 35 00 |
| Three years old | 35 00 | " | 45 00 |
| Cows | 30 00 | " | 50 00 |
| Calves | 5 00 | " | 10 00 |
| Sheep | 2 00 | " | 4 00 |
| Hogs, per pound | 071/2 | " | 10 |
| Beef cattle, per pound | 031/2 | " | 051/2 |
| Yearlings | $8 00 | ||
| Two years old | 12 00 | " | $14 00 |
| Three years old | 18 00 | " | 20 00 |
| Four years old and upwards, averaging 1000 lbs | 25 00 | " | 35 00 |
| Cows | 17 00 | " | 20 00 |
| 1 inch Finishing Surfaced, per M | $40 00 | " | $60 00 |
| 1 1/4, 1 1/2 and 2-inch Finishing, Surfaced, per M | 60 00 | " | 70 00 |
| Flooring, dressed and matched, per M | 25 00 | " | 45 00 |
| Siding, per M | 20 00 | " | 27 00 |
| Ceiling, 1/2 inch, beaded, per M | 25 00 | " | 35 00 |
| Common boards, per M | 25 00 | " | 30 00 |
| Joists, Scantling, &c., 18 feet and under, per M | 24 00 | ||
| Fencing, per M | 25 00 | ||
| Shingles, A sawed, per M | 4 25 | ||
| Shingles, No.1, per M | 3 50 | ||
| Lath, per M | 4 00 |
| Carpenters, per day | $ 2 50 | " | $4 00 |
| Masons, per day | 4 00 | " | 5 00 |
| Painters, per day | 3 00 | " | 3 50 |
| Blacksmiths, per day | 3 00 | " | 4 00 |
| Carriage makers, per day | 3 00 | " | 4 00 |
| Day laborers, per day | 1 50 | " | 2 50 |
| Shoe makers, per week | 18 00 | " | 20 00 |
| Teamsters, per month | 30 00 | " | 60 00 |
| Farm hands, per month (board included) | 20 00 | " | 35 00 |
| Clerks, per annum | 600 00 | " | 1500 00 |
| Teachers, per annum | 500 00 | " | 2000 00 |
Spring work is usually commenced in February. Wheat is sowed in March and corn planted in May. Prairie should be broken between the middle of May and the middle of July.
By act of Congress the grant of lands is made directly to the Company. They have been entered at the United States Land Offices, and are duly recorded on the Plats and Tract Books of the same. These entries have been approved and the title vested in the Com-
)
Click to view
Page 24
pany, is absolute, and in fee simple. When a purchase is made conveyances are executed vesting in the purchaser a complete and perfect title free from all incumbrances.
The lands are sold for cash or on credit. The prices vary from $2.50 to $10.00 per acre. A deduction of ten per cent. from the credit price is made to those who purchase for cash.
Eighty acres at $5.00 per acre on credit. The principal one-fifth cash down, balance in two, three, four, and five years, equal payments. Interest on deferred payments at six per cent. per annum. No payment except the interest due required at the end of the first year.
| PRINCIPAL. | INTEREST. | TOTAL. | |
| Cash payment | $80 00 | $— | $80 00 |
| Payment in one year | — | 19 20 | — |
| Payment in two years | 80 00 | 19 20 | 99 20 |
| Payment in three years | 18 00 | 14 40 | 94 40 |
| Payment in four years | 80 00 | 9 60 | 89 60 |
| Payment in five years | 80 00 | 4 80 | 84 80 |
The same land can be bought for $360, cash down. The Land Grant Bonds of the Company are taken at par in payment for the lands.
The land is sold in tracts of forty acres and upwards. When sold on time, contracts are made out in duplicate, one of which is delivered to the purchaser and the other retained in the office of the Land Department. Agents will be found at the principal stations on the road, prepared to give information, aid parties in making selections, and forward their applications and money to the office of the Land Department at Omaha. All applications are subject to the approval of this office, and here the contracts are made out.
Are issued, which give the parties the privilege to stop off at any or all, of the stations along the road within the limits of the lands offered for sale, and entitle the holder to a credit of the full amount of the ticket, if he purchase one hundred and sixty acres or upwards, or to a credit of half its amount if he purchase eighty acres. The tickets are sold only at the office of the Land Department in Omaha.
)
Click to view
Page 25
Good hotels will be found at all the principal stations on the road, where those in search of lands will be accommodated at reasonable prices.
Emigrants and all others coming to look at the lands of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, should procure
Which may be obtained at any of the principal railroad offices in the United States and Canada.
The following railroads connect with the Union Pacific at Omaha, viz.:
Chicago, Burlington and Missouri River.
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific.
Chicago and Northwestern.
Hannibal and St. Joseph, via St. Joseph, Council Bluffs and Omaha.
Sioux City and Pacific.
All these are first-class roads, furnished with all the modern appliances for comfort and safety.
Further information relative to the lands, maps and circulars, and plats of particular tracts, showing the lands for sale and the prices of the same, will be furnished gratuitously in application in person at the office of the Land Department, in the Union Pacific Railroad building, corner of Ninth and Farnam streets, or by letter addressed to
O. F. DAVIS,
Land Commissioner U.P.R.R. Co.,
Omaha, Nebraska.
Funded by the
Institute of Museum and Library Services