USA > Minnesota > Minnesota - its advantages to settlers, 1869 : being a brief synopsis of its history and progress, climate, soil, agricultural and manufacturing facilities, commercial capacities, and social status, its lakes, rivers, and railroads, homestead and exemption laws > Part 2
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UNITED STATES HOMESTEAD LAW.
Large numbers are availing themselves of the liberal Homestead Law passed by Congress, and now in force. Minnesota possesses the only domain attractive to this class of settlers-having nearly forty million acres of public land yet open to entry and settlement. This law provides that each settler, in five years' occupation, becomes the owner of " 160 acres by paying the sum of ten dollars and the fees of the land officer, provided he be a citizen of the United States or has declared his intention to become such;" and it further provides that " no land acquired under the provisions of this act shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debts contracted prior to the issuance of the patent: . therefor." In view of the immense quantity of "broad acres " thus offered with- out cost, situated as they are all over this new State, in districts well watered and timbered, where the mails and express are now extended, and railroads and telegraphs rapidly pushing their way, it is not surprising that thousands are. coming into Minnesota annually to secure good farms for themselves and their families-farms that will, in a few short years, be in the midst of cultivated. neighborhoods, with churches and school-houses arising at every hand, amid all. the surroundings of civilization and progress.
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LAND OFFICES.
The land offices for the several land districts of Minnesota are located at the- following places :- St. Peter, Nicollet County ; Greenleaf, Meeker County ; Winnebago City, Faribault County ; St. Cloud, Stearns County ; Taylor's Falls, Chisago County ; Duluth, St. Louis County ; Alexandria, Douglass County. Persons desiring information as to Government Lands can address the " Regis- ter and Receiver " at the above Laud Offices.
DEMAND FOR LABOR IN THE WEST.
It is said a young man recently wrote Mr. Greeley of the "Tribune," to obtain a sitna- tion, and he replied that " New York is just entering upon the interesting process of starving. out 200,000 people whom war and its consequences has driven hither. It is impossible to employ more until these are gone."
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ITS ADVANTAGES TO SETTLERS.
The journals of Eastern cities are annually filled with complaints that there is a surplus of laborers and operatives in the East seeking work ; that the com- petition for employment is often such that workmen are willing to accept wages. far below what is just to them and their families ; that the offices of European. Consuls are beset with foreigners who have exhausted their means seeking em- ployment in the crowded Eastern cities. This does not and will not in a hundred: years apply to the great West. Labor of all kinds, especially farm labor, must of necessity continue in demand here. Indeed one can scarcely imagine a con- dition of things in the West that will make it otherwise. Laborers and working men in almost every branch of industry are generally in scant supply and great demand throughout the West. Those lingering around the crowded seaports of the East with no hope beyond a mere subsistence, their families growing up in poverty and vice, having no chance with others in the world, should turn their- attention to the great West, where a free homestead, rich lands, education for their children, and a healthy climate invites them. Our pineries alone, give em- ployment to over 3,000 men, to say nothing of other branches of the lumber. interest, and our numerous railroads now under construction.
WESTERN PEOPLE.
The citizens of a young State, with "room and verge enough," are naturally anxious to grow in numbers. All are interested in this ; hence a welcome hand is extended to all who come, and laws are passed, as I have elsewhere said, se -- curing them liberal terms of citizenship. Indeed, the word liberal applies to. Minnesota and her people with more propriety than any I have ever known .. I say this because it is true, and not in disparagement of others. It is owing,. in some measure, to the fact that the men who take up their march with the star of empire on its westward way, are either the bold, live men of the older States, or their hearts and minds expand as they traverse the broad prairies of the fresh and glorious West. To another cause, can we, to some extent, ascribe much that is liberal and agreeable in the West, and different from the older States. Here we have every nation and people represented ; they come from the North and the South, the East and the West. People of the old world meet here, mingle and marry with the people of the new. The result is an improvement ; a stock is raised mentally and physically more vigorous than in older localities, where they have married and intermarried until " every one is cousin ;" deteri- oration the consequence, narrow and intolerant sentiments the rule. The differ- ence in these respects is observed by all who have lived long in the West, and then returned to the old localities whence they came. Hence it is that few who. have ever lived in the West, are content to again reside in the East.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STATE.
Physical Districts .- The physical characteristics of a country exert an im- portant influence on its inhabitants. "Grand scenery, leaping waters, and & bracing atmosphere," --- says Neill in his History of Minnesota,-" produce men of different cast from those who dwell where the land is on a dead level, and where the streams are all sluggards. We associate heroes like Tell and Bruce with the mountains of Switzerland and the highlands of Scotland." Although Minnesota is not a mountainous country by any means, its general elevation gives it all the advantages of one, without its objectionable features. Being equi- distant from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, situated on an elevated plateau, and with a system of lakes aud rivers ample for an empire, it has a peculiar- climate of its own, possessed by no other State.
The general surface of the greater part of the State is even aud undulating; and pleasantly diversified with rolling prairies, vast belts of timber, oak openings, numerous lakes and streams, with their accompanying meadows, waterfalls, wood- ed ravines and lofty bluff's, which impart variety, grandeur and picturesque beauty to its scenery.
The State may be divided into three principal districts. In the northern and western part of the State an exception to its general evenness of surface occurs
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in an elevated district which may be termed the highlands of Minnesota. This district, resting on primary rocks, is of comparatively small extent-16,000 square miles -- and covered with a dense growth of pine, fir, spruce, &c .; it has an elevation of about 450 feet above the general level of the country, and is covered with hills of diluvial sand and drift, from 85 to 100 feet in height, among which the three great rivers of the American Continent-the Mississippi, St. Lawrence, and Red River-take their rise. The temperature of this district is from 5 to S degrees lower than that of the rest of the State ; although pos- sessing some good land, its principle value consists in its immense forests and its rich mneral deposits of copper, iron and the precious metals.
The valley of the Red River forms another district larger than the highlands, containing 18,000 square miles, with a deep, black soil composed of alluvial mould, and rich in organie deposits. This district produces the heaviest crops ·of grain, especially wheat, of any section in the United States. It has a sub- soil of clay, is but sparsely timbered, with but few rivers or lakes, and is not therefore so well drained as other parts of the State.
The Mississippi valley comprises the third district; it contains about 50,000 square miles, or about three-fifths of the whole State. It is the " garden spot " of the Northwest, and comprises one of the finest agricultural districts in the world. Its general characteristics are those of a rolling prairie. region, resting on secondary rocks ; it is unusually well drained, both by the nature of the soil, which is a warm, dark calcareous and sandy loam, and the innumerable lakes and streams which cover its surface with a perfect network. It is dotted by numer- ous and extensive groves and belts of timber. These main districts are also subdivided into smaller ones by the valleys of the numerous streams which in- tersect them; but space does not admit of a detailed description.
Rivers and Streams .- The Mississippi river, 2,400 miles long, which drains a larger region of country than any stream on the globe, with the exception of the Amazon, rises in Lake Itasca, in the northern part of Minnesota, and flows southeasterly through the State 797 miles, 134 of which forms its eastern boun- dary. It is navigable for large boats to St. Paul, and above the Falls of St. Anthony for smaller boats for about 150 miles farther. The season of navigation is generally about eight months -- sometimes a month longer outside of Lake Pepin. In 1868 steamboats run here ten of the twelve months; and the fourth annual steamboat excursion from St. Paul on the Mississippi, took place on the first of December, and the river closed on the 10th.
The principal towns and cities on the Mississippi in Minnesota, are, Winona, Wabashaw, Lake City, Red Wing, Hastings, St. Paul, Minneapolis, St. Anthony, Anoka, Dayton, Monticello, St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids, Little Falls, Watab.
The Minnesota River, the source of which is among the Coteau des Prairies, in Dacotah Territory, flows from Big Stone Lake, on the western boundary of the State, a distance of nearly 500 miles, through the heart of the southwestern part of the State, and empties into the Mississippi at Fort Snelling, 5 miles above St. Paul. ' It is navigable as high up as the Yellow Medicine, 238 miles above its mouth, during good stages of water. Its principal places are Shakopee, Chaska, Carver, Belle Plaine, Henderson, LeSueur, Traverse des Sioux, St. Peter, Man- kato, New Ulm and Redwood.
The St. Croix River, rising in Wisconsin, near Lake Superior, forms about 130 miles of the eastern boundary of the State. It empties into the Mississippi nearly opposite Hastings, and is navigable to Taylor's Falls, about 50 miles. It penetrates the pineries and furnishes immense water power along its course. The principal places on it are Stillwater and Taylor's Falls.
The Red River, rises in Lake Traverse, and flows northward, forming the western boundary of the State from Big Stone Lake to the British Possessions, a distance of 380 miles. It is navigable from Breckenridge, at the mouth of the Bois de Sioux River to Hudson's Bay ; the Saskatchewan, a tributary of the Red River, is also said to be a navigable stream, thus promising an active com- mercial trade from this vast region when it shall have become settled up, via the St. Paul and Pacific railroad, which connects the navigable waters of the Red River with those of the Mississippi.
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ITS ADVANTAGES TO SETTLERS.
Cannon River, dividing Dakota and Goodhue counties, it is said can be made a navigable stream by slack-water improvements, for which purpose a company with a capital of $50,000 has been formed.
Among the more important of the numerous small streams are Rum River, valuable for lumbering ; Vermilion River, furnishing extensive water power and possessing some of the finest casades in the United States ; the Crow, Blue Earth, Root, Sank, Le Sueur, Zumbro, Cottonwood, Long Prairie, Red Wood, Waraju, Pejuta Ziza, Mauja Wakan, Buffalo, Wild Rice, Plum, Sand Hill, Clear Water, Red Lake, Thief, Black, Red Cedar, and Des Moines rivers ; the St. Louis River, a large stream flowing into Lake Superior, navigable for twenty- one miles from its lake outlet, and furnishing a water-power at its falls said to be equal to that of the falls of the Mississippi at St. Anthony, and many others, besides all the innumerable hosts of first and secondary tributaries to all the larger streams. The sources of most of these streams being high, their descent is considerable, furnishing the finest system of water-powers of every grade in the world. Many of the brooks, with deep cut channels, are full of trout, leap and dance merrily over the prairies, often taking sudden leaps, forming beautiful and romantic cascades.
One of these, on the outlet of Lake Minnetonka, has been immortalized by Longfellow, in Hiawatha :
" Here the Falls of Minne-ha-ha Flash and gleam among the cak trees, Laugh and leap into the valley."
Lakes .- Lake Superior, the largest body of fresh water on the globe, forms a portion of the eastern boundary of Minnesota, giving it 167 miles of lake coast, with one of the best natural harbors and breakwaters, at DuLuth, Minne- sota, to be found on any coast. When the Superior and Mississippi railroad is completed, connecting the commercial centres of the State with Lake Superior, a large lake commerce will spring into existence.
Besides, the whole surface of the State is literally begemmed with innnumera- ble lakes, estimated by Schoolcraft at 10,000 They are of all sizes, from 500 yards in diameter to 10 miles. Their picturesque beauty and loveliness, with their pebbly bottoms, transparent waters, wooded shores and sylvan associations, must be seen to be fully appreciated. They all abound in fish, black and rock bass, pickerel, pike, perch, cat, sunfish, &c., of superior quality and flavor ; and in the spring and fall they are the haunts of innumerable duck, geese, and other wild fowl. In some places they are solitary, at others found in groups or chains. Many are without outlets, others give rise to meandering and meadow-bordered brooks. These lakes act as reservoirs for water, penetrating the soil and by their exhalations giving rise to summer showers during dry weather. Prof. Maury says of Minnesota, that although far from the sea, "it may be considered the best watered State in the Union, and it doubtless owes its abundance of summer rains measurably to this lake system."
Forests .- Among those unacquainted with the State, Minnesota is apt to be regarded as a prairie country, destitute of timber. On the contrary, there is no Western State better supplied with forests.
In the northren part of the State is an immense forest region estimated to cover upwards of 21,000 square miles, constituting one of the great sources of health and industry of the State. The prevailing wood of this region is pine, with a considerable proportion of ash, birch, maple, elm, poplar, &c. West of the Mississippi, lying between it and the Minnesota, and extending south of that stream, is the Big Woods, about 100 miles in length and 40 miles wide. This district is full of lakes, and broken by small openings. The prevailing woods are oak, maple, elm, aslı, basswood, butternut, black walnut and hickory. Be- sides these two large forests, nearly all the streams are fringed with woodland, and dense forests of considerable extent cover the valleys. The extensive bot- toms of the Mississippi, Minnesota and Blue Earth are covered with a heavy growth of white and black walnut, maple, boxwood, hickory, linden and cotton
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wood. The valleys of the Zumbro and Root rivers support large tracts of forest growth. They are found more or less in Wabshaw, Dodge, Steele, Fillmore, Mower, Freeborn and Olmsted and contiguous counties.
But the oak openings, distributed in groves and large parks through the up- lands along the margins of the numerous streams, form a large resource of the prairie population for domestic and mechanical purposes. Towards the western boundary of the State the timber becomes more scanty, and it assumes more the character of a vast prairie region, dotted here and there with groves and belts of timber, fringing the Red River and the minor streams. The choice timbered lands and oak openings will be first selected by the settler, and the treeless prai- ries of the western frontier will be covered with timber in a few years, as soon as the annual scourge of the prairie fire is checked. Wherever these fires are arrested the land is soon covered by a dense growth of timber.
THE PINERIES AND LUMBERING INTEREST.
The vast pine forests cover the northern part of the State, extending from Lake Superior to the outlet of Red Lake, and extending as far south as latitude 46° in Anoka county. The principal pineries where lumber is obtained are sit- nated upon the headwaters of the Upper Mississippi, and those of the St. Croix, Kettle, Snake, Rum, Crow Wing and Otter Tail rivers. The logs are cut in the dead of winter, and when the ground is covered with snow are conveyed to the streams, down which they are floated in the spring when the snow and ice melts. These pine forests being almost inexhaustible, constitute a vast source of wealth for generations to come. They give employment to a large number of lumber- men, who constitute a hardy class of industry as distinct as that of railroad or steamboatmen.
The lumber trade of Minnesota is constantly increasing, and the Lake Superior and Mississippi River Railroad, running as it will through an immense lumber district, will greatly add to it. The amount of logs and lumber cut and manufactured at the Falls of Saint Anthony, and the St. Croix, in the year 1868, reaches nearly 400,000,000 feet !
MINERAL RESOURCES.
Copper and Iron .- The mineral deposits of Minnesota are another important source of wealth. In the northern part of the State copper and iron ore of superior quality are found. The copper mines are situated on the northern shore of Lake Superior, and are rich and extensive. Very pure specimens of copper ore have also been obtained from Stuart and Knife rivers. Thick deposits of iron ore are found on Portage and Pigeon rivers, said to be equal in tenacity and malleability to the best Swedish and Russia iron.
Coal-Deposits of coal have been discovered on the Big Cottonwood river, a tributary of the Minnesota, and indications of it have been observed in other localities. On the Cottonwood veins some geologists are confident that rich beds will yet be developed.
The Precious Metals .- " A geological survey, made under the auspices of the State in the summer of 1865, developed the existence of the precious metals on the shores of Vermilion Lake, 80 miles north of the head of Lake Superior. Scientific analysis attested the presence of gold and silver, in the quartz surface rock, in sufficient quantities to warrant the employment of labor and capital in their extraction, for which object a number of joint stock companies have been formed and a considerable number of enterprising persons provided with neces- sary appliances for mining, have repaired to that place in search of gold. There is good reason to believe the search will be successful."-H. C. Rogers, Sec- retary of State
But the richest mines of wealth belonging to any State is a productive soil, and in this Minnesota is unequalled. There is a mine of gold on every farm of 160 acres, and it requires no capital to work it except industry.
. Granite .- A fine bed of granite, equal to the best Quincy granite for building
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ITS ADVANTAGES TO SETTLERS.
purposes, crops out at Sauk Rapids. A quarry is opened there now, and the granite brought to St. Paul, where it is used in the construction of the U. S. Custom House, and is also used in some fine edifices in Minneapolis, St. Cloud and other cities of the State.
Limestone of fine quality for building purposes is found in many portions of the State, (in fact nearly all over it,) and affords ample material for the manufac- ture of lime.
Sandstone exists at Fort Snelling, Mendota, and other points in inexhaustible quantities. A fine white sand for the manufacture of flint glass abounds near St. Paul, St. Anthony and Minneapolis said to be equal to any in the world. An extensive quarry of slate stone is found on the Saint Louis River, and probably exists at other points, A kind of blue clay, underlying the soil in a large part of the State makes brick of a good quality. White marl occurs in large beds at Minneapolis, St. Anthony and other places ; it is used for pottery manufacturing, and also makes a hard durable brick similar to the famous " Milwaukee brick," and Chaska, on the Minnesota River, also produces a brick said to surpass that of Milwaukee. In Wabashaw county a bed of the finest porcelain clay has been found.
Salt Springs .- Numerous very pure salt springs, yielding upwards of a bushel of salt to every twenty-four gallons of water, abound in the Red River valley The northwest, which consumes vast quantities of salt for pork and beef packing, and other purposes, will eventually be supplied from this source. The value of this source of wealth may be estimated from the fact that two million bushels are annually imported into Chicago alone, from New York and Penn- sylvania.
Tripoli .- An inexhaustible bed of the purest Tripoli, requiring, according to Prof. Shepard, no preparation to be fit at once for use and commerce, has been discovered near Stillwater. It is twenty feet thick and at least a half mile long.
MINNESOTA AS A STOCK-GROWING STATE.
For raising cattle and horses, Minnesota is fully equal to Illinois ; and for sheep growing it is far superior. According to established laws of nature cold climates require a large quantity and finer quality of wool or fur than warm ones, hence the fur and wool bearing animals are found in perfection only in northern regions. The thick coat of the sheep especially identifies it with a cold country ; the excessive heat to which their wool subjects them in a warm climate generates disease. The fleece of Minnesota sheep is remarkably fine and heavy, and they are not subject to the rot and other diseases so disastrous to sheep in warm and moist localities. It is asserted by stock growers that sheep brought here while suffering with the rot speedily become healthy, and the same has been said of horses with heaves and shortness of breath. The sleek and velvety appearance of horses here in summer time gives them the appear- ance of highly kept stallions. The cattle raised here are also remarkably healthy, the unanimous testimony of butchers being that they seldom meet with a diseased liver.
Our fine, rich upland meadows afford excellent facilities for grazing purposes; and hay in abundance for keeping stock during the winter may be had for the reaping. The characteristic perfection and nutritious qualities of the grasses in this State enables the farmer to keep his horses and cattle fat on it all winter without grain. The valleys and margins of the numerous streams and lakes, found on almost every farm, furnish an abundance of a coarser grass than that obtained from the upland meadows ; this is generally fed to cattle, which are very fond of it both in its green and cured state.
Although the winters in Minnesota are apparently longer, the actual number of days during which stock has to be fed here is no more than in Ohio and Southern Illinois.
Hogs also do extremely well here, and the abundance and certainty of the grain crop enables farmers to raise them as cheaply as elsewhere.
All stock requires shelter during the winter in this climate, but the necessity is
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no greater than in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. The washing, chilling and debil- itating winter rains of those States are far more injurious to out stock than our severest cold. All the shelter which stock requires here is that readily furnished by the immense straw piles which accumulate from the threshing of the annual grain crop. A frame-work of rails or poles is made, and the straw thrown over it, leaving the south side open. Under this cattle stand, and feed on the straw, in perfect security from the inclemencies of the severest winter.
SOCIAL STATUS.
The condition of society in all newly settled countries is a subject of interest to the settler. As a general thing the social status, in point of educa- tion, morals and refinement, is inferior to that of the older States. But in Min- nesota, although outside the capital and its other principal cities we do not boast much artificial refinement, the morals of the community, as shown by our crim- inal statistics, are at least equal to those of the model States of New-England.
The society throughout the State is good ; no prim and retired New-England village could outvie our young and thriving cities with their cleanly, decorous and whitewashed appearance. The population is composed mainly of American, Irish and Germans, but almost every nationality is represented. Most of the settlers are plain, honest, industrious farmers, attracted to our State by the salu- brity of its climate, and the productiveness and cheapness of its lands. A large proportion of the population is made up of the best classes from the older States, North and South, who have come to reap the advantages of our fine climate, or to invest their means in property in our fine agricultural districts and in our rap- idly growing towns, where immense fortunes have been realized by their rapid and solid growth.
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