Sauk Rapids frontierman. [volume] (Sauk Rapids, M.T. [i.e. Minn.]) 1855-1860, 1857-02-12
HARD WINTER.

greater uepln EnanNWe HAd ever known
here before Since that time it has been
falling, and must be now at least, we
should suppose, two and ashalf feet deep
Take it all round, this has been the
hardest winter we have ever experience
ed here during residence Of near
twenty years. There have been hard q
er years for some kinds Of business,
such as numbering, getting out rails,
teaming, etc, but in every case it has
been for lack of snow, and not because
there has been too much The great
est difficulty the Lumbermen have to
contend with in Minnesota, lis want
Of sufficient snow This statement will
| hardly be credited by eastern and south
arn people, who have always supposed
| that we must, So far north, be complete
! II blockaced upin the winter, by snow
-.but it is nevertheless true. We,
ourself supposed this would DO the case
| when we first arrived in Minnesota, but
sesidence Of twenty winters here has
lispeiled the idea, and also enables rs
to speak adyisedly upon the subject
During the first ten years of our resi-
dence III Minnesota and in Wisconsin
aud Michigan, on Lake Superior, our
! business made it necessary for us to
travel more or less every winter---and
never. except III the vicinity of the Lake
did we ever encounter the deptinot snow
VIC have here now In the vicinity oil
Lake Superior, greater DEPTH o. snow
falls than farther south, and then the
depth Is in proportion to the elevation Oh
the country. In many parts, the eleVa-
7ioa is mountainous, There the snow
sometimes falls to the depth Of four feel
or more. In The vicinity of the head O
the Lake, on the Wisconsin side, the
, country Is less elevated, and the dept!
is never SO great : seldom exceeding
three feet We resided there one win
ter, ('i5 and '46. 1t did not then ex
, coed two and half feet. The winte
, of AS ard AT, we resided near til.
Porcupine Mountains, and there tn
snow was plump four feet, which rem
aered it hard to break track through
the dense forests Of hcnlock an
!, maple timber SO abundant in tina
region. South and west Of Lake supe
rior, in Minnesota, the case is very dill
! ferent. There the usual depth Of sno'
is from ten to fifteen inches. The ave
rage dep,h, taking one winter with an
other. does not exceed fourteen inches
(probably not twelve The degree {
cold is Of course great in this latitude
: Every winter the thermometer indica'
ing an intensity Of cold, sometimes,
forty degrees below zero. Still, a pei
son IS hardly aware Of its being so colt
so still and dry is the atmosphere. AZ
= counts are received from all parts
i the country Of men being frozen ii
:. present winter but among The o.
yoyegers such thing was never hear
of. Before tho settlement of the con-
try, no more was thousht Of starting q
: for month or six weeks 90 voyass !,
. it was termed, camping out every nigh
than is now thought Of going to St. Pa
" well muffled with Buffalo robes, in
: sleigh drawn by a fine span of horse
- None thought of freezing-none we
alarmed on account of the severity
= the weather, if their friends, who we
on a "voyage, " did not get back at Il
appointed time. 1t. was seldom that
IL man got frostbitten, One winter Z
TO and IA we Travelled in company vi
ct Mr. Hayes, (the then agent for t
ss Cbippewas) the late William Ware
S. Paul II. Beaulien and several voyage
#
#. from La Point, Lake Superior, to
at head of the Lake, where Superior Gil
now is located, from thence to the NJ
sissippi, at Sandy Lake from then
=, to the Mill Lac, crossing that Lal
- thence to Pakegoma on Snake Riy
from thence TO the Falls of ST. Gro
- from thence directly through to Fon
700 Lac, and from that to Lapointe again
~ distance of about, FIVE hundred .
,e sixty miles, without experiencing
:, least suffering. On the contrary,
- never made a more pleasant journ
- - every night resting as well as We CO
~ have done upon a bed Of down.
Lake Superior, we have seen har
i s4.ssf - - - !