Beschreibung:

Illustrated Northern Pacific Railroad broadside, Wheat Farming in Dakota Territory On Line of Northern Pacific Railroad. 17.75 x 22.5 in. (sheet). Headlines include Cass-Cheney Farm. With the following printed along bottom margin of broadside: Lemon, Printer, 26 Minn. St., St. Paul. For information on Northern Pacific Lands, address James B. Powers, 45 Jackson Street, St. Paul, Minn. [In red]: W.C. Andrus, General Eastern Agent, 54 Clark St., Chicago. Cass and Cheney were President and a board member, respectively, of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and when the N.P.R.R. stock lost its value in the Panic of 1873, stockholders agreed to exchange their worthless stock for some of the land the railroad had received from the Federal Government. However, at the time, many referred to the Dakota Territory as the "Great American Desert," and with this negative viewpoint to counteract, Dakota boosters decided it was time to attract settlers and develop the land in the region by promoting it. Cass and Cheney knew that they needed to prove to potential buyers that the land was fertile and productive, and they believed that "bonanza" farms, consisting of huge acreages growing only wheat, would make their point. The Cass-Cheney farm grew from 5,000 acres in 1877 to 32,000 acres by 1885, and yielded as much as 600,000 bushels of wheat per year. This massive enterprise led to the development of other huge farms in the Dakota Territory's Red River Valley, where the soil, topography, and climate were ideal for large scale farming. Although the majority of bonanza farms closed before the turn of the twentieth century, the population of North Dakota had increased by more than 1,000 percent, dispelling the myth of the "Great American Desert." More importantly, the Northern Pacific raised enough money to complete the railroad. (Information obtained from the National Park Service, Oct. 17, 2012.) Condition: Some light staining; board marks verso.