NONPARTISAN LEAGUE: BEGINNINGS 153 



scarcely any two families had come from the same part of the United 

 States. The restlessness and change so characteristic of pioneer life had 

 not been outgrown. A decade later, in 1920, it was reported that 86 per 

 cent of the people of the state lived either on farms or in towns of less 

 than 2,500. The 1920 census showed that, of a population of 648,872, some 

 515,009, or 79.6 per cent, were native-born and the remaining 131,863, or 

 20.4 per cent, were foreign-born. Of the latter, some 38,190 were born in 

 Norway, 29,617 in Russia, 15,550 in Canada, 11,960 in Germany, and 

 10,453 m Sweden. The rest of the foreign population came from various 

 parts of Europe. 16 



Townley was born in a region of northwestern Minnesota not unlike 

 North Dakota. He attended the high school in Alexandria, Minnesota, 

 and as a student he had become interested in debating and other forensic 

 activities and had displayed an interest in religious, political, and eco- 

 nomic issues. He taught school for a while but soon tired of the routine 

 of the classroom and set out for the West in search of livelier pursuits. 17 

 His talent for organization first showed itself as he tried his luck at farm- 

 ing in the extreme western part of North Dakota near the Montana bor- 

 der, a submarginal farming area. 18 Since working with horses was too slow 

 for him, he persuaded his neighbors to pool their resources and buy 

 a steam tractor and plows. This was soon followed by other innovations, 

 for he had always displayed impatience with doing things on a small scale. 

 After forming a farming syndicate with neighbors, Townley withdrew 

 when the prospects for a good crop looked slim and allowed the other 

 members to divide the seed and equipment and take their chances. Heavy 



1 6. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1921, pp. 61, 73; Fourteenth Census 

 of the United States, Vol. Ill, Population, 1920, p. 764. 



17. Gaston, The Nonpartisan League, pp. 46-48. 



1 8. Macy H. Lapham and Others, Soil Survey of Western North Dakota, U. S. 

 Dept. Agri., Bureau of Soils (Washington, 1910), pp. 27-28. During the years 

 1892-1906 the acreage devoted to the production of wheat in North Dakota rose 

 from 2,868,729 acres to 5,992,000 acres, with a total production in 1906 of nearly 

 88,000,000 bushels. The increased production was due mainly to agricultural expan- 

 sion in western North Dakota. "In local districts and under unusually favorable 

 conditions a yield of from 35 to 40 bushels per acre is sometimes harvested. The 

 average yield is, however, much lighter, the average yield per acre for the State 

 during the fifteen-year period cited above being 12.6 bushels. A yield of from 12 to 

 15 bushels per acre is usually considered profitable." 



