Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1856-09-13

The Naanufacture Of Towns IN the Great West.
Z There is something amusing and at the same time
wonderful in the manner in which towns and cities
spring up in the West. The truth is that we Ameri
cans possess powers of magic more astounding, as
they are more practical, than the mysterious
cabala of the ancient seeYs and astrologers Of
Egypt. We search out virgin forests, heretofore
untenanted, save by bowling beasts of prey, or
nomadic squads of redskins, and by the magical
touch of ourindusrry and enterprise, transform
them into waving fields of grain, or smart, busy,
prosperous towns. Not content with the slow
process of years, we hurry our towns forward till
they become cities-emporiums of q vast agri-
cultural region, and centers of immense CONNER
ciahan manufacturing interests. To one who
has never visited the West, and Witnessed these
wonders with his own eyes, they seem incredible.
But all things are possible to him that wills and
to the stern indomitable WILL of our race, COM
bined with those executive qualities which distin-
guish Us from g the rest of mankind" J" we must
look for the solution.oiidDa & aaI gad5 . 80
Looking over onefof our St. Paul, MINI esota,
exchanges, to-day, we observed this sentence: !:
6 There ioGs not an ihabitdnt in the county one
year agoi" eal ,niwaGbd3la yG ,sGsaa-a ia ss9nz
No One year ago the county of Mcleod, in the
Territory Of Minnesota, was wilderness, known
only upon the land. Office maps as ssTewnship
us; Range %, west of 5th Principal Meridian!n
Is not this the work Of magic-GAmeficsn magicl
But upon further examination we fnd that the
town Of Glencoe Is the county seat, and that il
was laid out on the llth day Of June, 1855.
Now it contains 200 inhabitants, while the poru-
lation Of the county numbers $50 souls This
wilderness, now 6 blossoming as the rose, =, is cut
up BY good roads connecting the couuty-seat with
twenty or thirty neighboring places. A brick
yard is established and two or three saw-mills
are in operation. Five stores have been estab-
lished. Churches, school-houses and public
buildings are protected, and IN . very few years,
Glencoe and Mcleod county will be sreckonsd
amongst the g old settlements.''di 10 sleo5 gnil
og Another singular feature of these Western
towns, that spring up, like Jonah'sogourd, in .
night, 10 the fact that the lands Of whichthey are
composed are frequently not in the market for .
long period after their Occupancy and settlement.
In Mcleod county, for instance, the government
surveys have not yet been completed. The land
il taken up, however, by squatters, and by means
Of sort Of informal pre-emption, their titles are
good a against al non-occupants. A" "claim''
is squatset's interest IN one hundred and sixty
sores. IN esicinity Of Glencoe, these sselaims"
range il valas from Eve hundred to Eve thodsanl
dollars, and ne sold as these prices; yet when
the lssds come into market, the squatter or org.
1-.t -
inal pre- mps6f win b srequired 70 pay only the
inagniassSt dollar or Two pr sers demanded by
the Government. Thus easily aFe fortunes made
in the great West, Success . Glencoe, NY We,
and 70 hundreds Of similar enterprises springine
up al eIq As ysst regions Nset Of the Missis-
aipui.