Buffalo Land

When a homestead settler has failed to commence his residence upon land so as to enable him to make a continuous residence of five years within the time (seven years) limited by law, he will be permitted, upon filing an affidavit showing a sufficient reason for his neglect to date his residence at the time he commenced such inhabitancy, and will be required to live upon the land for five years from said date, provided no adverse claim has attached to said land, and the affidavit of a settler is supported by the testimony of disinterested witnesses.

In the second section of the act of May 20, 1862, it is stipulated in regard to settlers, that in the case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child, or children, under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall inure to the benefit of the infant child or children; and that the executor, administrator, or guardian, may sell the land for the benefit of the infant heirs, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving parent, in accordance with the law of the State. The Commissioner rules that instead of selling the land as above provided, their heirs may, if they so select, continue residence and cultivation on the land for the period required by law, and at the expiration of the time provided, a patent will be issued in their names.

In the case of the death of a homestead settler who leaves a widow and children, should the widow again marry and continue her residence and cultivation upon the land entered in the name of her first husband for the period required by law, she will be permitted to make final proof as the widow of the deceased settler, and the patent will be issued in the name of "his heirs."

When a widow, or single woman, has made a homestead entry, and thereafter marries a person who has also made a similar entry on a tract, it is ruled that the parties may select which tract they will retain for permanent residence, and will be allowed to enter the remaining tract under the eighth section of the act of May 20, 1862, on proof of inhabitance and cultivation up to date of marriage.

In the case of the death of a homestead settler, his heirs will be allowed to enter the land under the eighth section of the Homestead Act, by making proof of inhabitancy and cultivation in the same manner as provided by the second section of the act of March 3, 1853, in regard to deceased pre-emptors.

When at the date of application the land is $2.50 per acre, and the settler is limited to an entry of eighty acres, should the price subsequently be reduced to $1.25 per acre, the settler will not be allowed to take additional land to make up the deficiency.

The sale of a homestead claim by the settler to another is not recognized, and vests no titles or equities in the purchaser, and would be prima facie evidence of abandonment, and sufficient cause for cancellation of the entry.

The law allows but one homestead privilege. A settler who relinquished or abandoned his claim can not hereafter make a second entry.

When a party has made a settlement on a surveyed tract of land, and filed his pre-emption declaration thereof, he may change his filing into a homestead.

If a homestead settler does not wish to remain five years on his tract, the law permits him to pay for it with cash or military warrants, upon making proof of residence and cultivation as required in pre-emption cases. The proof is made by the affidavit of the party and the testimony of two credible witnesses.

There is another class of homesteads, designated as "Adjoining Farm Homesteads." In these cases, the law allows an applicant owning and residing on an original farm, to enter other land contiguous thereto, which shall not, with such farm, exceed in the aggregate 160 acres. For example, a party owning or occupying 80 acres, may enter 80 additional of $1.25, or 40 acres of $2.50 land. Or, if the applicant owns 40 acres, he may enter 120 at $1.25, or 60 at $2.50 per acre, if both classes of land should be found contiguous to his original farm. In entries of "Adjoining Farms," the settler must describe in his affidavit the tract he owns and lives upon, as his original farm. Actual residence on the tract entered as an "adjoining farm" is not required, but bona fide improvement and cultivation of it must be shown for five years.

The right to a tract of land under the Homestead Act, commences from the date of entry in the Land Office, and not from date of personal settlement, as in case of the pre-emption.

When a party makes an entry under the Homestead Act, and thereafter, before the expiration of five years, makes satisfactory proof of habitancy and cultivation, and pays for the tract under the 8th section of said act, it is held to be a consummation of his homestead right as the act allows, and not a pre-emption, and will be no bar to the same party acquiring a pre-emption right, provided he can legally show his right in virtue of actual settlement and cultivation on another tract, at a period subsequent to his proof and payment under the 8th section of the Homestead Act.

The 2d section of the act of May 20, 1862, declares that after making proof of settlement, cultivation, etc., "then, if the party is at that time a citizen of the United States, he shall be entitled to a patent." This, then, requires that all settlers shall be "citizens of the United States" at the time of making final proof, and they must file in the Land Office the proper evidence of that fact before a final certificate will be issued.

A party who has proved up and paid for a tract of land under the Pre-emption Act, can subsequently enter another tract of land under the Homestead Act. Or, a party who has consummated his right to a tract of land under the Homestead Act will afterward be permitted to pre-empt another tract.

A settler who desires to "relinquish his homestead must surrender his duplicate receipt, his relinquishment to the United States" being endorsed thereon; if he has lost his receipt, that fact must be stated in his relinquishment, to be signed by the settler, attested by two witnesses, and acknowledged before the register or receiver, or clerk or notary public using a seal.

When a homestead entry is contested and application is made for cancellation, the party so applying must file an affidavit setting forth the facts on which his allegations are grounded, describing the tract and giving the name of the settler. A day will then be set for hearing the evidence, giving all parties due notice of the time and place of trial. It requires the testimony of two witnesses to establish the abandonment of a homestead entry.

The notice to a settler that his claim is contested must be served by a disinterested party, and in all cases when practicable, personal service must be made upon the settler.

Another entry of the land will not be made in case of relinquishment or contest, until the cancellation is ordered by the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

When a party has made a mistake in the description of the land he desires to enter as a homestead, and desires to amend his application, he will be permitted to do so upon furnishing the testimony of two witnesses to the facts, and proving that he has made no improvements on the land described in his application, but has made valuable improvements on the land he first intended and now applies to enter.

It is important to settlers to bear in mind that it requires two witnesses to make final proof under the Homestead Act, who can testify that the settler has resided upon and cultivated the tract for five years from the date of his entry.

Patents are not issued for lands until from one to two years after date of location in the District Office. No patent will be delivered until the surrender of the duplicate receipt, unless such receipt should be lost, in which case an affidavit of the fact must be filed in the Register's Office, showing how said loss occurred, also that said certificate has never been assigned, and that the holder is the bona fide owner of the land, and entitled to said patent.

By a careful examination of the foregoing requirements, settlers will be enabled to learn without a visit to the Land Office the manner in which they can secure and perfect title to public lands under the Pre-emption Act of September 5, 1841, and Homestead Act of May 20, 1862.

THE STATE OF KANSAS

Our sojourn on the plains impressed our party with a strong belief that Kansas, at no distant day, will be one of the richest garden spots on the continent. I have more particularly described the central portion of the State, but both Northern and Southern Kansas are equally as fertile and desirable.

The United States Land Offices in Kansas are located at the following places: Topeka, Humboldt, Augusta, Salina, and Concordia. The rapidity with which Kansas is being settled may readily be inferred from the fact that 2,000,000 acres of its land were sold during one year, 1870.

In our note-book, I find the outline of a speech delivered by the Professor in Topeka, and I quote a single paragraph as fitly expressing the common sentiment of our entire number:

"Gentlemen, great as your State now is in extent of territory and natural resources, she will soon have a corresponding greatness in the means of development, and in a self-supporting population. 1870 holds in her lap and fondles the infant; 1880 will shake hands with the giant. The whole surface of your land, gentlemen, is one wild sea of beauty, ready to toss into the lap of every venturer upon it, a farm. The genius which rewards honest industry stands on the threshold of your State, with countless herds and golden sheaves, smiling ready welcome to all new-comers, of whatever creed or clime."

WHAT A FARM WILL COST

The emigrant has already been told what it will cost him to obtain government land. If this adjoins railroad tracts, he can secure what is desired of the latter at from two to ten dollars per acre.

The expense of fencing material might be fairly estimated at from twenty to thirty dollars per thousand feet for boards, and ten to fifteen dollars per hundred for posts. This is supposing that all the material is purchased. If fortunate enough to have timber on his claim, the emigrant, of course, can inclose the farm at the cost of his own labor.

I have seen many new-comers protect their fields by simply digging around them a narrow, deep trench, and throwing the earth on the inside line so as to raise an embankment along that side two feet in height. One single wire stretched along this, and secured at proper intervals by small stakes, appears to answer quite well as a cattle guard.

Osage orange grows rapidly, and is cheap, and a permanent fence can be made with it, at small expense, in the course of three or four years.

The usual cost of breaking prairie is from two to four dollars per acre. With a yoke or two of good oxen, however, this item can also be saved.

The second year the farmer can set out with safety his trees and vines, and the third or fourth year he may be considered fairly on the road to prosperity.

Laborers' wages are from twenty to thirty dollars per month and board.

I estimate that a fair statement of the prices for stock would be about as follows: Work oxen, seventy-five to one hundred dollars per yoke; cows, twenty to fifty dollars each; horses, seventy-five to one hundred and fifty dollars.

A FEW MORE PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

I would say to the emigrant, Do not be influenced to select any one particular State or locality until you have more authority for the step than a single publication. Examine carefully, make up your mind deliberately, and then move with determination. It will require no very great exertion to secure a half dozen glowing advertisements from as many new Western States and Territories. It will need but little more effort to obtain from five to fifty "rosy" circulars from as many different districts in each of the separate "garden spots." After examining these until ready to sing,—

"How happy could I be with either

Were t' other dear charmer away,"

take down your map, and let the railroads and streams assist your choice. You have then secured yourself against one danger of the journey—that of having these same circulars flung into your lap en route, and being diverted by them into dubious ways and needless expenditures. But be careful, reader, that you select not as accurate beyond the possibility of a mistake the maps accompanying the circulars; otherwise, you may find yourself unable to choose between several thousand railroad centers from which broad gauges radiate like the spokes in a wheel, and your ignorance of modern geography may be brought painfully home by discovering navigable rivers where you had supposed only creeks existed. In these matters, as in every thing else connected with your "new departure," consult all the various sources of information within your reach.

CHAPTER SECOND

FURTHER INFORMATION FOR THE SPORTSMANHUNTING THE BUFFALO

The first matter to be determined, in planning any sporting trip, is the best point at which to seek for game. If the object of pursuit be buffalo, I should say, Deposit yourself as soon as possible on the plains of Western Kansas.5 Take the Kansas Pacific Railway at the State line, and you can readily find out from the conductors at what point the buffalo chance then to be most numerous. There are a dozen stations after passing Ellsworth equally good. One month, the bison may be numerous along the eastern portion of the plains; a month later, the herds will be found perhaps sixty or eighty miles further west. As one has at least a day's ride, after entering Kansas, before penetrating into the solitude of Buffalo Land, there is ample time to decide upon a stopping place. Russell as an eastern, and Buffalo Station as a western point, will be found good basis for operations. In the former, some hotel accommodations exist; in the latter, there are several dug-outs, and hunters who can be obtained for guides.

Those who can spend a week or more on the grounds, and wish to enjoy the sport in its only legitimate way, namely, horseback hunting, should stop at the point where they may best procure mounts, even if it necessitate a journey in the saddle of twenty miles. Ellsworth, Russell, and Hays City are the places where such outfits may generally be obtained.

For shooting bison, the hunter should come prepared with some other weapon than a squirrel rifle or double barreled shot gun. I have known several instances in which persons appeared on the ground armed with ancient smooth-bores or fowling-pieces; and in one of these cases the object of attack, after receiving a bombardment of several minutes' duration, tossed the squirrel hunter and injured him severely. A breech-loading rifle, with a magazine holding several cartridges, is by far the best weapon. In my own experience I became very fond of a carbine combining the Henry and King patents. It weighed but seven and one-half pounds, and could be fired rapidly twelve times without replenishing the magazine. Hung by a strap to the shoulder, this weapon can be dropped across the saddle in front, and held there very firmly by a slight pressure of the body. The rider may then draw his holster revolvers in succession, and after using them, have left a carbine reserve for any emergency. Twenty-four shots can thus be exhausted before reloading, and, with a little practice, the magazine of the gun may be refilled without checking the horse. So light is this Henry and King weapon that I have often held it out with one hand like a pistol, and fired.

When a herd of buffalo is discovered, the direction of the wind should be carefully ascertained. The taint of the hunter is detected at a long distance, and the bison accepts the evidence of his nose more readily than even that of his eyes. This delicacy of smell, however, is becoming either more blunted or less heeded than formerly, owing probably to the passage over the plains of the crowded passenger cars, which keep the air constantly impregnated for long distances.

Having satisfied himself in regard to the wind, the sportsman should take advantage of the ravines and slight depressions, which every-where abound on the plains, and approach as near the herd as possible. If mounted, let him gain every obtainable inch before making the charge. It is an egregious blunder to go dashing over the prairie for half a mile or so, in full view of the game, and thus give it the advantage of a long start. When this is done, unless your animal is a superior one, he will be winded and left behind.

In most cases, careful planning will place one within a couple of hundred yards of the bison. Be sure that every weapon is ready for the hand, and then charge. Put your horse to full speed as soon as practicable. Place him beside the buffalo, and he can easily keep there; whereas, if you nurse his pace at the first, and make it a stern chase, both your animal and yourself, should you have the rare luck of catching up at all, will be jaded completely before doing so. In shooting from the saddle, be very careful between shots, and keep the muzzle of the weapon in some other direction than your horse or your feet. A sudden jolt, or a nervous finger, often causes a premature discharge. In taking aim, draw your bead well forward on the buffalo—if possible, a little behind the fore-shoulder. The vital organs being situated there, a ranging shot will hit some of them, on one side or the other. Back of the ribs, the buffalo will receive a dozen balls without being checked. A discharge of bullets into the hind-quarters, is worse than useless.

While trying in the most enjoyable and practical manner to kill the game, it is very necessary to escape, if possible, any injury to yourself or horse. The Frenchman's remark on tiger hunting is very apropos. "Ven ze Frenchman hunt ze tiger, it fine sport; but ven ze tiger hunt ze Frenchman, it is not so." Care should be taken to have the horse perfectly under control, when the bison stands at bay. Unless experienced in bull fighting, he does not appreciate the danger, and a sudden charge has often resulted in disembowelment.

Never dismount to approach the buffalo, unless certain that he is crippled so as to prevent rising. One that is apparently wounded unto death will often get upon his feet nimbly, and prove an ugly customer. I knew a soldier killed at Hays City in this manner—thrown several feet into the air, and fearfully torn. Recently near Cayote Station, on the Kansas Pacific Railway, a buffalo was shot from the train, and the cars were stopped to secure the meat, and gratify the passengers. One of the latter, a stout Englishman, ran ahead of his fellows, and shook his fist in the face of the prostrate bison. The American bull did not brook such an insult from the English one, and Johnny received a terrible blow while attempting to escape. He was badly injured, and, when I saw him some time afterward, could only move on crutches.

Should the hunter on foot ever have to stand a charge, let him fire at what is visible of the back, above the lowered head, or, should he be able to catch a glimpse of the fore-shoulder, let him direct his bullet there. The bone seems to be broken readily by a ball. Against the frontal bone of the bison's skull, the lead falls harmless. To test this fully, with California Bill as a companion, I once approached a buffalo which stood wounded in a ravine. We took position upon the hill-side, knowing that he could not readily charge up it, at a distance of only fifteen yards. I fired three shots from the Henry weapon full against the forehead, causing no other result than some angry head-shaking. I then took Bill's Spencer carbine, and fired twice with it. At each shot the bull sank partly to his knees, but immediately recovered again. I afterward examined the skull, and could detect no fracture.

A person dismounted by accident or imprudence, and charged upon, can avoid the blow by waiting until the horns are within a few feet of him, and then jumping quickly on one side. After the buffalo has passed, let the brief period of time before he has checked his rush, be employed in traversing as much prairie, on the back track, as possible, and the chances are that no pursuit will be made. Should a foot trip, or a fall from the horse give no time for such tactics, then let the hunter hug Mother Earth as tight as may be. The probabilities are that the bull can not pick the body up with his horns. I have known a hunter to escape by throwing himself in the slight hollow of a trail, and thus baffling all attempts to hook him.

Accidents are rare in bison hunting, however, and the reader should not be deterred from noble sport by the mere possibility of mishaps. I have given the above advice, feeling that I shall be well repaid if it saves the life or limbs of one man out of the thousands who may be exposed. A glimpse of surgeon's instruments should not make the soldier a coward. Comparatively few people are killed by electricity, and yet lightning-rods are very popular.

The hunter who has no love for the saddle, and prefers stalking, should provide himself with some breech-loading rifle or carbine, carrying a heavy ball—the heavier the better. The most effective weapon is the needle-gun used in the army, having a bore the size of the old Springfield musket, and a ball to correspond. A bullet from this weapon usually proves fatal. But there is little genuine sport in such practice. Stalking holds the same relation to horseback hunting that "hand line" fishing does to that with the rod and reel, the fly and the spoon, or that killing birds on the ground does to wing-shooting.

In selecting from the herd a single individual for attack, the hunter should do so with some reference to the intended use of the game. For furnishing trophies of the chase, such as horns and robe, the bull will do well; but if the meat is for use, it will be advisable to sacrifice some sport, and obtain a cow or calf. I have known many an ancient bison, with scarcely enough meat on his bones to hold the bullets, killed by amateurs, and the leather-like quarters shipped to eastern friends as rare delicacies!

ANTELOPE HUNTING

Antelope hunting is a sport requiring more strategy and caution than the one we have described. The creature is timid and swift, and inclined to feed on ridges or level lands, where stalking is difficult. Its eyes and ears are wonderfully quick in detecting danger, and the animal at once seeks points which command the surroundings. If unable to keep in view the object of alarm, immediate flight results.

The modes of hunting this game are two. If no possibility of stalking exists, a red flag may be attached to a small stick, and planted in front of the ravine or other place of concealment. The antelope at once becomes curious, and begins circling toward it, each moment approaching a little nearer, until finally within shooting distance. The other method is by careful stalking. If the animal is on a high ridge, the sides of which round upward a little, the hunter may crawl on his hands and knees until he sees, just visible above the grass, the tips of the horns or ears. Then let him rise on one knee, with gun to shoulder, and take quick aim well forward, as the body comes into view. The approach can not be too cautious, as the antelope stops feeding every minute or so, to lift its head high, and gaze around. Thus the incautious hunter may be brought, on the instant, into full relief, and the quick bound which follows discovery, rob him of the fruit of long crawling.

Rare enjoyment might be obtained by any one who would take with him, to the plains, a good greyhound. Mounted on a reliable horse, the sportsman could follow the dog in its pursuit of antelope, and be in at the death.

ELK HUNTING

Elk must be hunted by stalking, as he speedily distances any horse. The animal is found in abundance along the upper waters of the Republican, Solomon, and Saline. I prefer its meat to that of either the buffalo or antelope. The horns of a fine male form a pleasing trophy to look at, when the hunter's joints have been stiffened by rheumatism or age.

TURKEY HUNTING

Wild turkeys exist in great numbers along the creeks, over the whole western half of Kansas, and, where they have never been hunted, are so tame as to afford but little sport. Cunning is their natural instinct, however, and at once comes to the rescue, when needed. After a few have been shot, the remainder will leave the narrow skirt of creek timber instantly, and escape among the ravines by fast running, defying any pursuit except in the saddle. Even then if they can get out of sight for a moment, they will often escape. While the rider is pressing forward in the direction a tired turkey was last seen, the bird will hide and let him pass; or, turning the instant it is hidden by the brow of the ravine, it will take a backward course, passing, if necessary, close to the horse. As another illustration of the wily habits of the turkey, let the hunter select a creek along which there has been no previous shooting done, and kill turkeys at early morning on roosts, and the next night the gangs will remain out among the "breaks."