The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1855-12-01


horses and sheep as that, and I am by n
means sure that it has its superior for orair
l believe it is destined to sustain as dense
population, and one as vigorous, both in isiin
and body, as any other and that no sectio
OF the Union five hundred by one thousan,
miles in extent, is destined to create finally
and send forth a larger volume of commerce
than this" 4. So.
The writer proceeds to give the opinion
which he says" "no intelligent and observins
person who has examined the subject car
possibly, doubt, that g the great dstribut ii,
and commercial city, which is to become ths
medium of this vast trade, must be at tho
head of Lake Superior" He then falls into
the singular error that st. Paul is I" tho
southernmost town in Minnesota" and cuts
her adrift, so far at least as this great. enter
prise is concerned, to shift for herself which
we trust she will he ever able to do-at all
events without calling upon Mr. Crocker
while in the temper he was at the time OF
this writing. 5rfsd eng ra7f8z o.
Coming down to Gov. Stevens Report
upon the Northern route-which it appears
Mr.. G. met with for the first time in Mime
sofa, more than year after its publication
he speaks of his previous information upon
the subject as follows:
II had before read with great interest an
elaborate work., comparing this route with
the Central and Southern for Pacific Rail-
road, written with great talent and Judgment
by Edwin F. johnson, Esq, very distin-
guished Engineer of Connecticut, in which
Mr.. johnson had refuted the prevailing idea
that the SHOWS or the cold weather was any
serious impediment, in this high latitude, to
such road, but showing that the climate
was as good, and the SHOWS not deeper than
IN the New England or New York States !;
that the grades would be easy, and the
country was capable of immediate settle
ment, and the distance shorter than by any
otherroute. l was therefore doubly inter-
ested in the examination of Gov. Stevens
surveys, and gratified to find that they had
fully confirmed all the important positions
taken by Mr.. Johnson. k-ra s-4,..--,e... -
"The country seems wonderfully fitted,
through this whole route, for such road.
The head of Puget's Sound would make one
of the best harbors in the world, and, from
the head of Lake Superior to the waters of
the Pacific, I think, is only about one thou
sand seven hundred miles, and from Chicago,
which would form the winter route, perhaps
five hundred miles further. This line would
interest all our northern States very deeply,
and Canadian and English Capitalists would
also unite in this enterprise. Indeed, l am
so much impressed with the wonderful adj
- 4 II. - d.:
that believing, as do, that the first. road
ever built will be on this line, l cannot but
lock with much deeper interest ON the Min
nesota country as one of higher future des-
tiny than any other section of the far West" !"
"Good, bad and Indifferent" Mr.. Crocker.
In the first place, your friend, Mr.. johnson
of Connecticut, does not come nearly up to
one of the material facts in regard to the
practicability of this route, when he says
the SHOWS are not deeper west of Lake Supe-
rior than they are in the "New England and
New York States" The fact is, they never
fall nearly so deep. The last paragraph of
the above quotation, however, is entirely
sensible and ineligible, with the exception
of that portion which "rings inn Chicago
exclusively. Not one word for St. Paul,
which must, of necessity, be in time quite
as important point on this "winter route''
as Chicago That is bad for us, if Mr..
Crocker has it all his own way! But we
pass on. Farther down, our friend really
thinks St Paul worthy of some notice in this
wise:
ssThere should be daily line of steamers
on this route [Oswego to Superiorl the com
ing year, and in addition to that there should
be good road made from Superior west in
to the valley of the Mississippi as well as to
St. Paul. These facilities being established,
the tide of emigration will at once flow in
that direction" .. .+.-...c
st. Paul; we should suppose by this, is
not situated in "the Valley of the Missis-
sippi % a4' A-
The writer concludes his first letter with
the following interesting facts andhrguments
in favor of the Great Northern Route:
"The country is interesting in itself to all
our northern and eastern States, as its COM
mercial developments must contribute direct
ly to the advancement of the material inter-
ests of all our Atlantic emporiums; but it is,
1 believe, doubly interesting as furnishing
the only practicable route on which a
railroad can really be made between the
Atlantic and Pacifc-the only route which
can furnish reasonable grade, the only route
has wood and water or fertility of soil ade-
quate to the settlement of the country as will
sustain such road, and especially as it is
the only line for building which an adequate
capital can be raised. New York and the
New England States are all beginning to feel
deep and absorbing interest in the attain
ment of such a road and the time has arriv-
ed when vast combination can be made ol
the great commercial interests of New York
Pennsylvania and the New England States
with all the commercial cities growing up on
the Lakes and in the Canadas, and the inter
ests of the English Government, under the
right organization, and under a reasonable
charter from Congress, which would carry
through the completion of such road or
this line"
/ The letter from which the above extracts
are made is dated at Oswego on the 18th o
August fast. In his second Communication
which bears date Sept. Goth, Mr.. Crockel
foreshadows new Territorial policy for Min
nesota, which it appears he and "his friends
are going to have adopted by Congress thi
winter. Just read:
i az railroad is also needed from Superio
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