Guide to Iowa and Nebraska Lands for Sale on Ten Years Credit.
Map Showing the Lands for Sale on Ten Years Credit at 6 pr. cent Interest, by the B. & M.R.R. Co., and the Connections of the Burlington Route.
Map of Southern Iowa Showing North and South 20-mile limit of Lands Granted by the United States to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company.
Map of South-East Nebraska. Location of Millions of Acres of Land Granted by the U. S. to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company.
Guide to Iowa and Nebraska Lands for Sale on Ten Years Credit.
Map Showing the Lands for Sale on Ten Years Credit at 6 pr. cent Interest, by the B. & M.R.R. Co., and the Connections of the Burlington Route.
Map of Southern Iowa Showing North and South 20-mile limit of Lands Granted by the United States to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company.
Map of South-East Nebraska. Location of Millions of Acres of Land Granted by the U. S. to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company.
14 x 48 (map), 15 x 48 (map) on sheet 40.1 x 61 (page) (centimeters, height x width)
Notes:
Development of the Western U.S. was an urgent priority of the nation in the 19th century, and that in turn required the construction of transcontinental railroads. The cost of railroad development was staggering, and it was funded primarily by a combination of private capital and public land grants to the rail lines, rather than by direct public financing. Although the land grants have at times been regarded as a scandalous give-away to the railroads (see Notes for ID # 1088), many historians now believe that, "looking at the matter from the perspective of today, it was the government rather than the railroads that got the best of the deal." (Holbrook 1947, 156-57 Henry 1945).
Whatever the merits of the policy, it put the railroads in the position of funding construction up front largely with private bonds and repaying creditors from the eventual land sales. This brochure is typical of many such publications, providing maps of the covered territory and extensive text aimed at selling the land in the company's inventory, in this case, land in Iowa and Nebraska. The top map shows not only the route of the Burlington & Missouri, but its connection to the Central Pacific, providing a direct line to San Francisco. Across this map are the words "The Gulf Stream of Migration," intended to resonate with immigrants who were a principal focus of the sales effort. The bottom map provides detail on the location of the company's land for sale.
Text covers both sides of the publication. "Good Farms for Little Money! Homes and a Welcome for ALL! Millions of Acres of the Best Prairie Lands in Iowa and Nebraska! . . . Ten Years' Credit, at Six Per Cent Interest. No part of Principal due for Four Years from Purchase, and afterwards only One-Seventh Yearly!" "Extraordinary Inducements" are offered, "on freight and passage for land purchasers and their families." Much (favorable) information about the two states is provided: climate, soil, rainfall, timber, coal, stock raising, etc. along with advocacy of their benefits ("Education is Free to All"). Across the top of the map page is the request, "Please Read and hand to a Friend."
For other promotional railroad maps, including some using deceptive techniques, see Subject > Railroads.
