DULUTH.
Its location and rapid growth.--Who named for.--Enterprise of its
people.--Its fine harbor.--Duluth Bay.--The steamship connection with
eastern cities.--Pleasure travel up the lakes.--The Lake Superior and
Mississippi Railroad.--The shortest route East for grain.--Public
improvements.--The fishing, lumber, and mining interests.
Away at the head of our lake system stands a most marvellous
illustration of the rapid growth, in population and power, of the
American people.
It is less than ten years since the nearly impenetrable forest was
levelled to make way for the infant city of Duluth, which, under the
inspiring hand of genius and capital, has grown to the importance of
chartered rights and privileges more quickly than any other city with
which we are familiar.
It is situated on the immediate shore of the lake, and across the
shoulder of what is known as Minnesota Point,--a long scythe-shaped
sand-bar, six miles in length, caused by the action of the waves,
separating the waters of Duluth Bay from those of the lake,--and
extending along the shore of said Duluth Bay.
From the lake back to the top of the bluff, a mile distant, the ascent
is easy and regular, affording one of the loveliest sites for the
foundation of a great and beautiful city.
Duluth was named for Daniel Greyson Duluth, a native of France, who was
the first white man to explore the head-waters of Lake Superior. He
landed here in 1679, and advanced far into the interior, westward,
toward the Mississippi, cultivating friendly relations with the tribes
inhabiting this portion of the country. From his time to the present
little or nothing has been done toward the founding, at this point, of a
place suitable to the great possibilities of trade and commerce. Thus
the spell which seemed to shut from view this key-point of a vast
interior country remained till the prophetic eye of capital discovered
and possessed it.
That this wilderness, heretofore so wrapt in mystery, should now blossom
into life, seems quite plain to the commonest observer of us all.
How faith is given us when success walks hand-in-hand with enterprise.
Though the city of Duluth is only ten years old, it boasts a population
of over three thousand, with many of the conveniences of older
settlements. Its streets are laid out with great regularity, and the
principal one, next the lake, full a mile in length, is lined along
nearly its whole extent with stores and warehouses of every kind and
description. The sound of the hammer and saw may be heard on every side.
Buildings so crowd upon the forest that the woodman is hard pressed to
clear the way; and thus the brave work goes on of transforming this
wilderness into gardens where roses in their season bloom abundantly.
We counted not less than five handsome churches, all erected the past
year, representing as many different denominations, and, in point of
style and interior finish, quite up to the requirements of the most
enlightened taste. Two convenient and comfortable hotels give rest and
refreshment. Ample provision is being made for public schools; and the
projectors of the town have, in their wisdom, set apart one entire
square on which a ladies' seminary is to be erected; in short,
everything is being done in a most determined and energetic manner.
There is no place for idlers here. Such a wide-awake community naturally
weeds itself of them; and, consequently, the society is industrious and
moral, if not always elegant and pretentious.
Duluth will in time possess a completely landlocked harbor, and indeed
has it already, but not at present as accessible as it will soon be made
to the commerce seeking her wharves. The work of cutting a ship channel
across the shoulder of the sand-bar before referred to is in progress,
the distance being but a few hundred feet of loose earth, which, when
completed, will open communication to an immense bay, where all the
commerce of the lakes might ride at anchor in perfect safety, were some
slight dredging done to increase the present depth of water. This bay is
now reached by a circuit of half-dozen miles around the end of this
sand-bar, known as Minnesota Point. The Bay of Duluth must eventually,
we think, be the great harbor, though a breakwater is in course of
construction, which, when completed and made permanent, will give ample
shelter to all immediate necessities. Costly wharves have been
constructed on the lake side of the Point, and there vessels load and
unload almost constantly.
Since it is the established policy of the government to improve the
rivers and harbors of the country, surely the small needs of this place
ought not to be overlooked. While private enterprise can and does do
much, yet it is a sound theory for the general government, which derives
its revenues from the people, to aid them in removing or building such
obstructions or guards as the merits of the case and the public
interest-demand.
Already the trade and commerce of the town employs about a dozen
steamships, and numerous sailing vessels are also kept in motion,
transporting supplies for the great railway enterprise which has its
eastern base at this point.
There are three lines of propellers plying between this port and
Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit, each employing three ships, while there
is an additional line to and from Chicago. They together average four
arrivals weekly. The trip from Buffalo is performed in little less than
a week, that being the most distant of the respective places. These
steamers have accommodations for over half a hundred cabin passengers,
as a rule, and both invalids and pleasure travellers will find this, in
every respect, the most interesting and comfortable means of access to
Minnesota during the summer season. Formerly many availed themselves of
such facilities as there then was to make, during the summer, the grand
tour of the lakes, but were obliged to return by the route they came.
Now, however, the tourist is not compelled to turn back from the head of
Lake Superior, as in former days, since the completion of the railway
from Duluth to St. Paul, connecting the head of the great lakes with the
navigable head of the great river, permits a sweep of travel through the
interior of the continent such as is not enjoyed elsewhere on the globe,
either in distance, interest, or variety. Each year must give added fame
to this route.
Duluth is at the extreme western limit of all the great lakes of the
interior, and must eventually become the commercial centre for the
Northwest. It is already reaching out its arms to grasp the trade and
commerce of that region, which, once in its control, must ever remain
tributary to it. The Lake Superior and Mississippi Railway--one hundred
and fifty-four miles in length--above referred to, inaugurates a new era
in the agricultural interests of the State, and opens an entirely new
line of travel. By means of this road the products of Central and
Southern Minnesota are placed three hundred miles nearer lake
transportation eastward than heretofore, since the distance to
Chicago--the present point of destination for these things--by rail is
that much greater. This new outlet connects at St. Paul with all of the
interior lines of railroad in the State, likewise with the navigation of
the Mississippi, and on the completion of the St. Paul and Sioux City
Road, will drain one of the most fertile valleys, in wealth of exports,
to be found in any portion of the West.
The great staple of all this region of country is wheat, and the
question of its rapid and cheap transportation is a most important one,
both to the producer and consumer. Combinations have been formed in the
past whereby the carriage and price was subject to the control of a few,
to the great detriment of the producer; but this wheat oligarchy is now
likely to receive its quietus in view of this new and competing outlet
to eastern markets by way of Duluth.
The water transportation eastward from the latter city is at as low a
rate as from Chicago, while the time is by a day in favor of Duluth,
owing to the less favorable winds over Lake Michigan.
It is assumed by some that in view of the lower latitude of Chicago, the
advantage of that city must ever remain pre-eminent, since the ice
obstruction would be less, giving to commerce a much longer season than
it could enjoy at any other of the great ports on either of the two
westernmost lakes. This seems plausible at first view, but is hardly
justified by actual facts. The difference, though slight, is not
sufficient to hold any valid claim to a monopoly in the carrying trade
of these inland seas. While the ice disappears earlier by a few days at
Chicago than at Duluth, in consequence of its geographical position, it
will be observed that the course of its lake commerce is due northward,
and before that of the two rival lakes meet in the common waters of
Huron, they must both pass through narrow and contiguous straits, in
both of which the ice obstructions leave about the same time. Hence the
advantages of the one port over that of the other, to the shipper, are
not of any great moment, and are more than counterbalanced by the less
time occupied in reaching the Lake Erie ports from Duluth, over that
consumed by vessels from Chicago, growing out of the more favorable
winds blowing over Superior, as before mentioned.
The advantage, then, by this new route to the East (_viâ_ Duluth for a
portion of Northern Iowa and Southern and Central Minnesota) is a saving
of the three hundred miles of extra rail transportation incurred by way
of Lake Michigan; to say nothing of avoiding the exorbitant tolls and
inexplicable delays of the latter route. The difference inhering to the
benefit of the public, between the two routes, has been estimated,
amounts to about one dollar per barrel in favor of this new outlet. If
this can be proved true by practical experience, it must inevitably turn
the golden stream of grain into the lap of Duluth, since destiny itself
is not more certain than that the speediest and cheapest lines will do
the world's marketing.
Anticipating the wants of this route, there has been erected at Duluth,
during the past season, an immense elevator, with a present capacity of
over a third of a million of bushels, which, with a small additional
expenditure, can be increased to a half million. Its proximity to the
docks and railway is such that grain can be taken from the cars upon one
side, and loaded directly into vessels upon the other, or stored, as the
case may be.
The elements of future prosperity surround this new city and lie at her
very doors. The north shores of Superior are rich in iron, copper, and
silver; while the southern already supply the markets of the Union with
the most of its copper, which has grown from small beginnings (of twenty
years ago) to be one of the great interests in all our many valuable
mining arts.
The fishing interest, which already gives employment to a great number
of people, is in the first stages of development. They are now taken
chiefly at the straits, but the business may be made extremely
profitable at Duluth, since the head of the lake is their natural
feeding-ground, and thousands swarm these waters. We all have eaten of
the lake trout and white-fish, which may be had in the most of our
cities and towns, and know how successfully they compete with the best
of our salt-water article. It is already an important and growing trade,
and highly profitable.
Each morning during our stay in Duluth the tables of the "Clark House"
were served with both of these delicacies; and these fish certainly
surpass, when taken fresh, any fish it was ever our fortune to eat. The
cost of living is much cheapened in consequence of their abundance, and
surely nothing more wholesome can be placed on the table.
If Duluth had but the one interest, that of lumber, its prosperity would
be assured. It lies in the very heart of a vast district abounding in
pine-forests, and which have scarcely been explored, and we believe much
of it remains unsurveyed by the general government up to the present
time. The St. Louis River, which empties into Duluth and Superior Bays,
courses, with its branches, a thousand miles among the dense forests of
pine; and yet this is but a fraction of the immense tract of valuable
timber to the north and west of this young and nourishing city.
There is no lack of water-power to reduce the raw material to a
marketable condition, since the river above named can turn all the
wheels of every mill in the country, could they be planted beside it.
The point of contact by the river with the outlying rim of the basin of
the great lake is at the village of Thompson, some twenty miles distant
from Duluth, on the St. Paul Railroad.[D] Here the waters of the St.
Louis River struggle by and over this rim of rocks, downward and onward,
roaring and surging in their tumultuous ways, to the level below. These
rapids are known as the "Dalles of the St. Louis," and extend some four
and a half miles in an elbow direction. If a canal were cut across this
elbow, this splendid water-power could be utilized beyond that of any
other in the country.
What a field for enterprise is presented to lumbermen! A vast forest, a
river furnishing transportation and unlimited power for manufacturing,
and, finally, an open sea, with almost countless markets!
Besides this, there lies among the cliffs and high lands adjoining the
rapids of this river inexhaustible quarries of slate, surpassing, we are
informed, those of England in quality and quantity, and which must ere
long receive that attention they seem to demand at the hands of capital.
The now rude village of Thompson--named for J. Edgar Thompson, of
Philadelphia--with its half dozen extemporized buildings, in the quiet
of the woods, will ere long resound with the hum of many industries, and
already has considerable importance as being the point of junction of
the two great railways entering Duluth--the St. Paul and the Puget Sound
(Northern Pacific) Roads; the latter traversing a vast territory
abounding in everything which contributes to the growth of an
agricultural and manufacturing people.
The city of Duluth, seated at the eastern gate way of this new and
splendid domain, holds in her golden horn the destinies of many populous
and powerful States.
FOOTNOTES:
[D] Known as the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad.