St. Cloud visiter [sic]. [volume] (St. Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1857-1858, 1858-06-24

it was Incorporated in the winter Of '55 &c.
The Land Office was removed in April ,58, from
Sank Rapids to Upper town. The post Office
is in Middle Town, which is inhabited by in
dIstrious and well-to-do German Catholics
The Catholic chapel is here, and the bell be-
longing to it, is the first church going bell in
Stearns county and has also the distinction of
being the first audible in Sherburne and Benton
counties which corner on the opposite side Of
the river. There too is a school kept by COM
pany Of Benedictine Nuns where music, draw
inn, necdlework and German are well taught
by ladies of polished manners; and unusual
proficiency. No. 2.@z . S.
Lower Town has two protestant churches, in
process of erection one, about completed. We
have public school in the Everett School
house, and handsome Library dedicated by
Hon. Edward Everett. The engines Of an ex-
cellent saw mill and planning mill, sash facto-
ry; and of good Touring mill ore this mo-
ment putting away within half dozen rods of
our Office. We have from FIVE to six steam boat
arrivals here weekly and the smallest proper
ton of drones we have ever seen in any hive
In the fall of $50 Grasshoppers came in a
cloud and settled down in this and adjoining
counties, destroying the greater portion.of the
=
EARLY in the spring of 81 the young brood
came out and made such havoc that serious
fears Of famine were entertained by large
portion Of the people; but they left in July, and
SO many Of the late crops survived, that with
the full crops Of particular places, where they
did not appear, there was q large amount Of
food. In autumn it became question whether
there was enough for winter consumption with
what the people had the means of purchasing
hn1o
ally Of the opinion that there was not, and the
Priests sent commissioners to Dubuque to ask
contributions. When this became known in
Lower St. Cloud Indignation meetings were
held, and strong resolutions passed condemn
ing the measure as altogether unnecessary, and
one calculated to do the country great injury
by preventing emigration in the spring. The
Correctness of this view of the case is now prov
en-. The third week of May is here, potatoes
sell at Is cts. per bushel, corn 81 90, wheat
$1,25, oats 80 cts. and We have heard of no in
food; while very large proportion of the en-
igrants who had last year designed emigrating
to this point have been deferred by this bug
bear cry Of famine, and have gone elsewhere.
The time is now past at which the Grasshoppers
= appeared last spring, and the minds of the
people are set on rest as the question Of wheth-
er they left lavae, last year, before they emf
grated. It is evident that they went to other
localities as they came here to cot, deposite
their eggs and die. There is no sign that they
7 have left any deposits here, and as everybody
Q is putting in O crop of something good to eat
f we expect next fall to be encountered with a
l surplus of the good things of this life, and to
$ inundate St. Anthony, Minneapolis and St.
= Paul, with vegetables and grain after supply
= ing the Pine regions and the laborers on the
a Rail Road @. $ =
r BRECKENRIDGE-
= THHIS town is situated on the Sioux
i Wood river, and is the Western termi.
nus of the Minnesota and Pacific railroad
the point laid down by Capt Pope on his
map as the head Of steam navigation on the
g Red river the Valley of the Red river is
+ stream, and about FIVE hundred miles long
/ the surface is level and drained by numerous
tstEeSzss whichaFe skirted with elm, ash. ;haes
4 wood, white wood and pine of the largest
growth, the remainder Of the valley is prairie,
y composed of rich, black loan free from sand
1 barrens or swamps. Red river is deep, slow
8 stream- has no islands, sand bars or snags to
< obstruct navigation the banks are about 2;
/, feet high, and not subject to overflow; many
s OF the tributaries of the Red river are strong
f ly impregnated with salt, and indications OF
: The farmers of the valley Of the Red river
a gave to Major Wood as the average Of their
y crops; wheat 80 to 40; barley 40 to so; oats
= 40 so; and potatoes 200 to 800 bushels to the
9 acre. At Pembina, 1900 miles north of Brock
: enridge, ex-Gov Ramsey says, ION the I'd
e October, 1851, water melons and cantelopes
were served to us for dessert, and the first frost
z that occurred was on the night Of that day.
o see address before the Minnesota Agricultu-
t raj Society, Oct, 10th, 1856. Two large set
= Elements have long existed on Red river
Pembina and selkirk, both of which YEARLY
raise q large surplus Of the products of the
: farm the whole valley of the Red river is
3 rapidly filling up with an energetic and intel
: ligent population the country being exceed
y ingly healthy, and should the indications OF
! iron and coal lead to the discovery of those
minerals as large as is anticipated, this valley
= will soon be swarming with population en-
gagged in agriculture, mining and manufacture
ing, supplying eastern Minnesota, Wisconsin,
y Iowa and Missouri with the products Of their
labor and skill; the Minnesota and Pacific
railroad will be placed Immediately under
0 contract as by the terms of its charter it must
= be finished from Saltwater to St Anthony with
t in two years, and completed to Breckenridge
a within ten years from the Sd of March, 1857,
or forfeit its franchise as well as the lands do
q mated to it. ".''7 ~
D Breckenridge is also at the point where Gov
: Stevens survey of a route for the Pacific rail.
l road crosses the Sioux Wood river, an exami-
8 nation Of the Western States, and a reference
e to the writings of Gov. Stevens, ex-Gov. Ram
y say or the Congressional documents containing
the reports of Maj. Long and Capt. Pope, can
r not fail to convince that such is the geograph-
1 fcal position of Breckenridge; that all that
? portion of the Territory of the United States
7 which lays west Of the Mississippi and north
Of the head waters of the Minnesota rivers
3 must forever be tributary to that city, and
l that Breckenridge is to be not only the COM
mercial centre for the northwest, but will