Throughout the West, with the exception of Louisiana, the number of females to each 100,000 men is under the national average, which is 95,353. Louisiana reports 98,871, and Utah, for obvious reasons, follows with 95,324. Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Texas also have between 90,000 and 95,000 females to each 100,000 men, and in Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Indian Territory, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, the average is over 85,000 and under 90,000. The proportion of women to each 100,000 men is exceedingly low in the Pacific coast and mountain states, being 80,987 in California; 73,265 in Idaho; 62,390 in Montana; 65,352 in Nevada; 77,495 in Oregon; 70,329 in Washington; 59,032 in Wyoming. Alaska reports 38,629.
Here, as in other parts of the Union, urban population is growing faster than rural. Comparison for this discussion is with the census of 1870, as the returns for any previous year would make too meagre a showing. In 1870 the West had 56 of the 226 places that reported a population of 4,000 and over. In 1890 the number was 176 out of 899, and in 1900 it was 251 out of 1,158. Of the West's total population in 1900, 20.3 per cent was urban, against 37.3 percent for the Union. In 1900, 17.6 per cent of the total urban population of the country lived in the West, 13.1 per cent in 1890, and 14.1 per cent in 1870. California with 48.9 per cent and Colorado with 41.2 are above the average for the Union, while Washington, with 36.4 makes a close approach to the mark. For other states the average is: Iowa, 20.5; Kansas, 19.2; Louisiana, 25.1; Minnesota, 31; Missouri, 34.9; Montana and Wyoming, 28.6; Nebraska, 20.8; Oregon, 27.6; Utah, 29.4; Arkansas, 6.9; Idaho, 6.2; Nevada, 10.6; North Dakota, 5.4; South Dakota, 7.2; Texas, 14.9; Arizona, 10.6; Indian Territory, 2.5; New Mexico, 6.1; Oklahoma, 5. The following statement shows the drift of the population into the cities:
| 1900. | 1890. | 1870. | Increase per cent, 1870-1900. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urban population | 5,024,876 | 3,723,427 | 1,145,033 | 338 |
| Rural population | 16,009,778 | 12,950,982 | 5,732,063 | 179 |
| Total | 21,034,654 | 16,674,409 | 6,877,096 | 206 |
In 1870 Saint Louis, New Orleans, and San Francisco were the only cities that had over 100,000 population. In 1900 ten cities exceeded 100,000, while eight other cities, Portland leading the contingent, had between 50,000 and 100,000. Since 1880 Seattle has advanced from one hundred and fifty-first place to forty-eighth place in the rank of American cities; Los Angeles from one hundred and thirty-fifth to thirty-sixth; Duluth from one hundred and fifty-second to seventy-second; Kansas City, Kansas, from one hundred and fifty-fifth to seventy-sixth; Portland from one hundred and sixth to forty-second; Tacoma from one hundred and fifty-seventh to one hundred and fourth; Spokane from one hundred and fifty-eighth to one hundred and sixth, and Dallas, Texas, from one hundred and thirty-seventh to eighty-eighth. So rapid is the growth of Portland and Seattle that before many years they must take position among the country's twenty largest cities.
AGRICULTURE.
The area of improved land in farms has increased nearly thirty-fold in fifty years, but has not kept pace with population. This table shows the details:
| Acres improved. | Acres per inhabitant. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900. | 1890. | 1850. | 1900. | 1890. | 1850. | |
| Arkansas | 6,953,735 | 5,475,043 | 781,530 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 3.7 |
| California | 11,958,837 | 12,222,839 | 32,454 | 8.0 | 10.1 | 0.35 |
| Colorado | 2,273,968 | 1,823,520 | —— | 4.2 | 4.4 | —— |
| Idaho | 1,413,118 | 606,362 | —— | 8.7 | 7.0 | —— |
| Iowa | 29,897,552 | 25,428,899 | 824,682 | 13.3 | 13.3 | 4.2 |
| Kansas | 25,040,550 | 22,303,301 | —— | 17.0 | 15.6 | —— |
| Louisiana | 4,666,532 | 3,774,668 | 1,590,025 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.0 |
| Minnesota | 18,442,585 | 11,127,953 | 5,035 | 16.2 | 8.5 | 0.83 |
| Missouri | 22,900,043 | 19,792,313 | 2,938,425 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 4.3 |
| Montana | 1,736,701 | 915,517 | —— | 7.1 | 6.8 | —— |
| Nebraska | 18,432,595 | 15,247,705 | —— | 17.3 | 14.4 | —— |
| Nevada | 572,948 | 723,052 | —— | 13.2 | 15.8 | —— |
| North Dakota | 9,644,520 | 4,658,015 | —— | 30.2 | 26.0 | —— |
| Oregon | 3,328,308 | 3,516,000 | 132,857 | 8.0 | 11.2 | 9.0 |
| South Dakota | 11,285,983 | 6,959,293 | —— | 28.1 | 21.1 | —— |
| Texas | 19,576,076 | 20,746,215 | 643,976 | 6.4 | 9.2 | 3.0 |
| Utah | 1,032,117 | 548,223 | 16,333 | 3.7 | 2.1 | 1.4 |
| Washington | 3,465,960 | 1,820,832 | —— | 6.6 | 5.2 | —— |
| Wyoming | 792,332 | 476,831 | —— | 8.5 | 7.8 | —— |
| Alaska | 159 | —— | —— | —— | —— | —— |
| Arizona | 227,739 | 104,128 | —— | 1.8 | 1.7 | —— |
| Indian Territory | 3,062,193 | —— | —— | 7.8 | —— | —— |
| New Mexico | 326,873 | 263,106 | 166,201 | 1.7 | 1.7 | —— |
| Oklahoma | 5,511,994 | 563,728 | —— | 13.8 | 9.0 | —— |
| Total | 202,543,416 | 159,097,543 | 7,131,518 | 9.6 | 9.5 | 3.56 |
The new farms opened since 1850 are nearly equal in the aggregate to the land area of the original thirteen states. The new farms opened between 1890 and 1900 are more than the combined land areas of the states of Tennessee and West Virginia. North Dakota, with a little over 300,000 population, has more land by 1,500,000 acres under farms than has all New England with 5,600,000 people. The average number of improved acres per inhabitant more than doubled in the West between 1850 and 1890 and showed in 1900 a slight increase over 1890. In the older agricultural states it is steadily decreasing. Thus, in New England it fell from 4 acres in 1850 to 1.4 acres in 1900; New York from 4 to 2.1 in the same interval. The Ohio valley states have held up steadier. Ohio has decreased from 4.9 to 4.6, and Illinois from 5.9 to 5.7. Indiana has increased from 5.1 to 6.6.
The West has 2,056,748 farms compared with 1,491,405 in 1890, and 119,510 in 1850. Texas, with 352,190, leads the Union, and Missouri, with 284,886, holds second place. Iowa has 37,000 more farms than all the New England states combined. While the West has not quite half the improved acreage of the country, it has 63 per cent of the unimproved acreage or 269,000,000 acres out of 426,400,000 acres. Farms average in size from 93.1 acres in Arkansas to 885.9 acres in Montana, 1,174.7 acres in Nevada, and 1,333 acres in Wyoming, where stock raising predominates and requires large ranges. The average for the West is 229.1 acres against 146.6 acres for the Union.
The proportion of the total land area in farms ranges from 3.7 per cent in Nevada to 97.4 per cent in Iowa. Kansas has 79.7, Missouri 77.3, Texas 74.9, Oklahoma 63, Nebraska 60.8, and Minnesota 51.8. No other State has 50 per cent. In the Rocky Mountains and Pacific states the average, considering the capabilities of the soil, is surprisingly low. California reports 28.9, Washington 19.9, Oregon 16.6, Wyoming 13, Montana 12.7, Utah 7.8, and Idaho 5.9. Iowa leads the Nation in this respect, followed by Indiana with 94.1, Ohio with 93.9, and Illinois with 91.5. It is from these four states, whose areas are so largely taken up and whose land values are high, that the extreme West is seeking by reason of its cheap lands and equable climate, to draw its new population. East of the Mississippi River the percentage ranges in New England from 32.9 in Maine to 80.8 in Vermont. Along the Atlantic coast the average is from 59 per cent in New Jersey to 85 per cent in Delaware. Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois have already been shown in comparison with Iowa. Kentucky has 85.9, Tennessee 76.1, Wisconsin 57, and Michigan 47.8. Florida with 12.6 and the District of Columbia with 22.1 are the only percentages reported from east of the Mississippi River, that look like western figures. Values follow: