The emigrant aid journal of Minnesota. [volume] (Nininger City, Minn. Terr. [i.e. Minn.]) 1856-1858, 1858-03-03

upon the chance and random.directed efforts of . few
citizens lis she to sit with closed lips, while the mo.
mentous hour which is to prove the turning point Of her
destiny is passing away!
Gold will open all doors, and the papers that now de-
ny q place to the contradictions Of our press, would
readily receive any quantity Of paid advertising matter
from the government of Minnesota. What is to prevent
our Legislature from authorizing the prspar .tion Of such
q statement Of facts as will do justice to our advantages,
and q: the same time in no wise compromise the dignity
Of the State. Let such al advertisement be, not q TRADE
Of poetry and exaggeration, describing an Elysium be.
siie which the Garden Of Eden grows dim, but a plain,
sober, honest statement Of tncts. We need not run into
the regions Of fiction or falsehood to array a most at.
t~ractive host Of details. Let US moro particularly Sc,
ourselves right on the question Of climate. To give my
views q tangible shape, and to show something Of what
may he said, | have been to the trouble Of preparing the
following ADVERT ssment. which, although I do not a.
vance it a. answering the end proposed, will however
illustrate my ideas on the subject:
ADVERTISEMENT.
The people at present constituting the State Of Min
resota, in view of the large amount Of land get remain.
ing in the hands Of the United States Government
within their limits, and convinced from their own expe-
riencc Of the many advantages offered by this section to
the industrious and energetic %emigrant, have resolved
through their Legislature, TO set forth IN a plain manner
such facts as might influence the Eastern citizen con-
templating emigration, to make his home within the
borders II this State. They will seek in tho following
statement to rather sink below, than rise above the strict
truth. and desire to occupy the position OF = great com
munity, throwing open its doors to the emigation ct the
world, rather than that Of combination to effect, by
Misrepresentation, any advantage to them'e!ves 1hey
hope that the source from which the following state
ments emsnate, will prove the best voucher for their
accuracy and sincerity.
It must not be supposed that the State of Minnesota
comprises one solid body of population, and that the
euigrsnt who seeks the advantages of a new region will
have to End them in the wilds Of Nebraska, Dakota, or
elsewhere. /: may be truly sail. that the present popu-
lation of the State Of Minnesota is confined principally
to the main rivers, with the exception Of the peninsula
included between the Mississippi River and the Mime
sofa River, running south to the Iowa line; and the
sou: heru part Of peninsula between the St. Croix and
Mississippi. although, as will appear BY the following
statistics, both these regions still contain considerable
quantities of un-preempted lands. But west Of the i'm
mediate b. rler Of the Mississippi River towards the
James River on the south, or the Red River on the
north, stretches an almos. unlimited quantity OF Gov
eminent lands yet undisturbed by emigration. We here
give the statements received from the different Land
Ohces Of the State, showing the amount Of land in each
district District and the amount of the same UMPIRE.
empted upon the Itch February 1857.
lHere will follow the statistics which can be obtained
from the Receivers Of the Land Offices
These statistics demonstrate that there are still az
many and as great opportunities for immigration within
the limits Of this State, as in any other part Of the great
West. Let US 60 a step farther and inquire into the
peculiar merits Of these, IS yet, unsettled regions.
We must premise however with one remark, the
importance of which cannot be over.rated. The fact is
rapidly attracting the attention Of the leading minds OF
the country, that emigration is approaching towards its
geographical limits on this side Of the Rocky Mountains
The character Of the country bordering upon the Mis-
sissippi River is entirely different from that constituting
the great interior region between the Mississippi and
the Rocky Mountain range. This difference consists in
the availability Of the immediate Mississippi valley for
agricultural purposes, and the almost absolute impossi
biity of the interior region ever sustaining a large agri-
cultural population. These conclusions are based upon
such testimony as the following!
Our 6rst quotation is from Levi Blodget's work on
the Clip,atology Of the United States. He says, p. l55:
sMcst Of the prairies (near the Mississippi, East or
West are as humid as the interior valleys Of Virginia
at all times, and the greater proportion may be much
more so in extreme cases. The chronological distinc'
ton they have is rather in regard to the sweep and sud-
denness Of the changes which occur, and perhaps in a
participation, at times, in the aridity Of the desert plains
where they border on them. ALI the plains are prairie>
ia one sense of the word, however, but the term is here
used 70 distinguish the we'll grassed, rich and cultivate.
Bile plains, where the absence Of forests appears to be due
to accidental causes only:
Captain Beckworth, in the Central Pacific Railroad
Report 1855, P. SO, says:
In these plains, or in all those West from Bent.
For. on the Arkansas to the basin, and in q few in
stances in the mountains also, the soil is more or less
impregnated with slkali, which is very destructive to
vegetation and salt il often seen efervescing upon the
surface. And as the amount which is annually carried
Of by lixiyation and drainage from the very limited
amount Of snow and rain which is precipitated upon this
extensive district, in proportion to its area, and from
the very great inequality in their distribution over it,
es the great body Of the rain and snow falls upon the
higher peaks and ranges, and is carried down to the
main stream through deep canyons and chasms, leaving
the plains parched and dry-is const .ntly renewed from
the decomposition Of sedimentary rocks, it is impossible
TO say when the supply will be exhausted. And if the
progress of science should develop the means Of neutral.
ling their injurious effects, material change OF climate.
providing for . greatly inc ease quantity Of aqueous
vapor, would be required to bring any considerable ex-
tent Of this arid territory under cultivation
We might quote additional authorities to the same
purpose were it necessary. We will, however, only re,
fer to the predominant heritage Of these regions, as in.
Dictated by the continuous presence OF the artemisia or
wild sage, and the cactius-' the characteristic vegeta-
tion.' as Blodget calls them, Of the most arid regions
to evidence the truth of the position we have taken.
We refer to this matter because if the conclusions we
have drawn are correct, the absence Of any fit region for
agricultural settlement in the Territory Of the United
States West Of Minnesota, must immensely add to the
value of the eight millions Of unpre-empted and highly
fertile lands set remaining within our borders. It is
the we'll recognized rule Of political science, that an
~overplus Of supply decreas . prices, and the reverse holds
true hence if the limits Of emigration are to be drawn
along the line of the Missouri river, the Importance of
the State Of Minnesota and States similarly situated,
must increase at once, while at the same time, an urgent
argument is offered to the ~emigrant not to delay until
the opportunities now presented him have passed away
The history of the great West has demonstrated how
short a period of time Is necessary to remove eight mil
lion Of acres of land from the hands Of the General
Government to those OF private individuals. At the
same time, to do away with any supposition that the
State of minnesota is at all akin to the characteristics
Of the interior region we have been describing, We refer
our readers to one particuler-that Of timber. 1t IL a
we'll known fact that the great plains are utterly des
titute Of woods or forests-asm much go as the steppes Of
Russia or the deserts Of Arabia. In Minnesota, on the