Crawford drove overland to Denver, encountering considerable snow south of Cheyenne, and met some of the officers of the sugar company and they left but little unsaid that needed to be said in favor of the point.

Enthusiasm ran high and so high that a telegram signed by C. A. Morrill as president of the commercial club went to the Lincoln

Sugar Factory, Scottsbluff

Land Company and several others that might be interested. Charlie did not happen to be at home at the time but he did happen to be in how he telegraphed from Scottsbluff when he was already in Lincoln.

But the result was that the sugar company asked for an option upon not less than ten thousand acres of land which they would select east of the town of Scottsbluff at a maximum price of not over $115 per acre, and contracts for the raising of not less than ten thousand acres of sugar beets for the year. The first the office of the Lincoln Land Company at Lincoln when the telegram arrived. They handed it over to him and asked him why and was reasonably easy to get but the latter more difficult, owing to the fact that other towns would refrain from any encouragemen of sugar beet raising for a factory at Scottsbluff -- each hoping the lightning would strike its way. J. C. McCreary, F. F. Everett and I went out

on several of the trips to secure the land. The first place optioned was the Hiersche 200 acres. We then secured the W. S. Cline land and the lands of J. E. Armstrong, Albert Harrison, Norman DeMott, W. H. Johnson, Harry Walker, John A. McGowan and part of the F. F. Everett farm. Two others were desired but not obtained, although in one case the party signed up an option then declined to deliver it.