The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer

by Oscar Micheaux

  CHAPTER XXI

  THE BOOM

  This valuable tract of land comprising about fifty thousand acres hadbeen entered after the opening, by settlers, and lay about as near toKirk as it did to Megory, hence its trade was sought by both towns, butwith Kirk getting the larger part until Megory established a mill, whichpaid two cents more for wheat, and the farmers took advantage by haulingmost of their produce to the former town. This included another strip ofrich territory to the north of Megory and west of Landing Creek, wherethe soil is a rich gumbo, and the township thickly settled so it isreadily seen that Megory was advantageously situated to draw from alldirections. This soon brought such a volume of business into the town asto make the most fastidious envy it, and the Megoryites were well awareof their enviable position. The town continued to grow in a sound,substantial way.

  Nicholson Brothers began leading booster trade excursions to the north,south, and east, with Ernest at the head in a big "Packard" makingclever speeches and inviting all the farmers to come to Calias, where ameal at the best hotel was given free. A good, live, and effectivecommercial club was organized, which guaranteed to pay all a hog, cow,or calf would bring on the Omaha market, minus the freight and expenses.

  Ernest would explain with deep sincerity which impressed the farmers ofthe valley, as well as the settlers on the Little Crow, that Caliaswanted a share of their business, and was willing to sacrifice profitfor two years in order to have the farmers come to the town and getacquainted, to see what the merchants, bankers and real estate dealershad to offer. In making this offer the people of Calias had theadvantage over Megory, in that it derived profits from other sources,chiefly from great numbers of transients who were beginning to fill thehotels, restaurants, saloons, and boarding houses of the town. Being theend of the road and the place where practically every settler coming toTipp County must stay at least one night, it stood to reason they couldmake such an inducement and stick to it.

  However, this was countered immediately by Megoryites who promptlyorganized a commercial club and began the same kind of bid for trade.Thus the small ranchmen of the valley found themselves an object of muchimportance and began to awaken a little.

  Now the land of the reservation had taken on a boom such as had neverbeen realized, or dreamed of. Land in the states of Iowa, Minnesota,Illinois, and Nebraska had doubled in valuation in the previous tenyears, and was still on the increase in value. Crops had been good andmoney was plentiful; with a number of years of unbroken prosperity, thefarmers had paid off mortgages and had a good surplus in the bank. Theirsons and daughters were looking for newer fields. Retired farmers withtheir land to rent now, instead of the customary one-third delivered,demanded and received from two-fifths to one-half, or cash, from threeto five and six dollars per acre. And with the prices in these statesranging from ninety to one hundred and fifty dollars per acre, whichmeant from fifteen to twenty-five thousand dollars to buy a quartersection, which the renters felt was too high to ever be paid for byfarming it. Therefore, western lands held an attraction, where with afew thousand dollars, some stock, and machinery a man could establish agood home. As this land in southern South Dakota is in the Corn Belt,the erstwhile investor and home-seeker found a haven.

  There is always more or less gossip as regards insufficient moisture ina new country. The only thing to kill this bogy is to have plenty ofrain, and plenty of rain had fallen on the Little Crow, too much attimes. Large crops of everything had been harvested, but if the firstthree years had been wet, this fourth was one of almost continualrainfall.

  In the eastern states the corn crop had been badly drowned out on thelow lands, and rust had cut the yield of small grain considerably, whileon the rolling land of the Little Crow the season was just right andeverything grew so rank, thick and green that it gave the country, a rawprairie until less than four years before, the appearance of an oldsettled country. It looked good to the buyers and they bought. Farmswere sold as soon as they were listed. The price at the beginning of theyear had been from twenty-five to forty dollars per acre, some placesmore, but after the first six months of the year it began to climb toforty-five and then to fifty dollars per acre. Those who owned LittleCrow farms became objects of much importance. If they desired to sellthey had only to let it be known, and a buyer was soon on hand.

  The atmosphere seemed charged with drunken enthusiasm. Everybody had it.There was nothing to fear. Little Crow land was the best property to behad, better, they would declare, than government bonds, for its valuewas increasing in leaps and bounds. Choice farms close to town, ifbought at fifty dollars per acre, could be sold at a good profit in ashort time.

  This was done, and good old eastern capital continued to be paid for theland.

  The spirit of unrest that seem to pervade the atmosphere of thecommunity was not altogether the desire to have and to hold, but more,to buy and to sell. Homesteads were sold in Megory county and theproceeds were immediately reinvested in Tipp, where considerable deadIndian land could be purchased at half the price.

  At about that time the auto fever began to infect the restless andover-prosperous settlers, and business men alike. That was the day ofthe many two-cylinder cars. They made a dreadful noise but they movedand moved faster than horses. They sailed over the country, the exhaustof the engine making a cracking noise. The motion, added to the speed,seemed to thrill and enthuse the investor until he bought whether hecared to or not.

  In previous years, when capital was not so plentiful, and when land wasmuch cheaper and slower to sell, the agent drove the buyer over the landfrom corner to corner, cross-wise and angling, and the buyer would getout here and there and with a spade dig into the ground, and beconvinced as to the quality of the soil. He then pondered the matterover for days, weeks, and sometimes months. Then maybe he would go backand bring "the woman." The land dealers seriously object to buyersbringing "the woman" along, especially if the farm he has to sell hasany serious drawbacks, such, for instance, as a lack of water. Therewere numerous farms on the high lands of the Little Crow where watercould not be found, but they were invariably perfect in every otherrespect. The perfection in the laying of the land and quality of thesoil was severely offset by the inability to get water. While on therougher and less desirable farms water can be easily obtained in thedraws and the hills. But the high lands were the more attractive andwere sold at higher prices and much quicker, regardless of the obviousdefects.

  Now if "the woman" was brought to look it over one of the first inquiresshe made would be, "Now is there plenty of water?" furthermore she wasliable to steal a march on the dealer by having her husband hire alivery team, and with the eastern farmer and his wife drive out to theplace and look the farm over without the agent to steer them clear ofthe bad places. They not only looked it over, but make inquiries of theneighbors as to its merits. Now country people have the unpardonablehabit of gossip, and have complicated many deals of the real-estate menby this weakness, even caused many to fall through, until, the landsharks are usually careful to prevent a buyer from having a conversationwith "Si."

  In my case, however, this was quite different. I was known as "abooster", and since my land was located between the Monca andMegory--this was considered the cream of the county as to location soil,and other advantages--instead of being nervous over meeting me, thedealers would drive into the yard or into the fields, and as I liked totalk, introduce the prospective buyers to me and we would engage in along conversation at times. I might add that exaggerated tales werecurrent, which related how I had run as P----n porter, saved my money,come to the Little Crow, bought a half section, and was getting rich.The most of the buyers from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska wereunused to seeing colored farmers, and my presence all alone on theformer reserve added to their interest. In my favor was the fact that myservice in the employ of the P----n Company had taken me through nearlyevery county in the central states and therefore, always given toobservation, I could talk with them concerning the counties th
ey hadcome from.

  Land prices continued to soar. Higher and higher they went and to boostthem still higher, as well as to substantiate the values, the bogyconcerning insufficient moisture was drowned in the excessive rainfall.From April until August it poured, and the effect on the growing cropsin the east became greater still in the way of drowned out corn-fieldsand over-rank stems of small grain that grew to abnormal heights andwith the least winds lodged and then fell to the ground. The crops onthe reservation could not have been better and prices were high.