uis,
the great central city of the Mississippi valley, with the gulf and
inland cities of the mammoth state of Texas.

The land was beautifully located, the soil was rich and easy to
cultivate. The entire tract was well watered by a fine, clear, swift
flowing stream. In extent, the farm comprised ten sections, laying
compactly together, and making in all, 6,400 acres of choice land. Nine
of the sections formed a perfect square, each of the four sides being
three miles in length. The tenth section joined the west line of the
south-west section in the square, which made the south line of the farm
four miles in length. The railroad passed through the farm near the
north line of the southern tier of sections, touching on the way an
ideal site for the farm village. About four thousand acres of the land
was broad, rolling prairie, combined with a large proportion of
unusually rich river bottom, both well adapted to the growth of a great
variety of crops. The remainder of the farm presented a rough, broken
surface, with a soil not so rich, sometimes quite poor and gravelly, but
being protected by a great bend in the river, was well covered by a
valuable growth of timber. The surface of the roughest ground covered
large deposits of lead, zinc, mica and several varieties of choice clay.
Numerous bold bluffs contained fine quarries of excellent stone for
building purposes, also for an abundant supply of lime and cement. A
number of the ridges offered unlimited quantities of gravel and sand.
Here and there several rich veins of a very good quality of bituminous
coal cropped out.

In making his preliminary examination, the quick eye of Fillmore Flagg
soon discovered that this eighteen-hundred-acre tract, of what the
owners considered their poorest lands, marred and disfigured by a tangle
of undergrowth, a confusion of unsightly rocks, gullies and bluffs; was
in reality a treasure, a vast store of choice material for coming needs.
When the ten sections, including this broken tract, were offered for the
lump sum of thirty two thousand dollars, Fillmore Flagg quickly closed
the bargain. He was confident that at last, after many weeks of patient
searching, a most desirable site for the initial farm had been secured,
at the low average price of five dollars per acre. No wonder he was
elated and proud of his achievement! The remaining lands of the township
were sparsely settled by about fifty families, generally occupying large
ranches