LETTER X.

VALLEY OF THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH.

Climate of Minnesota-- The settlement at Pembina-- St. Joseph-- Col.

Smith's expedition-- Red River of the North-- Fur trade-- Red River

Settlement-- The Hudson's Bay Company-- Ex-Gov. Ramsey's

observations-- Dacotah.

CROW WING, October, 1856.

A CELEBRATED geographer of the first century wrote, "Germany is indeed

habitable, but is uninhabited on account of the cold." I am not so

certain, but some people have a similar idea of the upper portion of

Minnesota. If there are any, however, thus distrustful of its climate,

they probably live out of the territory. I have no means of knowing

what the climate is here in winter, except from hearsay and general

principles. It seems to be an approved theory, that the farther we

approach the west in a northern latitude the milder becomes the

winter. The stage-drivers tell me that the snow does not fall to such

a depth as in the northern part of New England; that the weather is

tolerably uniform; and that the roads are at all times kept open and

much travelled. After all, it is a great way before we come to the

home of the Esquimaux, and the desert of ice where Sir John Franklin

perished.

I will here subjoin the following extract from a letter addressed to

Gov. Stephens by the Hon. Henry M. Rice, the able delegate from

Minnesota. It is dated 3d June, 1854:

"Navigation of the Mississippi River closes from the 10th to the 25th

of November, and opens from the 1st to the 10th of April. That of the

Red River of the North closes from the 1st to 16th November, and opens

from 10th to 25th April. I have often travelled in the winter from St.

Paul to Crow Wing, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, with a

single horse and sled, without a track, and have never found the snow

deep enough to impede my progress. I have also gone from Crow Wing,

beyond the head waters of the Mississippi, to the waters of the

Hudson's Bay, on foot and without snow-shoes. I spent one entire

winter travelling through that region, and never found the snow over

eighteen inches deep, and seldom over nine inches.

"For several years I had trading-posts extending from Lake Superior to

the Red River of the North, from 46 degrees to 49 degrees north

latitude, and never found the snow so deep as to prevent supplies

being transported from one post to another with horses. One winter,

north of Crow Wing, say 47 degrees north latitude, I wintered about

sixty head of horses and cattle without giving them food of any kind

except such as they could procure themselves under the snow. Between

the 45th and 49th degrees north latitude, the snow does not fall so

deep as it does between the 40th and 45th degrees; this is easily

accounted for upon the same principle that in the fall they have

frosts much earlier near the 40th than they do near the 45th degree. I

say this in reference to the country watered by the Mississippi River.

Owing to its altitude the atmosphere is dry beyond belief, which

accounts for the absence of frosts in the fall, and for the small

quantity of snow that falls in a country so far north. Voyageurs

traverse the territory from Lake Superior to the Missouri the entire

winter with horses and sleds, having to make their own roads, and yet

with heavy loads are not detained by snow. Lumbermen in great numbers

winter in the pine regions of Minnesota with their teams, and I have

never heard of their finding the snow too deep to prosecute their

labors. I have known several winters when the snow at no time was over

six inches deep."

The Hon. H. H. Sibley, ex-delegate from Minnesota, in a letter dated

at Mendota says: "As our country is for the most part composed of

prairie, it is of course much exposed to the action of the winds. It

is, however, a peculiarity of our climate, that calms prevail during

the cold weather of the winter months; consequently, the snow does not

drift to anything like the extent experienced in New England or

northern New York. I have never believed that railroad communication

in this territory would be seriously impeded by the depth or drift of

snow, unless, perhaps, in the extreme northern portion of it." (See

Explorations and Surveys for the Pacific Railroad, I., 400.)

A few facts in regard to the people who live four or five hundred

miles to the north, will best illustrate the nature of the climate and

its adaptedness to agriculture.

It is common to say that settlements have not extended beyond Crow

Wing. This is only technically true. There is a settlement at Pembina,

where the dividing line between British America and the United States

crosses the Red River of the North. It didn't extend there from our

frontier, sure enough. If it extended from anywhere it must have been

from the north, or along the confines of that mystic region called

Rainy Lake. Pembina is said to have about 600 inhabitants. It is

situated on the Pembina River. It is an Indian-French word meaning

cranberry. Men live there who were born there, and it is in fact an

old settlement. It was founded by British subjects, who thought they

had located on British soil. The greater part of its inhabitants are

half-breeds, who earn a comfortable livelihood in fur hunting and in

farming. It sends two representatives and a councillor to the

territorial legislature. It is 460 miles north-west of St. Paul, and

330 miles distant from this town. Notwithstanding the distance, there

is considerable communication between the places. West of Pembina,

about thirty miles, is a settlement called St. Joseph, situated N. of

a large mythological body of water called Miniwakan, or Devil's Lake;

and is one of the points where Col. Smith's expedition was intending

to stop. This expedition to which I refer, started out from Fort

Snelling in the summer, to explore the country on both sides of the

Red River of the North as far as Pembina, and to report to the war

department the best points for the establishment of a new military

post. It is expected that Col. Smith will return by the first of next

month; and it is probable he will advise the erection of a post at

Pembina. When that is done, if it is done, its effect will be to draw

emigrants from the Red River settlement into Minnesota.

Now let me say a word about this Red River of the North, for it is

beginning to be a great feature in this upper country. It runs north,

and empties into Lake Winnipeg, which connects with Hudson's Bay by

Nelson River. It is a muddy and sluggish stream, navigable to the

mouth of Sioux Wood River for vessels of three feet draught for four

months in the year. So that the extent of its navigation within the

territory alone (between Pembina and the mouth of Sioux Wood River) is

417 miles. Buffaloes still feed on its western banks. Its tributaries

are numerous and copious, abounding with the choicest kinds of game,

and skirted with a various and beautiful foliage. It cannot be many

years before this magnificent valley shall pour its products into our

markets, and be the theatre of a busy and genial life.

One of the first things which drew my attention to this river was a

sight of several teams travelling towards this vicinity from a

north-westerly direction. I observed that the complexion of those in

the caravan was a little darker than that of pure white Minnesotians,

and that the carts were a novelty. "Who are those people? and where

are they from?" I inquired of a friend. "They are Red River people,

just arrived-- they have come down to trade." Their carts are made to

be drawn by one animal, either an ox or a horse, and are put together

without the use of a particle of iron. They are excellently adapted to

prairie travelling. How strange it seems! Here are people who have

been from twenty to thirty days on their journey to the nearest

civilized community. This is their nearest market. Their average rate

of travelling is about fifteen miles a day, and they generally secure

game enough on the way for their living. I have had highly interesting

accounts of the Red River settlement since I have been here, both from

Mr. Ross and Mr. Marion, gentlemen recently from there. The settlement

is seventy miles north of Pembina, and lies on both sides of the

river. Its population is estimated at 10,000. It owes its origin and

growth to the enterprise and success of the Hudson's Bay Company. Many

of the settlers came from Scotland, but the most were from Canada.

They speak English and Canadian French. The English style of society

is well kept up, whether we regard the church with its bishop, the

trader with his wine cellar, the scholar with his library, the officer

with his sinecure, or their paper currency. I find they have

everything but a hotel, for I was particular on that point, though not

intending just yet to go there. Probably the arrivals do not justify

such an institution, but their cordial hospitality will make up for

any such lack, from all I hear. They have a judge who gets a good

house to live in, and L1000 sterling a year; but he has nothing of

consequence to do. He was formerly a leading lawyer in Canada.

The great business of the settlement, of course, is the fur traffic.

An immense amount of buffalo skins is taken in the summer and autumn,

while in the winter smaller but more valuable furs are procured. The

Indians also enlist in the hunts; and it is estimated that upwards of

$200,000 worth of furs are annually taken from our territory and sold

to the Hudson's Bay Company. It is high time indeed that a military

post should be established somewhere on the Red River by our

government. The Hudson's Bay Company is now a powerful monopoly. Not

so magnificent and potent as the East India Company, it is still a

powerful combination, showering opulence on its members, and

reflecting a peculiar feature in the strength and grandeur of the

British empire-- a power, which, to use the eloquent language of

Daniel Webster, "has dotted over the whole surface of the globe with

her possessions and military posts-- whose morning drum-beat,

following the sun, and keeping company with the hours, circles the

earth daily with one continuous and unbroken strain of martial music."

The company is growing richer every year, and its jurisdiction and its

lands will soon find an availability never dreamed of by its founders,

unless, as may possibly happen, popular sovereignty steps in to grasp

the fruits of its long apprenticeship. Some time ago I believe the

Canadas sought to annex this broad expanse to their own jurisdiction.

There are about two hundred members in the Hudson's Bay Company. The

charter gives them the power to legislate for the settlement. They

have many persons in their employ in England as well as in British

America. A clerk, after serving the company ten years, with a salary

of about $500 per annum, is considered qualified for membership, with

the right to vote in the deliberations of the company, and one share

in the profits. The profits of a share last year amounted to $10,000!

A factor of the company, after serving ten years, is entitled to

membership with the profits of two shares. The aristocracy of the

settlement consists principally of retired factors and other members

of the company, who possess large fortunes, dine on juicy roast beef,

with old port, ride in their carriages, and enjoy life in a very

comfortable manner. Two of the company's ships sail up into Hudson's

Bay every year to bring merchandise to the settlement and take away

furs. [1] But the greatest portion of the trade is done with

Minnesota. Farming is carried on in the neighborhood of the settlement

with cheerful ease and grand success. I was as much surprised to hear

of the nature of their agriculture as of anything else concerning the

settlement. The same kind of crops are raised as in Pennsylvania or

Maine; and this in a country, be it remembered, five hundred miles and

upwards north of St. Paul. Stock must be easily raised, as it would

appear from the fact that it is driven down here into the territory

and sold at a great profit. Since I have been here, a drove of

fine-looking cattle from that settlement passed to be sold in the

towns below, and a drove of horses is expected this fall. The stock

which comes from there is more hardy than can be got anywhere else,

and therefore is preferred by the Minnesotians.

[1 "The Hudson's Bay Company allows its servants, while making a

voyage, eight pounds of meat a day, and I am told the allowance is

none too much." (Lieutenant Howison's Report on Oregon, p. 7.)]

The following extract from Ex-Governor Ramsey's address, recently

delivered before the annual fair at Minneapolis, wherein he gives some

results of his observations of the Red River settlement during his

trip there in 1851, will be read with much interest:--

"Re-embarking in our canoes, we continued descending the river for

some fifteen miles further, through the French portion of the

settlement, lining mainly the west or left bank of the river, until we

arrived about the centre of the colony, at the mouth of the

Assinniboin tributary of Red River, where we landed and remained a few

days, viewing the colony and its improvements. I was at that time, and

am even now, when I look back upon it, lost in wonder at the phenomena

which that settlement exhibits to the world, considering its location

in an almost polar region of the North. Imagine a river flowing

sluggishly northward through a flat alluvial plain, and the west side

of it lined continuously for over thirty miles with cultivated farms,

each presenting those appearances of thrift around them which I

mentioned as surrounding the first farms seen by us; but each farm

with a narrow frontage on the river of only twenty-four rods in width,

but extending back for one or two miles, and each of these narrow

farms having their dwellings and the farm out-buildings spread only

along the river front, with lawns sloping to the water's edge, and

shrubbery and vines liberally trained around them, and trees

intermingled-- the whole presenting the appearance of a long suburban

village-- such as you might see near our eastern sea-board, or such as

you find exhibited in pictures of English country villages, with the

resemblance rendered more striking by the spires of several large

churches peeping above the foliage of the trees in the distance,

whitewashed school-houses glistening here and there amidst sunlight

and green; gentlemen's houses of pretentious dimensions and grassy

lawns and elaborate fencing, the seats of retired officers of the

Hudson's Bay Company occasionally interspersed; here an English

bishop's parsonage, with a boarding or high school near by; and over

there a Catholic bishop's massive cathedral, with a convent of Sisters

of Charity attached; whilst the two large stone forts, at which reside

the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, or of the colony once called

Upper Fort Garry, and situated at the mouth of the Assinniboin, and

the other termini the Lower Fort Garry, which is twenty miles farther

down the river, helped to give additional picturesqueness to the

scene. I had almost forgotten to mention what is, after all, the most

prominent and peculiar feature of that singular landscape, singular

from its location-- and that is the numerous wind-mills, nearly twenty

in all, which on every point of land made by the turns and bends in

the river, stretched out their huge sails athwart the horizon, and

seemingly looked defiance at us as invading strangers, that were from

a land where steam or water mills monopolize their avocation of flour

making. One morning as we passed down the principal high road, on our

way to Lower Fort Garry, the wind, after a protracted calm, began to

blow a little; when presto! each mill veered around its sails to catch

the propitious breeze, and as the sails began to revolve, it was

curious to observe the numerous carts that shot out from nearly every

farm-house, and hurried along the road to these mills, to get ground

their grists of spring wheat, with which they were respectively

loaded.

"Another incident during the same trip that struck us oddly, was

seeing two ladies driving by themselves a fine horse hitched to a

buggy of modern fashion, just as much at home apparently as if they

were driving through the streets of St. Paul, or St. Anthony, or

Minneapolis, instead of upon that remote highway towards the North

Pole; but this was not a whit more novel than to hear the pianoforte,

and played, too, with both taste and skill. While another 'lion' of

those parts that met our view was a topsail schooner lying in the

river at the lower fort, which made occasional trips into Great Lake

Winnepeg of the North, a hundred miles below.

"I took occasion during my visit to inquire what success the farmers

met with in securing good crops, and the profits of farmers generally.

As to wheat, I learned that the yield of the spring variety was quite

equal in quantity and quality to the crop of that grain on any more

southern farms; that in raising barley they could almost surpass the

world; and the cereals generally, and all the esculent roots, were

easily raised. Indian corn was not planted as a field crop, though it

was grown in their gardens. In a word, the capacity of their land to

produce almost everything plentifully and well, was established; but

for all this, farming did not afford much profit. for want of a

sufficient market; beyond a small demand by the Hudson's Bay Company,

there was no outlet for their superabundance; and to use an Austrian

phase in regard to Hungarians, the Selkirkers are metaphysically

'smothering in their own fat.' To remedy this state of things they

were beginning, when I was there, to turn their attention towards

raising cattle and horses, for which their country is well calculated;

and the first fruits of this new decision given to their farming

energies, we have already experienced in the droves of both which have

recently been driven from thence and sold in this vicinity."

I think the facts which I have herein hastily set downhill dispel any

apprehension as to the successful cultivation of the soil in the

northern part of the territory. It has a health-giving climate which

before long, I predict, will nourish as patriotic a race of men as

gave immortality to the noble plains of Helvetia. There is one thing I

would mention which seems to auspicate the speedy development of the

valley of the North Red River. Next year Minnesota will probably be

admitted as a state; and a new territory organized out of the broad

region embracing the valley aforesaid and the head waters of the

Mississippi. Or else it will be divided by a line north and south,

including the western valley of that river, and extending as far to

the west as the Missouri River. I understand it will be called

Dacotah, though I at first thought it would be called Pembina. There

is always a rush into new territories, and the proposed new territory

of Dacotah will present sufficient inducements for a large

immigration. When the valley of the North Red River shall be settled,

and splendid harvest fields adorn its banks; when great factories take

the place of wind-mills, and when railroads shall take the place of

Red River carts, then we will have new cause to exclaim,

"Westward the course of empire takes its way!"

LETTER XI.

THE TRUE PIONEER.

Energy of the pioneer-- Frontier life-- Spirit of emigration--

Advantages to the farmer in moving West-- Advice in regard to making

preemption claims-- Abstract of the preemption law-- Hints to the

settler-- Character and services of the pioneer.

CROW WING, October, 1856.

I DESIRE in this letter to say something about the pioneer, and life

on the frontier. And by pioneer I mean the true pioneer who comes into

the West to labor and to share the vicissitudes of new settlements;

not the adventurer, who would repine at toil, and gather where he has

not sown.

As I have looked abroad upon the vast domain of the West beyond the

dim Missouri, or in the immediate valley of the Mississippi, I have

wondered at the contrast presented between the comparatively small

number who penetrate to the frontier, and that great throng of men who

toil hard for a temporary livelihood in the populous towns and cities

of the Union. And I have thought if this latter class were at all

mindful of the opportunities for gain and independence which the new

territories afforded, they would soon abandon-- in a great measure at

least-- their crowded alleys in the city, and aspire to be cultivators

and owners of the soil. Why there has not been a greater emigration

from cities I cannot imagine, unless it is owing to a misapprehension

of Western life. Either it is this, or the pioneer is possessed of a

very superior degree of energy.

It has been said that the frontier man always keeps on the frontier;

that he continues to emigrate as fast as the country around him

becomes settled. There is a class that do so. Not, however, for the

cause which has been sometimes humorously assigned-- that civilization

was inconvenient to them-- but because good opportunities arise to

dispose of the farms they have already improved; and because a further

emigration secures them cheaper lands. The story of the pioneer who

was disturbed by society, when his nearest neighbor lived fifteen

miles off, even if it be true, fails to give the correct reason for

the migratory life of this class of men.

It almost always happens that wherever we go somebody else has

preceded us. Accident or enterprise has led some one to surpass us.

Many of the most useful pioneers of this country have been attracted

hither by the accounts given of its advantages by some one of their

friends who had previously located himself here. Ask a man why he

comes, and he says a neighbor of his, or a son, or a brother, has been

in the territory for so many months, and he likes it so well I

concluded to come also. A very respectable gentleman from Maine, a

shipowner and a man of wealth, who came up on the boat with me to St.

Paul, said his son-in-law was in the territory, and he had another son

at home who was bound to come, and if his wife was willing he believed

the whole family would come. Indeed the excellent state of society in

the territory is to be attributed very much to the fact that parents

have followed after their children.

It is pretty obvious too why men will leave poor farms in New England,

and good farms in Ohio, to try their fortunes here. The farmer in New

England, it may be in New Hampshire, hears that the soil of Minnesota

is rich and free from rocks, that there are other favorable resources,

and a salubrious climate such as he has been accustomed to. He

concludes that it is best to sell out the place he has, and try

ploughing where there are no rocks to obstruct him. The farmer of Ohio

does not expect to find better soil than he leaves; but his

inducements are that he can sell his land at forty or fifty dollars an

acre, and preempt as good in Minnesota for a dollar and a quarter an

acre. This operation leaves him a surplus fund, and he becomes a more

opulent man, with better means to adorn his farm and to educate his

children.

Those who contemplate coming West to engage in agricultural employment

should leave their families, if families they have, behind till they

have selected a location and erected some kind of a habitation;

provided, however, they have no particular friend whose hospitality

they can avail themselves of till their preliminary arrangements are

effected. It will require three months, I judge, for a man to select a

good claim (a quarter section, being 160 acres), and fence and plough

a part of it and to erect thereon a cabin. There is never a want of

land to preempt in a new country. The settler can always get an

original claim, or buy out the claim of another very cheap, near some

other settlers. The liberal policy of our government in regard to the

disposal of public lands is peculiarly beneficial to the settler. The

latter has the first chance. He can go on to a quarter section which

may be worth fifteen dollars an acre, and preempt it before it is

surveyed, and finally obtain it for $1.25 an acre. Whereas the

speculator must wait till the land is surveyed and advertised for

sale; and then he can get only what has not been preempted, and at a

price which it brings at auction, not less than $1.25 an acre. Then

what land is not sold at public sale is open to private entry at $1.25

an acre. It is such land that bounty warrants are located on. Thus it

is seen the pioneer has the first choice. Why, I have walked over land

up here that would now bring from ten to twenty dollars an acre if it

was in the market, and which any settler can preempt and get for $1.25

an acre. I am strongly tempted to turn farmer myself, and go out and

build me a cabin. The speculation would be a good one. But to acquire

a title by preemption I must dwell on the soil, and prove that I have

erected a dwelling and made other improvements. In other words, before

a man (or any head of a family) can get a patent, he must satisfy the

land officers that he is a dweller in good faith on the soil. It is

often the case, indeed, that men get a title by preemption who never

intend to live on their quarter section. But they do it by fraud. They

have a sort of mental reservation, I suppose, when they take the

requisite oaths. In this way many valuable claims are taken up and

held along from month to month, or from year to year, by mock

improvements. A pretender will make just improvements enough to hinder

the actual settler from locating on the claim, or will sell out to him

at a good profit. A good deal of money is made by these fictitious

claimants. It is rather hard to prevent it, too, inasmuch as it is

difficult to disprove that a man intends some time to have a permanent

home, or, in fact, that his claim is not his legal residence, though

his usual abiding place is somewhere else. Nothing could be more

delightful than for a party of young men who desire to farm to come

out together early in the spring, and aid each other in preempting

land in the same neighborhood. The preemptor has to pay about five

dollars in the way of fees before he gets through the entire process

of securing a title. It is a popular error (much like the opinion that

a man cannot swear to what he sees through glass) that improvements of

a certain value, say fifty dollars, are required to be made, or that a

certain number of acres must be cultivated. All that is required,

however, is evidence that the party has built a house fit to live in,

and has in good faith proceeded to cultivate the soil. The law does

not permit a person to preempt 160 acres but once; yet this provision

is often disregarded, possibly from ignorance, I was about to say, but

that cannot be, since the applicant must make oath that he has not

before availed himself of the right of preemption.

I will insert at this place an abridgment of the preemption act of 4th

September, 1841, which I made two years ago; and which was extensively

published in the new states and territories. I am happy to find, also,

that it has been thought worth copying into one or more works on the

West.

I. Lands subject to preemption. By sec. 10 of said act it is provided

that the public lands to which the Indian title had been extinguished

at the time of the settlement, and which had also been surveyed prior

thereto, shall be subject to preemption, and purchase at the rate of

one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. And by the act of 22d July,

1854, sec. 12, the preemption of unsurveyed lands is recognised as

legal. Lands of the following description are excepted: such as are

included in any reservation, by any treaty, law, or proclamation of

the President of the United States, or reserved for salines or for

other purposes; lands included within the limits of any incorporated

town, or which have been selected as the site for a city or town;

lands actually settled and occupied for the purposes of trade and not

agriculture; and lands on which are situated any known salines or

mines.

II. The amount designated is any number of acres not exceeding one

hundred and sixty.

III. Who may preempt. "Every person being the head of a family, or

widow, or single man over the age of twenty-one years, and being a

citizen of the United States, or having filed his declaration of

intention to become a citizen, as required by the naturalization

laws." But no person shall be entitled to more than one preemptive

right, and no person who is the proprietor of three hundred and twenty

acres of land in any state or territory of the United States, and no

person who shall quit or abandon his residence on his own land to

reside on the public land in the same state or territory, shall

acquire any right of preemption.

IV. The method to perfect the right. The preemptor must make a

settlement on the land in person; inhabit and improve the same, and

erect thereon a dwelling. And when the land has been surveyed previous

to settlement the preemptor shall, within thirty days of the date of

the settlement, file with the register of the proper district a

written statement describing the land settled upon, and declaring the

intention of such person to claim the same under the provisions of the

preemption law. And within twelve months of the date of the settlement

such person shall make the requisite proof, affidavit, and payment.

When unsurveyed lands are prompted (act of 1854), notice of the

specific tracts claimed shall be filed with the surveyor general,

within three months after the survey has been made in the field. And

when two or more persons shall have settled on the same quarter

section, the right of preemption shall be in him or her who made the

first settlement; and questions arising between different settlers

shall be decided by the register and receiver of the district within

which the land is situated, subject to an appeal to and revision by

the Secretary of the Interior of the United States.

And the settler must make oath before the receiver or register that he

or she has never had the benefit of any right of preemption under the

preemption act: that he or she is not the owner of three hundred and

twenty acres of land in any state or territory of the United States,

nor hath he or she settled upon and improved said land to sell the

same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to his or her

own exclusive use or benefit: and that he or she has not directly or

indirectly made any agreement or contract in any way or manner with

any person or persons whatsoever, by which the title which he or she

might acquire from the government of the United States should enure in

whole or in part to the benefit of any person except himself or

herself; and if any person talking such oath shall swear falsely in

the premises, he or she shall be subject to all the pains and

penalties of perjury, and shall forfeit the money which he or she may

have paid for such land, and all right and title to the same; and any

grant or conveyance which he or she may have made, except in the hands

of bona fide purchasers for a valuable consideration, shall be null

and void.

Proof of the requisite settlement and improvement shall be made by the

preemptor to the satisfaction of the register and receiver, in the

district in which the lands so claimed lie, who shall each be entitled

to receive fifty cents from each applicant for his services rendered.

as aforesaid; and all assignments and transfers of the right hereby

secured prior to the issuing of the patent, shall be null and void.

(See U. S. Stat. at Large, vol. 5, 453-458.)

But I was on the point of advising the settler what he should bring

with him into a new country and what leave behind. He should not bring

much furniture. It is very expensive and troublesome to have it

transported. Nor will he need much to begin with, or have room for it.

It will cost nearly as much to transport it seventy miles through the

territory as it will to bring it from whence he started within the

limits of the territory. Let him pack up in a small compass the most

precious part of his inanimate household, and leave it ready for an

agent to start it after he shall have found a domicil. This will save

expensive storage. Then let his goods be directed to the care of some

responsible forwarding merchant in a river town nearest to their final

destination, that they may be taken care of and not be left exposed on

the levee when they arrive. St. Paul is now a place of so much

mercantile importance and competition that one may buy provisions,

furniture, or agricultural tools cheaper there than he can himself

bring them from the East. The professional man, however, will do well

to bring his books with him.

Let us assume now that the settler has got his house up, either a

frame house or of logs, with a part of his farm fenced; and that be

has filed his application for preemption at the land office in the

district in which he resides. Let us suppose further, that he is

passing his first autumn here. His house, if he is a man of limited

means, has but two rooms, and they are both on the basement story. He

has just shelter enough for his stock, but none for his hay, which is

stacked near by. The probability is, that he lives in the vicinity of

some clear stream or copious spring, and has not, therefore, needed to

dig a well. The whole establishment, one would think, who was

accustomed to the Eastern style of living, betrayed downright poverty.

But let us stop a moment; this is the home of a pioneer. He has been

industrious, and everything about him exhibits forethought. There is a

cornfield all fenced in with tamarack poles. It is paved over with

pumpkins (for pumpkins flourish wonderfully in Minnesota), and

contains twenty acres of ripe corn, which, allowing thirty-five

bushels to an acre, is worth at ninety cents per bushel the sum of

$630. There are three acres of potatoes, of the very best quality,

containing three hundred bushels, which, at fifty cents a bushel, are

worth $150. Here then, off of two crops, he gets $780, and I make a

moderate estimate at that. Next year he will add to this a crop of

oats or wheat. The true pioneer is a model farmer. He lays out his

work two weeks in advance. Every evening finds him further ahead. If

there is a rainy day, he knows what to set himself about. Be lays his

plans in a systematic manner, and carries them into execution with

energy. He is a true pioneer, and therefore he is not an idle man, nor

a loafer, nor a weak addle-headed tippler. Go into his house, and

though you do not see elegance you can yet behold intelligence, and

neatness, and sweet domestic bliss. The life of the pioneer is not

exposed to such hardships and delays as retarded the fortunes of the

settlers in the older states. They had to clear forests; here the land

is ready for the plough. And though "there is society where none

intrude," yet he is not by any means beyond the boundaries of good

neighborhood. In many cases, however, he has left his dearest friends

far away in his native village, where his affections still linger. He

has to endure painful separations, and to forego those many comforts

which spring from frequent meetings under the parental roof, and

frequent converse with the most attractive scones of youth. But to

compensate for these things he can feel that the labor of the pioneer,

aside from its pecuniary advantage to himself, is of service to the

state, and a helpmate to succeeding generations.

"There are, who, distant from their native soil,

Still for their own and country's glory toil:

While some, fast rooted to their parent spot,

In life are useless, and in death forgot!"

LETTER XII.

SPECULATION AND BUSINESS.

Opportunities to select farms-- Otter Tail Lake-- Advantages of the

actual settler over the speculator-- Policy of new states as to taxing

non-residents-- Opportunities to make money-- Anecdote of Col.

Perkins-- Mercantile business-- Price of money-- Intemperance--

Education-- The free school.

CROW WING, October, 1856.

IT is maintained by the reviewers, I believe, that the duller a writer

is, the more accurate he should be. In the outset of this letter, I

desire to testify my acquiescence in the justice of that dogma, for

if, like neighbor Dogberry, "I were as tedious as a king," I could not

find it in my heart to bestow it all without a measure of utility.

I shall try to answer some questions which I imagine might be put by

different classes of men who are interested in this part of the west.

My last letter had some hints to the farmer, and I can only add, in

addition, for his benefit, that the most available locations are now a

considerable distance above St. Paul. The valley of the St. Peter's is

pretty much taken up; and so of the valley of the Mississippi for a

distance of fifteen miles on either side to a point a hundred miles

above St. Paul. One of the land officers at Minneapolis informed me

that there were good preemption claims to be had fifteen miles west,

that being as far as the country was thickly settled. One of the

finest regions now unoccupied, that I know of, not to except even the

country on the Crow Wing River, is the land bordering on Otter Tail

Lake. For forty miles all round that lake the land is splendid. More

than a dozen disinterested eye-witnesses have described that region to

me in the most glowing terms. In beauty, in fertility, and in the

various collateral resources which make a farming country desirable,

it is not surpassed. It lies south of the picturesque highlands or

hauteurs des terres, and about midway between the sources of the Crow

Wing and North Red Rivers. From this town the distance to it is sixty

miles. The lake itself is forty miles long and five miles in width.

The water is clear and deep, and abounds with white fish that are

famous for their delicious flavor. The following description, which I

take from Captain Pope's official narrative of his exploration, is a

reliable description of this delightful spot, now fortunately on the

eve of being settled-- " To the west, north-west, and north-east, the

whole country is heavily timbered with oak, elm, ash, maple, birch,

bass, &c., &c. Of these the sugar maple is probably the most valuable,

and in the vicinity of Otter Tail Lake large quantities of maple sugar

are manufactured by the Indians. The wild rice, which exists in these

lakes in the most lavish profusion, constitutes a most necessary

article of food with the Indians, and is gathered in large quantities

in the months of September and October. To the east the banks of the

lake are fringed with heavy oak and elm timber to the width of one

mile. The whole region of country for fifty miles in all directions

around this lake is among the most beautiful and fertile in the world.

The fine scenery of lakes and open groves of oak timber, of winding

streams connecting them, and beautifully rolling country on all sides,

renders this portion of Minnesota the garden spot of the north-west.

It is impossible in a report of this character to describe the feeling

of admiration and astonishment with which we first beheld the charming

country in the vicinity of this lake; and were I to give expression to

my own feelings and opinions in reference to it, I fear they would be

considered the ravings of a visionary or an enthusiast."[1] But let me

say to the speculator that he need not covet any of these broad acres.

There is little chance for him. Before that land can be bought at

public sale or by mere purchasers at private sale, it will, I feel

sure, be entirely occupied by actual settlers. And so it ought to be.

The good of the territory is promoted by that beneficent policy of our

public land laws which gives the actual settler the first and best

chance to acquire a title by preemption.

[1 To illustrate the rapid progress which is going on constantly, I

would remark that in less than a month after leaving Crow Wing, I

received a letter from there informing me that Messrs. Crittenden,

Cathcart, and others had been to Otter Tail Lake and laid out a town

which they call Otter Tail City. The standing and means of the men

engaged in the enterprise, are a sure guaranty of its success.]

Speculators have located a great many land warrants in Minnesota. Some

have been located on lakes, some on swamps, some on excellent land. Of

course the owner, who, as a general thing, is a nonresident, leaves

his land idle for something to "turn up" to make it profitable. There

it stands doing no good, but on the contrary is an encumbrance to the

settler, who has to travel over and beyond it without meeting the face

of a neighbor in its vicinity. The policy of new states is to tax

non-resident landholders at a high rate. When the territory becomes a

state, and is obliged to raise a revenue, some of these fellows

outside, who, to use a phrase common up here, have plastered the

country over with land warrants, will have to keep a lookout for the

tax-gatherer. Now I do not mean to discourage moneyed men from

investing in Minnesota lands. I do not wish to raise any bugbears, but

simply to let them know that hoarding up large tracts of land without

making improvements, and leaving it to increase in value by the toil

and energy of the pioneer, is a way of doing things which is not

popular with the actual settler. But there is a great deal of money to

be made by judicious investments in land. Buying large tracts of land

I believe to be the least profitable speculation, unless indeed the

purchaser knows exactly what he is buying, and is on hand at the

public sale to get the benefit of a second choice. I say second

choice, because the preemptor has had the first choice long ago, and

it may be before the land was surveyed. What I would recommend to

speculators is to purchase in some good town sites. Buy in two or

three, and if one or two happen to prove failures, the profits on the

other will enable you to bear the loss. I know of a man who invested

$6000 at St. Paul six years ago. He has sold over $80,000 worth of the

land, and has as much more left. This is but an ordinary instance. The

advantage of buying lots in a town arises from the rapid rise of the

value of the land, the ready market, and withal the moderate prices at

which they can be procured during the early part of its history.

To such persons as have a desire to come West, and are not inclined to

be farmers, and who have not capital enough to engage in mercantile

business, there is sufficient employment. A new country always opens

avenues of successful business for every industrious man and woman;

more kinds even than I could well enumerate. Every branch of mechanics

needs workmen of all grades; from the boy who planes the rough boards

to the head workman. Teaming affords good employment for young men the

year round. The same may be said of the saw-mills. A great deal of

building is going on constantly; and those who have good trades get

$2.50 per day. I am speaking, of course, of the territory in general.

One of the most profitable kinds of miscellaneous business is

surveying. This art requires the services of large numbers; not only

to survey the public lands, but town sites and the lands of private

individuals. Labor is very high everywhere in the West, whether done

by men, women, or children;-- even the boys, not fourteen years old,

who clean the knives and forks on the steamboats, get $20 a month and

are found. But the best of it all is, that when a man earns a few

dollars he can easily invest it in a piece of land, and double his

money in three months, perhaps in one month. One of the merchant

princes of Boston, the late Col. T. H. Perkins, published a notice in

a Boston paper in 1789, he being then 25, that he would soon embark on

board the ship Astrea for Canton, and that if any one desired to

commit an "adventure" to him, they might be assured of his exertions

for their interests. The practice of sending " adventures" "beyond the

seas" is not so common as it was once; and instead thereof men invest

their funds in western prizes. But let me remark in regard to the fact

I relate, that it shows the true pioneer spirit. Col. Perkins was a

pioneer. His energy led him beyond his counting-room, and he reaped

the reward of his exertions in a great fortune.

I have now a young man in my mind who came to a town ten miles this

side of St. Paul, six months ago, with $500. He commenced trading, and

has already, by good investments and the profits of his business,

doubled his money. Everything that one can eat or wear brings a high

price, or as high as it does in any part of the West. The number of

visitors and emigrants is so large that the productions of the

territory are utterly inadequate to supply the market. Therefore large

quantities of provisions have to be brought up the river from the

lower towns. At Swan River, 100 miles this side of St. Paul, pork is

worth $85. Knowing that pork constitutes a great part of the

"victuals" up this way, though far from being partial to the article,

I tried it when I dined at Swan River to see if it was good, and found

it to be very excellent. Board for laboring men must be about four

dollars a week. For transient guests at Crow Wing it is one dollar a

day.

I have heard it said that money is scarce. It is possible. It

certainly commands a high premium; but the reason is that there are

such splendid opportunities to make fortunes by building and buying

and selling city lots. A man intends that the rent of a house or store

shall pay for its construction in three years. The profits of

adventure justify a man in paying high interest. If a man has money

enough to buy a pair of horses and a wagon, he can defy the world.

These are illustrations to show why one is induced to pay interest. I

do not think, however, money is "tight." I never saw people so free

with their money, or appear to have it in so great abundance.

There is one drawback which this territory has in common with the

greater part of the West, and in fact of the civilized world. It is

not only a drawback, but a nuisance anywhere; I mean drinking or

whiskey shops. The greater proportion of the settlers are temperate

men, I am sure; but in almost every village there are places where the

meanest kind of intoxicating liquor is sold. There are some who sell

liquor to the Indians. But such business is universally considered as

the most degraded that a mean man can be guilty of. It is filthy to

see men staggering about under the influence of bad whiskey, or of any

kind of whiskey. He who sends a young husband to his new cabin home

intoxicated, to mortify and torment his family; or who sells liquor to

the uneducated Indians, that they may fight and murder, must have his

conscience-- if he has any at all-- cased over with sole leather. Mr.

Gough is needed in the West.

Minnesota is not behind in education. Ever since Governor Slade, of

Vermont, brought some bright young school mistresses up to St. Paul

(in 1849), common school education has been diffusing its precious

influences. The government wisely sets apart two sections of land--

the 16th and 36th-- in every township for school purposes. A township

is six miles square; and the two sections thus reserved in each

township comprise 1280 acres. Other territories have the same

provision. This affords a very good fund for educational uses, or

rather it is a great aid to the exertions of the people. There are

some nourishing institutions of learning in the territory. But the

greatest institution after all in the country-- the surest protection

of our liberties and our laws-- is the FREE SCHOOL.

LETTER XIII.

CROW WING TO ST. CLOUD.

Pleasant drive in the stage-- Scenery-- The past-- Fort Ripley Ferry--

Delay at the Post Office-- Belle Prairie-- A Catholic priest-- Dinner

at Swan River-- Potatoes-- Arrival at Watab-- St. Cloud.

ST. CLOUD, October, 1856.

YESTERDAY morning at seven I took my departure, on the stage, from

Crow Wing. It was a most delightful morning, the air not damp, but

bracing; and the welcome rays of the sun shed a mellow lustre upon a

scene of "sylvan beauty." The first hour's ride was over a road I had

passed in the dark on my upward journey, and this was the first view I

had of the country immediately below Crow Wing. No settlements were to

be seen, because the regulations of military reservations preclude

their being made except for some purpose connected with the public

interests. A heavy shower the night before had effectually laid the

dust, and we bounded along on the easy coach in high spirits. The view

of the prairie stretching "in airy undulations far away," and of the

eddying current of the Mississippi, there as everywhere deep and

majestic, with its banks skirted with autumn-colored foliage, was

enough to commend the old fashioned system of stages to more general

use. Call it poetry or what you please, yet the man who can

contemplate with indifference the wonderful profusion of nature,

undeveloped by art-- inviting, yet never touched by the plough-- must

lack some one of the senses. Indeed, this picture, so characteristic

of the new lands of the West, seems to call into existence a new

sense. The view takes in a broad expanse which has never produced a

stock of grain; and which has been traversed for ages past by a race

whose greatest and most frequent calamity was hunger. If we turn to

its past there is no object to call back our thoughts. All is

oblivion. There are no ruins to awaken curious images of former life--

no vestige of humanity-- nothing but the present generation of nature.

And yet there are traces of the past generations of nature to be seen.

The depressions of the soil here and there to be observed, covered

with a thick meadow grass, are unmistakeable indications of lakes

which have now "vanished into thin air." That these gentle hollows

were once filled with water is the more certain from the appearance of

the shores of the present lakes, where the low water mark seems to

have grown lower and lower every year. But if the past is blank, these

scenes are suggestive of happy reflections as to the future. The long

perspective is radiant with busy life and cheerful husbandry. New

forms spring into being. Villages and towns spring up as if by magic,

along whose streets throngs of men are passing. And thus, as "coming

events cast their shadows before," does the mind wander from the real

to the probable. An hour and a half of this sort of revery, and we had

come to the Fort Ripley ferry, over which we were to go for the mail.

That ferry (and I have seen others on the river like it) is a

marvellous invention. It is a flat-boat which is quickly propelled

either way across the river by means of the resistance which it offers

to the current. Its machinery is so simple I will try to describe it.

In the first place a rope is stretched across the river from elevated

objects on either side. Each end of the boat is made fast to this line

by pullies, which can be taken up or let out at the fastenings on the

boat. All that is required to start the boat is to bring the bow, by

means of the pully, to an acute angle with the current. The after part

of the boat presents the principal resistance to the current by

sliding a thick board into the water from the upper side. As the water

strikes against this, the boat is constantly attempting to describe a

circle, which it is of course prevented from doing by the current, and

so keeps on-- for it must move somewhere-- in a direction where the

obstruction is less. It certainly belongs to the science of

hydraulics, for it is not such a boat as can be propelled by steam or

wind. I had occasion recently to cross the Mississippi on a similar

ferry, early in the morning, and before the ferryman was up. The

proprietor of it was with me; yet neither of us knew much of its

practical operation. I soon pulled the head of the boat towards the

current, but left down the resistance board, or whatever it is called,

at the bow as well as at the stern. This, of course, impeded our

progress; but we got over in a few minutes; and I felt so much

interested in this new kind of navigation, that I would have been glad

to try the voyage over again.

On arriving within the square of the garrison, I expected to find the

mail ready for delivery to the driver; but we had to wait half an

hour. The mail is only weekly, and there was nothing of any

consequence to change. We repaired to the post office, which was in a

remote corner of a store-room, where the postmaster was busy making up

his mail. Some of the officers had come in with documents which they

wished to have mailed. And while we stood waiting, corporals and

privates, servants of other officers brought in letters which

Lieutenant So-and-so "was particularly desirous of having mailed this

morning." The driver was magnanimous enough to submit to me whether we

should wait. We all felt accommodating-- the postmaster I saw was

particularly so-- and we concluded to wait till everything was in, and

perhaps we would have waited for some one to write a letter. I could

not but think it would be a week before another mail day; and still I

could not but think these unnecessary morning hindrances were throwing

a part of our journey into the night hours. Returning again to the

eastern bank of the river by our fine ferry, we soon passed the

spacious residence of Mr. Olmsted, a prominent citizen of the

territory. We made a formal halt at his door to see if there were any

passengers. Mr. Olmsted has a large farm under good cultivation, and

several intelligent young men in his service. In that neighborhood are

some other as handsome farms as I ever saw; but I think they are on

the reservation, and are cultivated under the patronage of the war

department. The winter grain was just up, and its fresh verdure

afforded an agreeable contrast with the many emblems of decaying

nature. It was in the middle of the forenoon that we reached Belle

Prairie, along which are many good farm houses occupied by

half-breeds. There is a church and a school-house. In the cemetery is

a large cross painted black and white, and from its imposing

appearance it cannot fail to make a solemn impression on minds which

revere any tangible object that is consigned sacred. A very

comfortable-looking house was pointed out to me as the residence of a

Catholic priest, who has lived for many years in that section,

spreading among the ignorant a knowledge of Christianity, and

ministering to their wants in the hour of death. And though I am no

Catholic, I could not but regard the superiority of that kind of

preaching-- for visiting the sick, consoling the afflicted, and

rebuking sin by daily admonitions, is the true preaching of the

Gospel-- over the pompous declamation which now too often usurps the

pulpit.

The dinner was smoking hot on the table when we drove up to the hotel

at Swan River; and so charming a drive in the pure air had given me a

keen appetite. The dinner (and I speak of these matters because they

are quite important to travellers) was in all respects worthy of the

appetite. The great staple article of Minnesota soil appears to be

potatoes, for they were never known to be better anywhere else--

Eastport not excepted-- and at our table d'hote they were a grand

collateral to the beef and pork. The dessert consisted of nice home

made apple pies served with generosity, and we had tea or milk or

water, as requested, for a beverage. After partaking of a dinner of

this kind, the rest of the day's journey was looked forward to with no

unpleasant emotions. The stage happened to be lightly loaded, and we

rolled along with steady pace, and amidst jovial talk, till we reached

the thriving, but to me not attractive, town of Watab. Three houses

had been put up within the short time since I had stopped there. We

got into Mr. Gilman's tavern at sundown. I was rejoiced to find a

horse and carriage waiting for me, which had been kindly sent by a

friend to bring me to St. Cloud. It is seven miles from Watab to this

town. It was a charming moonlight evening, and I immediately started

on with the faithful youth who had charge of the carriage, to enjoy my

supper and lodging under the roof of my hospitable friend at St.

Cloud.

LETTER XIV.

ST. CLOUD.-- THE PACIFIC TRAIL.

Agreeable visit at St. Cloud-- Description of the place-- Causes of

the rapid growth of towns-- Gen. Lowry-- The back country-- Gov.

Stevens's report-- Mr. Lambert's views-- Interesting account of Mr. A.

W. Tinkham's exploration.

ST. CLOUD, October, 1856.

IF I follow the injunction of that most impartial and worthy critic,

Lord Jeffrey, which is, that tourists should describe those things

which make the pleasantest impression on their own minds, I should

begin with an account of the delightful entertainment which genuine

hospitality and courtesy have here favored me with. I passed

Blannerhasset's Island once, and from a view of the scenery, sought

something of that inspiration which, from reading Wirt's glowing

description of it, I thought would be excited; but the reality was far

below my anticipation. If applied to the banks of the Mississippi

River, however, at this place, where the Sauk Rapids terminate, that

charming description would be no more than an adequate picture. The

residence of my friend is a little above the limits of St. Cloud,

midway on the gradual rise from the river to the prairie. It is a neat

white two-story cottage, with a piazza in front. The yard extends to

the water's edge, and in it is a grove of handsome shade trees. Now

that the leaves have fallen, we can sit on the piazza and have a full

view of the river through the branches of the trees. The river is here

very clear and swift, with a hard bottom; and if it were unadorned

with its cheerful foliage-covered banks, the view of it would still

add a charm to a residence. There is a mild tranquillity, blended with

the romance of the scene, admirably calculated to raise in the mind

emotions the most agreeable and serene. For nature is a great

instructor and purifier. As Talfourd says in that charming little

volume of Vacation Rambles, "to commune with nature and grow familiar

with all her aspects, surely softens the manners as much, at the

least, as the study of the liberal arts."

St. Cloud is favorably located on the west bank of the river,

seventy-five miles above St. Paul. It is just enough elevated to have

good drainage facilities, should it become densely populous. For many

years it was the seat of a trading post among the Winnebagoes. But the

date of its start as a town is not more than six months ago; since

when it has been advancing with unsurpassed thrift, on a scale of

affluence and durability. Its main street is surely a street in other

respects than in the name; for it has on either side several neatly

built three-story blocks of stores, around which the gathering of

teams and of people denotes such an activity of business as to dispel

any idea that the place is got up under false pretences. The St. Cloud

advertisements in the St. Paul daily papers contain the cards of about

forty different firms or individuals, which is a sort of index to the

business of the place. A printing press is already in the town, and a

paper will in a few days be issued. There are now two hotels; one of

which (the Stearns House), it is said, cost $9000. A flourishing

saw-mill was destroyed by fire, and in a few weeks another one was

built in its place. An Episcopal church is being erected. The steamer

"H. M. Rice" runs between here and St. Anthony. It is sometimes said

that this is the head of the Upper Mississippi navigation, but such is

not the case. The Sauk Rapids which terminate here are an obstruction

to continuous navigation between St. Anthony and Crow Wing, but after

you get to the latter place (where the river is twenty feet deep)

there is good navigation for two hundred miles. There are several

roads laid out to intersect at St. Cloud, for the construction of

which, I believe, the government has made some appropriation. Town

lots are sold on reasonable terms to those who intend to make

improvements on them, which is the true policy for any town, but the

general market price ranges from $100 to $1000 a lot. The town is not

in the hands of capitalists, though moneyed men are interested in it.

General Lowry is a large proprietor. He lives at Arcadia, just above

the town limits, and has a farm consisting of three hundred acres of

the most splendid land, which is well stocked with cattle and durably

fenced. A better barn, or a neater farmyard than he has, cannot be

found between Boston and Worcester. And while speaking of barns I

would observe that the old New England custom of having good barns is

better observed in Minnesota than anywhere else in the West. General

Lowry has been engaged in mercantile business. He was formerly a

member of the territorial council, and is a very useful and valuable

citizen of the territory.

It would not be more surprising to have Eastern people doubt some of

the statements concerning the growth of Western towns, than it was for

the king of Siam to doubt that there was any part of the world where

water changed from liquid to a hard substance. His majesty knew

nothing about ice. Now, there are a good many handsome villages in the

East which hardly support one store. Not that people in such a village

do not consume as much or live in finer style; but the reason is that

they are old settlers who produce very much that they live on, and

who, by great travelling facilities, are able to scatter their trading

custom into some commercial metropolis. Suppose, however, one of your

large villages to be so newly settled that the people have had no

chance to raise anything from their gardens or their fields, and are

obliged to buy all they are to eat and all that is to furnish their

dwellings, or equip their shops, or stock their farms; then you have a

state of things which will support several stores, and a whole

catalogue of trades. It is a state of affairs which corresponds with

every new settlement in the West; or, indeed, which faintly compares

with the demand for everything merchantable, peculiar in such places.

Then again, besides the actual residents in a new place, who have

money enough in their pockets, but nothing in their cellars, there is

generally a large population in the back country of farmers and no

stores. Such people come to a place like this to trade, for fifteen or

twenty miles back, perhaps; and it being a county seat they have other

objects to bring them. At the same time there is an almost constant

flow of settlers through the place into the unoccupied country to find

preemption claims, who, of course, wish to take supplies with them.

The settler takes a day, perhaps, for his visit in town to trade. Time

is precious with him, and he cannot come often. So he buys, perhaps,

fifty or a hundred dollars worth of goods. These are circumstances

which account for activity of business in these river towns, and

which, though they are strikingly apparent here, are not peculiar to

this town. At first, I confess, it was a mystery to me what could

produce such startling and profitable trade in these new towns.

It was in the immediate vicinity of St. Cloud that Gov. Stevens left

the Mississippi on his exploration, in 1853, of a railroad route to

the Pacific. Several crossings of the river had been previously

examined, and it was found that one of the favorable points for a

railroad bridge over it was here. I might here say that the country

directly west lies in the valley of Sauk River, and from my own

observation I know it to be a good farming country; and I believe the

land is taken up by settlers as far back as twelve miles. It is a

little upwards of a hundred miles in a westerly direction from St.

Cloud to where the expedition first touched the Bois des Sioux (or

Sioux Wood River). Gov. Stevens says in his report-- " The plateau of

the Bois des Sioux will be a great centre of population and

communication. It connects with the valley of the Red River of the

North, navigable four hundred miles for steamers of three or four feet

draught, with forty-five thousand square miles of arable and timber

land; and with the valley of the Minnesota, also navigable at all

seasons when not obstructed by ice, one hundred miles for steamers,

and occasionally a hundred miles further. The head of navigation of

the Red River of the North is within one hundred and ten miles of the

navigable portion of the Mississippi, and is distant only forty miles

from the Minnesota. Eastward from these valleys to the great lakes,

the country on both sides of the Mississippi is rich, and much of it

heavily timbered."

I will also add another remark which he makes, inasmuch as the

character of the country in this latitude, as far as the Pacific

shore, must have great influence on this locality; and it is this: "

Probably four thousand square miles of tillable land is to be found

immediately on the eastern slopes of (the Rocky Mountains); and at the

bottoms of the different streams, retaining their fertility for some

distance after leaving the mountains, will considerably increase this

amount." Mr. John Lambert, the topographer of the exploration, divides

the country between the Mississippi and Columbia rivers, into three

grand divisions. The first includes the vast prairies between the

Mississippi and the base of the Rocky Mountains. The second is the

mountain division, embracing about five degrees of longitude. The

third division comprises the immense plains of the Columbia.

Of the first division-- from here to the foot of the Rocky Mountains--

let me quote what Mr. Lambert in his official report calls a "passing

glance." "Undulating and level prairies, skirted with woods of various

growth, and clothed everywhere with a rich verdure; frequent and rapid

streams, with innumerable small but limpid lakes, frequented by

multitudes of waterfowl, most conspicuous among which appears the

stately swan; these, in ever-recurring succession, make up the

panorama of this extensive district, which may be said to be

everywhere fertile, beautiful, and inviting. The most remarkable

features of this region are the intervals of level prairie, especially

that near the bend of Red River, where the horizon is as unbroken as

that of a calm sea. Nor are other points of resemblance wanting-- the

long grass, which in such places is unusually rank, bending gracefully

to the passing breeze as it sweeps along the plain, gives the idea of

waves (as indeed they are); and the solitary horseman on the horizon

is so indistinctly seen as to complete the picture by the suggestion

of a sail, raising the first feeling of novelty to a character of

wonder and delight. The following outlines of the rolling prairies are

broken only by the small lakes and patches of timber which relieve

them of monotony and enhance their beauty; and though marshes and

sloughs occur, they are of too small extent and too infrequent to

affect the generally attractive character of the country. The

elevation of the rolling prairies is generally so uniform, that even

the summits between streams flowing in opposite directions exhibit no

peculiar features to distinguish them from the ordinary character of

the valley slopes."

I think I cannot do a better service to the emigrant or settler than

to quote a part of the report made by Mr. A. W. Tinkham, descriptive

of his route from St. Paul to Fort Union. His exploration, under Gov.

Stevens, was made in the summer of 1853; and he has evidently given an

impartial account of the country. I begin with it where he crosses the

Mississippi in the vicinity of St. Cloud. The part quoted embraces the

route for a distance of two hundred and ninety-five miles; the first

seventy miles of which was due west-- the rest of the route being a

little north of west.

"June 9. Ferried across the Mississippi River, here some six hundred

to eight hundred feet wide-- boating the camp equipage, provisions,

&c., and swimming the animals; through rich and fertile prairies,

variegated with the wooded banks of Sauk River, a short distance on

the left, with the wooded hills on either side, the clustered growth

of elm, poplar, and oak, which the road occasionally touches;

following the 'Red River trail,' we camp at Cold Spring Brook, with

clear, cool water, good grass, and wood.

"June 10. Cold Spring Brook is a small brook about ten feet across,

flowing through a miry slough, which is very soft and deep, and

previous to the passage of the wagons, had, for about two hundred feet

distance, been bridged in advance by a causeway of round or split logs

of the poplar growth near by; between this and the crossing of Sauk

River are two other bad sloughs, over one of which are laid logs of

poplar, and over the other the wagons were hauled by hand, after first

removing the loads. Sauk River is crossed obliquely with a length of

ford some three hundred feet-- depth of water four-and-a-half to five

feet; goods must be boated or rafted over, the river woods affording

the means of building a raft; camped immediately after crossing; wood,

water, and grass good and abundant.

"June 11. Over rolling prairies, without wood on the trail, although

generally in sight on the right or left, with occasional small ponds

and several bad sloughs, across which the wagons were hauled over by

hand to Lake Henry-- a handsome, wooded lake; good wood and grass;

water from small pond; not very good.

"June 13. Passing over rolling prairies to a branch of Crow River, the

channel of which is only some twenty feet wide and four or five feet

deep; but the water makes back into the grass one hundred feet or more

from the channel as early in the season as when crossed by the train.

Goods boated over; wagons by hand and with ropes; no wood on the

stream; several small lakes, not wooded, are on either side of the

trail, with many ducks, geese, and plovers on them: encamp at

Lightning Lake, a small and pretty lake, sufficiently well wooded on

the borders for camping purposes; good water, wood, and grass, and

abounding with fish.

"June 18. Over rolling prairie with small pools and marshes, to a

swift running stream about twenty feet wide, three feet deep, a branch

of Chippewa River; heavily rolling ground with stony knolls and

granite boulders, to White Bear Lake, a large handsome lake, with

mingled open and woodland.

"Broken rolling ground to camp, a mile off the Red River trail, and

near a small wooded lake. Two small brooks have to be crossed in the

interval, and being somewhat deep and with abrupt sides, are

troublesome crossings.

"June 20. Rolling prairie country, with small marshes and ponds to a

tributary of South Branch. Swift running stream, gravelly bottom,

fifteen feet wide, three to four feet deep; with care in selection

good crossing was obtained for the wagons; a wooded lake is a short

distance to the right of trail.

"Small rivulet, whose banks are marshy and soft.

"Prairies, with small marshes and ponds to a swift running brook, six

feet wide.

"Prairie to Pike Lake and camp of St. Grover; a handsome lake of about

a mile in diameter, said to abound in pike; well wooded on its south

border; grass, water, and wood, for camping, abundant and good.

"Rolling prairie with knolls; several ponds and marshes, with an

intervening brook about six feet wide, and rather difficult of

passage, from the abruptness of its banks, to a small brook, the

outlet of a small and partially wooded lake or pond.

"Rolling prairie, with grassy, swelling knolls, small ponds and

marshes, to Chippeway River; camp of odometer wagon on edge of river;

water and grass good; no wood.

"June 24. Crossed Chippeway River, one hundred and twenty-four feet

wide, three to six feet deep; goods boated over, and the animals

swimming; wagon hauled through the water by a rope attached to the

tongue, and with the aid of the mules; camped on Elk Lake, a small and

pretty lake, well wooded, and with luxuriant grass; good water.

"June 25. Trail passes over prairies with a rich heavy grass (this is

a hundred miles west of the Mississippi River), about eighteen inches

high, winding between wooded lakes to a heavy ravine, with a small and

sluggish rivulet in its bottom; sides steep, and laborious for the

wagon train.

"Prairie sloping towards the western branch of the Chippeway River; a

stream when crossed, about one hundred and forty feet wide, three or

four feet deep, with a marked current and firm bottom; no wood.

"Camp on a small lake, fairly wooded, with luxuriant grass, and good

water.

"June 27. Undulating prairie, rich soil, covered with a heavy growth

of grass, with small ponds and marshes; woods continue in sight a

short distance on the left of Elbow Lake, a well wooded lake, of form

indicated by its name.

"Rolling prairie, with two bad sloughs, to Rabbit River, which is

crossed with the wagon with but little difficulty, where it issues

from a small lake. It is a small stream, but spreads out from one

hundred to three hundred feet, with marshy borders; camp on the small

lake, with good grass, wood, and water.

"June 28. Rolling ground, with small ponds and marshes, to a small

brook twelve feet wide; the Bois des Sioux prairie, a smooth, flat

prairie, without knoll or undulation-- an immense plain, apparently

level, covered with a tall, coarse, dark-colored grass, and unrelieved

with the sight of a tree or shrub; firm bottom, but undoubtedly wet in

spring; small brook, when the train made a noon halt.

"Same smooth prairie as above to Bois des Sioux River, sometimes soft

and miry; camp on river bank; wood and grass good-- river water fair;

many catfish caught in the river.

"June 29. Cross Bois des Sioux River; seventy feet wide, four to seven

feet deep; muddy bottom; steep and miry banks; goods boated over;

wagons hauled through, light, with ropes; bad crossing, but passable;

smooth flat prairie, as on the east side of Bois des Sioux,

occasionally interrupted with open sloughs to Wild Rice River, and

camp with wood, water, and abundant grass.

"June 30. Wild Rice River, about forty feet wide and five and a half

feet deep, with muddy and miry bottom and sides, flowing in a

canal-like channel, some twenty feet below prairie level; river

skirted with elm-- bridged from the steep banks, being too miry to

sustain the animals, detaining the train but little more than

half-a-day; small brook without wood, flowing in a broad channel cut

out through the prairie; crossing miry, but made passable for the

wagon by strewing the bottom with mown grass.

"Firm prairie to camp on edge of above small stream; good grass and

water; no wood; elk killed by hunter.

"July 1. Smooth prairie extending to Shayenne River; sand knolls,

ponds, and marshes frequent as the river is approached. The marshes

were not miry-- firmer bottom; good wagon road; night encampment on

bank of river; sufficient grass for train; wood abundant; river water

good; many catfish caught in river.

"July 2. Shayenne River, sixty feet wide, fourteen feet deep; river

had been previously bridged by Red River train, from the poplars and

other trees growing on the river, and this bridge we made use of in

crossing our wagons; camp on the west bank of the river; water, wood,

and grass good.

"July 4. Prairie undulation, interrupted with marshes, small ponds and

occasional small rivulets, to Maple River, about twenty-five feet

wide, three and a half feet deep, firm bottom, and easily passed by

the wagons; river tolerably well wooded, and the camp on its edge is

furnished with water, wood, and good grass. The rich black soil of the

valley of this stream is noticeable.

"July 5. To a small stream thirty feet wide, two feet deep, clayey

bottom, easily crossed by the wagons; prairie high, firm, and almost

level for some thirteen miles, becoming more rolling and with small

ponds in the last seven miles of the march; on the edge of some of the

ponds are salt incrustations; camp on the river; water good; grass

good; no wood, and the bois de vache is used for fuel.

"July 6. Country wet and marshy; not a tree in sight; prairie with low

ridges and knolls, and great number of ponds and marshes; night's camp

by a small pond; no wood, but plenty of bois de vache; grass good.

"July 7. Approaching the Shayenne; country as yesterday for some half

dozen miles; bordering on the river the ground is broken with deep

coulees and ravines, and to keep away from them the train kept at some

distance from the river, encamping by a small marshy pond; no wood;

plenty of bois de vache; grass good; water tolerable; first buffalo

killed to-day.

"July 8. Prairie swelling with ridges; descend to the Shayenne, which

flows some one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet below the prairie

by a steep hill; camp in the bottom of the river; wood and water good;

grass rather poor; the bottom of the Shayenne, some half a mile wide,

is often soft and miry, but when crossed by the train firm and dry.

"July 9. Cross the Shayenne, fifty feet wide, three and a half feet

deep; immediate banks some ten feet high, and requiring some digging

to give passage to the wagons.

"Prairie with swelling ridges and occasional marshes to camp, to a

slough affording water and grass; no wood; buffalo very abundant.

"July 10. Prairie swelling into ridges and hills, with a frequency of

marshes, ponds, and sloughs; camp at a pretty lake, near Lake Jessie;

fairly wooded, with water slightly saline; grass scanty, having been

consumed by the buffalo. Prairies covered with buffalo."

I take this valuable sketch of the natural features of the country

from volume 1 of Explorations and Surveys for the Pacific Railroad

(page 353-356); for which I am indebted to the learned Secretary of

War.

LETTER XV.

ST. CLOUD TO ST. PAUL.

Importance of starting early-- Judge Story's theory of early rising--

Rustic scenery-- Horses and mules-- Surveyors-- Humboldt-- Baked

fish-- Getting off the track-- Burning of hay stacks-- Supper at St.

Anthony-- Arrival at the Fuller House.

ST. PAUL, October, 1856.

I WAS up by the gray dawn of the morning of yesterday, and after an

early but excellent breakfast, crossed the river from St. Cloud, in

order to meet the stage at Sauk Rapids. As we came up on the main

road, the sight of a freshly made rut, of stage-wheel size, caused

rather a disquieting apprehension that the stage had passed. But my

nerves were soon quieted by the assurance from an early hunter, who

was near by shooting prairie chickens while they were yet on the

roost, that the stage had not yet come. So we kept on to the spacious

store where the post office is kept; where I waited and waited for the

stage to come which was to bring me to St. Paul. It did not arrive

till eight o'clock. I thought if every one who had a part to perform

in starting off the stage from Watab (for it had started out from

there that morning), was obliged to make the entire journey of 80

miles to St. Paul in the stage, they would prefer to get up a little

earlier rather than have the last part of the trip extended into "the

dead waist and middle of the night." I remarked to the driver, who is

a very clever young man, that the stage which left St. Paul started as

early as five o'clock, and I could not see why it was not as necessary

to start as early in going down, inasmuch as the earlier we started

the less of the night darkness we had to travel in. He perfectly

agreed with me, and attributed his inability to start earlier to the

dilatory arrangements at the hotel. When jogging along at about eleven

at night between St. Anthony and the city, I could not help begrudging

every minute of fair daylight which had been wasted. The theory of

Judge Story, that it don't make much difference when a man gets up in

the morning, provided he is wide awake after he is up, will do very

well, perhaps, except when one is to start on a journey in the stage.

I took a seat by the driver's side, the weather being clear and mild,

and had an unobstructed and delightful view of every object, and there

seemed to be none but pleasant objects in range of the great highway.

Though there is, between every village, population enough to remind

one constantly that he is in a settled country, the broad extent yet

unoccupied proclaims that there is still room enough. Below Sauk

Rapids a good deal of the land on the road side is in the hands of

speculators. This, it is understood, is on the east side of the

Mississippi. On the west side there are more settlements. But yet

there are many farms, with tidy white cottages; and in some places are

to be seen well-arranged flower-gardens. The most attractive scenery

to me, however, was the ample corn-fields, which, set in a groundwork

of interminable virgin soil, are pictures which best reflect the true

destiny and usefulness of an agricultural region. We met numerous

teams heavily laden with furniture or provisions, destined for the

different settlements above. The teams are principally drawn by two

horses; and, as the road is extremely level and smooth, are capable of

taking on as much freight as under other circumstances could be drawn

by four horses. Mules do not appear to be appreciated up this way so

much as in Missouri or Kentucky. Nor was it unusual to meet light

carriages with a gentleman and lady, who, from the luggage, &c.,

aboard, appeared to have been on somewhat of an extensive shopping

expedition. And I might as well say here, if I havn't yet said it,

that the Minnesotians are supplied with uncommonly good horses. I do

not remember to have seen a mean horse in the territory. I suppose, as

considerable pains are taken in raising stock, poor horses are not

raised at all; and it will not pay to import poor ones. A company of

surveyors whom we met excited a curiosity which I was not able to

solve. It looked odd enough to see a dozen men walking by the side or

behind a small one-horse cart; the latter containing some sort of

baggage which was covered over, as it appeared, with camping fixtures.

It was more questionable whether the team belonged to the men than

that the men were connected with the team. The men were mostly young

and very intelligent-looking, dressed with woollen shirts as if for

out door service, and I almost guessed they were surveyors; yet still

thought they were a party of newcomers who had concluded to club

together to make their preemption claim. But surveyors they were.

The town of Humboldt is the county seat for Sherburne county. It lies

between the Mississippi and Snake rivers. The part of the town which I

saw was a very small part. Mr. Brown's residence, which is

delightfully situated on the shore of a lake, is at once the court

house and the post office, besides being the general emporium and

magnate of Humboldt business and society. Furthermore, it is the place

where the stage changes horses and where passengers on the down trip

stop to dine. It was here we stopped to dine; and as the place had

been a good deal applauded for its table-d'hote, a standard element of

which was said to be baked fish, right out of the big lake, I at least

had formed very luxurious expectations. Mr. Brown was away. We had met

his lively countenance on his way up to a democratic caucus. Perhaps

that accounted for our not having baked fish, for fish we certainly

did not have. The dinner was substantial, however, and yielded to

appetites which had been sharpened by a half day's inhalation of

serene October air. We had all become infused with a spirit of

despatch; and were all ready to start, and did start, in half an hour

from the time we arrived at the house.

We had not proceeded far after dinner before meeting the Monticello

stage, which runs between the thriving village of that name-- on the

west bank of the Mississippi-- and St. Paul. It carries a daily mail.

There were several passengers aboard.

One little incident in our afternoon travel I will mention, as it

appeared to afford more pleasure to the rest of the passengers than it

did to me. Where the stage was to stop for fifteen or twenty minutes,

either to change mail or horses, I had invariably walked on a mile, if

I could get as far, for the sake of variety and exercise. So when we

came to the pretty village of Anoka (at the mouth of Rum River), where

the mail was to be changed, I started on foot and alone. But

unfortunately and unconsciously I took the wrong road. I had walked a

mile I think-- for twenty minutes at least had expired since I

started-- and being in the outskirts of the town, in the midst of

farms and gardens, turned up to a garden-fence, on the other side of

which a gentleman of professional-- I rather thought clerical

appearance-- was feeding a cow on pumpkins. I had not seen pumpkins so

abundant since my earliest youth, when I used to do a similar thing. I

rather thought too that the gentleman whom I accosted was a Yankee,

and after talking a few minutes with him, so much did he exceed me in

asking questions, that I felt sure he was one. How thankful I ought to

be that he was one! for otherwise it is probable he would not have

ascertained where, and for what purpose, I was walking. He informed me

I was on the wrong road; that the stage took a road further west,

which was out of sight; and that I had better go on a little further

and then cross the open prairie. Then for the first time did I notice

that the road I had taken was but a street, not half so much worn as

the main road. I followed his friendly advice, and feeling some

despair I hastened on at a swift run, and as I advanced towards where

I thought the right road ought to be, though I could neither see it

nor the stage, "called so loud that all the hollow deep of"-- the

prairies might have resounded. At last, when quite out of breath and

hoarse with loud vociferation, I descried the stage rolling on at a

rapid rate. Then I renewed my calls, and brought it up standing. After

clambering over a few fences, sweating and florid, I got to the stage

and resumed my seat, amidst the pleasant merriment of the passengers.

The driver was kind enough to say that he began to suspect I had taken

the wrong road, and was about to turn round and come after me-- that

he certainly would not have left me behind, &c. I was happy,

nevertheless, that my mistake did not retard the stage. But I do not

intend to abandon the practice of walking on before the stage whenever

it stops to change horses.

Just in the edge of twilight, and when we were a little way this side

of Coon Creek, where we had changed horses again, we came in sight of

a large fire. It was too much in one spot to be a prairie fire; and as

we drove on the sad apprehension that it was a stack of hay was

confirmed. The flames rose up in wide sheets, and cast a steady glare

upon the landscape. It was a gorgeous yet a dismal sight. It always

seems worse to see grain destroyed by fire than ordinary merchandise.

Several stacks were burning. We saw that the usual precaution against

prairie fires had been taken. These consist in ploughing several

furrows around the stack, or by burning the grass around it to prevent

the flames from reaching it. It was therefore suspected that some

rascal had applied the torch to the hay; though for humanity's sake we

hoped it was not so. The terrible prairie fires, which every autumn

waste the western plains, are frequently started through the gross

carelessness of people who camp out, and leave their fires burning.

Some of us took supper at St. Anthony. I cannot say much of the hotel

de facto. The table was not as good as I found on the way at other

places above. There is a hotel now being built there out of stone,

which I am confident will exceed anything in the territory, if we

except the Fuller House. It is possible we all felt invigorated and

improved by the supper, for we rode the rest of the way in a very

crowded stage without suffering any exhibition of ill temper to speak

of, and got into St. Paul at last, when it was not far from eleven;

and after seventy-five miles of staging, the luxurious accommodations

of the Fuller House seemed more inviting than ever.

LETTER XVI.

PROGRESS.

Rapid growth of the North-West-- Projected railroads-- Territorial

system of the United States-- Inquiry into the cause of Western

progress-- Influence of just laws and institutions-- Lord Bacon's

remark.

ST. PAUL, October, 1856.

THE progress which has characterized the settlement of the territory

of Minnesota, presents to the notice of the student of history and

political economy some important facts. The growth of a frontier

community, so orderly, so rapid, and having so much of the

conservative element in it, has rarely been instanced in the annals of

the world. In less time than it takes the government to build a custom

house we see an unsettled territory grown to the size of a respectable

state, in wealth, in population, in power. A territory, too, which ten

years ago seemed to be an incredible distance from the civilized

portions of the country; and which was thought by most people to be in

a latitude that would defeat the energy and the toil of man. Today it

could bring into the field a larger army than Washington took command

of at the beginning of our revolution!

In 1849, the year of its organization, the population of the territory

was 4780; now it is estimated to be nearly 200,000. In 1852 there were

42 post offices in the territory, now there are 253. The number of

acres of public land sold during the fiscal year ending 30th June,

1852, was 15,258. For the year ending 30th June, 1856, the number of

acres sold was 1,002,130.

When we contemplate the headlong progress of Western growth in its

innumerable evidences of energy, we admit the truth of what the Roman

poet said-- nil mortalibus ardum est-- that there is nothing too

difficult for man. In the narrative of his exploration to the

Mississippi in 1820, along with General Cass, Mr. Schoolcraft tells us

how Chicago then appeared. "We found," says he, "four or five families

living here." Four or five families was the extent of the population

of Chicago in 1820! In 1836 it had 4853 inhabitants. In 1855 its

population was 85,000. The history of many western towns that have

sprung up within ten years is characterized by much the same sort of

thrift. Unless some terrible scourge shall come to desolate the land,

or unless industry herself shall turn to sloth, a few more years will

present the magnificent spectacle of the entire domain stretching from

this frontier to the Pacific coast, transformed into a region of

culture, "full of life and splendor and joy."

At present there are no railroads in operation in Minnesota; but those

which are already projected indicate, as well as any statistics, the

progress which is taking place. The Chicago, St. Paul, and Fond-du-Lac

Railroad was commenced some two years ago at Chicago, and over 100

miles of it are completed. It is to run via Hudson in Wisconsin,

Stillwater, St. Paul, and St. Anthony in Minnesota to the western

boundary of the territory. Recently it has united with the Milwaukee

and La Cross Road, which secures several millions of acres of valuable

land, donated by congress, and which will enable the stockholders to

complete the road to St. Paul and St. Anthony within two years. A road

has been surveyed from the head of Lake Superior via St. Paul to the

southern line of the territory, and will soon be worked. The Milwaukee

and Mississippi Railroad Company will in a few weeks have their road

completed to Prairie du Chien, and are extending it on the east side

of the Mississippi to St. Paul. Another road is being built up the

valley of the Red Cedar River in Iowa to Minneapolis. The Keokuck road

is in operation over fifty miles, and will soon be under contract to

St. Paul. This road is to run via the valley of the Des Moines River,

through the rich coal fields of Iowa, and will supply the upper

Mississippi and Lake Superior region with coal.

The Green Bay and Minnesota Railroad Company has been organized and

the route selected. This road will soon be commenced. The active men

engaged in the enterprise reside in Green Bay and Stillwater. A

company has been formed and will soon commence a road from Winona to

the western line of the territory. The St. Anthony and St. Paul

Railroad Company will have their line under contract early the coming

season. The Milwaukee and La Cross Company propose continuing their

road west through the valley of Root River, through Minnesota to the

Missouri River. Another company has been formed for building a road

from the head of Lake Superior to the Red River of the North.[1] Such

are some of the railroad enterprises which are under way, and which

will contribute at an early day to develop the opulent resources of

the territory. A railroad through this part of the country to the

Pacific is among the probable events of the present generation.

_______

[1 The following highly instructive article on navigation, I take from

The Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), of the 20th November:

"GROWTH OF THE STEAMBOATING BUSINESS-- THE SEASON OF 1856.

-- About ten years after the first successful attempt at steamboat

navigation on the Ohio River, the first steamboat that ever ascended

the Upper Mississippi River to Fort Snelling, arrived at that post.

This was the 'Virginia,' a stern-wheel boat, which arrived at the Port

in the early part of May, 1823. From 1823 to 1844 there were but few

arrivals each year-- sometimes not more than two or three. The

steamers running on the Upper Mississippi, at that time, were used

altogether to transport supplies for the Indian traders and the troops

stationed at Fort Snelling. Previous to the arrival of the Virginia,

keel boats were used for this purpose, and sixty days' time, from St.

Louis to the Fort, was considered a good trip.

"By a reference to our files, we are enabled to present, at a glance,

the astonishing increase in steamboating business since 1844. The

first boat to arrive that year, was the Otter, commanded by Captain

Harris. The following table presents the number of arrivals since that

time:--

Year

First Boat

No. of Arrivals

River Closed

1844

April 6

41

Nov. 23

1845

April 6

48

Nov. 26

1846

March 31

24

Dec. 5

1847

April 7

47

Nov. 29

1848

April 7

63

Dec. 4

1849

April 9

85

Dec. 7

1850

April 9

104

Dec. 4

1851

April 4

119

Nov. 28

1852

April 16

171

Nov. 18

1853

April 11

200

Nov. 30

1854

April 8

245

Nov. 27

1855

April 17

560

Nov. 20

1856

April 18

837

Nov. 10

"In 1851, three boats went up the Minnesota River, and in 1852, one

boat ran regularly up that stream during the season. In 1853, the

business required an average of one boat per day. In 1854, the

business had largely increased, and in 1855, the arrivals of steamers

from the Minnesota, amounted to 119.

"The present season, on the Mississippi, has been a very prosperous

one, and the arrivals at St. Paul exhibit a gratifying increase over

any preceding year, notwithstanding the season of navigation has been

two weeks shorter than last season. Owing to the unusually early gorge

in the river at Hastings, upwards of fifty steamers bound for this

port, and heavily laden with merchandise and produce, were compelled

to discharge their cargoes at Hastings and Stillwater.

"Navigation this season opened on the 18th of April. The Lady Franklin

arrived on the evening of that day from Galena. Previous to her

arrival, there had been eighteen arrivals at our landing from the head

of Lake Pepin, and twelve arrivals at the foot of the lake, from

Galena and Dubuque.

"During the present season, seventy-eight different steamers have

arrived at our wharf, from the points mentioned in the following

table. This table we draw mainly from the books of the City Marshal,

and by reference to our files.

FROM ST. LOUIS.

Boats

No. of Trips.

Ben Coursin

19

A. G. Mason

8

Metropolitan

13

Audubon

5

Golden State

8

Laclede

11

Luella

8

Cheviot

1

James Lyon

7

Vienna

5

New York

1

Delegate

1

Mansfield

7

Forest Rose

1

Ben Bolt

2

J. P. Tweed

1

Fire Canoe

2

Carrier

1

Julia Dean

1

Resolute

2

Gossamer

4

Thomas Scott

6

Gipsey

2

W. G. Woodside

1

York State

5

Mattie Wayne

4

Brazil

4

Dan Convers

1

Henrietta

4

Editor

5

Minnesota Belle

8

Rochester

2

Oakland

7

Grace Darling

4

Montauk

3

Fairy Queen

1

Saint Louis

1

Americus

2

Atlanta

1

Jacob Traber

6

White Bluffs

1

Arcola

8

Conewago

10

Lucie May

8

Badger State

5

Sam Young

4

Violet

1

----

Total arrivals from St. Louis,

212

FROM FULTON CITY.

Falls City

11

Diamond

1

H. T. Yeatman

11

Time and Tide

5

----

Total from Fulton City,

28

FROM GALENA AND DUNLEITH.

Lady Franklin

23

Galena

30

Alhambra

21

Royal Arch

6

Northern Belle

28

Banjo

1

War Eagle

17

City Belle

30

Golden Era

29

Ocean Wave

28

Granite State

12

Greek Slave

3

----

Total from Galena and Dunleith,

228

FROM DUBUQUE.

Excelsior

23

Kate Cassel

29

Clarion

11

Tishimingo

3

Fanny Harris

28

Flora

29

Hamburg

12

----

Total from Dubuque,

135

FROM MINNESOTA RIVER.

H. T. Yeatman

4

Globe

34

Clarion

12

Reveille

40

H. S. Allen

10

Time and Tide

11

Wave

29

Equator

46

Minnesota Valley

20

Berlin

10

----

Total from Minnesota River,

216

RECAPITULATION.

Number of arrivals from

St. Louis

212

Fulton City

28

Galena and Dunleith

228

Dubuque

135

Minnesota River

216

head of Lake Pepin

18

----

Whole number of boats, 78.

Whole number of arrivals, 837

"It will be seen from the above, that ten more steamers have been

engaged in this trade during the present year than last; while in the

whole number of arrivals the increase has been two hundred and

sixty-seven.

"The business on the Minnesota has greatly increased this year. This

was to have been expected, considering the great increase in the

population of that flourishing portion of our Territory.

"A thriving trade has sprung up between the southern counties of

Minnesota, and Galena and Dubuque. During the greater portion of the

summer, the War Eagle and Tishimingo run regularly to Winona.

"On the Upper Mississippi there are now three steamers, the Gov.

Ramsay, H. M. Rice, and North Star (new). Daring the season these

boats ran between St. Anthony and Sauk Rapids."]

_______

It may be well to pause here a moment and inquire into the causes

which contribute so wonderfully to build up empire in our

north-western domain. The territorial system of the United States has

some analogy, it is true, to the colonial system of Great Britain--

not the colonial system which existed in the days of the stamp act--

but that which a wiser statesmanship has more recently inaugurated.

The relation between the general government and our territories is

like that of guardian and ward-- the relation of a protector, not that

of a master. Nor can we find in the history of antiquity any such

relationship between colonies and the mother country, whether we

consider the system of Phoenicia, where first was exhibited the

doctrine of non-intervention, or the tribute-paying colonies of

Carthage. That system which was peculiar to Greece, "resting not on

state contrivances and economical theories, but on religious

sympathies and ancestral associations," came as near perhaps in spirit

to ours as any on record. The patronage which the government bestows

on new territories is one of the sources of their growth which ought

not to be overlooked. Instead of making the territory a dependency and

drawing from it a tax, the government pays its political expenses,

builds its roads, and gives it a fair start in the world.

Another cause of the successful growth of our territories in general,

and of Minnesota in particular, is the ready market which is found in

the limits of the territory for everything which can be raised from a

generous soil or wrought by industrious hands. The farmer has a ready

market for everything that is good to eat or to wear; the artisan is

driven by unceasing demands upon his skill. This arises from extensive

emigration. Another reason, also, for the rapid growth of the

territory, is, that the farmer is not delayed by forests, but finds,

outside of pleasant groves of woodland, a smooth, unencumbered soil,

ready for the plough the first day he arrives.

But if a salubrious climate, a fertile soil, clear and copious

streams, and other material elements, can be reckoned among its

physical resources, there are other elements of empire connected with

its moral and political welfare which are indispensable. Why is it

that Italy is not great? Why is it the South American republics are

rusting into abject decay? Is it because they have not enough physical

resources, or because their climate is not healthy? Certainly not. It

is because their political institutions are rotten and oppressive;

because ignorance prevents the growth of a wholesome public opinion.

It is the want of the right sort of men and institutions that there is

"Sloth in the mart and schism within the temple."

"Let states that aim at greatness," says Lord Bacon, "take heed how

their nobility and gentlemen do multiply too fast; for that maketh the

common subject to be a peasant and base swain, driven out of heart,

and, in effect, but a gentleman's laborer." He who seeks for the true

cause of the greatness and thrift of our northwestern states will find

it not less in the influence of just laws and the education of all

classes of men, than in the existence of productive fields and in the

means of physical wealth.

"What constitutes a state?

Not high raised battlement, or labored mound,

Thick wall, or moated gate;

Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned;

Not bays and broad armed ports,

Where, laughing at the storm, proud navies ride;

But men, high minded men.

_______