[South Dakota]. Eastman, George A

[Letter Book Kept by George A. Eastman, a Real Estate Agent Speculating in South Dakota Land and the Catholicon Hot Springs]

[N.p. 1892-1893]. 166pp. of retained transfer copies of typed and manuscript letters, preceded by [20]pp. of manuscript index. Large quarto. Contemporary tan cloth, leather corners, stamped in dark brown, "Letters" to spine and front cover. Small area of loss near bottom of front board, corners scuffed, moderate soiling to boards. Final leaf of Index detached but present, some of the letters did not transfer well and appear blurry. Very good. Item #3171

An informative letter book kept by George A. Eastman as agent and treasurer for two South Dakota real estate firms: Vermont Investment Company (with holdings in Rapid City and elsewhere) and the Catholicon Hot Springs Company (building a spa resort in Fall River County in the southwestern corner of the state). Eastman's correspondence dates from December 12, 1892 to March 15, 1893. The letters are written to colleagues, potential investors, and government officials, and others in various western locations (South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa) as well as Washington, D.C., Vermont, and other eastern locations. Taken together, they paint a clear picture of the complicated nature of western land speculation, and the salesmanship required to participate in the business. Eastman writes to a Boston investor on December 14, 1892: "I have no doubt in my mind that we can gather in a barrel of shekels in this deal without risk, as we have passed the point where the future of the Springs can be questioned." The book also retains additional material not emanating directly from Eastman, but which still provides context to his work. For example, page 118 is a blank loan application to be made out for potential Catholicon investors. Page 161 is a transcribed testimonial letter from a "happy customer" who had taken his wife to the springs with "a very bad case of rheumatism, and today I take her home cured of her rheumatism and her general health better than for many months as a result of bathing in your Catholicon Waters." There are also letters here pertaining to Eastman's and his wife's personal and household activities.

Eastman's letters to his firm's president L.F. Englesby of Burlington, Vermont are considerably harder-edged than his letters to potential investors. In correspondence dated March 7, 1893 Eastman cautions Englesby that without bonds, the project may be seen as "a Western scheme to raise money, which scheme would have to be thoroughly investigated, whereas if you are supposed to have the bonds in your possession, they would naturally conclude that you had investigated to your own satisfaction." The letters provide background information for a most exciting standoff which took place a couple of months after this letter book ends. Eastman lined up a deal to sell the Catholicon Springs Hotel, but shortly after leaving town, a previous owner took possession, claiming he was being defrauded of the real value of the property. "Knives and revolvers were drawn, and for a time it looked as though some one would be killed," according to the Sioux City Journal of May 18, 1893. A densely-packed collection of retained correspondence with much to mine for western land speculation in South Dakota in the last decade of the 19th century.

Price: $1,750.00