"Bonanza farms helped transform agriculture from a family-based, animal-powered effort in the 19th century to a technologically-oriented business in the 20th century."
-Lauren McCroskey, author of "Bonanza Farming in North Dakota"
-Lauren McCroskey, author of "Bonanza Farming in North Dakota"
In the mid-nineteenth century, the Northern Pacific Railroad was experiencing a huge financial crisis, due to rising operating expenses. When its stock crashed in 1873, railroad officials George W. Cass and Benjamin G. Cheney sold large parcels of land in the Midwest to wealthy investors in order to cover their debts. The investors converted their huge acreages into "Bonanza Farms." These farms became a turning point in agriculture, because they pioneered the use of new machinery and professional management, hired migrant labor, and introduced the concept of large-scale farms. Within three years, because of Bonanza Farms, Minnesota and North Dakota became the largest wheat-producing areas in America.
"The successful experiment of bonanza farming in the Red River Valley of Minnesota in the latter part of the nineteenth century is an important facet of this ever-moving frontier. "
-Hiram M. Drache, author of "The Day of the Bonanza"
-Hiram M. Drache, author of "The Day of the Bonanza"