The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1851-05-08
st. panl, as "a Thoroughfare.


Every day makes it clearer, that s; Paul is
destined 70 more Importance as a city than the
most sapsnine have dared to anticipate. Not only
has our town already become, in The two shor, |
years Of its existence. the emporium Of trade for
all that vas, of country above Us, extending
from the shore Of Lake Superior to the head
water. Of the Missouri, trade yc, limited 10 be
sure, by reason Of the sparseaess of the popuIa-
non, bu; hourly increasing, AID which must soon
become intellectually great, bot there will be soon
fresh impulse given it, BY The purchase ard SET
temcnt Of those ma,chiess lands, inhabited by the
Sioux Indians lands of vast extent as well as fer
ity, watered BY the Minnesota river and its trib-
utaries. Standing al the steamboat head of the
Mississippi. the n.aia artery, nay, the only arte-
~, north and sox,h, through the con,inen, of
North America, it can have no rival, no compet;-
tor, Cor the business of those regions of which il
Is ak eady the focus. Our line Of business, Is e.-
scntialiy with The north and the south, the east
and the west, turning as it were, upon pivot, on
this, The head Of steamboat, navigation, and from
this point, there will in time, radaie railroads, to
ccnaect here with steamboats, in various direc-
lions. But there is Il probability, nay more than
probability, that plan Of internal improve
mems will be eAecused by the British Government
which will hasten the Development and growth
of 81. Paul, beyond all parallel We refer to the
contemplated construction Of 4 line Of railroad
from lisliflx, in Nova Scot a, to the Pacific
Ocean, north Of Lake Superior. The construc-
tion Of 'ha; road, wonld immediately require the
construction of railroad from st. Paul, to inter-
sect 1t. The cham of lakes would proven, its in
tersccticn Of ia, beside that here the steam
boat aPproximaies nearest to it, the valley of the
Mississippi, being on every account, the proper
line of connection with il. The whole of the in
tercourse Of the Southern and Western States
with Oregon, nay, with California, would take
this route, all the emigration and migration.
probably all the trade Of those States with China,
Japan and the East Indies in short, would take
This ronie; and there would not be buster tran
shipment city than st. Paul on this continent If,
already, il has come 10 be known that this very
r,uis to the Pacific, not only shorter cheaper,
healthier and FAR better that any one south Of it,
if rs we know, St Paul has already become a
place Of outfit for companies migrating TO Oregon,
without railroads, what may we expect to see
when the traveller from New Orleans, who lands
here, may be wh!ried here upon a continuous rail-
road through the high, healthCul, romantic ranges
Of the buffalo, along the northern verge of the
Temperate Zone, 10 The blue Pacfc'
4 late number OF the National lntellisencer,
contains the following:
"CoIonel Whitney, whose s:upenduous railroad
scheme has been shainelully neglected by Con-
gress, after having been sanctioned and strongly
recommended BY two thirds Of the State Iegisa-
lures, leaves for England 10 the steamer Of the
18th Tie has been seat for to supcrntend the
building Of the great Canada road. ana he goes
on, for the purpose Of deciding whether he will
undertake II or not. We hope he will pa,IioticaI-
iy decline the proposition, and wait for the action
Of another Congress before utterly aba ndoning hi,
original plan. If Grea, Britain gets the start Of
in this matter, she will rule the commercial
world.
The route from Halifax TO Fuca Straits. oppo-
site to Eancouver's Island, has been ascertained
TO be quite feasible as The route proposed from
Lake Michigan 10 Puget Sound, and very large
part Of the country IS the finest wheat country in
the world. The distance would vary but little
from that Of routc-while ffonl London to
China 1t would be considerably less than ours. BY
r,ea surfing globe, IL will be seen that Lake Hs-
ron is less distant from London than New York
from London; and - Lake Superior is but $50
fact elevation above the Atlantic a railroad from
Halifax to Lake Superior nigh, be constructed on
almost dead level. This would enable England
to transport all the produce of the Mississippi ba-
sin 10 Halifax, at much less cos, than to any
Atlantic city; besides, Halifax is much nearer to
Europe, and would avoid the storms and danger.
Of navigation between Halifax and New York
An examination Of this subject will show that,
should England bnld the road, she will not only
have great advantage over US but would control
US aud the world; for il is her commerce with
Asia, and no, ours, which must sustain the road {"