Faulk County, SD History .....Chapter I Introductory 1909 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/sd/sdfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 7, 2005, 3:47 pm CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. It is not our home and immediate surroundings that are to be considered in the making up of actual and prospective conditions from a financial, social, political and moral standpoint; but the civil government, the national and state organizations, the higher powers, to which we are to look to guide and protect us. While among the youngest of the states, South Dakota occupies the fore-front in actual wealth and material prosperity. In 1889 she exchanged her territorial relations with one general government for those of equal sovereign statehood in the Great American Republic. With an area of 76,000 square miles, divided almost equally east and west into two parts by the Missouri river, (with the excep tion of the famous Black Hills country, which contains one hundred square miles located in the south-western part of the state, of the richest mineral deposits on the face of the globe), the entire state with a soil of unsurpassed fertility, with climatic conditions superior to all its surroundings, underlaid by the greatest artesian basin in the world, furnishing an inexhaustable supply of water for any and all purposes, when and wherever wanted; it needs but time and an intelligent appreciation of its wonderful resources to secure a world-wide reputation that shall secure an agricultural population second to no state in the union. With a population of only six to the square mile it produced in 1901: Wheat, 35,000,000 bushels, valued at $18,000,000.00 Corn, 70,000,000 bushels, valued at 35,000,000.00 Other grains and Agricultural Products 35,000,000.00 Hay Products 10,000,000.00 Live Stock 35,000,000.00 Dairy Product 9,000,000.00 Wool,Hides and Furs. 4,000,000.00 Gold and other Minerals 13,000,000.00 South Dakota now ranks among the states of the Union: Third in the production of corn, third in the production of wheat, first in the production of flax, fifth in the production of barley, oats and rye, eighth in the production of wool, tenth in the production of live stock, and actually produces more wealth in proportion to its population than any other state in the Union, as is proven by government statistics and other reliable data. The climate is free from malaria, mild, invigorating and healthful, for which reason the death rate in the state is. the lowest in the Union. The summers of South Dakota are moderate, without any excessive heat, the most delightful season of the year being the long, beautiful autumn, and the winters are so mild that the live stock are grazing; on the range all winter without shelter of any kind. The annual mean temperature of the state for the year-1906, determined from forty-three stations having a complete record, was 45 degrees. Wheat growing is, and must continue to be, one of the important branches of farming and is carried on at the present time with great profit.. The crop for 1905 averaged fifteen bushels per acre. While South Dakota is sadly deficient in lumber for building purposes, the deficiency is largely made up in the vast deposits of material for the best Portland cement, which can be utilized in the erection of more permanent and cheaper buildings, when durability is taken into consideration. With her vast deposits of coal and the introduction of alcohol for the purpose of light, heat and power, a better and a more desirable supply is at hand. The following statistical record of 1906 ought to find a place in the permanent record of the production of wealth supplied to the world in one year. The following is an official report, viz: Wheat, 37,494,108 $20,931,877.24 Corn, 77,414,331 33,224,299.30 Oats, 51,324,557 12,831,139.25 Barley, 24,603,257 7,380,077.10 Flax, 2,283,156 2,383,156.00 Speltz, 4,558,708 1,367,612.40 Hay, 3,073,554 tons 14,868,770.00 Potatoes, vegetables and Fruit 5,000,000.00 Dairy Products 7,500,000.00 Eggs and Poultry 5,000,000.00 Honey, 90 tons 25,000,00 Live Stock 36,000,000.00 Wool and Hides, 300,000.00 Mineral and Stone 9,000,000.00 Total 145,812,831.29 New wealth per capita, 278.00 No more convincing proof of the prosperous condition of any state can be produced than her bank resources, together with the valuation of ail classes of property. The banks of South Dakota have $70,198,433.62, and a total valuation of all classes of property of $260,630,977.00; but the true valuation is estimated at a billion of dollars. South Dakota has no bonded debt and the limit of tax levy cannot exceed 2 mills to the dollar, as provided by the constitution. The rate of taxation in South Dakota is lower than in any of the Northern states. Additional Comments: From: HISTORY OF FAULK COUNTY SOUTH DAKOTA CAPTAIN C. H. ELLIS TOGETHER WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PIONEERS AND PROMINENT CITIZENS ILLUSTRATED 19O9 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/sd/faulk/history/other/gms3chapteri.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/sdfiles/ File size: 5.8 Kb