Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1854-08-01

from the Falls of St. Anthony large proportion
Of the lumber they require. Dense forests of
pine are better than deep mines Of gold. The
one affords substantial basis; the other erects
the foundations of its cities upon the shifting
sand. The one is fction-thc other is fact
Spain in the 10th century was esteemed the rich
est nation in Europe. She is the poorest now -
Her wealth consisted not in the commercial and
agricultural industry of her people, but i'll the
possession of transatlantic mines, which have
only deceived, corrupted and impoverished her.
Yes, it was the golden mines of Mexico and Peru,
which encouraged luxury and strangled every in
dustrial art, and reduced proud Spain to the mel
ancholy state of imbecility and destitution, in
which we now behold her. If she would regain
the influence she has lost, she must teach her
people not to die for precious ores, but to read,
to labor and to think. In this way only can the
energies of nation be developed, and the ma
terials of real wealth accumulated.
But let me not deprcciate the value of mineral
utility. Gold has its use, but it is in great
measure conventional. Iron and copper of
practical and incstimable benefit to man. Every
railroad and steamboat and telegraph, and all
the nnumcrablc contrivanecs of mechanical in
genuitv, which decorate islands and continents
and float upon rivers ana seas, testify emf hati-
cally to this. Iron and copper and lead require
no culogy. Air is not more essential to life,
than these metals are essential to the vitality of
modern civilization. They abound in Minnesota
in inexhaustiblc abundance. and destined, like
the immense prairies of which we have spoken, to
add inconslcrably to the wealth and Importance
of the future fountain State!
The mineral region of Minnesota includes an
extensive area bordering upon Lake Superior and
occupying the northeastern section Of the Terri
tory. Here ncalculabie treasures are boarded
beneath the soil, and like weary captiyes are
waiting only for deliversr to arrive. Subter
ranean railroads there, steam engines are
buried there, every variety Of agricultural and
mechanical implements are thcre-not so many
swords and guns comparatively useless in this
land Of peace, but myriads of pioneer axes and
hammers and farmers spades, anxiOusly await
ing their appointed task Civilization well equip
ped has already commenced amid these magnif-
cent wildS, her solemn work. The forest is fall
Ing fast, and the POOR Indian is retreating step
his race. His title will soon be extnguished to
every foot Of land on the eastern side of the STA
ther of foods,' and in few years more his
happy face will be but seldom seen, even On the
sunset side of the ma cStic river, whose wooded
banks for ages have been his undisputed hunting
grounds and home! The child of the forest is
now but scanty landlord-the sceptre Of author
ity has been wrcstcd from him forever. Let us
not wrong him because he is weak-let us not
rob him because he is poor. But short time
since the powerful monarch Of the west, he finds
himself in his old age defenceless stranger in
the valley of his youth forced to sell his very
graves and journey on towards the great Pacific
the tremen ous murmur of whose waves will at
length break upon his ear like sublime requiem
and mournful ''death songs of his race!
Lake Superior, with its rich mineral shores AMI
circumference of over fifteen hundred miles, may
not inapty be termed the Mediterranean Sea of
America. 1t is the largest body of fresh water
on the globe, and is nearly thousand feet in
depth, while its surface is about sixteen hundred
and fifty feet higher than that of the Atlantic
The extraordinary purity Of its waters has been
the theme Of every admiring traveller; the ro-
mantle scenery of its shores the delight of every
eye. The fisheries Of this great lake must event
ually become the most valuable on this continent
supplying as they will with piscatory food, all
the populous States which may yet emerge from
the forests and prairies of the vast northwest
These fisheries will be to the West what those of
Newfoundland and Cape Cod are to the East
Trout, sturgeon, pickerel and white fish are the
chief inhabitants Of the lake, the former Of which
attain to gigantic size, and not unfrcqucnty
weigh from forty to fifty pounds. At the falls of
the st. Louis river, about fifteen miles above the
lake, two men have lOadcda large canoe with
pckcrcl in single hour, by aid only Of an ordi-
nary dip-nct. Thousands of amateur anglers will
soon find their way to Lake Superior and
'cast their lines" in as ''pcasant placcs'' as can
be found upon the earth. The day is not distant
when they will be able to come hther, every mile
from New York on the iron rails. The distance
from st. Paul is not moro than one hundred and
twenty-five miles. Commerce will soon travel
over it, and the wealth of the great lakes be ex-
changed for the reciprocal treasures Of the south
and east. Then will the true resources of the
country be developed and enterprising towns
spring up wherever production may require
mart of trade. Great events are to be enacted
upon the lake shoreS-a magnificent destiny is to
be fulfilled. the complete grandeur of which if
now unfolded, would only excite the wonder and
incredulity of every mind. Let us patiently abide
the rising of the dark curtain which conceals fu-
turity from our gazc-grandcr than all the rcvc-
lations of the past, will be the realizations of
civilization in the west, when the present genera
ton ''shall have shufled Off this mortal coil,''
and our postcrity taken possession of the stage.
There is design in all Gods mighty works. Ma
ture in her stupendous creations always has be-
nevolent end in view. Years and centuries when
compared with eternal duration, are but as sands
upon the ecean's shore Hence nature in her sub
FINEST efforts is ever slow-man is inpatient.
God is calm!
Abiding to the general features of the Ameri-
can continent, De Tocqucvllc remarks, 'sa sim
pie but grand arrangement is discoverable amid
the confusion of objects and prodigious variety of
scenes.' The French philosopher was right
Not river nor lake has been carved out, nor
mountain or forest erected by OmnipOtence, in
van Difficult it is for the feebleness of human
vision to realize the majesty and beauty of the
universe which lies beyond the limits of our own
little horizon. We are therefore sceptical in re-
gard to the ful6llments of the FUTURE though rea-