The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1849-04-28
For the Pioneer.

at sunrise, and twenty-five and thirty de-
grees below zero was a very usual temper
ature. The snow set in on the first Of No
vember, and from that time until the COM
fnencement Of the present month, hill aud
valley, lake and river presented an UNMARRIED
surface thickIy shfouded with the white
mantle of winter. Gazing on the cherries
scene from the windows of we'll warmed
apartment, one was forcibly reminded of the
beautifully drawn winter scene of HoRAcE-]
"Vides ut alta, stet rive candidum
Soracte, nee jam sustineant Onus
, - Sylvae laborantes, geuque
fluInrHa constiterint acutO!''
And one was forced to comply with the sug
gestion, "lignum super foco, large repon-
ans" and sorely tempted, in defiance of
Father Matthew, to give heed to the poet's
recommendations touching the "quadri-
num-"
Il perceive am becoming too classical
perhaps pedantic. but the quotations pre-
sented tn e,nselves perforce to my memory,
though have not opened Horace in ten
years, and began to believe had forgotten
all latin except dog latin, or what is much
the same, the latin of the law.
To return. The winter was long and
tedious" frosty but kiudiy"-we had few
storms and very little wind, but the cold was
intense, and the rivers of course bound in
icy letters. During five months the COM
,nunioation between this part of the country
and our brethren in the United States has
T been difficult and unfrequent. A mail now
and then from Prairie du Chen. brought up
on the ice in " train" drawn sometimes by
horses and sometimes by dogs, containing
news so old that the good people in the
country below had forgotten all about it
and occasionally daring passenger with
his nose and ears badly frozen-such was
our intercourse with the world beyond
When the milder weather commenced, and
the ice became unsafe, we were completely
shut out from all communication for several
weeks.
Some time in January we learned that
Genl. ZACHARY TAYLOR was elected Pres-
dent of the United States. We had TO wait
for the arrival of the first steamboat to learn
whether our Territory was organized, and
who were to ssrule over us" as its Federal
officers.
(. How anxiously was that boat expected
The ice had disappeared in the Mississippi
at this point and far below, hut rn,nor tod
us that it still pertinaciously held its iron
grasp on Lake Pepin, at the foot Of which
beautiful but impairment sheet of water a
whole fleet of STEAMBOATS, were lying, await
ing the unlocking of the icy letters.
Many were expecting their friends from
below, coming to engage in business in our
fourishing and prosperous town, or to open
farms on our rich and beautiful plains. All
were anxious for news, and a renewed COM
munication with the rest of the world: pro-
visions were also becoming scarce and dear,
and all looked for s' the arrival OF the first
boat" to relieve them from their enforced
diet of salt pork and beans, beginning, it is
true, to he varied by occasional wild geese
and ducks.
By the last accounts we had received from
Washington the bull for the organization Of
Minnesota Territory, on the passage of
which our prosperity depended, was in n
precarious situation. Our delegate had ex-
erted himself to the utmost and had done
oil that man could do. Still the shortness
of the season, and conflicting interests and
jealousies in the House Of Representatives
rendered the passage of the bill matter Of
great doubt and anxiety. For week the
arrival of boat had been looked for every
hour Expectation was on the tip toe.
Monday, the ninth Of April, had been a
pleasant day. Towards evening the clouds
gathered, and about dark commenced vio-
lent storm of wind, rain, and loud peals of
thunder-the first storm of the kind we
have had in six months. The darkness was
only dissipated by vivid flashes of lightning.
.sOn a sudden. i'm a momentary- laA of the
Z wind, the silence was broken by the never
to he mistaken groan of steam engine
In another moment the shriil whistle of
I. steamboat thrilled through the air, cutting
through and dividing, as it were, the heavy
booming of heavens artillery. Another
:. v,,op,enf and a hriuht flash Cf l,uh%n;nr ro