Minnesota and Dacotah Part 9

"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 pa.s.sable; 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 gra.s.s.

"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 ca.n.a.l-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 pa.s.sable for the wagon by strewing the bottom with mown gra.s.s.

"Firm prairie to camp on edge of above small stream; good gra.s.s 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 gra.s.s 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 gra.s.s 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 pa.s.sed by the wagons; river tolerably well wooded, and the camp on its edge is furnished with water, wood, and good gra.s.s. 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; gra.s.s 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; gra.s.s 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; gra.s.s 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; gra.s.s 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 pa.s.sage to the wagons.

"Prairie with swelling ridges and occasional marshes to camp, to a slough affording water and gra.s.s; 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; gra.s.s 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 pa.s.sed. But my nerves were soon quieted by the a.s.surance 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 s.p.a.cious 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 un.o.bstructed 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 princ.i.p.ally drawn by two horses; and, as the road is extremely level and smooth, are capable of taking on as much freight as under other circ.u.mstances 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 s.h.i.+rts 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 sh.o.r.e 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 pa.s.sengers 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 appet.i.tes 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 pa.s.sengers aboard.

One little incident in our afternoon travel I will mention, as it appeared to afford more pleasure to the rest of the pa.s.sengers 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 hoa.r.s.e 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 pa.s.sengers.

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 r.e.t.a.r.d 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 c.o.o.n 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 gra.s.s 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 inst.i.tutions-- 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 lat.i.tude that would defeat the energy and the toil of man. Today it could bring into the field a larger army than Was.h.i.+ngton 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 Ca.s.s, 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 astonis.h.i.+ng 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