90 The Winning of the West 



money out of them, often on quite a large scale; 

 and in many instances, where the people who planned 

 and carried out the scheme made nothing for them 

 selves, they yet left their mark in the shape of 

 settlers who had come in to purchase their lands, 

 or even in the shape of a town built under their 

 auspices. 



Land speculation was by no means confined to 

 those who went into it on a large scale. The set 

 tler without money might content himself with stak 

 ing out an ordinary-sized farm; but the new 

 comer of any means was sure not only to try to 

 get a large estate for his own use, but also to procure 

 land beyond any immediate need, so that he might 

 hold on to it until it rose in value. He was apt 

 to hold commissions to purchase land for his friends 

 who remained east of the mountains. The land 

 was turned to use by private individuals and by 

 corporations; it was held for speculative purposes; 

 it was used for the liquidation of debts of every 

 kind. The official surveyors, when created, did most 

 of their work by deputy; Boone was deputy sur 

 veyor of Fayette County, in Kentucky. 3 Some 

 men surveyed and staked out their own claims; the 

 others employed professional surveyors, or else hired 

 old hunters like Boone and Kenton, whose knowl 

 edge of woodcraft and acquaintance with the most 

 fertile grounds enabled them not only to survey the 

 land, but to choose the portions best fit for settle- 



3 Draper MSS. ; Boone MSS. Entry of August court for 

 1783. 



