Minnesota is neither a timber nor a prairie State; yet it possesses in a
large degree the advantages of both, there being unquestionably a better
proportion of timber and prairie, and a more admirable intermingling of
the two than in any other State. It is estimated that about one-third of
Minnesota is timbered land, of more or less dense growth. In Iowa, it
has been officially estimated that only about one-tenth to one-eight of
the State is timbered.
On the head-waters of the various tributaries of the extreme Upper
Mississippi and St. Croix rivers is an extensive forest country, known
as the "pine region," comprising an estimated area of 21,000 square
miles. Extending in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction, about
100 miles long, and an average width of 40, is the largest body of
hard-wood timber between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. It lies on
both sides of the Minnesota River, comprising in all an area of 5,000
square miles, and is known as the "Big Woods."