Land Speculator “Profits” Reconsidered: Central Iowa as a Test Case*

Robert P. Swierenga

The Journal of Economic History, 1966, vol. 26, issue 1, 1-28

Abstract: “Show us a non-resident who has made money speculating in western land,” wrote a frontier newspaper editor in 1850, “and we will show you a rare bird, more rare by far than a successful gold hunter.” Despite this warning and dozens like it, thousands of investors ventured surplus or borrowed funds on frontier land throughout the nineteenth century. Many, in fact, jumped from one frontier to the next on the heels of government surveyors and land officers. Either these businessmen were gluttons for punishment, or speculating in government land was far more rewarding than some contemporaries were willing to admit.

Date: 1966
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