WHO SHOULD GO WEST.
Since I arrived from my tour through the West scarcely a day passes that there are not some persons, from almost every occupation and position in life, interrogating me as to the chances and prospects in the West. A general answer can not be given, for circumstances vary. Though I can not be as general and emphatic in my advice as was the great Horace Greeley when he said, “Young man, go west and grow up with the country,” I can say from real experience and practical observations that for some toward the Pacific there is wealth. I emphasize the word “some;” for there are dispositions that will never prosper in this noted, novel land.
It should be remembered that going west from Ohio is not going west from New York; for the splendid forests, the beautiful, rich valleys, and the great commercial advantages fade quickly before the emigrant when he leaves the Mississippi and marches toward the western sea. When the Missouri is once crossed, the great American stage is then entered upon, where the plays are different and numerous and where the shrewdest men are actors. Instead of the honest peasant, grubbing and planting by his little cabin in the dense forest, there are the trickster, the knave, the thief, each playing his faithful part. Business is all swept along by the wave of excitement,—as can be collected from the present work,—and under such circumstances there are very many who can not stand prosperity. Wages are always good. Money is usually made easy; and the result of such conditions is only too well known. Fine dress is not required, and money is plenty. For him who has enough control over himself to take advantage of the situation there is a glittering prospect. There are persons on the prairies and in the mountains to-day who are gathering money like leaves in autumn.
I have tried to describe the country as it is; and my readers of different occupations can draw conclusions and choose localities for themselves. But my advice to those who are comfortably nestling in the folds of civilization, where the church-bell strikes, where the school-houses dot the land, and where utter want is ever barred, is, Stay where you are; educate your children and be content with good. To those who have no money,—especially those who have families,—I will say, For God’s sake stay where help is near and charity abounds; for I assure you that I have seen the destitute in a strange land.
Of course, there are beautiful lands in parts of several states and territories, where good farms can be had, and where, some time in the future, the steeples of great cities will glitter in the sunlight. There is, undoubtedly, an opening here for the agriculturist; but emigrants must expect to find the country new, the facilities and accommodations scarce, and the neighbors poor. To be safe, they should always have sufficient capital to run them a year or two. I have known persons to drift west with the excitement and arrive in a splendid land without a cent, as though expecting to find bread upon the bushes, crops ready to harvest, and wealthy neighbors. The first year’s crop failed because of insects, drought, or some other peculiarity of the western prairie, and their condition was then more deplorable than the poorest from whence they came.
There are persons who make it a business to accommodate the unfortunate settlers with money; but the security is mortgage on property, and the interest is usually two per cent per month, or twenty-four per cent per year, and some are obliged to pay fifty per cent. Borrowed money never fails to produce a crop; but the soil may fail, and produce is also of poor sale. From this hint warning consultations can be drawn, and persons with families should take heed.
To the agriculturalist I can speak favorably of Kansas, Nebraska (page 40), and eastern Dakota; but should the Indian Territory be opened to settlement (as it will soon be), there is the place to fly, for it is acknowledged the hot-bed of the West. Emigrants will find it convenient if prepared with a mess-box as described (page 94). For cattle and sheep business on a big scale, go to Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico (page 168). For health-giving and delightful summer-resorts (and I might here add that there are thousands dying in the East to-day who would be hale and hearty in the West), I can speak highly of Manitou Springs, Colorado (page 258-264), and also Las Vegas Hot Springs, New Mexico. The latter are twenty-two in number, and beautifully located about four miles above the pretty city of Las Vegas. They have an altitude of six thousand four hundred feet—the elevation which has made Colorado such a favorite resort for those affected with pulmonary complaints—with a decided advantage over some of the northern resorts as to latitude and health-giving climate. The character of the water is similar to that of the famous Hot Springs of Arkansas, as shown by the following chemical analysis made by Prof. Hayden, United States geologist:
| CONSTITUENTS. | SPRING NO. 1. | NO. 2 | NO. 3 |
| Sodium carbonate | 1.72 | 1.17 | 5.00 |
| Calcium carbonate Magnesium carbon’te | 1.08 | 10.63 | 11.43 |
| Sodium sulphate | 14.12 | 15.43 | 16.21 |
| Sodium chloride | 27.26 | 24.37 | 27-34 |
| Potassium | Trace | Trace | Trace |
| Litheium | Strong trace | Strong trace | Strong trace |
| Silicid acid | 1.04 | Trace | 2.15 |
| Sodium | Trace | Trace | Trace |
| Bromine | Trace | Trace | Trace |
| Temperature | 130°F | 123°F | 123°F |
This showing speaks volumes to those familiar with thermal springs. Their waters are of a superior medicinal character. The climate is not bleak nor harsh in winter, and is very bracing and pleasant in summer. The plateau upon which they are located may be considered the great sanitarium in this country for lung-diseases. Prominent Boston gentlemen have purchased and improved the property; and every visitor is delighted.
Now, in conclusion, I will again assert that there are splendid opportunities for persons of most classes and occupations. But I almost hesitate to advise young men to go there (page 221); for, as was said, all is excitement. The society is bad, and vices are so numerous (202) that many persons will fall under such circumstances; and such a fall is grieving many a good parent to-day.