Books: Minnesota and Dacotah
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C.C. Andrews >> Minnesota and Dacotah
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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.
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