The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-04-26 00:00:00

THE CITIES OF ST. PAUL- AND
MINNEAPOLIS.

A Correspondent of The Times gives an interesting de-
scription of the city of St. Paul, as also Minneapolis, from
which we make the following extracts :

'Few cities on the North American continent equal
St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota, in picturesqueness
of situation, ~ . It is built on three terraces, rising
to the height of 200 feet above the eastern bank of the
Missisiippi River. The rock, which is of limestone
formation, has the look of the white cliffs at Dover.
Long before houses were built on this site a huge
mass of cream-coloured sandstone, which formed a
conspicuous landmark, was called by the Dakota
Indians ' Imminijaska ' that is, white rock.
On the opposite side of the river there is a long
ridge of land covered with wood ; the broad Mis-
sissippi forms a huge' curve at this point, and the
view of the river and the rising ground is a striking
one by day and a most fascinating one when moon-
light adds a magical grace to the scene. The best
notion which I can convey of the general effect is by
asking the reader to suppose that St. Paul were to
stand on Richmond-hill, near to the 'Star and
Garter' Hotel; that houses covered the slope down
to the river's bank; that the Thames were as wide
there as it is at Gravesend ; and that the ground across
the river were nearly as high as the ground at the
entrance to the park. If the reader should have visited
West Point on the Hudson as well as Richmond on
the Thames, he can easily picture to himself the ap-
pearance of St. Paul by fancying a large city erected
on the spot which is covered with Military School and
other buildings.‘
"The Jesuit missionary Father Hennepin explored
this region in 1680. The hardy explorer Jonathan
Carver, who visited it in 1766, then concluded a treaty
with the Indiana in a vast cave which now bears his
name, and which was supposed by the Indians to be
the abode of the Great Spirit. Having acquired their
friendship, Carver craftily persuaded them to grant
him a large tract of land; but, as the Government re-
fused to sanction his title, he was none the better for
his bargain. Though much of the cave was unavoid-
ably destroyed in constructing the present railway,
yet enough remains to interest sightseers and to
affirm the accuracy of Carver's description. . • •
When the district was organised as a Territory in
1849, with this city as its capital, no clear idea pre-
vailed throughout the country as to the situation of
St. Paul, neither maps nor gazetters furnishing any
particulars about it. Curious persons had to rest
satisfied with the vague information that the new
addition to recognized towns were somewhere in the
neighbourhood of the Falls of St. Anthony. It was
estimated that the entire white population of the
Territory did not then exceed I,GOO, while its capital
contained 200 only. The story of its growth resembles
that which is told of many other western cities. In-
deed, there is considerable monotony in the accounts
which tell how the citizens of different places in the
Great West multiplied exceedingly. Their story
resembles that of every place which is now re-
nowned and which was once noteworthy; indeed,
the sites of the most famous cities of the world
were at one time the haunt of wild men and wild
beasts. In a former letter I described the city of
Alamosa, which was but six weeks old when I visited
it, and wherein the inhabitants already numbered 600.
Certainly, it was a novel sensation to gaze upon what
had been accomplished within so brief a space. Now,
though there is a sameness in telling how people have
congregated in Chicago, Denver, Omaha, or any other
place which, within living memory, was but an un-
named and disregarded part of a wilderness, yet it is
always impressive to compare the scene before
one's eyes with that which might have been beheld
but a few years ago. This feeling was strong
within my breast when I looked upon St. Paul and
learned how rapid had been its growth, when I
beheld stone buildings which might have stood
there for centuries and heard that they were but
the work of yesterday. So recently as 1838 there
were only three white men living here; at present the
population is nearly 40,000. For a considerable period
its growth, according to western notions' was very
slaw. In 1854, when it was incorporated as a city,
St. Paul contained 4,000 persons; but in 1865 the
number had risen to 13,000. Thenceforward the pro-
gress was more rapid, as ten years later the number
exceeded 33,000, while in the three years which have
elapsed since then the estimated addition represents an
increase in a still larger ratio. Though the prosperity
and population of the city are now advancing with
leaps and bounds, this has not always been the case.
1. have conversed with gentlemen who came here in
1856, when the fever of speculation in land was
raging, who were sufferers from the collapse of
1857, and who were reluctant witnesses of the sub-
sequent depression. They tell zr.e that the con-
trast between the present time and those days of ex-
citement is marvellous, and that the business now
transacted has all the character of solidity which was
lacking then. During the Civil War there was another
check to progress here; but no sooner bad peace been
concluded than a revival began, a large number of the
private dwellings and public buildings which attract
attention dating from that time. The commercial de-
pression with which most parts of the Union have
been afflicted of late has been partially mitigated here
owing to the large influx of immigrants and the pro-
fitable exportation of agricultural produce. Judging
from appearances, I think that the sanguine hopes of
the citizens will be realized, and that the future growth
of St. Paul will be quite as remarkable as its rise to
the position which it now occupies.
"The great rival of St. Paul is 'Minneapolis, 11 miles
distant by rail. Merchants congregate andrthrive in the
former, while manufacturers grow wealthy and proud
in the latter. The citizens of both regard each other with
a jealousy and an uncharitableness which cannot be
paralleled out of the United States, save in the
small Italian Republics during the Middle Ages."
—The writer then proceeds to give illustratioLT
of the jealousy existing between certain cities in
America, and proceeds—" As St. Paul and Minnea-
polis are the chief cities of Minnesota, the prosperity of
one ought to be matter of satisfaction to the other... . .
Minneapolis, though the younger of the two, has in-
creased the more rapidly in population, and considers
that it ought to be the capital of the State. It has
not the beauty of situation which is the great charm
of its rival, yet the city itself is a handsome one,
having spacious streets, fine stonejouildings, and many
private houses, standing in well laid-out grounds,
wherein rich manufacturers dwell, A suspension
bridge, the first bridge thrown across the Mississippi,
connects Minneapolis with St. Anthony. The two
were independent till few years ago; now they are
united under the same municipal government. • .

"To the water which flows and falls at its side Min-
neapolis owes its wealth and reputation, The bank of
the river is lined with mills and factories of all kinds,
flour-mills and saw-mills predominating. Last year
there were in operation as many as 31 flour-mills, con-
taWng 237 run of stones, giving employment to 408
men, and producing 1,100,000 barrels of flour. This
year several other mills will begin working and the
citizens boast of makingYinneapolis the greatest flour-
manufacturing city in The world. Twenty saw-mills
turn out boards and planks to the annual value of a
million sterling. The trees which are cut down high
up the river are floated down and into the saw-mill,
entering it as rough logs and leaving it a few minutes
afterwards as smooth boards. I have never seen any
mills so well arranged and complete as those at the
Halls of St. Anthony; those on the Ottawa, near the
capital of Canada, are their most formidable rivals.
Woollen factories and paper mills are also to be
found here; indeed, the bank of the river is crowded
with factories all drawing their power from the water
which sweeps along, and all contributing to enrich
their owners and to spoil the natural charms of the
scene." . . .