This series is especially rich for its illumination of the lengths which the CB&Q endeavored to colonize the Midwest along the railroads, both from the perspective of the corporation, and the thousands of immigrants who came to settle the land. The series contains nearly 100,000 letters from land buyers, agents, bankers, and newspapers concerning land sales, payments, and promotion of colonization as well as promotional materials. The land department created posters, circulars, and took out advertisements in local newspapers promoting the virtues of the weather and farming land. They also sponsored discounted ticket packages for “excursions” into the various towns and farm lands that they were promoting. Of interest are the many letters are from potential immigrants requesting circulars and information about the land, others are between officials concerning various groups of possible colonists, who often came from Europe in groups united by religious congregations. Some letters from June and July 1873 have severe water damage.

The earliest letters were removed from bound volumes, so there are some overlapping dates as these were indexed and have been kept in original order. Letters from August 1869 to 1872 are filed chronologically by month. Starting in 1873, letters are filed by number and chronologically roughly by month as they were received and filed by the company. See also oversize for large land excursion posters, separated from the correspondence.