It would not do to take the colonists to their homes on the frontier, and not tell more of them.
I shall copy from letters received. From a letter received from one whom I know had nothing left after reaching there but his pluck and energy, I quote:
"Brewer, P.O. Brown Co., Neb.,
"December 23, '83.
"Our harvest has been good. Every man of the colony is better satisfied than they were last spring, as their crops have done better than they expected. My sod corn yielded 20 bushels (shelled) per acre. Potatoes 120 bushels. Beans 5, and I never raised larger vegetables than we did this summer on sod. On old ground corn 40, wheat 20 to 35, and oats 40 to 60 bushels per acre. After the first year we can raise all kinds of grain. For building a sod house, it costs nothing besides the labor, but for the floor, doors and windows. I built one to do me for the summer, and was surprised at the comfort we took in it; and now have a log house ready for use, a sod barn of two rooms, one for my cow, and the other for the chickens and ducks, a good cave, and a well of good water at eight feet.
"There are men in the canyons that take out building logs. They charge from twenty-five to thirty-five dollars per forty logs, sixteen and twenty feet long. To have these logs hauled costs two and two and one-half dollars per day, and it takes two days to make the trip. But those who have the time and teams can do their own hauling and get their own logs, as the trees belong to "Uncle Sam."
"The neighbors all turn out and help at the raising. The timber in the canyons are mostly pine. Our first frost was 24th September, and our first cold weather began last week. A number of the colonists built good frame houses. I have been offered $600.00 for my claims, but I come to stay, and stay I will."
From another:
"We are all in good health and like our western homes. Yet we have some drawbacks; the worst is the want of society, and fruit. Are going to have a reunion 16 February."
"Brewer, Jan., 8.