USA > Minnesota > Minnesota as it is in 1870 : its general resources and attractions for immigrants, invalids, tourists, capitalists, and business men ; with special descriptions of all its counties and townsand inducements to those in quest of homes, health, or pleasure > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
To give credibility to its statements, the writer has endeav- ored to quote official or disinterested authority for every fact, rather than rest it upon his own language-the tendency of western writers upon western interests to exaggerate and color their statements, together with their self interest, making this
4
PREFACE.
necessary to prevent any western book from passing at a dis- count. Such official and disinterested authority had been pub- lished in great abundance. But it was lying idle and dumb upon the shelves of State libraries, or in historical societies or executive State documents, weighed down with heavy learning, or mingled with other irrelevant subjects, or bound in such vol- uminous pages as to be sealed books, or scattered in disjointed forms.in the columns of newspapers, where it only dispensed a meteoric light.
The task of the writer has been to brush off the dust from these musty documents, and put their authors on the stand, to testify specially in behalf of Minnesota; to dig among the mines, and separate that which was valuable to Minnesota from that which encumbered it ; to gather into popular shape, for the popular reader, these valuable materials, and combining them with local statistics of the counties and towns, endeavor by their use to spread upon the canvas a faithful portrait of " Min- nesota as it is in 1870."
For local items in reference to their counties and towns, and valuable assistance, he acknowledges his indebtedness to the following gentlemen in the counties named.
Anoka County, J. F. Blodget, now of St. Paul; Benton Coun- ty, Dr. McMahon, Sauk Rapids ; Blue Earth, Daniel Buck, Man- kato; Carver, Joseph Weinman, Carver; Chisago, Hon. Ansel Smith, Franconia, now Duluth; Douglas, Hon. L. K. Aaker, Alexandria, and Geo. B. Wright, Minneapolis ; Faribault, Jacob A. Kiester, Blue Earth City ; Fillmore, J. E. Burbank, Preston ; Freeborn, Wm. Morin, Albert Lea ; Goodhue, Dr. W. W. Sween- ey, Red Wing; Hennepin, Col. J. H. Stevens, Minneapolis ; Houston, N. E. Dorival, Caledonia; Isanti, Hon. Stephen Hew- son, Oxford; Jackson, Geo. C. Chamberlain, Jackson; Kandi- yohi, Mark W. Piper, and A. C. Smith, Forest City ; Le Sueur, Henry Swann, Le Sueur; Martin, O. P. Chubb, Fairmount; McLeod, Wm. A. McWright, Giencoe, and Lewis Harrington, Hutchinson; Meeker, A. C. Smith and Mark W. Piper, Forest City ; Monongalia, A. C. Smith, Forest City ; Mille Lac, H. M. Atkins, Princeton ; Morrison, O. A. Churchill, Little Falls ; Mow- er, Hon. Geo. M. Cameron, Austin; Nicollet, Wm. G. Hayden, St. Peter; Olmstead, W. D. Hurlbut, Rochester; Pope, A. W. Lathrop, Glenwood; Rice, F. W. Frink, Faribault and Dr. L.
5
PREFACE.
H. Kelly, Northfield; St. Louis, Hon. Luke Marvin; Scott, Robt. H. Rose, Belle Plaine, and L. R. Hawkins, Maple Glen ; Sherburne, Wm. Tubbs, Elk River; Sibley, Daniel Picket, Hen- derson ; Stearns, O. E. Garrison, St. Cloud ; Steele, J. H. Abbott, Owatonna ; Todd, A. D. Brower, Round Prairie ; Wabashaw, W. J. McMasters, Lake City, and Capt. J. H. Arnold, Wahashaw ; Washington, Hons. Wm. Holcomb, and J. N. Castle, Stillwater ; Watonwan, Thomas Rutledge, Madelia; Winona, D. Sinclair, Winona; Wright, B. F. Miller, Monticello.
He is also under obligations to State Auditor McIllrath for free access at all times to assessors' returns of property from all the counties ; to Col. Rogers, Secretary of State, and Pennock Pusey, Esq., Assistant, for much official matter ; to Gov. Marshall for documents, and to Hon. Geo. L. Becker, Joseph A. Wheel- ock, Editor Press, Col. D. A. Robertson, and A. J. Hill, for books and authorities which were invaluable ; to Dr. A. Barnard, Geo. B. Wright, Capt. Jos. Anderson, Gen. J. W. Bishop, and H. M. Atkins, for information relative to the frontier; to Hon. L. K. Stannard, Taylor's Falls, Hon. Henry Hill, of Litchfield, Geo. C. Chamberlain, of Jackson, Hon. Chas. A. Gillman, of St. Cloud, Hon. L. K. Aaker, and J. H. Vandyke, of Alexandria, and Tillson Tibbets, of St. Peter, for Land Office statistics ; and to Bishop Grace, Rev. Dr. Brown, Horace Greeley, Rev. John Ireland, Chas. H. Sweetzer, and others who. in various ways have aided him in giving variety and interest to the book.
To the Press of the State, which has generally seconded his efforts with an enlightened liberality, he also desires to express his grateful acknowledgments.
Conscious that he does not " know it all, " and that his book may be greatly improved in many particulars, he will thank any gentleman for any criticism, either of style or matter, which will remedy its defects and make it more perfect or accurate ; and as it is his intention to push off the present edition as soon as pos- sible and publish another in a few months, he will thank his old correspondents or any new ones for any information concerning their counties or towns, which will give a more correct or a fuller account thereof than that here published.
Any information sent from any quarter will be treasured up and used for the benefit of the State or Counties in the next edition.
ST. PAUL, January 15th, 1870.
NORMAL SCHOOL, WINONA.
BUND-CHANDLER-CHICAGO.
MI
C
-----
------
--
--
-----
-
-
--
-
-
-
CONTENTS.
PART FIRST.
CHAPTER I.
NATURAL FEATURES AND GENERAL VIEW OF THE STATE .- Area and boundaries-General surface of the country-Eleva- tions above the sea, height of bluffs-Different varieties and analyses of soils-Timber and prairie divisions compared with Iowa-"Big Woods"-Water, Lakes and Rivers-Natural mea- dows and grass-Yield per acre and cost of saving-Summary of natural advantages. Pages 13 to 24.
CHAPTER II.
POPULATION AND NATIONALITY .- Growth in population com- pared with other States-Growth in wealth from 1849 to 1868- Increase of live stock. Pages 24 to 28.
CHAPTER III. .
OFFICIAL DESCRIPTIONS OF EVERY PART OF THE STATE .- Eastern Minnesota, by Owen, Abert, Wheelock, and Clarke- Swamps of the north-east, and facilities for drainage-Pineries -Minnesota Valley and South-western Minnesota, by Nicollet, Carver, and Featherstonaugh-Western Minnesota, by Nicollet and Gen. Bishop-North-western Minnesota, by Pope, and " Carleton" of the Boston Journal-" Big Woods" described- Red River Country, by Owen, Pope, and Capt. Anderson- Southern Minnesota, by Abert, Nicollet, Owen, and Wheelock- Northern Minnesota, by Dr. Barnard, Rev. John Mattocks, Owen, Norwood, Wheelock, Nicollet, Hanchette, and Clarke- Its cascades, scenery, minerals, pineries, elevations-Sources of the Mississippi. Pages 28 to 52.
8
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
CLIMATE-GENERAL VIEW .- Official descriptions in brief by Col. Abert, Dr. Owen, and Col. Whittlesey-Army statistics- Letters from Bishop Grace, Rev. Drs. Bushnell, Brown, and Boardman. Pages 52 to 57.
CHAPTER V ..
HEALTH-A CHAPTER FOR INVALIDS .- Official testimony of Pope, Abert, Owen, Dr. Leas, Consul at Madeira, and U. S. Surgeon Wood-Testimony of Disturnel's book on climates, Dr. R. T. Trall, and Horace Greeley-Letters from invalids cured : their experience of the climate, country, and people, fishing, hunting, &c .- Who should and who should not come- Mortality compared with other American and European States -Dr. Mattocks' report and letter-Should consumptives go North or South? - Mortality of American cities compared. Pages 57 to 72. .
CHAPTER VI.
THEORY OF THE CLIMATE .- Its anomalies explained-Daily and mean temperature compared with that of other places- Spring, summer, autumn, and winter described-Daily record of two winters-How often it is below zero-When cold here, cold everywhere. Effect of Winds .- Dr. Kane's experience- Dr. Owen-Absence of wind during cold terms-Prevalence of southerly winds. Dryness of the Air-Statistics .- Cold not regulated by latitudes-Prof. Maury-Disturnel-Statistics- The Gulf Stream and warm air from the Pacific-Hind's report -Gov. Stevens, Capt. Mullan, Disturnel, Carleton-The Iso- thermal Line', or the line marking the same mean annual tem- perature through America and Europe, as applied to Minnesota -Minnesota further south than the most populous European States-Article from the London Financial Chronicle-Hum- boldt's theory-Statistics of snow, rain, and frost in the State. Pages 72 to 85.
CHAPTER VII.
SCENERY-A CHAPTER FOR TOURISTS .- Official descriptions, by Owen, Hanchette, Clarke, and Long-Letters from Dr.
.
9
CONTENTS.
Boardman and "Carleton "-Prof. Maury-Lakes, cascades, falls, landscapes, mountain scenery-The jewelry of the State. Pages 85 to 91.
CHAPTER VIII.
MINNESOTA AS A FARMING COUNTRY .- Dr. Cheadle, an Eng- lish writer, compares it with Canada and other Western States- Horace Greeley writes a letter about it-Compared with Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, by Geo. B. Wright, U. S. Surveyor- Compared with Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois, by Carle- ton, of the Boston Journal-Also with the richest countries of the world-What the Cincinnati Times says-Crops raised, and the yield per acre-Statistics of all the States compared-Full evidence of our capacity to raise corn. Stock Growing .- Dairy business-Profitableness of farming-Testimony of Gen. War- ren-Large farms : Paxton's, Dalrymple's, Davidson's, Mar- shall's, Thompson's-Profits of small farms, five or six examples -Cost and profit of raising wheat-Extra yields of wheat and other crops-Examples. Pages 91 to 114.
CHAPTER IX.
COMMERCIAL RESOURCES .- Railroads, Rivers, and Markets .- Pope's topographical report-Gen. Warren on the Fox and Wis- consin river improvement-Great saving in freight by this line and by the Lake Superior Railroad-Minnesota as near New York as Illinois-Wheelock's report-Anecdote of Professor Mitchell, showing the effect of railroads-Future commercial importance of Minnesota-Wm. H. Seward's prediction. Vast Fertile Areas north-west of Minnesota, to the Pacific .- Described by a committee of Congress, by Rawlings, Dr. Cheadle, and " Carleton"-The " Fertile Belt"-The track of a Pacific rail- way, described by English explorers-Glowing descriptions. The Red River (Winnepeg) Settlement, the seat of the rebellion -Its resources, people, and products-"Life at Winnepeg." North Pacific Railroad the shortest route-Its future business and effect on Minnesota-Thos. D'Arcy McGee, Rawlings, Chicago Tribune, and Philadelphia Press on the subject. Present Condition of Minnesota Railroads .- Projected roads and connec- tions-Rivers and steamboat navigation-Growth of twenty-four years' business-Tonnage, business, and earnings of railroads -Trade and exports. Pages 114 to 137.
10
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
MANUFACTURES AND WATER POWER .- Enumeration and de- scription of water powers, and the raw materials-Geological authorities. Slate, iron, copper, lumber, glass sand, granite, brown stone, tripoli, &c .- Cost and profits of slate quarrying. The Pineries .- Their vast extent-Where located-" Will they fail "-" Life in the Pineries." Pages 137 to 150.
CHAPTER XI.
MINNESOTA AS A FRUIT COUNTRY .- Wild rice and cranberries -Vast areas and profits of culture-Indian mode of gathering wild rice-Where located-Other wild fruits-Cultivated fruits -Progress and success of apple culture-Varieties-Who have succeeded. Pages 150 to 157.
CHAPTER XII.
EDUCATION AND RELIGION .- Amount of school land and the school fund-Statistics of schools and school houses-Colleges, universities, normal schools, &c. Churches .- Number of each denomination, value, and membership -- Missionary operations and religion on the frontier-Missions among the Indians. Pages 157 to 162.
CHAPTER XIII.
INDIANS .- Agencies and trading posts-Institutions, social customs, and amusements-Religious notions. Pages 162 to 168.
CHAPTER XIV.
SCENES ON THE FRONTIER .- Forty miles north of Ottertail Lake-A pioneer-A settlement go forty-five miles to cele- brate the 4th of July-Chippewa Indians-A band of music- Snug farm and rural refinement-Woman's rights on the frontier -Farm of the " Seven Sisters," sixty miles west of St. Paul. Pages 168 to 173.
CHAPTER XV.
GOVERNMENT LAND .- How much still open to homestead entry, and the terms-Who can make a claim-The homestead
11
CONTENTS.
law-The pre-emption law-Half-breed scrip-Where the Gov- ernment lands are-Location of land offices, and address of the officers-Amount of government land in each county-Best way to secure good claims-How and when the land is plowed, and the cost-When and how planted-No fever and ague-Prices and terms of buying land from individuals, railroad, or school lands-Average assessed value of all the land. Pages 173 to 179.
CHAPTER XVI.
Fish and game-Natural history-Botany-Number of lakes in the State-Varieties of fish-Lake Superior fisheries-Game -Varieties of birds-Plants and flowers. Pages 179 to 183.
CHAPTER XVII.
Banks-Insurance companies-Telegraphs-Stages-Benevo- lent Associations-State laws-Taxes-Public libraries-Rights of married women-Legal interest. Pages 183 to 187.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Cost of living-Prices current-Wages-A talk with farmers, mechanics, invalids, tourists, and immigrants generally-Cost of building-Building associations-Freights and fares-Cost of opening farms-Teams, utensils, and stock-The farm house -" Bees"-Winter work. Pages 187 to 192.
(The following is added in the closing pages of the book.)
PROGRESS OF THE STATE DURING 1869, AND UP TO JANUARY 1ST, 1870 .- Miles of railroads built-Assessed property-Live stock-Correct area under cultivation of each crop-The gross yield, and the yield per acre in 1868 and 1869, in every county and in the State-Immigration of 1869-Concluding summary. Pages 275 to 289.
THE PRESS OF THE STATE .- Every paper, its politics or spe- cialty, publishers, day of publication, and terms. Index to Advertisers.
12
CONTENTS.
PART SECOND.
THE COUNTIES .- Every County of the State in alphabetical order, and its towns, specially described as to population, nationality, soil, timber, prairie, meadow, lakes, streams, water power, area cultivated, products, prices of lands, fuel, lumber, numbers of live stock, increase of wealth and business, num- ber of schools, school houses, and their value, children between five and twenty-one, churches, societies, number of stores, amount of business, number of lawyers, doctors and other pro- fessions and trades, amount of buildings and improvements, advantages and openings for business, number of mills, number and location of water powers, amount of school and railroad lands unsold, and the prices and terms, post offices, &c.
For fish, game, fruits, attractive scenery, government lands, &c., in each county, see the chapters in Part First on these topics.
1
MINNESOTA AS IT IS.
PART FIRST .- THE STATE.
CHAPTER I.
AREA AND BOUNDARIES .- With the British line north, Red River and Dakota Territory west, Iowa south, and the Mississippi River and Lake Superior east as boundary lines, Minnesota has an area of 84,000 square miles, or 54,760,000 acres- larger than the six New England States, and nearly equal to Indiana and Illinois com- bined. It extends from north to south about 380 miles, and from its remotest point east to west about 350 miles -from lat. 43º30' to 48° and 49°, and longitude 89º29' to 97º12'.
GENERAL SURFACE OF THE COUNTRY .- All west of the Mississippi, except what is called the "Big Woods," generally rolling prairies and table lands of fertile soil, dotted with lakes, groves and belts of timber, the scenery reminding the traveller of one vast park; east of the Mississippi, and adjacent, and on the St. Croix south of 46°, a wide belt of agricultural lands, with extensive forests of pine beyond, on the northern tributaries of the Mississippi ; and beyond these, north and northwest of
2
14
ELEVATION ABOVE THE SEA.
Lake Superior, broken highlands with narrow valleys and rich mineral lands.
The Big Woods is a belt of hard timber, 100 miles long by about 40 wide, extending south-westerly from Crow Wing to Rice and Blue Earth counties, interspersed with numerous prairies, lakes and natural meadows, and embracing the richest arable land in the Northwest.
ELEVATION ABOVE THE SEA .- Low water mark at St. Paul, 676 feet ; bluff, Wabashaw Street, St. Paul, 790 ; Lake Superior, 600; Mississippi, above St. Anthony Falls, 786 ; mouth of Crow Wing, 1126; Sandy Lake, 1253 ; Pokegoma Falls, 1340; Cass Lake, 1400; Itasca Lake, 1532 ; hills adjacent, 1680; head of St. Louis River, 1750 ; Snake River, 75 miles from St. Paul, 1015 ; Kettle River, at Fortuna, 946 ; mouth of the Sioux Wood River, 963 ; Big Stone Lake, 968; Lac Qui Parle, 946 ; summit of the Coteau Des Prairies (west of Minnesota line,) 2046; low water at Mankato, 747; mouth of Minnesota River, at Fort Snelling, 680; Minnesota River, at Traverse des Sioux, 717; Blue Earth River, near Blue Earth City, 1114 .*
Lowest Depression Continued Towards the Pacific .- The depression of the Minnesota Valley continues through the entire valley of Red River, whose elevation is 1000 feet above the sea-the average of Minnesota south of the highest summit ; and is continued through the basin of the Sascatchewan north-westerly, exercising an important influence on the climate.
Height of Mississippi Bluffs .- From the plateau of Fort Snelling-786 feet above the sea-the banks of the Mississippi rise to an average height of 1100 feet above the sea, near the Iowa line, while the river declines about
* I. N. Nicollet, Railroad Surveys, and Gen. G. K. Warren's River Surveys.
15
ANALYSIS AND DEPTH OF SOILS.
six inches to the mile, giving a height above the sea at Red Wing of 995 feet at the summit of the bluff-650 feet at the water level; 1214 feet at the top of Eagle Bluff, near La Crescent-683 feet at the water level .*
SOIL .- Described by geologists as of four varieties- limestone, drift, clay and trap. The limestone, according to Dr. Owen, occupying the western slope of the Missis- sippi for a breadth of 30 to 50 miles from St. Paul to the Iowa line, and parts of Ramsey and Washington counties on the east side, embracing an area of 5000 square miles ; the drift occupying all that portion of the Mississippi and Minnesota valleys not included in the preceding division, embracing 38,000 square miles, and covering a subsoil of clay, marl, or gravel; the trap occupying districts in the St. Croix, Snake and Kettle River valleys, and on the north shore of Superior ; the alluvial, argil- laceous mould resting on clay subsoil occupying a large portion of the Red River Valley, which has an area of 17,000 square miles.
Analysis and Depth of Soils .- One to two feet deep on the slopes and ridges, two to four in the valley bottoms and "Big Woods." Owen, U. S. geologist, in an official report, 1851, gives the following analysis of the soil of the limestone district of the Lower Mississippi Valley :
Water
2.50
Organic matter
8.20
Silica acid.
0.04
Carbonate of lime 0.80
Magnesia
0.32
Oxide of iron
2.68
Alumnia
4.04
Alkalies
0.08
Phosphates of lime and iron 0.01
Insoluble silicates. 77.01
Inorganic acids, combined with above bases and loss 4.23
100.00
Nicollet and Warren.
16
ANALYSIS AND DEPTH OF SOILS.
He describes it as " usually of excellent quality, rich, as well in organic matter as in those mineral salts which give rapidity to the growth of plants and that durability which enables it to attain a long succession of crops."
A sample of the drift soil, taken from the Sauk Valley -an average specimen-was analysed by Dr. A. H. Hayes, assayer to the State of Massachusetts, who said " This was a dark-colored, fine-textured soil, abounding in organic matter, and highly fertile. One hundred parts. in an air-dried state afforded-
Moisture.
10.30
Humates, Crenates, &c.
6.00
Sulphate of lime.
1.46
Carbonate of lime
4.60
Silicates. 76.74
99.10
" Of the organic part of this soil, six per cent. is com- posed of humates, crenates, and gelatinous compounds of lime. It is, in fact, a large amount of natural manures mixed with soil, and cannot fail to produce great and permanent fertility. It closely resembles the sugar cane. soil of the West India islands."
Of the trap soils, most prevalent in north-eastern Min- nesota, Hon. Thomas Clarke, Assistant State Geologist, 1861, in his official report, says " the granite, basalt, and trap boulder and fragment are geological specimens of our best soils. Analysis of various metamorphic rocks, as shown by De La Beche, give
7 per cent. potash in gneiss ;
In talcose slate, 13 per cent. magnesia ;
In mica slate, 14 per cent. oxide of iron.
" These alkalies and minerals in our soils illustrate that however much is due to climate for our prolific yields, no less is due to our soils, when chemically
17
TIMBER.
considered. The soils exhibit the strongest varieties. Where sand predominates, the admixture of clay gives it substance. Where clay predominates, marl and iron oxide enter." See further descriptions of soil in de- scriptions of counties and sections.
TIMBER .- About one-third of the State is timbered land. Parker's book on Iowa estimates one-tenth of that State timber.
" The Big Woods."-The principal body of hard wood timber is officially described by Col. J. J. Abert, Chief of Topographical Engineers, 1854, in a report to the War Department, as commencing " 11 miles east of Mankato, extending 100 miles to the north and 40 to the east-the largest body of timber between the Missouri and Missis- sippi rivers - with almost every variety of deciduous timber, oak, ash, lime, walnut and maple the most abundant." Wheelock, Commissioner of Statistics, in an official report, 1860, to the Minnesota Legislature, says " It occupies 5000 square miles, 4000 of which are north of the Minnesota River, and 1000 south." He locates its southern bases in Rice, Blue Earth, Scott, and Le Sueur counties ; its western line crossing the counties of McLeod and Meeker diagonally, through the middle; its eastern extending from the mouth of Rum River to Carver, on the Minnesota River ; and the northern limit " commencing in the Crow Wing Valley, and forming a deep fringe of from 10 to 20 miles in width, along the western slope of the Mississippi to the Sauk Valley, at St. Cloud "-its longest side extending 100 miles south-westerly, and its average breadth being 40 miles.
Groves, Oak Openings, and Parks .- " Below lat. 460 a narrow range of cedar and tamarac swamps, between the St. Croix and Crow Wing rivers ; and some pine,
18
TIMBER.
mingled with large maple, oak, ash, and small birch and spruce, intervene for half a degree, when the oak be- · comes the prevailing tree on the uplands, distributed in groves and large parks. These oak openings characterize the whole delta of rolling prairie below lat. 45°, on the east side of the Mississippi. The soft maple, elm, ash, willow and alder line the bottoms of the Rum and Elk rivers."
Abert's official report of a topographical survey of a road through that part of the State west of the Missis- sippi, and south of the Minnesota (1854,) speaks of " rolling prairies, with timber generally near," " beautiful groves of oak relieving the monotonous appearance of the prairies," and "beautiful sheets of water, fringed with timber." He is supported in this description by the official reports of Nicollet of an expedition in 1838-9, and others, for which see descriptions of different sec- tions of the State, " scenery," &c. We have only space to say generally of this feature of the whole State that " the number and beauty of its groves and belts of timber, which crown the undulations of the uplands or shadow the margins of the streams, break up the mo- notony of the prairie into forms of infinite variety and beauty, and unite all the elements not only of successful husbandry, but of delightful landscape in the limits of almost every farm."
Woods .- Besides the "Big Woods," there are no large forests of hard wood, except on the bottoms of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, the Zumbro and Root, and the St. Croix in Chisago county and northern part of Washington. The principal varieties are the sugar maple, oak, elm, ash, basswood, black and white walnut, lime, butternut, hickory, cottonwood, box wood, and linden.
2
PRAIRIE DEFICIENT IN TIMBER. 19
The Pineries .- North of lat. 46° and east of Red Lake are the vast pineries of Minnesota, covering an area of 21,000 square miles, and varying in density from groves and scattering trees to dense forests. While pine is the prevailing timber, there is an intermingling of birch, maple, aspen, ash and elm-the alluvial bottoms of the Northern Mississippi and its tributaries supporting a heavy growth of basswood, elm, aspen, butternut, ash, birch, hard and soft maple, linden, balsam firs and oaks. Geologists, surveyors and others, who have explored the entire northern district, bear uniform testimony to the fact that wherever the prairie fires have destroyed the pine, the hard woods grow up in its place.
The most dense and valuable pineries extend from the eastern part of Pine County north-westward upon the headwaters of Kettle, Snake, Rum, Crow Wing, the Upper Mississippi, and Otter Tail rivers.
For more on this subject see "Manufactures," "Life in the Pineries," &c.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.