The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1854-07-01
The Green bay and Minnesota Railway.

men who have hold Of this project are men OF
carnestness and means, who will honestly Ia
Dor to push forward the great work of not on
ly connecting Minnesota by the shortest route
with Lake Michigan, but also the formation of a
direct line on toward the East, which will
bring Minnesota into connection with the Gulf
of ST. Lawrence. We are glad to perceive our
Milwaukee neighbors are wide awake to the
Importance OF this great enterprise. Canada
is also fully aroused as will be seen by the fol-
lowing, which we copy from Il late number of
the Toronto Globe:
In Friday Globe we referred to the conncc-
tons with the upper lakes which it would be
necessary for the Northern Railway Company
to establish in order to make their road a link
in the chain of transport between the Atlantic
and the north west Since that time We have
had the pleasure of seeing the lion. Mr.. Howe.
from Green Bay. Wisconsin, Il gentleman who
is deeply intcies in Il projected road be-
tween the northern waters of Lake Michigan
and the Upper Mississippi. Green Bay, as our
readers will discover hy examining map, is a
large inlet of Lake Michigan, not very far from
Macknaw. At its head lies the toxin of Green
Bay, small place, hut which from the fertility
of the ncighboring country. and its position.
possesses already considerable commerce. The
| railway, whose name heads this column, it is
proposed to run directly across the State of
Wisconsin. to point on the Mississippi, at
present not determined upon. The Falls of
! st. Anthony is considered the most favorable
terminus, but Il nearer place may yet be cho-
sen. Some of our readers may not be aware
| how rapidly the country wa,rrcd hy the up
per branches of the Mississippi is being opened
up and how important is the trade transacted
with it. Four or five years ago. the territory
of Minnesota bad only two or three thousand Of
a white population: now ii Is supposed that
therc are nearly on2 hundred thousand people
within its boundaries, chiefly cmigrants from
Europe, whose numbers are swcllcd by new
importatiOns every year. The whole business
of the territory, (Which must ultimately be-
come one of the most thriving States OF the
Union) centcrS Oh the Mississippi and the OBJ
ject of the Green Bay and Minnesota road is to
tap the stream of traffic which flows down the
river and to draw 1T eastward by the Lake
route. Any one who looks at the map will
speedily discover which is the nearest route
from Green Bay to thc great cities Of the At
lantic coast. \ line drawn east from that
point strikes the head OF the Georgian Bay the
terminus of our Northern Railway. The dis
lance is only four hundred miles and the nav
igaton, being chiefly land locked, is less liable
to storms than other parts OF the lakes. \ first
class steamer could make the voyage between
the two points in about 20 hours. and in 80
hours. the traveller from Green Bay could be
set down in Toronto. within 70 hours travel Of
New York and II hours OF Boston. \ cpmpar-
isUn Substances will show how much superior
is this route to any OF The more sonihcrly tracks
with which il will lie required TO compete
The Chicago companies are making the keen
est efforts to secure to themselves this Upner
Mississippi traffic. They propose to run a road
from their city, direct to st. -Anthunys Falls,
taking a northwcstcrly route through Wiscon-
sin. They have tried to obtain land for the
project from the general Government; but
have hitherto failed. notwithstanding unparal-
lelcd efforts in lobbying at Washin. ton. Chi
cagO at present, however, receives much of
the Upper Mississippi trade, from her railway
connections with Rock Island and Galcna, two
points on the river several hundred miles low
err down than the Falls of St. Anthony which
is the place now aimed at. 1t is therefore with
the Chicago routes that We must contrast that
which will be opened in connection with the
Northern railway. By comparison ofdistances
it will be found that between st. Anthony $
Falls and New York. or Boston. by way ofLakc
Huron and Toronto. and the same Journey via
Chicago and the nearest railway routes thence.
there Is nearly six hundred miles in favor of
the former, equal to more than 40 hours in
travelling time. And it is to he observed
moreover. that the Toronto and Lake Huron
route is much more economical ior the convey
ance of freight than any other, because it en-
braces so mach water carriage in {. direct line.
About one half Of it isuntaNcd lake navigation
while Oh the other, there is but .OD miles, which
is not railroad or canal.
We understand that the plan of the Green
Bay and Minnesota Railway Company is. as Il
preliminary step, to buy up 500. 900 or l,000.-
900 acres of land Oh thc line of route to b. af-
forwards used as the basis for the construction
of the road. The country through which it
passes is entirely new, and land can be bought
or one dollar and quarter per acre, as origi-
nally surveyed by the Government 1t is a
well ascertaincd fact that. however small the
direct return of a railroad may be, the increase
in value of land through which it passes is
much greater than it cost, and the most eff
Gent means to secure themselves from loss.
by obtaining possession of properly which will
be benefited by every dollar which they NAV
expend on the road. When they have secured
| the land, with such assistance as they can OBJ
tain from other sources, they will Immediately
! proceed to the construction of the track. We
| understand that considerable amount OF stock
will be subscribed in this city chiefly by persons
| Interested i'll the Northern road. Contrbu-
| tons should not, however. he cUnucd to them.
! for not only the railway bat the commercial
interests of Ioranto are deeply Interested in
| its success. There is no reason in the world
why the merchants OF Green Bay Or of St.
Paul. Oil the Mississippi, should not purchase
his European goods in Toronto. instead of De-
troit, Buffalo or New York. The only differ
encc would be that he would pay the duties
himself at the Custom house of his own port.
instead OF the American Wholesale merchant
doing It at New York or Ro,ton. 4 great va
riety OF articles could even now be sent to the
Northwest territory from Toronto much cheap
err than from Buffalo aud Detroit. which drive
large Wholesale trade with that region.
by means OF this Minnesota railway. We viii.
in all probability, ultimately reach the inter
esting settlement of our countrymcn at the Red
River Our readers are already aware that the
Seiklrk settler every year make journey south
ward to the head waters of the Mississippi. near
the Falls of st. Anthony the proposed tcrmi-
nus OF this railway. to procure supplies of Eu-
ropcan goods. Who knows how long it will
be ere they will make a direct railway and
steamboat connection with us. through from
Fort Garay to Toronto, in 100 hours. 1t NAV
take many years to do it, but inevitably it will
be accomplished some time This Green Bay
and Minnesota road is also in tLn d;rect limo