The north Iowa times. [volume] (M'Gregor [i.e. McGregor], Iowa) 1856-1857, 1857-01-16
From the Oronoco Courier.
OLMSTED COUNTY.

| TEOIu OTOIlOCO SOUTlcE.
oLMSTED COUNTY.
| A little more than three years ago WI
came, for the first time. into this part O
the Territory. A few dim, irregular wag
on-trails, and now and then stake Will
some ones name written upon it, were the
only indications of white men we met
The prairies at that time were clothed il
their richest verdure ; the groves, in thei'
heaviest foliage. There was harmony
and sweetness in the gentle undulations o.
surface and in the sweep Of the water
courses, to us, entirely new. A chaste
and quiet grandeur seemed to rest upor
everything, possessing, to our mind, the
very witchery of beauty. The next sea
son-that of 1854-settlement commenc
ed; though in the autum of that year
the number of inhabitants within the pres.
ent limits of Olmsted County was moi
more than FIVE hundred, all told. One
year later, the population was estimate
at twenty seven hundred, and now at near.
ly nine thousand.
We believe that the first furrow was
turned in this county, in the spring OF
"a the first enclosure anyways claiming
the dignifed title of field, was not made
until the next season. The first grain
grown here was in 1855, unless there may
have been a few patches of sod-corn plant
ed the previous year.
The breadth of land now under cultiva-
ton, or the number of acres in fence, We
have no means of knowing. We only
know that the increase in these respects
has been fully proportioned to the increase
of population. aa .t,
Imperfecily cultivated, as land must
necessarily be, in SO new country, the
yield of grain per acre has been large-a
flattering evidence of the adaptation of our
soil and climate to grain raising purposes,
The largest potatoes, the largest turnips,
and the largest beets. We ever saw were
grown in this county; indeed, the strength
and excellence of our soil cannot be doubt.
ed, nor can we Justly distrust the climate,
where the large Dent corn planted so late
as the very last days Of May, has attained
complete maturity.
Olmsted is largely prairie, yet not sc
much so as to render timber at all ditficul
of access. Walnut, Oak, Maple, Bass and
Elm, of the thriftest growth and very bes
quality, are here in abundance. In fact
no better timber can be found in Southern
Minnesota, than that along the north
branch of the Root River, and that on the
Main Zumbro. mills are now in sue
cessful operation on these streams, and
grist mills are in process of erection. A
large and well built grist-mill at Oronoco
is now doing work.
ORoNoco is located on sections and II
Town, 108 N, and in Range IA West o
the 9th Principal Meridian I; is situated OF
the Main Zumbro River, and is the natur
al geographical centre of the unrivallet
'Zumbro country" 1t is to the Zumbr,
what Decorah is to the Upper Iowa Valley
or Chatfield to the Root River Valley
The Water Power at this point is unsur
passed in all the features necessary to make
it one of the very best, if not THE best il
Southern Minnesota. 1t has already NOR,
improvement on it than any other waite
power in Southern Minnesota, and ca,
be still further improved and used to al
almost unlimited extent.
+ OEoSoco is intcrsected by the grea
North Western thoroughfare from Du
buque to St. Paul, and is on the shortes
feasible Railroad route between these tw,
important points. A glance at the MAJ
will show Oronoco to be about on an ''air
line" from Winona to St. Peters-the mos
probable route of the Transit Railroad
These roads WILL be built; they will in
tersect each other somewhere, and we be
lieve nature points with her geographical
fingers to Oronoco as THE point of inter
section-the site of the most powerful in
land city of Southern Minnesota.